What's the deal with half-orcs?
- Thread starter LazerPointer
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Emperor Valerian
First Post
IMC we had a half-orc cleric of Kord, who proved most entertaining. Half-orcs don't have to always be barbarians.
there has only been one Half-Orc in the games I have run, he was a telepath (a rather strange character, though he did have a good backstory).
I've always wondered why Orcs were so predisposed to rape human women, the physical differences are far more extreme then the differences between humans and elves.
IMC half-Orcs are only slightly more common then Half-Elves (as there is more contact between Orcs and Humans then between Humans and Elves). There is some discrimination towards half-breeds IMC, but then most people (of any race) probably would not know a half-breed from a full breed (humans would assume that a half elf or half orc was an elf or an orc, orcs would assume that a half elf was an elf, ect...)
I've always wondered why Orcs were so predisposed to rape human women, the physical differences are far more extreme then the differences between humans and elves.
IMC half-Orcs are only slightly more common then Half-Elves (as there is more contact between Orcs and Humans then between Humans and Elves). There is some discrimination towards half-breeds IMC, but then most people (of any race) probably would not know a half-breed from a full breed (humans would assume that a half elf or half orc was an elf or an orc, orcs would assume that a half elf was an elf, ect...)
Particle_Man
Explorer
Ibram said:
I think that the idea is that Orcs will rape ANYBODY (except elves and dwarves, which they will kill on sight), but only are fertile with Humans, Orcs and Ogres.
Tarrasque Wrangler
First Post
My new campaign will not have half-orcs. I just find the concept silly and distasteful at the same time. The ideas that 1)Humans breed with everything that walks, and 2)You can have a whole race based on either rape or extremely big-hearted, open-minded people is incredibly cheesy in my sight.
Half-elves will be around, but as a race distinct from elves and humans, not as a hybrid race. Basically, half-elves will be the elves of my world, and PHB elves will be True Elves, rare and powerful.
Half-elves will be around, but as a race distinct from elves and humans, not as a hybrid race. Basically, half-elves will be the elves of my world, and PHB elves will be True Elves, rare and powerful.
reapersaurus
Explorer
Rape is NOT the only explanation for a half-orc.
And the human doesn't have to be big-hearted.
In YEARS of being at ENWorld, I still have not seen another example of a non-rape half-orc PC. I deliberately made a long-running half-orc Cleric of Kord partially as an exercise in creating a PC that didn't use rape as a genesis.
Hint:
Not all medieval people were as pretty as modern people. There really isn't a HUGE difference between ugly rural humans (or scarred humans) and orcs. Once you stop being hung up about the looks (many human females can't use looks as a criteria when trying to land a mate), it makes more sense that a human female may choose an orc as a stable provider for a family.
Claudio - I liked your half-orc variants.
Much better than the WotC version, hands down. What a pathetic performance by WotC. The really insulting part is that they didn't fix the obvious problems when 3.5 came round, and they said they were going to fix the half-race problems!
And the human doesn't have to be big-hearted.
In YEARS of being at ENWorld, I still have not seen another example of a non-rape half-orc PC. I deliberately made a long-running half-orc Cleric of Kord partially as an exercise in creating a PC that didn't use rape as a genesis.
Hint:
Not all medieval people were as pretty as modern people. There really isn't a HUGE difference between ugly rural humans (or scarred humans) and orcs. Once you stop being hung up about the looks (many human females can't use looks as a criteria when trying to land a mate), it makes more sense that a human female may choose an orc as a stable provider for a family.
Claudio - I liked your half-orc variants.
Much better than the WotC version, hands down. What a pathetic performance by WotC. The really insulting part is that they didn't fix the obvious problems when 3.5 came round, and they said they were going to fix the half-race problems!
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
Case in point my Half-Orc character is the son of the old witch who lives in the swamp a human woman so 'onery that all the humans in the village a scared of her, even though she is caled on as midwife when required. The local orcs also consult her on various issues and she is not adverse to a nice strong orc male sharing her bed - which on one occasion resulted in a half-orc son.
Jürgen Hubert
First Post
For Urbis, I've written up the role of half-orcs like this:
"While the days of constant orcish raids are long gone in civilized regions, their legacy remains. Orcish blood is far more common among humans than most people want to realize, and frequently the strange rules of heredity produce individuals that fully qualify as half-orcs. These unfortunates are seen as a unpleasant remainder of a barbaric past, and are kept at the bottom of the social pyramid. Indeed, members of the high society frequently believe that most or all people from the lower classes have some orcish blood in them, and caricatures of the poor, criminals, and the violently insane often depict them with distinctly orcish appearances."
So essentially, half-orcs serve as a symbol of the "downtrodden, unwashed masses"...
"While the days of constant orcish raids are long gone in civilized regions, their legacy remains. Orcish blood is far more common among humans than most people want to realize, and frequently the strange rules of heredity produce individuals that fully qualify as half-orcs. These unfortunates are seen as a unpleasant remainder of a barbaric past, and are kept at the bottom of the social pyramid. Indeed, members of the high society frequently believe that most or all people from the lower classes have some orcish blood in them, and caricatures of the poor, criminals, and the violently insane often depict them with distinctly orcish appearances."
So essentially, half-orcs serve as a symbol of the "downtrodden, unwashed masses"...
Inconsequenti-AL
Breaks Games
I've seen this used as a backstory: Orc vs Human wars. Part of the peace deal was an arranged marrige between ruling families of the two kingdoms... Product was a half orc with royal blood - people really didn't know how to deal with her. I thought that was cool.
There was another one using a strange eastern reincarnation schtik as the background for the half orcs parents (re?) falling in love. That one was an outcast from both races.
I'm a fan of the Mul (half dwarf/half orc) from Darksun - thinking of slotting them into a future campaign as a race of manufactured slaves of a (LE) human kingdom.
There was another one using a strange eastern reincarnation schtik as the background for the half orcs parents (re?) falling in love. That one was an outcast from both races.
I'm a fan of the Mul (half dwarf/half orc) from Darksun - thinking of slotting them into a future campaign as a race of manufactured slaves of a (LE) human kingdom.
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