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Two underlying truths: D&D heritage and inclusivity
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<blockquote data-quote="Olrox17" data-source="post: 8018283" data-attributes="member: 6801397"><p>I appreciate what the OP is trying to accomplish in this thread. I have some ideas.</p><p></p><p>- The -2 Int penalty for orc can go, and already has for Eberron orcs. Orcs being low IQ is not, I feel, a necessary part of their heritage. Not even Tolkien orcs would necessarily qualify as dumb to me, honestly.</p><p></p><p>- Different settings could and should have different depictions of races. FR halfings are good people, DS halflings are evil cannibalistic xenophobes. Greyhawk orcs should be allowed to be almost demonic, while Eberron orcs are just people.</p><p></p><p>- In worlds where Gruumsh is present, it may be a little easier to have 95% of orcs as evil. A literal god, a meddling one to boot, created this race and wants it to be like him. Gruumsh uses his power to actively influence orc society, and handsomely rewards the destruction of any orc tribe that chooses to defy his will. Think greek god levels of pettiness.</p><p></p><p>- So, if we established that orcish society <em>can</em> be <em>almost</em> monolithically evil in the right setting and with the right story, how to represent evil orcs well? We removed the -2 Int, so they're not dumb, primitive savages.</p><p>My take: all orcs have a powerful fury in their hearts.</p><p>Orcs that are evil (because of the influence of beings like Gruumsh or Iuz, or out of free choice) channel that fury for violent, wanton destruction, and they're little more than earthly demons.</p><p>Orcs that are good feel great, righteous fury in the face of evil and do everything in their power to stop it.</p><p>We might even have lawful neutral orcs being judge dredd types, and chaotic neutral orcs being true anarchists. Oh, and true neutral orcs might embody that strange "everything must be in balance" ideal that I hear was common in early D&D.</p><p>Bottom line, evil orcs are scary and dangerous. Good orcs are also scary and dangerous...to their foes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Olrox17, post: 8018283, member: 6801397"] I appreciate what the OP is trying to accomplish in this thread. I have some ideas. - The -2 Int penalty for orc can go, and already has for Eberron orcs. Orcs being low IQ is not, I feel, a necessary part of their heritage. Not even Tolkien orcs would necessarily qualify as dumb to me, honestly. - Different settings could and should have different depictions of races. FR halfings are good people, DS halflings are evil cannibalistic xenophobes. Greyhawk orcs should be allowed to be almost demonic, while Eberron orcs are just people. - In worlds where Gruumsh is present, it may be a little easier to have 95% of orcs as evil. A literal god, a meddling one to boot, created this race and wants it to be like him. Gruumsh uses his power to actively influence orc society, and handsomely rewards the destruction of any orc tribe that chooses to defy his will. Think greek god levels of pettiness. - So, if we established that orcish society [I]can[/I] be [I]almost[/I] monolithically evil in the right setting and with the right story, how to represent evil orcs well? We removed the -2 Int, so they're not dumb, primitive savages. My take: all orcs have a powerful fury in their hearts. Orcs that are evil (because of the influence of beings like Gruumsh or Iuz, or out of free choice) channel that fury for violent, wanton destruction, and they're little more than earthly demons. Orcs that are good feel great, righteous fury in the face of evil and do everything in their power to stop it. We might even have lawful neutral orcs being judge dredd types, and chaotic neutral orcs being true anarchists. Oh, and true neutral orcs might embody that strange "everything must be in balance" ideal that I hear was common in early D&D. Bottom line, evil orcs are scary and dangerous. Good orcs are also scary and dangerous...to their foes. [/QUOTE]
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