What do your Orcs look like?

[Filby]

Ok - my orcs are a little strange. They look, physically, like the 3e MM orcs, I think - hairy, bestial features, tusky/fang teeth, a little slouched over, big hands, long arms...

But their culture... oi.

Imagine for a moment, if you will, what would have happened if the Norse, at the height of their civilization, had invaded the Polynesian/Hawaiian islands, at the height of theirs.

Yup - orcish barbarians in grass skirts, sailing square-sailed outriggered boats around a huge archipelago, and crushing heads.

Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

Actually... that reminds me of the kara-kara from the OD&D module Drums on Fire Mountain. They were an orc offshoot with a pseudo-Polynesian culture, who lived on a small island claimed by the empire of Thyatis in Mystara's Known World.

Incidentially, the kara-kara exist in my setting as a subrace of Homo orcus... they refused to worship Gruumsh, so the "normal" orcs made war on them, forcing them to flee across the ocean to my world's analogue to the Pacific rim.

 

[Mark Plemmons]

I mean, does your campaign favor a certain "style" of Orc?

That's an easy one. Desert (brown), common, black, gray, and arctic (white) orcs - see attachment. And, of course, Fury in the Wastelands: the Orcs of Tellene - though there's plenty of info for any setting there.

(Please forgive the quality of the scan - I don't have access to my art files at the moment.)

 

[Mark Plemmons]

Oh, and for the poll, I voted for "more than one of the above."

Generally speaking, the orcs of Tellene are only describable as evil personified. No act of terror, violence or debauchery is too low for an orc to perform. They are inherently greedy and always desire more than they already possess (this was ingrained in them by the Creator of Strife (a deity)). Unfortunately (for the orcs), cowardice also runs deep in their veins, and they usually only attack when they outnumber the enemy.

Our hobgoblins, on the other hand, value strength and honor, and are much like the Klingons mentioned above. Of course, this is obvious from the title of their book - Strength and Honor: the Mighty Hobgoblins of Tellene.

 

[dren]

green skin, large, rotund body with tusks...looking exactly like this guy my kind of orc

 

[Brennin Magalus]

(Please forgive the quality of the scan - I don't have access to my art files at the moment.)

I admire whomever does the artwork for Kalamar books. Would that be you?

 

[Pants]

I use 3EMM Orcs for my err... Orcs. More specifically, I envision them as on Lockwood's wonderful Hunter's Blades Covers.

Hobgoblins look like LotR Uruk-Hai, with more of a reddish tint to their skin.

Goblins look like orcs/goblins in LotR.

 

[skinnydwarf]

I mean, does your campaign favor a certain "style" of Orc?

I generally think of orcs as they appear in various Warhammer products. I never really describe them that much, though, I just let everyone imagine orcs as they wish.

 

[mmadsen]

Degenerate subhuman man-apes. And half-orcs are degenerate subhuman ape-men. (C'mon, Robert E. Howard's original Conan stories are back in print; let's see some love!)

 

[Tonguez]

There's also my one-time PC, the half-orc barbarian/sorceror Leksy, seen here with a big sword :http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/hosted/Pozas/Pictures/Wallpapers/tendaria_wp.jpg With a Charisma of 14, he's, like, the George Clooney of half-orcs
.

You know for a Orc he is kind 'f sexy!

(ps although the form you give them is closer to my conception of Hobgoblins.

Orcs in my mind are broader and more squat (imc they are taller than humans but have a stooped stance which makes them appear shorter)

 

[Samuel Leming]

My orcs are close to human. Much as Claudio Pozas draws them but with bigger tusks. Good job Claudio!

I don't think I care much for the ape-like Orc from the 3E Monster Manual. At the back of the 3.0 Players Handbook they had a short section of monsters. The picture given for the Ogre is the same as the Monster Manual Orc. I wonder if they originally intended that illustration for the Ogre. Consider the size of the skull on the belt...

Sam