Re-balancing the 1/2 Orc for my own campaign

[Thurbane]

Hi all,

I am seriously considering cutting the 1/2 Orcs a break in the next campaign I run.

I have basically narrowed this down to one of two options:

A.) Drop the penalty to INT: ability modifers become +2 STR and -2 CHA

B.) Ability modifiers remain as is: 1/2 Orcs gain a bonus Feat at first level, exactly as a Human does

Now, does anyone foresee a problem with either of these modifications? Or have any other suggestions?

Thanks - T

 

[was]

I'd probably just drop the Int. penalty..It's a pretty common house rule

 

[Nadaka]

I would keep the int penalty, but give human bonus skill points.

This gives them a definatively human racial trait where the standard just seems to be a watered down version of the orc.

The skill bonus helps orcs with classes that use a lot of skills and offsets thier int penalty. This makes orcs better rogues, rangers, barbarians, and even bards. However, by retaining the int penalty, the orcs still make sub-par wizards (and to a lesser degree, bards).

Edit: I do see a few problems with your listed options.
Horcs are already a decent choice for melee combatants without arcane spellcasting or lots of skill uses. They are good fighters, barbarians (though the int penalty hurts with the decent skill set) and even clerics (though the charisma hurts thier turning). What they lack is the ability to do anything else.

1: removing the int penalty does indeed widen thier options, making them better as rangers, rogues, bards and wizards. That last one really doesn't fit the horc flavor, and the benifits of strength generally far outweigh that of charisma. I would say this is unbalanced. A more balanced option might be to remove the charisma penalty as intelligence seems more valuable.

2: adding a bonus feat makes them stronger where they are already strong and does little to increase thier versatility.

 

[Nifft]

IMC, Free Orcs (half-orcs) have these stats:
+2 Str, -2 Dex
Darkvision
+1 skill point per level (+4 at 1st level)

They are not finesse fighters.

-- N

EDIT: But of the options presented, I think the bonus Feat is the best. You could give half-elves the +1 skill point/level and thus split human traits amongst the half-humans.

Also, a bonus Feat is more fighter-ish, so it's a good fit for the fighter-ish half-orc.

 

[Terraism]

I'd go with "other." Personally, I remove their Charisma penalty. If you consider Charisma to reflect a sense of self or purpose, and not "teh hawtness," I tend to find that it very rarely fits any of the races. Plus, I still don't buy the argument that certain ability scores are more valuable than others.

That aside, I really like Nadaka's idea of keeping the Int penalty and yet giving them bonus skill points to compensate.

 

[SteelDraco]

I give them the Improved Toughness feat, and a +2 bonus to Intimidate and Survival. Makes them a little more tempting, while still seeming orcish.

The open bonus feat is, IMO, too good, and the exclusive province of the human. That's the big reason to play a human - you only get that and the skill points (and FC: Any, I suppose, but that's typically a non-issue). I wouldn't give the bonus feat to any character other than a human.

I don't like the idea of removing their Int penalty because I just don't see them being as smart as a human. Adding the human bonus skill points wouldn't be bad, to compensate for the Int penalty. As Nadaka said, it makes them better at a variety of classes, which is good - they're already fairly shoehorned into the big dumb warrior role.

 

[Klaus]

I already messed with the half-orcs waaay back in 2004, with two variants: half-human orcs (raised by orcs) and half-orc humans (raised by humans). The results can be seen here:

http://www.fierydragon.com/db/2004-05-27.htm

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I'd go with "other." Personally, I remove their Charisma penalty. If you consider Charisma to reflect a sense of self or purpose, and not "teh hawtness," I tend to find that it very rarely fits any of the races. Plus, I still don't buy the argument that certain ability scores are more valuable than others.

That aside, I really like Nadaka's idea of keeping the Int penalty and yet giving them bonus skill points to compensate.

I would also go with removing the charisma penalty. Int penalties do hurt a fighter a lot more than Cha penalties, and it's the fighter classes that benefit most from playing an Half-Orc, so it should also suffer some drawbacks.

For that reason, I would also recommend against adding a bonus feat, unless it is a preselected not neccessarily optimum one. A free bonus feat is to good.
For preselected, I'd suggest Toughness instead of Improved Toughness - again, Fighters will love a free Improved Toughness. Endurance is also a nice choice.

Alternatively, I would consider adding a +2 bonus to Intimidate and Survival and a +2 bonus to resist intimidation and fear effects.

 

[eschwenke]

I'd drop the Charisma penalty, but give them a penalty on Diplomacy and Bluff checks. Part of me likes the idea of Sorcerous Orcs/Half-Orcs.

 

[Pyrex]

I would keep the int penalty, but give human bonus skill points.

I really like this idea. It's a better balance overall than just removing the Int penalty.