What if? Orcs that just keep growing.

[Olgar Shiverstone]

This is how we handle kobolds. They usually don't live long enough to get very big, but when they do...

So that's where tarrasques come from!

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There's some old-skool D&D logic to this: goblins as 1 HD monsters, hobgoblins as 2 HD goblins, bugbears as 3 HD goblins, etc ...

 

[Kaodi]

So that's where tarrasques come from!

Meepo, is that you?

 

[Hand of Evil]

I have always made orc and hobgoblins one and the same in my games. Orc/Hobgoblins produce goblins, which is basicly a creature that is ready to live on it's own from the momment of birth. If it makes it, it becomes a orc by mutation, bigger stronger. Hobgoblins are just lawful/organized orcs.

 

[Umbran]

This is largely a myth.

I stand corrected. It seems you are correct for the tropicals one usually keeps in home tanks.

Any number of species, however, can have their size controlled by diet - even humans. There's a clear correlation between the average height of humans and the amount of protein and calcium in their diet, for example. And this isn't at the level of "malnourishment". I'm over six feet tall. With a diet lower in certain nutrients when I was younger, I might have been perfectly healthy but only 5'10" tall.

There are also any number of examples where we can point to environment impacting the development of some species. There are fish and frogs, for example, that can undergo change of sex depending on what is in the local populations. And for pretty much all invertebrates, life comes at them in several stages, and they transform from one to another.

So, maybe a goblin's one stage, an orc the next, then ogre, then hill giant, all triggered by age, or some other factor.

 

[Windjammer]

This is actually how Orcs function in the Warhammer Fantasy universe, where together with goblins and snotlings they form a common race, the 'greenskins'. The various subspecies of the greenskins kind of grow from one stage to the next, owing to their metabolism. E.g. here's a quote from the Warmaster Army book, page 17 (PDF is freely available at GW webpage), with added emphasis:

Orcs are the largest and most ferocious of the greenskinned races
and they dominate the smaller Goblins and Snotlings almost
completely. Despite this many independent Goblin tribes
continue to live deep in the forests and mountains of the Old
World as well as in the Worlds Edge Mountains and beyond.
These smaller greenskins are far better adapted to life below
ground and in the dense forests because they are smarter and
more nimble-fingered than Orcs. This is why Orc tribes always
include Goblin slaves to make armour and weapons, and do such
practical stuff as Orcs either can't be bothered with or just don't
understand. The smallest of these creatures are called Snotlings,
tiny sub-goblins that live amongst and alongside their larger
relatives. They are occasionally pressed to simple tasks but for
the most part they are regarded as pests, treated like pets, or
enthusiastically eaten - for all greenskins are cannibals though
they prefer human flesh when they can get it.

The Orc way of life is war. Every Orc measures his worth by the
number of enemies he has slain - and also the number of friends,
for Orcs fight each other all the time. By fighting they establish
which of them is best and this is reflected in their curious
metabolism. The more dominant an Orc becomes the bigger he
grows so it is always easy to see which Orcs are in charge and
who is boss - just look for the big guy.

 

[Pbartender]

Any number of species, however, can have their size controlled by diet - even humans. There's a clear correlation between the average height of humans and the amount of protein and calcium in their diet, for example. And this isn't at the level of "malnourishment". I'm over six feet tall. With a diet lower in certain nutrients when I was younger, I might have been perfectly healthy but only 5'10" tall.

Yep... "malnourished" was probably a bit of hyperbole, but that's exactly the point I was aiming for. The difference can be seen between my parents (who grew up in large families on poor, rural farms during the Great Depression) and my kids (who are growing up in a small family in modestly affluent modern-day suburbia)... At 13 and 11, both my kids are taller than their grandmother, and my son wears the same size shoe I do.

There are also any number of examples where we can point to environment impacting the development of some species. There are fish and frogs, for example, that can undergo change of sex depending on what is in the local populations. And for pretty much all invertebrates, life comes at them in several stages, and they transform from one to another.

There are such wonderful oddities in nature, aren't there?

So, I'm not saying it couldn't happen with orcs (Maybe that's why orcs all live underground... If they move out of the confines of a cave system, they eventually grow into ogres.) but I hate it when people perpetuate that particular myth about goldfish. It's seems like a recipe for unintentional animal cruelty, that's all.

So, maybe a goblin's one stage, an orc the next, then ogre, then hill giant, all triggered by age, or some other factor.

I had a similar thought last night... What if orcs were like tadpoles?

 

[Umbran]

It's seems like a recipe for unintentional animal cruelty, that's all.

If it matters, I have an excellent record with fish. I haven't kept goldfish, but I've had kissing gourami - the species is generally expected to live for 4 to 5 years in captivity, and mine went for 9 years. So I must have been dong something right.

I had a similar thought last night... What if orcs were like tadpoles?

That'd be one dang ugly frog, is what.

 

[DMH]

There are such wonderful oddities in nature, aren't there?

Yes, there are: Biological Concepts (a thread to keep my real and fantastic biological concepts for any game but the examples mentioned are my Mutant Future creations)

When I started playing around with reciprocal hybrids, I wondered why no one else had. It isn't like mule/hinny and tion/liger recip. hybrids are completely unknown to the public.

As for orcs growing throughout their lifespan, I am not that keen for humanoids to have "eternal growth". Lots of other creatures like aboleths, gricks and owlbears, sure. Humanoids that constantly grow have to have a lot more stuff like housing and tools.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

As for orcs growing throughout their lifespan, I am not that keen for humanoids to have "eternal growth". Lots of other creatures like aboleths, gricks and owlbears, sure. Humanoids that constantly grow have to have a lot more stuff like housing and tools.

Point taken, and agreed with mostly. However, what you see as a "bug" others (including me) may see as a feature.

The reason hill giants don't have houses, and live in the hills? They can't live in orc dwellings anymore, they would eat too much of the village's food (and so are always hungry....not benevolent to the village), what little orcs know about crafting is hard to put into larger scale (hence club usage) and so on.

 

[Kaodi]

Do slaads not basically work on this principle? And demons too, though not supported by crunch so much?

You could do lots of strange transformations this way though, and even do different things for different gender... like a male brownie --> quickling --> elf --> treant line with a female brownie --> pixie --> elf --> dryad line.