Have We Seen Half-Orcs Yet?

[Wormwood]

I hate the "orcs as klingons" mentality. What's wrong with having a race of engineered super soldiers bent on destruction and chaos?

*shrug* Not a thing. Knock yourself out.

"Orcs as Klingons", though? That sounds pretty good to me.

 

[Reynard]

"Orcs as Klingons", though? That sounds pretty good to me.

See Eberron and pretty much any other setting that makes the orc a PC race. I find it an interesting comment on the human condition that the surest way to make a vioolent, brutal, and/or stupid group acceptable is to slap on a "warrior's code" -- the Pope did it with knights (armored thugs), the emperor did it with the Samurai in medieval Japan, we do it now with [... ] the Vikings, and D&D does it with orcs, gnolls and any other humanoid group.

 

[Nifft]

"Orcs as Klingons", though? That sounds pretty good to me.

Same here. IMHO Klingons were basically orcs in space. With silly exotic two-handed double slashing axe thingies. But then they got developed and became more interesting than their inspiration.

Stealing the good stuff back is fair play.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Nifft]

I find it an interesting comment on the human condition that the surest way to make a vioolent, brutal, and/or stupid group acceptable is to slap on a "warrior's code"

Indeed.

Cheers, -- N

 

[FourthBear]

Same here. IMHO Klingons were basically orcs in space. With silly exotic two-handed double slashing axe thingies. But then they got developed and became more interesting than their inspiration.

Yep, although in the original series, they were a lot more sneaky, Evil Empire style enemies. The whole violent, honor-obsessed stuff didn't really start to set in until novels well after the original series, as I recall.

 

[Wormwood]

See Eberron and pretty much any other setting that makes the orc a PC race. I find it an interesting comment on the human condition that the surest way to make a vioolent, brutal, and/or stupid group acceptable is to slap on a "warrior's code" -- the Pope did it with knights (armored thugs), the emperor did it with the Samurai in medieval Japan, we do it now with the American Indian and Vikings, and D&D does it with orcs, gnolls and any other humanoid group.

Yeah, I get it.

But I dig Knights and Samurai and Vikings and Klingons and Kilrathi and Luxans and . . . hmm. Looks like Orcs would fit in there just fine.

Personal preference and all that.

 

[Wormwood]

Yep, although in the original series, they were a lot more sneaky, Evil Empire style enemies. The whole violent, honor-obsessed stuff didn't really start to set in until novels well after the original series, as I recall.

Yep, they went from Red Menace stand-ins to samurai warriors with trilobites on their heads---with great stories being told on both ends of that artistic spectrum.

 

[Reynard]

Yeah, I get it.

But I dig Knights and Samurai and Vikings and Klingons and Kilrathi and Luxans and . . . hmm. Looks like Orcs would fit in there just fine.

Personal preference and all that.

Me too. It's just that I also like having an iconic evil, nasty race as a DM, and orcs fit the bill perfectly.

 

[Mad Mac]

Me too. It's just that I also like having an iconic evil, nasty race as a DM, and orcs fit the bill perfectly.

I can understand that, since I both play and DM. The PHB really needs a brutish "Honorable Warrior Guy" race for players, though, and Orcs are usually the most popular for that role. Hobgoblins are probably 2nd choice. Half-Orcs work, but they also a few big shortcomings.

A. They're kinda weak, mechanically.

B. It's hard to justify an entire PC race that presumably descends from rape or other unpleasentness. Tieflings are getting a reworked backstory with the jump to PHB status. Half-Orcs should have gotten something similar.

C. They're still just watered down Orcs, so they aren't as cool as the real thing, IMO.

So overall, I'd be displeased with losing Half-Orcs in the PHB, but I could be easily mollified with the inclusion of another race that fills the same Niche.

 

[Yergi]

Indeed.

Cheers, -- N

Getting lost in the Wikipedia is bad enough, but now you show me a wiki full of media tropes?! I'm never gonna get anything productive done again! Curse you, Nifft!