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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aaron L" data-source="post: 8121018" data-attributes="member: 926">That's actually a retcon I really dislike.  Orcs were originally Lawful Evil and the same size as Elves, and Half-Orcs were the same size as Half-Elves (just look at the the height/weight charts in the 1E DMG and the size comparison illustration in the 1E PHB) not at all the gigantic hulking Chaotic Evil brutes they became in 3rd Edition.  (The Orcs in the Mines of Moria as portrayed in the Fellowship of the Ring movie were just right.)  They received a bonus to Strength because they were tough and wiry, not because they were great big.Unfortunately some people saw that bonus to Strength and lazily assumed "that must mean they're supposed to be huge!"  And it has unfortunately stuck ever since.  I think the Elf-sized but savage and strong Orc is much more interesting, much less blatant and stereotypical.  It's same problem as with The Hulk, going from normal man-height but bulky to a humongous monstrosity over the decades.</blockquote>