The Dragon’s Breath #27

27 May 2004

Orc Blood!?

by Claudio Pozas

Let's face it: half-orcs got the short end of the stick when it came to assigning racial traits. All other non-human races get bonuses to skills, weapon proficiencies and more, while our boys get what? Orc Blood? C'mon!

So what follow are not one, but TWO half-orc variants. Half-human orcs (which are half-orcs raised by orcs) and half-orc humans (which are those raised in human society). Enjoy!

Half-Human Orcs

Half-human orcs are orc-human crossbreeds raised by their orcish kin. They suffer from most of the cultural drawbacks of orcs, such as a lack of education, a poor sense of hygiene and a tendency to hate everyone else. Since they're not as strong as full-blooded orcs, half-human orcs must make up for it through sheer cunning and malice, as befits a kill-or-be-killed society.

Half-human orcs generally become the scouts and hunters of orc tribes, since they have keen senses to balance their (relatively) reduced physical prowess. For a half-human orc, chiefdom is virtually unatainable, but they may become advisors and hidden masterminds among the even cruder orcs.

When away from other orcs, half-human orcs usually feel the call of their human side, which manifests usually as a sense of wanderlust or curiosity. But when meeting strangers they tend to show all the usual orc prejudices (specially hatred against elves and dwarves).

Half-Human Orc Racial Traits:

- +2 Strength. -2 Intelligence: Half-human orcs are physically imposing, but have a hard time reasoning.
- Medium: As Medium creatures, half-human orcs get no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Half-human orc base land speed is 30 feet.
- Darkvision: Half-human orcs can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
- +1 racial bonus on Survival and Listen checks.
- +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks and on level checks to resist intimidation.
- Half-human orcs receive Endurance as a bonus feat.
- -2 penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy and Gather Information checks. Half-human orcs are generally distrusted.
- Weapon Familiarity: A half-human orc treats the orc double-axe as a martial weapon instead of an exotic one.
- Orc Blood: For all special effects that depend on race, a half-human orc counts as an orc.
- Favored Class: Barbarian. A half-human orc heeds the call of its orcish ancestry.

Half-Orc Humans

Half-orc humans are orc-human crossbreeds raised by their human kin. They endure a great deal of prejudice while growing up, and that tends to toughen them up to face the world. At the same time, their faster growth rate ensure that they are larger and stronger than most humans of their age, leading to a sense of personal power. Unless reared by a loving parent, half-orc humans tend to become bullies.

Half-orc humans tend to work where their savage features go unnoticed and their great strength is appreciated, becoming blacksmiths, sailors and hunters. They tend to be either too reserved and wary or too boisterous and imposing. But once one gets past that defense mecanism, the half-orc human shows all the personality ranges of a human, even if a bit short-tempered.

Half-orc humans don't have any special attitude towards elves and dwarves, but are so often treated badly by such individuals that they develop a dislike for them anyway (but mostly geared towards the individual than to the race as a whole).

Half-Human Orc Racial Traits:

- +2 Strength. -2 Intelligence: Half-orc humans are physically imposing, but have a hard time reasoning.
- Medium: As Medium creatures, half-orc humans get no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Half-orc human base land speed is 30 feet.
- Darkvision: Half-orc humans can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
- +1 racial bonus on Listen checks.
- +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks and on level checks to resist intimidation.
- Half-orc humans receive the Endurance feat as a bonus.
- Orc Blood: For all special effects that depend on race, a half-orc human counts as an orc.
- Favored Class: Any. A half-orc human can heed the call of their wild orcish heart or the adaptability of their human spirit.