Half-orc

Infobox D&D creature
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The half-orc is a creature born to mixed orc and human parentage in the "Dungeons & Dragons" role-playing game. The half-orc is a playable race for "D&D" player characters. Half-orcs are typically born in wild frontiers where human and orc tribes come into contact. Half-orcs are between six and seven feet tall and usually weigh between 180 and 250 pounds. Half-orcs have greenish skin, jutting jaws, prominent teeth and coarse body hair. Half-orcs also occasionally occur in Middle-earth, in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien [http://www.glyphweb.com/ARDA/default.asp?url=http://www.glyphweb.com/ARDA/h/halforcs.html] .

Publication history

Half-orcs have been a part of "Dungeons & Dragons" since the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. However, in second edition they were largely removed from the basic rules, as part of a wide attempt by TSR to remove controversial topics from D&D (as part of the same move, demons and devils were renamed tanar'ri and baatezu, respectively, among other changes).Fact|date=September 2008 With Wizard of the Coast's takeover of D&D and the release of 3rd Edition, half-orcs were reintroduced into the series. Although they did not appear in the first core rulebooks for the game, it has been confirmed that they will appear in the "Player's Handbook II", scheduled for release in March of 2009.Fact|date=September 2008

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The half-orc was introduced in the first edition "Player's Handbook" (1978) as a player character race. [Gygax, Gary. "Players Handbook" (TSR, 1978)]

A number of half-orc varieties appeared in "Dragon" #44 (December 1980), including the orc-bugbear, the orc-gnoll, the orc-goblin, the orc-hobgoblin, the orc-kobold, and the orc-ogre.

The mythology and attitudes of the half-orc are described in detail in "Dragon" #62 (June 1982), in Roger E. Moore's article, "The Half-Orc Point of View." [Moore, Roger E. "The Half-Orc Point of View." "Dragon" #62 (TSR, June 1982)]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

The half-orc appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989), [Cook, David, et al. "Monstrous Compendium Volume Two" (TSR, 1989)] and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993). [Stewart, Doug, ed. "Monstrous Manual" (TSR, 1993)]

The half-orc is detailed as a playable character race in "The Complete Book of Humanoids" (1993). [Slavicsek, Bill. "The Complete Book of Humanoids" (TSR, 1993)] The half-orc is later presented as a playable character race again in "Player's Option: Skills & Powers" (1995).

The half-orc appears as a player character race for the Greyhawk campaign setting in the "Player's Guide to Greyhawk" (1998). [Brown, Anne. "Player's Guide to Greyhawk". (Wizards of the Coast, 1998)]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

The half-orc appears in the "Player's Handbook" for this edition as a player character race (2000). [Tweet, Jonathan, Cook, Monte, Williams, Skip. "Player's Handbook" (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)] The half-orc also appears in the "Monster Manual" for this edition (2000). [Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. "Monster Manual" (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)]

The half-orc is presented as a player character race for the Forgotten Realms setting in the "Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting" (2001), and also appears in "Races of Faerûn" (2003). [Reynolds, Sean K., Forbeck, Matt, Jacobs, James, Boyd, Erik L. "Races of Faerûn" (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)

The half-orc appears in the revised "Player's Handbook" as a player character race (2003). [Tweet, Jonathan, Cook, Monte, Williams, Skip. "Player's Handbook" (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)] The half-orc appears in the revised "Monster Manual" for this edition (2003).

The gheden half-orc appears in "Dragon" #313 (November 2003).

The aquatic half-orc, the arctic half-orc, the desert half-orc, the jungle half-orc, the half-orc paragon, and the water half-orc were all introduced in "Unearthed Arcana" (2004). The scabland half-orc was introduced in "Sandstorm: Mastering the Perils of Fire and Sand" (2005). [Cordell, Bruce, Jennifer Clarke-Wilkes, and J.D. Wiker. "Sandstorm" (Wizards of the Coast, 2005)] The half-orc infiltrator appears in the "Monster Manual IV" (2006). [Kestrel, Gwendolyn F.M. "Monster Manual IV" (Wizards of the Coast, 2006)] The frostblood half-orcs appear in "Dragon Magic" (2006).

Traits

Half-orc characters receive a +2 modifier to strength and -2 modifiers to intelligence and charisma ability scores. Half-orcs have darkvision up to 60 feet. They have orc blood and are susceptible to special effects that affect orcs although orc's light sensitivity is almost always ignored by half-orc PCs due to its annoyance. They can use orc-only items. All half-orcs speak common and orc; they may also speak Draconic, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, and Abyssal, and, in the rare cases of half-orcs with high intelligence, the languages of their allies or rivals. The orc language has no alphabet and uses Dwarven script. Orc writing is found most often in graffiti.

The half-orc's favored character class is the barbarian. The half-orc personality tends to be short tempered, sullen, and prone to action rather than thought. Half-orcs prefer simple pleasures: feasting, singing, wrestling and wild dancing. They have no interest in refined pursuits such as high art and philosophy. Half-orcs tend towards chaotic alignments, but have no clear preference towards good or evil. Half-orcs raised and living among orcs are more likely to be evil.

Culture

Due to their orcish blood, half-orcs are on poor terms with some of the other races. Relations are particularly troubled with elves and dwarves, due to racial enmity between orcs and these races. It's not to say that it's impossible for a half-orc to find camaraderie with an elf or a dwarf, however; dwarves in particular are willing to befriend half-orcs who have proven themselves worthy of a dwarf's trust. Half-elves tend to be sympathetic toward half-orcs, knowing the hardships of being an outcast from both of their parent races. Halflings and gnomes are generally accepting of half-orcs and happily interact with them. Half-orcs adopt different attitudes to gain acceptance from those who are wary of their orcish heritage. Some are reserved, some demonstrate public virtue, while others force acceptance through physical intimidation. Half-orcs living among humans may choose human names in order to fit in, or orcish names to intimidate others.

Half-orcs have no native lands; they most often live among orcs. When not living among orc tribes, half-orcs almost always live in human lands, as humans are more accepting of half-orcs than other races.

Many half-orcs worship Gruumsh, the chief orcish deity. Half-orc barbarians may worship Gruumsh as a war god even if they are not evil aligned. Half-orcs who identify with their human heritage follow human deities, and may engage in outspoken displays of piety to gain acceptance and solidify their bond to humans.

Half-orcs are frequently rejected by civilized society. They are drawn to violent careers suitable to their temperament and physical strength. They often find companionship among adventurers, many of whom are fellow wanderers and outsiders.

Roleplaying

Half-orcs are usually portrayed as indefinite outsiders,Fact|date=September 2008 being too contemplative and thoughtful to exist well in orcish society but far too wild and short-tempered to live amongst humans, forcing them into adventuring.

Half-orc characters often have characteristics of an anti-heroFact|date=June 2008.

References