Half-Orc (Race)

Orcs are known—and feared—for their ability to interbreed with humans. The offspring of a human and an orc is known as a half-orc. Strongly influenced by their orc heritage, they are unwelcome strangers in much of Athas. Though they might live within either culture that spawned them, they belong to neither and are often forced to find their own way in the world. Fortunately, surviving is something half-orcs do very well.

Half-orcs tend to be short-tempered and sullen. They would rather act than ponder and would rather fight than argue. Those who are successful, however, are those with enough self-control to live in a civilized land, not the crazy ones. They love simple pleasures, such as feasting, drinking, boasting, singing, wrestling, drumming and wild dancing. Refines enjoyments, such as poetry, courtly dancing and philosophy tend to be lost on them. At the right sort of party, a half-orc is an asset. At the duchess’s grand ball, however, he’s a liability.

## **Overview**

Half-Orcs have been around as long as human and orcs have lived near one another. Although the offspring of these unions are weaker than their pureblood brethren, they are also far more intelligent—and if the orcs can control these young, they could become the next generation of orc leaders, spies and priests. Their warlike nature combined with their human wit make these half-orcs natural tacticians and cunning strategists who surpass the ability of any pureblood orc.

Half-Orcs growing up in places where orcs are a threat are likely to be outcasts prone to violent, impulsive, and slightly paranoid behavior (though their paranoia is often well-founded). Because they are stronger than their human kin, they are also likely to be feared. Some half-orcs make an effort to blend into their community and to become good citizens in an effort to dispel the stigma of their orc blood. Such goals remain an individual effort, however, as unlike elves, orcs bear no good will toward humanity, and the curse of orc blood is associated with horrors. More frequently, half-orcs hire themselves out as mercenaries and thugs, using their native strength to their advantage.

In places farther from orc influences, such as Tethys, Souel, the Cut-Throat Islands and Al-Kalim, half-orcs find greater opportunities to let their human sides grow and flourish. While they may still gravitate toward the bellicose arts, they seek employment as weapon masters, heads of household security, forgers of weapons and armor, and luminaries in the art of combat. Though they are expansive in their emotion and powerful in their rage, they seek opportunities to channel these orc impulses into more constructive pursuits. Many who acknowledge their darkness have developed a more civilized mechanism for expressing it. Some even become highly sought-after artists—typically working in metal, tattooing, bone or stone.

## **Physical Traits**

Half-Orcs tend to be built larger than humans but thinner and leaner than orcs. Their tusks are almost non-existent and appear to be elongated lower fangs that almost never show unless the individual is showing them off purposefully.

Their ears are more human shaped with pointed ends, and their faces are wide, with heavy brows, human-like eyes and large jaws. Their hair tends to resemble human hair, rather than the coarse, stringy hair of the orcs. They also grow thick hair throughout their bodies and males often grow facial hair—sideburns and mustaches are popular choices.

Curiously, while their hair and eye color takes after the human parent—in addition to their more humanlike appearance in general—a half-orc’s skin is always the same color as their orc parent (most often grey or green) but a few shades lighter. They also only have four toes like an orc. Half-orcs born with five toes are considered marked and often have a greater capacity for mental ability than their four-toed kin. Many adventuring half-orcs possess five toes.

### **Senses**

Orcs are natural hunters; they have been since they lived in the caverns beneath the earth. Orcs have legendary senses of smell and their sense of taste is reputedly capable of distinguishing race by tasting blood. Their origins deep beneath the earth have also allowed them to see in the dark much like dwarves, though to them, the sun is blinding and hated.

Half-orcs have inherited many of these traits. Their hearing and taste is not quite as keen as their orc parent, but their senses of smell are considerably keener than a human’s. They have also inherited their orc parent’s eyesight and ability to see in the dark. The weaknesses to the sun, one of the primary advantages the free people hold over the orcs, is mitigated in the half-orc thanks to their mixed parentage.

## **Culture**

Spurned by both sides of their heritage, half-orcs are rebels who don’t fit into society—and often, they don’t *want* to fit into society. Their central psychological trait, developed as a defense mechanism, is a stubborn independent streak that keeps everyone and everything at a safe distance.

At their best, half-orcs and independent, cautious, always alert for danger from every quarter. At their worst, they’re rage-fueled time bombs, lashing out at anything that gets too close—whether it’s an enemy, an ally or the nearest breakable object.

### **Outlook**

Most half-orcs are surly individuals who endured horrible childhoods. They are too coarse and savage to fit in well with humans, and too fragile and thoughtful to fit in with orcs. As a result, the majority of half-orcs grow up alone and without any influence from orc *or* human society. Most half-orcs speak their minds and act on their feelings without any fear of the repercussions. They are nomads and wanderers, often pragmatic with little use for etiquette.

Without a place to call home, and often without much in the way of family or close family to count on for companionship, half-orcs learn from an early age to look out for themselves. This is often interpreted as greed or selfishness by other races, but too many half-orcs have learned the hard way that they are not welcome in any land and must provide for themselves.

### **Quick to Judge, Quick to Anger**

Half-orcs spend their lives looking over their shoulders, waiting for the next blow to fall. By the time they reach adulthood, most have been tricked and betrayed so many times that they don’t easily trust anyone else. The typical half-orc is abandoned at birth, bullied throughout childhood and cast out into the wilderness as an adolescent. As a result, most of the half-orcs who reach adulthood are cunning and wary to the point of being paranoid.

Half-orcs have been in danger their whole lives, so they have learned to make split-second assessments of a situation and react accordingly. And their stubborn, independent streak means that they’ll stick with that first assessment even if they later suspect it was the wrong call. Many a half-orc has attacked a bystander, only to learn after the fact that the “foe” meant them no harm. Half-orcs realize, however, that taking the time for reasoned contemplation of a threat is a luxury not usually available to them.

Just as half-orcs are quick to make judgments, so too are they quick to change moods. Like orcs, they tend to be sullen and short-tempered, snarling or lashing out at anything that displeases them. They prefer action to debate and would rather settle a dispute with fists or steel than with words. Half-Orcs wear their emotions on their sleeves, becoming wildly exuberant when they are happy and deeply brooding when they are displeased. Perhaps because of this straightforwardness in the display of their emotions, half-orcs despite trickery and lies, and usually respond to such insults with overwhelming violence.

A half-orc raised among humans has to learn to keep these outbursts under control. Exceptions may exist if the human culture is particularly barbaric, but few settlements will tolerate anyone who attacks with little to no provocation, let alone someone who looks like an orc. Most half-orcs learn to channel their anger into focused rages, while still striving to attain the elusive goal of a contemplative state of mind.

Because half-orcs are creatures of quick judgement, they have a hard time dealing with tasks that require sustained, nuanced reasoning. Most philosophical discussions not only go over the heads of many half-orcs, but bore them to no end. While most half-orcs are considerably smarter than their orc parents, they all retain (to varying degrees) a rather brutish intellect that tends to categorize people, items and concept in black and white terms. To a half-orc, a creature, idea, or thing is either good, bad, or unworthy of future attention.

### **Brutal Childhoods**

Most half-orcs grow up hiding from full-blooded human children, weary of the bombardment of taunts and insults they find themselves subjected to. Human adults are often just as cruel, so a half-orc often finds refuge only within his immediate family, if he’s lucky—and that’s assuming he wasn’t abandoned as a baby (which is the fate of many half-orcs soon after they come into the world). Due to the negative stigma of their orc blood, fewer half-orcs find their way into care of the church than half-elves.

Once a half-orc in a human community reaches puberty, life changes for him but it doesn’t get any easier. Still visibly different from other children, they are also now notably larger and stronger, better able to defend himself against bullies. Since half-orcs mature slightly more rapidly than humans, an adolescent half-orc may be almost his full adult height and weight by fourteen years old, making him more than a match for his former tormentors.

Many half-orcs are prone to becoming bullies themselves, intent on paying back the other children for years of humiliation. After a half-orc is tormented throughout his early childhood, it understandably feels good to now be bigger and stronger than most human children, perhaps even formidable enough to make adults back away.

Other people’s underlying attitudes toward the race, however, don’t change just because a half-orc puts on a few extra pounds of muscle. If anything, the physical difference only reinforces their beliefs and prejudices. Humans assume that half-orcs are brutish bullies, and young half-orcs unwittingly exacerbate that fear. By the time a half-orc matures enough to learn how to behave “properly” in a human society, the damage is often done. As a result, many half-orcs leave home shortly before or soon after reaching adulthood. They escape to find someplace where people do not know them, in the hopes of starting over.

### **No True Place in Society**

Human societies usually relegate half-orcs to the fringes, where they eke out a meager subsistence-level existence through begging, menial labor, or selling their formidable fighting skills. Because of this treatment, many half-orcs become bitter and resentful toward humans, harboring deep grudges that last a lifetime. A few lucky half-orcs grow up in more enlightened societies that don’t make value judgements about racial identity—but even those individuals come face to face with pervasive prejudice as soon as they visit the wider world.

Half-orcs who are raised by orcs commonly become almost indistinguishable on the surface from their more brutish kin. They must be tough and merciless to survive. Half-orcs raised in an orc community learn to respect strength above all else and have difficulty understanding the nuances of subtlety, tact and diplomacy.

### **Heritage of Shame**

No matter where they were raised, all half-orcs share a sense of shame. Deep down, every half-orc feels that he embarrasses both of his parent races, and that people treat him as a monster because he is one. This sense of shame persists even when the half-orc is a paragon of virtue and the shame is undeserved. A half-orc’s low self-worth is a wound that won’t heal, though its pain can be deadened from time to time.

This attitude lies at the heart of the half-orc mindset. Both his human family and his orc family treat a half-orc like a poor relation and sneer at his shortcomings. Orcs laugh at half-orcs because of their relative frailty and their less imposing size. Humans mock them for their tusks, their orc skin and intellectual and/or social clumsiness.

### **Living in the Now**

Half-orcs have the shortest lifespan of any of the free people. Even if they survive their various adventures, few half-orcs live past the age of 65 or 70; 50 is considered old. As a consequence of this, half-orcs take their lives either very seriously or not seriously at all. Some individuals cherish every moment, seeking to wring as much satisfaction as they can out of life before it ends. Others feel that, since their lives are so brutish and short, nothing truly matters and they do whatever comes to mind with no thought for the consequences.

For example, few half-orcs save money; they prefer to spend whatever they have right away, while they can. At the same time, half-orcs rarely bother with luxury items. They may indulge in good food, good drink, and good weapons, but fine furniture, rich clothing and luxurious homes seem foolish purchases to someone who may not live long enough to really enjoy them.

### **The “Stupid” Stereotype**

Everyone assumed that half-orcs are strong but stupid, and so they are taught as children to rely on their physical prowess rather than intellect. Many half-orcs believe that strength is their only asset, so they fall into the role of “big and stupid” largely because they resign themselves to it and society expects it.

Half-orcs can be quick and stealthy, cunning and charming, witty and resourceful. This is often surprising, and half-orcs can sometimes use that to their advantage; let the world think they’re big, dumb oafs. All the better to lure them into a false sense of security and give the half-orc a big advantage.

### **Half-Orc Life**

Half-orcs make their own way in the world and, in so doing, essentially invent their own lifestyle. Most half-orcs seldom encounter others of their kind, so the only guide they have for how to live a half-orc lifestyle are the often cruel sterotypes maintained by humans or orcs. Whether they live among either parent race or alone, certain innate likes and dislikes arise within the individual. A half-orc’s harsh upbringing encourages and feeds these instinctive attitudes.

Many half-orcs have a lifestyle dominated by the desire to survive and to stay free of entanglements with the societies that spurned them. They often grow up defending themselves from bullies and graduate to becoming bullies themselves. This sort of life leaves little time for introspection or relaxation.

Half-Orcs are creatures of action, partially because everyone expects that of them, and thus, many are forced into such a life by the world around them. Half-orcs often believe that their size and strength (relative to humans) are their greatest assets, and many seek out activities that focus on these things. When they are not out adventuring, most half-orcs hunt, engage in physical training or practice with weapons.

### **The Solace of Friendship**

Half-orcs say they aren’t looking for a home or for friends. Only when one befriends others and grows fond of a place—usually against the half-orc’s better judgement—does he realize what a treasure friendship is. Even then, a half-orc is loath to admit such feelings and reluctant to let his guard down.

Adventurers are a half-orc’s most likely candidates for companionship. Many who follow the path of the adventurer have seen things far stranger and fouler than a half-orc, who to them is merely a person who happens to be larger and a big rougher than the average human. Many half-orcs stick with an adventuring lifestyle despite the dangers—not to win fame and fortune (though that can also be a goal) but because adventurers treat them as equals and speak to them without fear.

Older half-orcs often settle in trading towns and other places where adventurers tend to gather. Many become bouncers for taverns, a job for which their size and ferocity is useful. Some retired half-orc adventurers establish inns and watering holes of their own, using their fearsome appearance and adventuring reputation to attract business from residents and travelers alike.

Half-orcs value friendship and respect more than members of any other race, because they experience either so rarely. A typical half-orc will do anything for his friends, and will help them without question. But gaining a half-orc’s trust is difficult, even for his friends—years of enduring insults have taught half-orcs to be cautious toward other folk and to expect harsh words instead of kind ones.

Nor do half-orcs fawn over people to win respect. They know from experience that such methods foster only false, transitory approval at best. Instead, most half-orcs act naturally, warn annoying people away, and wait to see whether somebody can just be cool around them.

### **Leisure**

Half-orcs enjoy the simple pleasures in life. They like drinking, eating, carousing, singing boisterous songs and getting into the occasional scrap that allows them to test their mettle.

Loud music, dangerous brawls, and copious quantities of alcohol have the same effect on a half-orc: they enable him to momentarily lose himself in sensation and forget the cruelty of existence. When a half-orc is beating a drum with all his might or smashing a skeleton guardian to bits, he isn’t thinking about his heritage or his place in society. He’s entirely caught up in the moment and oblivious to everything else because it’s irrelevant.

Because physical acts provide such visceral sensations, half-orcs find great joy in running, wrestling, and tests of strength, especially when competing against others. Even half-orcs who have controlled their behavior still show signs of aggression and are at least moderately competitive. It’s just in their blood.

When they get caught up in the moment during some form of intense physical activity, many half-orcs lack the common sense to know when enough is enough; they either push themselves to such an extent that they make themselves sick or injure themselves, or they injure someone else.

### **Arts and Crafts**

Half-orcs don’t really give a shit about creative endeavors most of the time and don’t really get what others see in paintings, sculptures and certain forms of music. Still, half-orcs do revel in the beat of a drum and the displays of crude imagery—war paint, tattoos, collections of trophies, et cetera.

When half-orcs do enjoy art, it’s almost always as a recipient rather than a creator. In their formative years, half-orcs are more often handed swords instead of paint brushes and shields instead of woodcarving tools. Nevertheless, some half-orcs have a deep passion for brushes and chisels, working hard to teach themselves how to create works of beauty. Most members of the race are content to admire such works, and occasionally buy them if it particularly speaks to them.

Half-orcs are especially fond of artwork that features idyllic landscapes and cats or kittens.

### **Half-Orcs at War**

Half-orcs are expected to excel at combat, and many do. Their size and strength give them an inherent advantage over a large number of foes, and many learn to channel their primal fury into a battlefield focus or frenzy, becoming deadly opponents. Of course, no one expects them to care about strategy, and as a result most half-orcs serve merely as foot soldiers or shock troops, to be sent here and there across the battlefield as the situation warrants.

Half-orcs are more cunning than most realize, and their experiences throughout their life provide them with insight into the ways of soldiers and combat. Half-orcs make excellent scouts, because they can cover distances with good speed and can easily dispatch soldiers along the way. Because half-orcs have darkvision, they are particularly good at nighttime scouting and reconnaissance.

## **Ethnicities**

Half-Orc ethnicities are not measures like most other races. These are not divided into ethnic groups as much as they are separated by cultural lines.

**Mannish:**Half-orcs raised among in human lands. These are largely as described above, living among human lands (or at least non-orc lands) through their lives. They are not as dull or crude as their more savage cousins, but their many, repeated encounters with others have lowered their patience for etiquette or charm; they don’t care what others thinks of them and tend to be blunt and crass, sometimes to the point of being rude. They have more of that human adaptability in them, allowing them to excel in some field or skill beside combat.

**Ferals:**Half-orcs raised among the orcs. These half-orcs are more savage and used to the savage, inhumane conditions of life among the orc tribes. Ferals are more beast than man, and have grown up as warriors, most of them trained with the weapons of their kind from the time they could walk.

### **New Game Stats**

**Mannish:**

* +2 STR, --2 CHA; due to the multitude of horrible experiences a half-orc raised in human lands experiences throughout their lives, they aren't the most personable folk.
* Darkvision - 60 ft.
* **Orc Blood:** A half-orc is counted as both orcs and humans for any effect relating to race.
* **Intimidating:** +2 racial bonus to Intimidate checks.
* **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.
* **Human-Raised:** Gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever you gain a level.

**Ferals:**

* +2 STR, -2 INT, -2 CHA; Half-Orcs raised among the orcs good with people and they tend to have a very limited grasp of the world around them.

* **Orc Blood:** A half-orc is counted as both orcs and humans for any effect relating to race.
* **Intimidating:** +2 racial bonus to Intimidate checks.
* **Tusky:** Your large tusks grant you a bite attack. This is a natural attack that deals 1d4 points of piercing damage.
* **Squalid:** Ferals exist in conditions so filthy and pestilent that they gain a +2 racial bonus to saving throws vs. nausea, sickness and disease.
* **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:** Ferals are proficient with greataxes and falchions, and treats any weapon with the word "orc" in its name as a martial weapon.