Fun ways to do a "warlike" people [+]

[Bagpuss]

the trope of an entire species sharing the quality of "warlike" is, at this point, a tired one.

So let's come up with some new ideas!

What would be fun ways to design a warlike people for an RPG setting?

(snip)

What are some other fun ways to design warlike people in an RPG setting?


NOTE: This is not a thread to debate the history of orcs. If you are choosing to participate, I ask that you please do so in a spirit of creativity and fun.

Your initial statement that the trope of an entire species sharing a warlike quality is a tired one seems at odds with your request for us to come up with a "warlike people".

 

[AnotherGuy]

Why not combine Klingon and Ferengi? A culture thats so embroiled into the economics of war, they wage it just to get their economies roaring. If they stopped, they wouldn't know what to do.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Orcs and Klingons may have been novel in their time, but the trope of an entire species sharing the quality of "warlike" is, at this point, a tired one.

In all fairness the Jem'Hadar were pretty interesting though

EDIT 1: Expanding on that idea it need not be a deity or The Founders that are directing their warlike tendencies, it could be influenced by their particular diet (food, herb, tainted air or water supply, influence of the corrupted magic their shamans utilise...etc) and they are but unknowing victims.

EDIT 2: Perhaps orcs are born inherently weak and they undergo a specific ritual to gain their might but in so doing they gain these warlike tendencies. Now in times of prolonged peace you have some orcs who decided not to have the ritual performed on their young and ofc this leads to complications within the people. These non-ritualised orcs are actually half-orcs.
Truth of the matter being that the orcs were descendants of a large contingent of humans that migrated out into the wilds* but they have since forgotten their ancient roots. Those few in the know within the orc side keep it quiet and push to exterminate the half-orcs and maintain the rituals for fear of the truth being revealed.

It may also be that it is the humans that are maintaining the conflict, some of the human elites know the truth and seek to either wipe out the orcs once and for all or ensure the orcs keep performing their rituals on their young to ensure the divide between orcs and humans continues to exist, thus safeguarding the purity of mankind. Diplomacy with these accursed people is out of the question.

*there they encountered the goblinoids, the ogres, the trolls, the gnolls...etc and in a desperate attempt to survive, the ritual came to be - whether by discovery or as a dark gift.

 

[aco175]

Maybe they have to be warlike in order to survive. They could have been farmers and fishermen, but something came and brought war to them, so now they fight for or the right to live. Pick any movie with aliens coming to Earth such as Independence Day.

Look at Captain America who was a nobody before the super-serum turned him into a fighter. Maybe the spirit was there to fight, but he lacked the physical properties. All he did after was fight. Then joined the Avengers who just fight or make robots- that they need to fight. So they can bring peace... So they can build better weapons... So they can fight... So they can bring peace...

 

[Tonguez]

The Kafer's in 2300AD have a physiology that rather than releasing a adrenaline to make them faster and stronger when threatened they release a hormone that speeds up the neural process and makes them more intelligent.

If exposed to the hormone over long periods then the effects last longer. So the smartest Kafers are their frontline warriors, their scientific progress comes through warfare. If they want someone to understand a complex problem they will hit them until they understand. Violence is seen as a way to solve problems. They of course assume other races are the same, so captured human prisoners are beaten, not out of malice or cruelty, but because they are trying to help them and make them understand what they are telling them.

In play the GM is instructed to play them dumb at the start of the fight but if it drags out, they start using tactics like bounding overwatch, flanking, etc.

heh, I had once proposed an alt-Barbarian whose Rage worked like that - he would gain better Int and Wis.
Also got to use Insight as a bonus action to gain + 1d6 'insight' damage. Later he got to reposition himself or his allies, impose disadvantage on enemies, then impose a condition and progressively become a tactical genius.

Didnt get the DM to approve it, so its remained an intellectual exercise

 

[GMMichael]

The Kafer's in 2300AD have a physiology that rather than releasing a adrenaline to make them faster and stronger when threatened they release a hormone that speeds up the neural process and makes them more intelligent.

This is brilliant. Cocaine instead of adrenaline.

If exposed to the hormone over long periods then the effects last longer. So the smartest Kafers are their frontline warriors . . .

This, not so much. The frontline is a great place to lose the smartest Kafers. How about the frontline commanders, instead?

their scientific progress comes through warfare.

. . . but this isn't far from human truth. Hence the brilliance.

In play the GM is instructed to play them dumb at the start of the fight but if it drags out, they start using tactics like bounding overwatch, flanking, etc.

If Kafers somehow survive the first portion of the fight, this is a recipe for TPK.

 

[Reynard]

How about a culture that does not know it is warlike because its psychology just doesn't make that distinction. Maybe they don't even recognize the people they are fighting as people. Perhaps they are machine or, in a fantasy setting, elementals naturals expanding their territory and not understanding what the squishies are all riled up about, treating humanity and other sapients as an infestation in an otherwise pristine environment. I like the idea of magmen, for example, expanding into a great dwarven kingdom. From the magmen perspective they are just moving into a perfect environment. From the dwarves' perspective, it is an invasion and existential war for survival.

 

[BookTenTiger]

How about a culture that does not know it is warlike because its psychology just doesn't make that distinction. Maybe they don't even recognize the people they are fighting as people. Perhaps they are machine or, in a fantasy setting, elementals naturals expanding their territory and not understanding what the squishies are all riled up about, treating humanity and other sapients as an infestation in an otherwise pristine environment. I like the idea of magmen, for example, expanding into a great dwarven kingdom. From the magmen perspective they are just moving into a perfect environment. From the dwarves' perspective, it is an invasion and existential war for survival.

I was just thinking about this too. A machine people who require the consumption of gold to support their circuit brains not recognizing organic beings as "living." Almost treating war as a mining operation.

 

[Dire Bare]

Having a warlike culture or species isn't a problem . . . it's when being "warlike" is a trait every member of that species or culture shares.

Klingons are a great example, as they started out as fairly cardboard cartoon villains with racial coding. but over the many years of Trek shows and movies, Klingons have been developed and become a more well-rounded alien culture. First was the pairing of war and honor . . . and later we get non-warrior Klingons including scientists and diplomats. There was even a recent episode of Lower Decks that introduced us to Klingon farmers!

Klingons have developed into a culture dominated by the warrior class . . . but not with all members being warriors. Non-warriors are second class citizens, but are important and vital parts of Klingon culture. Klingon culture is no longer monolithic and not all Klingons agree on how things should be done!

We can do the same with orcs. If orcs are a warlike culture of "barbarians" . . . sure, why not? Orc culture could be dominated by the warrior caste, but are all orcs warriors? Are orcs warlike because they are savage, bloodthirsty, and innately evil . . . or are they warlike like the Romans and plenty of other human cultures, to expand territory and acquire resources at the expense of their neighbors. Do all orcs agree with this aggressiveness? Or are orcs responding to colonialist humans, elves, and dwarves infringing on their ancestral territories?

We don't have to change orcs so much as develop their culture deeper, like Star Trek has done with the Klingons over time.

Heck, even the orcs in Tolkein's Middle-Earth get a smidge of development in this manner in the new Rings of Power TV show.

 

[Reynard]

NOTE: This is not a thread to debate the history of orcs. If you are choosing to participate, I ask that you please do so in a spirit of creativity and fun.

Having a warlike culture or species isn't a problem . . . it's when being "warlike" is a trait every member of that species or culture shares.

Klingons are a great example, as they started out as fairly cardboard cartoon villains with racial coding. but over the many years of Trek shows and movies, Klingons have been developed and become a more well-rounded alien culture. First was the pairing of war and honor . . . and later we get non-warrior Klingons including scientists and diplomats. There was even a recent episode of Lower Decks that introduced us to Klingon farmers!

Klingons have developed into a culture dominated by the warrior class . . . but not with all members being warriors. Non-warriors are second class citizens, but are important and vital parts of Klingon culture. Klingon culture is no longer monolithic and not all Klingons agree on how things should be done!

We can do the same with orcs. If orcs are a warlike culture of "barbarians" . . . sure, why not? Orc culture could be dominated by the warrior caste, but are all orcs warriors? Are orcs warlike because they are savage, bloodthirsty, and innately evil . . . or are they warlike like the Romans and plenty of other human cultures, to expand territory and acquire resources at the expense of their neighbors. Do all orcs agree with this aggressiveness? Or are orcs responding to colonialist humans, elves, and dwarves infringing on their ancestral territories?

We don't have to change orcs so much as develop their culture deeper, like Star Trek has done with the Klingons over time.

Heck, even the orcs in Tolkein's Middle-Earth get a smidge of development in this manner in the new Rings of Power TV show.