half-orcs -- locked into stereotype?

[Driddle]

I know the traditional role of orcs and their half-human offspring in the fantasy setting. Everyone knows about orcs. Repeating the details of their less-than-genteel society would be pointless.

But when you play a half-orc character, does he (or she) always follow type? Is it assumed that a 50-percent cut of orc blood must lead the person to act and look a certain way?

Or do you seek ways to break the mold and play an uncommon half-orc?

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

My wife actually plays a fair number of Half-Orcs, and with a fair variety, depending on their lineage and region of origin.

Those derived from Guadalantean Half-orc stock tend to be like pretty much everyone else in Guadalante, squirrelly cattle rustling ne'er do wells with an affinity for (other folk's) horses, loyal dogs, imported whiskey, and high adventure. They can fake being civilized, but basically they're drifters. Crossbows, lassoes, and whips.

The Half-Orcs who are dervied from orcs and Kadgarrim humans are reserved and quiet, but deadly dangerous with the double ax. They make terrific mercenaries for adventurers.

Any from the Eastern Peaks are proud and high cultured, but fairly xenophobic. Their brutush appearance belies their true nature. Many have adopted the use of polearms and longbows, but these are by far the most magically-inclined half-orc/orcs in the campaign.

Goblin-lands-bred Half-Orcs are tribal and inquisitive, but tend toward superstition. Generally, they cannot be counted on for anything but very short-term arrangements, but are occasionally pressed into the service of the Imperial Army in the ongoing campaign against the goblin and kobold clans. Spears are the weapon to expect from them.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

I played an aristocratic half-orc once-- the (obviously) illegitimate son of a local Duchess, who adventured to earn the wealth, respect, and power that his younger half-brother received automatically from birth.

Left the game the third or fourth time that one of my idiotic co-players told me I was "playing my character wrong".

 

[reanjr]

I know the traditional role of orcs and their half-human offspring in the fantasy setting. Everyone knows about orcs. Repeating the details of their less-than-genteel society would be pointless.

But when you play a half-orc character, does he (or she) always follow type? Is it assumed that a 50-percent cut of orc blood must lead the person to act and look a certain way?

Or do you seek ways to break the mold and play an uncommon half-orc?

I neither follow stereotype or seek to break it. I just play a character. This is the brief backstory of the only half-orc I've ever played:

Farm-lass goes walking through farm. Finds near-dead orc (beaten and banished from tribe for something I no longer remember). At first, she thinks it's a largeman, so she goes to help. Finds out it's an orc, helps anyway (gets a wheelbarrow and carts him home). Her father decides to tend to the poor, bedraggled man and in return, the orc offers to work on the farm; great boon to farmer - guy's real beefy. After years, strange feelings appear between the lass and the orc. Out pops my character a while later. Raised among the family. Very popular among kids in town, cause he's a bit weird, but strong and kind, making him interesting. Father dies at some point, somehow. Gets a bit of wanderlust and goes out to see the world.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I think they're often forced into those steriotypes partly by the way that they are built. Negatives to intelligence and charisma reinforces that they won't be arcane casters, will be stupid, and won't be very likable. Not that this is a good or bad thing. It is merely a thing. (Sorry, Andy! Just kidding!)

I break them out as NPCs when I think it works. The PCs recently ran into a very well versed half-orc druid who was the speaker for an ogre warlord who couldn't speak common. Even though he was a half orc he was more of an affluent manipulator type villians. They also partied with an NPC half-orc druid for a while who seemed to act more like an elf than a half-orc. That was fairly interesting.

 

[PoppaGunch]

My old gaming group would kill Half-orcs accidentally, saying their characters, who were Dwarves and Elves didn't like anything doing with Orcs. They didn't make it very fun to play an orc. Needless to say this is one of the reasons I call them my "old" gaming group.

 

[Turanil]

Or do you seek ways to break the mold and play an uncommon half-orc?

I did play a half-orc that wasn't your run of the mill agressive and sociopathic half-orc. This character wasn't the by product of an unfortunate encounter between a woman and an orc raider. Instead he came from a village where most people were more or less half-orcs, having been such for countless generations. So, peasants were in fact dull but sturdy half-orcs, despite they weren't considered half-breed, but were considered lowly peasants. The nobles on the other hand were humans, some of them having draconic blood or what not. In any case, my character (a ranger-fighter) was a LG obedient "commoner", employed as a squire by a half-human/half-dragon paladin (another PC). I always did play this character like this: a tough but humble and obedient squire.

 

[Turanil]

My wife actually plays a fair number of Half-Orcs <...>

I have a friend, here in France, whose wife almost only plays half-orcs (whether in D&D or LARP). Funny to see another player's wife mostly play half-orcs too.

 

[Klaus]

Although I played Leksy (half-orc Barnarian/Sorceror), he was far more educated than most half-orcs. He was raised by his human mother, who hailed from a gipsy-like society that put great emphasis on the sorceror tradition. And Leksy always dreaded the thought of growing to become like his father's kin, yet couldn't completely escape the wild beating of his heart.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I've been thinking about playing a half-orc bard. He'd be more of a "skald" really.

I'll admit that my favorite character to play is a half-orc barbarian/cleric of Pelor. He puts the "fun" in fundamentalism. People have left the room when I cast Atonement.