Today I’m going to vary the format a little, and talk about the
Orc Society that is outlined by Volo’s Guide; this will take enough time that we won’t discuss any of the individual Orc profiles in huge detail, but will instead look at how they are meant to work together, and what they tell us about Orc society in D&D. In subsequent entries we’ll then cover the six new statblocks from the book.
There are some very strong depictions of Orcs in fantasy gaming, for example the fungus hooligans of
Warhammer, the noble savages of
Warcraft and the howling hordes of
Lord of the Rings. It has not been my experience in the past that D&D Orcs had all that much to offer, being mostly faceless goons to be slaughtered, and lacking the character of their Goblin cousins (though I do not believe that the races are related at all in D&D, unlike in Warhammer). Certainly, they never made much of an impact on me in any of the computer games. With
Volo’s Guide to Monsters, it seems that the designers have striven to really make the Orcs of D&D different, by providing an image of a religiously-driven culture, each individual in a tribe given a place by their relationship to the Orc pantheon. The followers of each god - from Gruumsh to Luthic to Ilneval - takes inspiration from their deity, and the tribe makes a place for them in the fabric of its society. This is described in usefully vague terms, such that we can imagine an entirely-Luthic themed group of Orcs that the players could meet, or there could be a group of Luthic worshippers inside any given Orc warband, of any size. The writeup in chapter one is super helpful for understanding what an Orc tribe does and how it functions, when it isn’t raiding Elves or whatever. There is also a stunning image of an Elf hiding from his Orc pursuers, one of the best pieces of art in the book.
Let’s quickly look at the Orc Gods:
Gruumsh - leader, war god, fights endlessly with Maglubiyet the Goblin god on the plains of Acheron, which is the one with all the cubes.
Ilneval - War, tactics
Bahgtru - War, strength
These three together are the ‘main’ gods, the ones who direct the military activities of the Orcs, and whose followers your players will encounter the most.
Luthic - Motherhood, protecting the home
Yurtrus - Illness, Death
Shargaas - Stealth, Darkness, Murder
These three are focused much more on how the tribe functions. Shargaas’ agents cull the weak members of the tribe, keeping it strong. Yurtrus’ remove the dead and dying, performing necromantic rituals to honour the victorious fallen. Luthic’s cult maintains the whelping pens, forges, and workshops of the tribe, managing both the next generation and the material of life and war.
Apart from Bahgtru, each god has dedicated statblocks for their followers. The followers of Bahgtru don’t get their own entry - but are instead simply Orcs who ride Aurochs, which helpfully answers the question of ‘what cavalry do Orcs have?’ In addition, you will find that the Monster Manual has a pair of combatants that fit into this schema - the Eye of Gruumsh, who are shamans and support casters, the Orogs, who are usually part of the cult of Luthic, and the Chieftains, who are granted their power over other Orcs by Gruumsh’s will - indeed, the text suggests that an Orc
cannot lead a tribe without this blessing, as the other Orcs are just not inclined to listen to one without the God’s backing. It seems that this is not even an explicitly visible thing, but just something more subliminal, but I think you have a lot of flexibility in that regard, if you want a chieftain’s succession to be a plot point in your game.
Orc - CR 1/2, MM 246
Orc Nurtured One of Yurtrus - CR 1/2, VGtM 184
Orog - CR 2, MM 247
Orc Claw of Luthic - CR 2, VGtM 183
Orc Eye of Gruumsh - CR 2, MM 247
Orc Hand of Yurtrus - CR 2, VGtM 184
Orc Red Fang of Shargaas - CR 3, VGtM 185
Orc War Chief - CR 4, MM 246
Orc Blade of Ilneval - CR 4, VGtM 183
Tanarukk - CR 5, VGtM 186
Also note the
Aurochs (CR 2, VGtM 207), which you’ll need for Bahgtru’s lads. The Tanarukk is kind of outside the normal structure, as we’ll discuss in its entry. So overall what we have here is a long and interesting list of ‘evil chaotic green people’, but one that actually has a lot of versatility. We get a ‘leader’ type in the Blade of Ilneval. The War Chief is good for slashing characters into gibbets as well as buffing his allies. The Claw of Luthic is a healing cleric with a claw strike in melee, the Hand of Yurtrus is a harming cleric with a necrotic touch, and the Eye of Gruumsh is a controlling cleric with a spear. The Orcish gods provide all of the spellcasting statblocks for the Orcs, making them the divine-spellcaster-focus race as compared to the arcane-spellcaster-focus of the Kobolds and Goblinoids. The Red Fang gives you a sneaky Orc, and the Nurtured One of Yurtrus gives you a suicide bomber. The Orc is a standard melee combatant, while the Orog is a tougher and stronger, yet still simple, option. In short, you now have a wide range of Orcs to draw on to challenge your players, before you even begin to look at things like Ettins, Giants and Giant Bats. I’m especially pleased with this for the Orcs, since their entries combine societal elements with combat statistics - a fight against Yurtrus’ followers is going to be very different from one against Ilnevals, both in location and in tactics, even if both take place inside the same lair.
We’ll pick it up with the first of the Orc entries tomorrow, as I think that this post is now long enough that we can afford to let it stand on its own.
