D&D General what would a good orc culture be like?

[Unwise]

I'd make them Inuit probably. You have to be tough as nails to live in the frozen tundra. It supports clan bonds. They are hunting and fighting terrifying animals both at sea and on land. That supports a hunter culture and need for strength. The land and weather itself requires that you sometimes make the tough call and people have to die. A particularly hard winter or a bad migration pattern could see them moving into 'softer' lands of other folks, probably leading to conflict.

 

[Crimson Terrain]

My "good" orc society are "god" killers (99% of the gods are false pretender gods). They revere their ancestors embrace all people's who are citizens as Orcs and are highly industrial. They are still a culture of warriors but they admire wisdom in their leaders over raw power.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Depends how much you want to go into values dissonance. For example, much like the Mandalorians, they could be a warrior race open to anyone who can prove themselves and live according to their cultural values. They would thus be less racist than many other fantasy cultures, which would make our age look on them favorably. Elves look askance at anyone who can't prove elvish ancestors to the third generation (and introduce you to them), humans want you to be at least half-human to fit in, but anyone can be an orc if they can survive for a year and a day and fight in three battles.

We (and I'm going to go with 'Anglophone countries' for 'we' since I'm an American writing in English on a British board) haven't fought a big, existential war in a while, so we tend to look down on the usual values of warrior cultures like ferocity (indeed, the popularity of RPGs set in the preindustrial world may be a way of vicariously expressing that part of ourselves). But you could foreground other values like bravery and fortitude--as Bedrockgames suggests, perhaps paladinish, or mix that with the samurai if you want a different feel. Closeness to nature could be another one they could have that some moderns appreciate--as Vaalingrade says, they could have the best druids. You could also have them fighting something much worse--it's only the Orc Nations at the border of the Abyss that keep demons, dragons, or Cthulhoid monstrosities from overrunning the world.

What we're not going to have (unless you are specifically going counterstereotype, which is an option of course) are bookish or bureaucratic orcs. The orcish stereotype has gone from 'evil' in Tolkien to 'martial non-state societies', I'd say.

If you want to go with 'neutral' rather than 'good', you can look at the way nomadic societies were organized--after all, all the histories are written by state societies. Genghis Khan unified the Silk Road and was quite tolerant religiously--but he killed a lot of Chinese people. The Goths were just trying to stay a step ahead of the Huns when they ran into the Roman Empire, but we all know what happened next. Good? Bad? Well, speaking of gigantic melancholies and mirth, who's your chronicler? I mean, all the propaganda about orcs is obviously made up by effete elves who enslaved them three hundred years ago and greedy humans looking for cheap labor in their cities who are now trying to excuse themselves.

I find it odd you think Anglophone cultures look down on martial cultures. Indeed, coming from a non American but still Anglophone culture American culture, with its “armed citizenry”, patriotism and “respect the troops” comes across as quite martial to me. In fact some of the more milder next takes on orcs make me wonder if you wanted a “good” aligned orc society, you might not to be too far off with the United Orcish States

 

[MGibster]

do not just say WoW as that is just a cheap answer.

I might model them off the Mongols. As with the Mongolians in real life, there could be different tribes with some being decent and others being brutish as needed by the campaign.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

A good orc culture?

One that follows the ideals of 4e Kord, honors spirits/ancestors, and values clan and family without being judgmental.

Strength is what matters, but you don't show your strength by hurting the weak--anyone can do that. You show your strength by achieving great things, by using your strength to lead, by overcoming challenges and pushing the bounds of what is possible. Be like the storm: the speed of lightning, the power of thunder, the howl of the wind--but also the nurturing rain. Use your strength with honor.

Respect from ancestors and spirits would be high as well. The world is a beautiful thing, it should be protected, nurtured, honored, and respected. Those who came before you have carved the path, it is your responsibility to walk it, and then to carve a new path for those who will follow after you. The land gave you life; return life to the land when you can.

Blood is important. Care for those of your blood. Embrace the joy of new blood mingling with your own, should that blood prove worthy. Avenge wrongs committed against your blood as though they were against you, but hold your blood to the standard of honor you hold yourself to as well. If you cannot rely on your family by blood, build a family by choice.

If you prefer, you could simplify it to "Klingons, except their beloved cultural hero is Uncle Iroh from Avatar: the Last Airbender."

 

[MGibster]

I find it odd you think Anglophone cultures look down on martial cultures. Indeed, coming from a non American but still Anglophone culture American culture, with its “armed citizenry”, patriotism and “respect the troops” comes across as quite martial to me.

"Most of us don't think of America as a warrior culture, and aren't comfortable thinking about it, but we have the largest military budget in the world with bases all over the world." -- My American Cultures professor.

Unfortanately I don't think I can go into much detail for fear of running afoul of the very reasonable rules regarding political discussion here. But for orcs, I could see the nobles thanking them for their service and telling them how valorious they are and how they represent the best the Empire has to offer. But when an orc comes home minus an arm, when he no longer fits into civilian life and has no place among us, when his reward for years of service is a plot of land on the ass end of the empire he doesn't know what to do with, how much is he really valued?

 

[QuentinGeorge]

"Most of us don't think of America as a warrior culture, and aren't comfortable thinking about it, but we have the largest military budget in the world with bases all over the world." -- My American Cultures professor.

Unfortanately I don't think I can go into much detail for fear of running afoul of the very reasonable rules regarding political discussion here. But for orcs, I could see the nobles thanking them for their service and telling them how valorious they are and how they represent the best the Empire has to offer. But when an orc comes home minus an arm, when he no longer fits into civilian life and has no place among us, when his reward for years of service is a plot of land on the ass end of the empire he doesn't know what to do with, how much is he really valued?

 

[Minigiant]

It just keeps coming to my head that orcs would be the D&D race that invents professional sports then goes crazy about it.

Like I could see an orc teenager going into a full on tearful breakdown in the street, not beccause of a breakup but because their favorite Hardball team switched Primal Totems because the guy they just traded for is superstitious about bears. And some old scarred up orc warrior in his Owlbearz jersey walks up to her and offers her his greataxe to let off steam on one of the combat dummy situated around the town. Because he knows the feeling as well.

 

[GuyBoy]

“They’re big. They’re mean. They like the canteen!”
I’d see them as translating the values of the forwards in rugby (or to translate, the O line and D line in NFL) to a brutal world of monstrous foes and savage environment.
They recognise the roles of the “skill” positions in the battle against evil/ battle to survive ( scrum half, centres, wings, quarterbacks, wide receivers, corners etc) but when it comes down to it, it’s the orcs that win the game.

Or maybe I just see too much via sports glasses!

 

[GreyLord]

Well, bad orcs are more like Wild Boars. Very dangerous. Could kill you if you are on the ground when they rush. Ferocious. Not to be messed with, violent, and can be quite aggressive. The Big Boars are things legends are made out of by killing (such as Heracules).

Boars aren't so much evil (though with how aggressive some species are, it could be easy to say that yes, they are not just evil, they are chaotic evil) as not exactly lawful or good mannered.

Unfortunately, today's society doesn't like to be reminded that Boars really aren't humans, or humanlike. They have a different mentality. Boars do not think or act like humans. For some reason, there are those who want to assign human traits to them. Probably because we started off with furries, and then it progressed to games making or referencing Boar monsters as humans with different looks.

HOWEVER...keeping the beast mentality alive instead of the human warcraft ideas alive...

If we want to go for a "Good" type of Orc...then I'd say let them be Buffalo. Buffalo are not as aggressive as Boars are normally. You don't want to mess with them though. They may seem gentle, and they are nicer than Boars, but make no mistake, they can mess you up if you try to mess with them. They are protective of their young, and very tough creatures to be involved with. Normally, you leave them alone, they will leave you alone. They wander as a herd and care deeply for other members of the herd.

If we REALLY want to make them good, make them a herd of cows (though that may be treading on the Minotaur's stamp of approval). Cows are kind of like Big dogs sometimes (we are excluding Bulls from this, just Cows as Orcs). You don't want to try to mess with them either though, as they are pretty strong and heavy. They care for their young and can be quite loving.