We can’t have a conversation when you are being dismissive to the alternate position - “paper mask”
How else should we describe it? The position is that it cannot be offensive because it is a make-believe race and therefore it can't represent humans.
Or that it is fine to dehumanize orcs, because they aren't human anyways.
But both positions miss the point that this is the problem, not the solution. Saying "orcs aren't human, so we can dehumanize them" is the same exact logic that went into "X aren't really human, so it we don't need to treat them as human" that has plagued our world for centuries. And during those centuries, people used caricature and fiction to further drive the point home. Using make-believe to drive wedges by depicting certain traits, which just so happened to always fall onto minority or enemy people, by coincidence we swear, as traits of monsters, or comic relief.
Honestly, "it is a fictional story" has never been a defense that has any sort of strength behind it for any number of problematic depictions. Why should we accept it here?
Many people claim orcs are PoC. You're claiming they're indigenous people. Then you wonder why people have a problem pinpointing what the real problem is? Because if we have a monster that has any correlation to humans, it seems like some people have issues with any negative language being used. Then you go on to criticize a style of play which is only tangentially related because you are the arbiter of what is acceptable and not.
So that's the problem. People keep saying "it's been a problem for a long time" and "look at Tolkien's letter written in the middle of the 20th century" followed by a lot of things that are not in the current edition. Oh, and point to articles that associate orcs to whatever "other" people are being demonized at that point in time.
If we always pull in historical references and don't limit the argument to the current version of the game , I see no solution. The only option seems to be effectively eliminating orcs from the game.
Okay, let's do this I suppose.
Current Version of the game, direct quotes from MM, PHB and Volo's.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks. " -
Problem
"Tribes like Plagues. Orcs gather in tribes that exert their dominance and satisfy their bloodlust by plundering villages, devouring or driving
off roaming herds, and slaying any humanoids that stand against them. After savaging a settlement, orcs pick it clean of wealth and items usable in their own lands. They set the remains of villages and camps ablaze, then retreat whence they came, their bloodlust satisfied. " -
Problem
"Their lust for slaughter demands that orcs dwell always within striking distance of new targets. As such, they seldom settle permanently, instead converting ruins, cavern complexes, and defeated foes’ villages into fortified camps and strongholds. Orcs build only for defense, making no innovation or improvement to their lairs beyond mounting the severed body parts of their victims on spiked stockade walls or pikes jutting up from moats and trenches. "-
Problem
"Orc Crossbreeds. Luthic, the orc goddess of fertility and wife of Gruumsh, demands that orcs procreate often and indiscriminately so that orc hordes swell generation after generation. The orcs’ drive to reproduce runs stronger than any other humanoid race, and they readily crossbreed with other races. When an orc procreates with a non-orc humanoid of similar size and stature (such as a human or a dwarf), the resulting child is either an orc or a half-orc. When an orc produces young with an ogre, the child is a half-ogre of intimidating strength and brutish features called an ogrillon. "-
Problem
"orc and human tribes sometimes form alliances, joining forces into a larger horde to the terror of civilized lands nearby. "-
Problem
"Some half-orcs rise to become proud chiefs of orc tribes, their human blood giving them an edge over their full-blooded orc rivals. "-
Problem
"and notoriety for their barbaric customs and savage fury. "-
Problem
"Half-orcs’ grayish pigmentation, sloping foreheads, jutting jaws, prominent teeth, and towering builds make their orcish heritage plain for all to see. "-
Problem
"Other scars, though, mark an orc or half-orc as a former slave or a disgraced exile "-
Problem
"The same is true of half-orcs, though their human blood moderates the impact of their orcish heritage "-
Problem
"Others feel Gruumsh’s exultation when they join in melee combat — and either exult along with him or shiver with fear and loathing. Half-orcs are not evil by nature, but evil does lurk within them, whether they embrace it or rebel against it. "-
Problem
"The most accomplished half-orcs are those with enough self-control to get by in a civilized land. "-
Problem
"Whether proving themselves among rough barbarian tribes or scrabbling to survive in the slums of larger cities, half-orcs get by on their physical might, their endurance, and the sheer determination they inherit from their human ancestry. "-
Problem
"To feel the thunder of orcish war drums outside the gate and to hear a chorus of voices growling, “Gruumsh!” is the nightmare of every civilized place in the world. "-
Problem
"Savage and fearless, orc tribes are ever in search of elves, dwarves, and humans to destroy. Motivated by their hatred of the civilized races of the world "-
Problem
"This deep-seated uncertainty and fear comes forth in the form of savagery and relentlessness, as orcs ravage and kill to appease the gods in order to avoid their terrible retribution. "-
Problem
"Orcs are naturally chaotic and unorganized, acting on their emotions and instincts rather than out of reason and logic. "-
Problem
"Despite the influence of Ilneval, orcs are and will forever be brutal and feral in how they wage war. "-
Problem
"By invoking the power of superstitions, omens, and traditions, these claws of Luthic hold the tribe together through ritual, fear and, if necessary, force. "-
Problem
"Orcs survive through savagery and force of numbers. Theirs is a life that has no place for weakness, and every warrior must be strong enough to take what is needed by force. Orcs aren’t interested in treaties, trade negotiations or diplomacy. They care only for satisfying their insatiable desire for battle, to smash their foes and appease their gods. " -
Problem
"In order to replenish the casualties of their endless warring, orcs breed prodigiously (and they aren’t choosy about what they breed with, which is why such creatures as half-orcs and ogrillons are found in the world). "-
Problem
"Orcs don’t take mates, and no pair-bonding occurs in a tribe other than at the moment when coupling takes place. "-
Problem
"Orcs pillage and scavenge wherever they go "-
Problem
"Since orcs are poor crafters, most of their wagons are stolen from human or dwarven strongholds, "-
Problem
"The result is an orc horde — a sea of slavering killers that washes over the countryside and leaves vast tracts of devastation in its wake. "-
Problem
"As a race, orcs have no noteworthy universal social traits, but some commonality does exist in the crude written communication that all orcs employ and in the way that they use pigments to decorate and distinguish themselves and their lairs. "-
Problem
"Orcs believe that any seemingly unimportant discovery or event — a bear’s claw marks on a tree, a flock of crows, or a sudden gust of wind — might be a communication from the gods. "-
Problem
"they aren’t a literate culture and rarely keep records or write down their thoughts. When orcs need to communicate in writing, they use crude symbols to convey basic information, "-
Problem
"it’s possible that an orc, if raised outside its culture, could develop a limited capacity for empathy, love, and compassion. No matter how domesticated an orc might seem, its blood lust flows just beneath the surface. With its instinctive love of battle and its desire to prove its strength, an orc trying to live within the confines of civilization is faced with a difficult task."-
Problem
"Orc Flaws: I have a calm temperament and let insults roll off my back. , I don’t fear the gods and have no patience for superstitions, I understand the value of civilization and the order that society brings , I believe in living to fight another day" -
Problem
"The lore of humans depicts orcs as rapacious fiends, intent on coupling with other humanoids to spread their seed far and wide. "-
Problem
"A half-orc in an orc tribe is often just as strong as a full-blooded orc and also displays superior cunning. "-
Problem
"Orcs are consummate raiders. When they attack and overwhelm, they claim as booty anything of value that they can carry — and an orc’s definition of “value” can be very loose indeed. "-
Problem
TL;DR?
Orcs are savage, bestial, stupid and superstitious. They are uncultured, poor makers of things, illiterate and sexually voracious. They are violent and lustful no matter how they may appear. Half-Orcs, by tempering their orc parts with superior human intellect and control, can be leaders in an orc tribe, but their savage and brutal nature relegates them to the slums of human society.
And that is all 5e.
And to add to it? I cannot think off the top of my head, a single "tribal" race that is not seen as wild or evil, usually both.
