D&D 5E (2014) So,whats up with those half orcs?

[Blue]

I think I've seen every race but gnomes pointed out as "the best".

But gnomes give advantage against magic for a full half the saves. They are THE BEST.

 

[Wolf118]

I've played a Half-Orc Champion. It was awesome when the crit triggered on a 19. But that only happens an extra 5% of the time. Most of the time, he was up front, swinging away with his 2H axe bellowing "Hassan Chop!" (XP if you get the reference)

I never had to use the Relentless Endurance trait; our group was pretty good with tactics and managing resources. But if you want to play a class without worrying about too many choices on your turn, a Champion fighter, regardless of race, is the best choice. Get in there!

 

[Gadget]

Personally, I've never been a fan of the "Klingon-ification" of orcs & half-orcs in modern D&D, so I have always discouraged their use when I could. But that is more of a personal preference thing.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Human druid (not variant, even), gnome ranger, dragonborn barbarian.
The gnome is the only one yet to drop to 0hp. Gnomes. Are. Awesome. I have commented on this before

 

[Tony Vargas]

I can see how the not-dropping ability would be awesome for a fighter (it makes Second Wind suddenly genuinely useful) or any healer (always bad when they drop) at low level. That doesn't sound any worse than the variant human's feat at 1st level. 'Good for some builds at low level' isn't a huge red flag.

 

[Dausuul]

Half-orc wizards? Uh... wha? I don't understand. You don't get the bonus crit die on spell attacks (it's melee weapons only). You don't get an Int bonus. The Str bonus is wasted on a wizard. Basically all you're getting is the half-orc Con bonus, darkvision, and the ability to take an extra hit once per long rest. That doesn't seem remotely worth it. Survival-obsessed wizard players are much better off as dwarves than half-orcs.

 

[Grakarg]

Multiple tables running but so far I'm gaming with:
Dragonborn Paladin, Human Sorc, Elven Ranger, Half-Elven Bard, Tiefling Cleric
Dragonborn Sorc, Half-Orc Barbarian, Halfling Rogue, Half-Elven Druid
Human Fighter, Half-Elven Bard, Elven Ranger, Elven Cleric. Lotta elvishness in this group, the human even speak elvish is the brother of the half-elven bard.

So far Half-Orcs haven't dominated at all really.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Daasul I think it's more for the roleplaying than the roll playing - Drizztification possibly, but why shouldn't a wizard be hench? There's many a scholar I know that would make Fafhrd pause for thought. All that running and bench pressing must be good, repetitive opportunities for spell memorisation...

 

[redrick]

I love the idea of an all half-orc table. That could set up all sorts of fun hooks.

I've had one half-orc barbarian/cleric, but he had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. So far, I think we've had:

5 humans
3 half-elves
1 elf
1 dragonborn
1 dwarf
1 half-orc

I play Encounters sometimes as well, but those groups shift so much that I couldn't do an accurate tally from memory. Haven't run into any half-orcs there, though.

Personally, I like humans for rp reasons. On the other hand, I'm playing a human rogue at the gaming store at the moment, and not having darkvision is a real limitation for that character build.

 

[Chocolategravy]

If you're not taking advantage of the +2 STR then they are not going to be your best race choice. Certainly won't dominate the race choice even if you're playing in a campaign where you regularly use the relentless endurance ability.