Post by Orbak the Monster on Oct 20, 2013 13:36:22 GMT -5
Orcs & Half-Orcs
"To honor your ancestors is to live as they once did", the orcs claim. The orcish tribes have been hunters and gatherers for the entirety of their existence - a lifestyle that suits them just fine. Matriarchal at it's heart, the female hunters of the tribes and male gatherers are the most physically capable race on the continent, and they know it. What they lack in technology, they make up for in tradition: the stories and tales of an orc are mesmerizing to hear, and time spent in an orc tribe is never forgotten.
Origin:
Before the very first orc, the great spirits of the land walked upon it and interacted with each other, just as the orcs do to this day. The greatest of these spirits was a spirit of the plains, who hunted the animal-spirits. One day, a forest-spirit watched as the plains-spirit hunted within the woods. "Plains-spirit," it asked, "Why do you hunt?"
"Because," explained the plains-spirit, "I am lonely, and only a creature that bests me can marry me." The forest spirit chuckled, "Then you have bested the mountain?" The plains-spirit nodded, "I have."
"You have bested the ocean?"
"I have."
"You have bested the skies?"
"I have."
The forest-spirit tilted it's head back and laughed. This annoyed the plains-spirit: "Why do you laugh at me? Do you intend to challenge me?"
"Not in the slightest! I have just noticed that all you intend to challenge are land-spirits, like the two of us. Perhaps what you seek is a husband among the beasts!"
In anger, the plains-spirit shot her bow at the forest-spirit, who vanished as he laughed. It took her a long time to calm down, and when she did, she felt that the forest-spirit had a point. So she sought out the predatory beasts of the world. It was not long before she had challenged and defeated the wolf, the hawk, the shark, the dragon, and the bear.
The day over, the plains-spirit shouted to the heavens to bring her a proper suitor. The spirits heard, and the challenge was brought to another seeking a mate. When morning came, a beast-spirit sat outside her tent. It was a powerful cougar-spirit, which greeted her. "I have come to challenge you, in return."
The plains-spirit nodded and moved for her bow. The cougar-spirit stopped her: "We shall see who can bring the most food for the table: you or I."
It was a contest the plains-spirit had not done before: all of her challenges were fights. She was confident in her hunting prowess, however, and accepted. So the day went by and she hunted - coming back with three deer, a dozen rabbits, and a wild boar. She came back - and was shocked to find the cougar-spirit sitting there, smiling at her. The table no longer had room on it, filled to the top with fruits, nuts, and herbs gathered from around where the plains-spirit had slept.
The plains-spirit accepted defeat, and the two were wed. Their children were the first orcs, who kept their tradition alive: the males gathered food, while the females hunted.
Relations:
The orcish people have been in conflict with humanity for years because of this - the ever-changing and adapting humans seem to constantly thumb their noses at what came before them. Interaction between humans and orcs have been tense, but there is still a respect that comes with it: the occasion when an orphaned orc or human child comes across the other races sometime being raised in the new environment, becoming a part of the tribe or community. These beings sometimes marry into the tribe or community, and half-orcs are created. Far from being mistreated, half-orcs are often a boon to either people, and are praised in orc tribes for their minds, while human communities see them for their spiritual link to the natural world. Orcs and half-orcs do not like the foxfolk at all: the brightly colored magic-users remind them too much of the fae creatures that have haunted orcish families for ages. In the same note, orcs have tales of the drake's mighty ancestors, and find it hard to forgive the drakes for their rampaging kin's work. Adriel terrify them - the orcs have trouble predicting the religious creatures.
Physical Description:
Powerfully built, orcs typically stand just a few inches taller than most humans but have much greater muscle mass, their broad shoulders and thick, brawny hips often giving them a slightly lurching gait. They typically have tanned skin, coarse dark hair, beady red eyes, and protruding, tusk-like teeth. Orcs consider scars a mark of distinction and frequently use them as a form of body art.
Half-orcs average around 6 feet tall, with powerful builds and tan or grayish skin. Their canine teeth often grow long enough to protrude from their mouths, and these “tusks,” combined with heavy brows and slightly pointed ears, give them their notoriously bestial appearance. While half-orcs may be impressive, few ever describe them as beautiful. Despite these obvious orc traits, half-orcs are as varied as their human parents.
Orc Racial Traits:
- Ability Score Racial Traits: Orcs are brutal and savage. They gain +4 Strength, –2 Intelligence, –2 Wisdom, and –2 Charisma.
- Type: Orcs are humanoids with the orc subtype.
- Size: Orcs are Medium creatures and thus have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Base Speed: Orcs have a base speed of 30 feet.
- Languages: Orcs begin play speaking Common and Orc.
- Ferocity: Orcs possess the ferocity ability which allows them to remain conscious and continue fighting even if their hit point totals fall below 0. Orcs are still staggered at 0 hit points or lower and lose 1 hit point each round as normal.
- Weapon Familiarity: Orcs are always proficient with greataxes and falchions, and treat any weapon with the word “orc” in its name as a martial weapon.
- Darkvision: Orcs can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Half-Orc Racial Traits:
- Ability Score Racial Traits: Half-orc characters gain a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
- Type: Half-orcs are Humanoid creatures with both the human and orc subtypes.
- Size: Half-orcs are Medium creatures and thus have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Base Speed: Half-orcs have a base speed of 30 feet.
- Languages: Half-orcs begin play speaking Common and Orc.
- Bond with the Land: Half-orcs receive a +2 racial bonus on Survival checks due to their natural sense of the land around them.
- Orc Ferocity: Once per day, when a half-orc is brought below 0 hit points but not killed, he can fight on for 1 more round as if disabled. At the end of his next turn, unless brought to above 0 hit points, he immediately falls unconscious and begins dying.
- Weapon Familiarity: Half-orcs are proficient with greataxes and falchions and treat any weapon with the word “orc” in its name as a martial weapon.
- Darkvision: Half-orcs can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
- Orc Blood: Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
"To honor your ancestors is to live as they once did", the orcs claim. The orcish tribes have been hunters and gatherers for the entirety of their existence - a lifestyle that suits them just fine. Matriarchal at it's heart, the female hunters of the tribes and male gatherers are the most physically capable race on the continent, and they know it. What they lack in technology, they make up for in tradition: the stories and tales of an orc are mesmerizing to hear, and time spent in an orc tribe is never forgotten.
Origin:
Before the very first orc, the great spirits of the land walked upon it and interacted with each other, just as the orcs do to this day. The greatest of these spirits was a spirit of the plains, who hunted the animal-spirits. One day, a forest-spirit watched as the plains-spirit hunted within the woods. "Plains-spirit," it asked, "Why do you hunt?"
"Because," explained the plains-spirit, "I am lonely, and only a creature that bests me can marry me." The forest spirit chuckled, "Then you have bested the mountain?" The plains-spirit nodded, "I have."
"You have bested the ocean?"
"I have."
"You have bested the skies?"
"I have."
The forest-spirit tilted it's head back and laughed. This annoyed the plains-spirit: "Why do you laugh at me? Do you intend to challenge me?"
"Not in the slightest! I have just noticed that all you intend to challenge are land-spirits, like the two of us. Perhaps what you seek is a husband among the beasts!"
In anger, the plains-spirit shot her bow at the forest-spirit, who vanished as he laughed. It took her a long time to calm down, and when she did, she felt that the forest-spirit had a point. So she sought out the predatory beasts of the world. It was not long before she had challenged and defeated the wolf, the hawk, the shark, the dragon, and the bear.
The day over, the plains-spirit shouted to the heavens to bring her a proper suitor. The spirits heard, and the challenge was brought to another seeking a mate. When morning came, a beast-spirit sat outside her tent. It was a powerful cougar-spirit, which greeted her. "I have come to challenge you, in return."
The plains-spirit nodded and moved for her bow. The cougar-spirit stopped her: "We shall see who can bring the most food for the table: you or I."
It was a contest the plains-spirit had not done before: all of her challenges were fights. She was confident in her hunting prowess, however, and accepted. So the day went by and she hunted - coming back with three deer, a dozen rabbits, and a wild boar. She came back - and was shocked to find the cougar-spirit sitting there, smiling at her. The table no longer had room on it, filled to the top with fruits, nuts, and herbs gathered from around where the plains-spirit had slept.
The plains-spirit accepted defeat, and the two were wed. Their children were the first orcs, who kept their tradition alive: the males gathered food, while the females hunted.
Relations:
The orcish people have been in conflict with humanity for years because of this - the ever-changing and adapting humans seem to constantly thumb their noses at what came before them. Interaction between humans and orcs have been tense, but there is still a respect that comes with it: the occasion when an orphaned orc or human child comes across the other races sometime being raised in the new environment, becoming a part of the tribe or community. These beings sometimes marry into the tribe or community, and half-orcs are created. Far from being mistreated, half-orcs are often a boon to either people, and are praised in orc tribes for their minds, while human communities see them for their spiritual link to the natural world. Orcs and half-orcs do not like the foxfolk at all: the brightly colored magic-users remind them too much of the fae creatures that have haunted orcish families for ages. In the same note, orcs have tales of the drake's mighty ancestors, and find it hard to forgive the drakes for their rampaging kin's work. Adriel terrify them - the orcs have trouble predicting the religious creatures.
Physical Description:
Powerfully built, orcs typically stand just a few inches taller than most humans but have much greater muscle mass, their broad shoulders and thick, brawny hips often giving them a slightly lurching gait. They typically have tanned skin, coarse dark hair, beady red eyes, and protruding, tusk-like teeth. Orcs consider scars a mark of distinction and frequently use them as a form of body art.
Half-orcs average around 6 feet tall, with powerful builds and tan or grayish skin. Their canine teeth often grow long enough to protrude from their mouths, and these “tusks,” combined with heavy brows and slightly pointed ears, give them their notoriously bestial appearance. While half-orcs may be impressive, few ever describe them as beautiful. Despite these obvious orc traits, half-orcs are as varied as their human parents.
Orc Racial Traits:
- Ability Score Racial Traits: Orcs are brutal and savage. They gain +4 Strength, –2 Intelligence, –2 Wisdom, and –2 Charisma.
- Type: Orcs are humanoids with the orc subtype.
- Size: Orcs are Medium creatures and thus have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Base Speed: Orcs have a base speed of 30 feet.
- Languages: Orcs begin play speaking Common and Orc.
- Ferocity: Orcs possess the ferocity ability which allows them to remain conscious and continue fighting even if their hit point totals fall below 0. Orcs are still staggered at 0 hit points or lower and lose 1 hit point each round as normal.
- Weapon Familiarity: Orcs are always proficient with greataxes and falchions, and treat any weapon with the word “orc” in its name as a martial weapon.
- Darkvision: Orcs can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Half-Orc Racial Traits:
- Ability Score Racial Traits: Half-orc characters gain a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
- Type: Half-orcs are Humanoid creatures with both the human and orc subtypes.
- Size: Half-orcs are Medium creatures and thus have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Base Speed: Half-orcs have a base speed of 30 feet.
- Languages: Half-orcs begin play speaking Common and Orc.
- Bond with the Land: Half-orcs receive a +2 racial bonus on Survival checks due to their natural sense of the land around them.
- Orc Ferocity: Once per day, when a half-orc is brought below 0 hit points but not killed, he can fight on for 1 more round as if disabled. At the end of his next turn, unless brought to above 0 hit points, he immediately falls unconscious and begins dying.
- Weapon Familiarity: Half-orcs are proficient with greataxes and falchions and treat any weapon with the word “orc” in its name as a martial weapon.
- Darkvision: Half-orcs can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
- Orc Blood: Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
