Half-Orc

Whether united under the leadership of a mighty warlord Or having fought to a standstill after years of conflict, orc and human tribes sometimes form alliances, joining forces into a larger horde lo the terror of civilized lands nearby. When these alliances are sealed by marriages, half-ores are bom. Some half-orcs rise to become proud chiefs of orc tribes, their human blood giving them an edge over their full-blooded orc rivaIs. Some venture into lhe world lo prove their worth among humans and other more civilized raees. Many of these become adventurers, achieving greatness for their mighty deeds and noteriety for their barbaric customs and savage fury.

## SCARRED AND STRONG

Half-ores' grayish pigmenlation, sloping foreheads, juttingjaws, prominenl leelh, and lowering builds make their orcish herilage plain for ali lo see. Half-ores sland belween 6 and 7 feel lall and usually weigh belween 180 and 250 pounds. Ores regard battle sears as lokens of pride and ornamenlal sears as lhings of beauly. OlheI' sears, though, mark an ore 01' half-ore as a formeI' slave 01' a disgraeed exile. Any half-ore who has lived among 01' near ores has sears, whelher lhey are marks of humilialion 01' of pride, reeounling their pasl exploils and injuries. Sueh a half-ore living among humans might display lhese sears proudly 01' hide them in shame.

## THE MARK OF GRUUMSH

The one-eyed god Gruumsh erealed lhe ores, and even those ores who turn away from his worship ean'l fully escape his influenee. The same is lrue of haIf-ores. lhough lheir human blood moderales lhe impaet of lheir orcish heritage. Some half-ores hear the whispers of Gruumsh in lheir dreams, ealling lhem lo unleash lhe rage tha! simmers wilhin lhem. Others feel Gruumsh's exultation when they join in melee eombat-and either exult along with him or shiver with fear and loathing. Half-ores are not evil by nature, but evil does lurk within them, whether they embraee it or rebel against it. Beyond the rage of Gruumsh, half-ores feel emotion powerfully. Rage doesn't jusl quieken their pulse, it makes their bodies burn. An insult stings tike acid, and sadness saps their strength. But they laugh loudly and heartily, and simple bodily pleasures-feasting, drinking, wrestling, drumming, and wild dancing-fill their hearls with joy. They tend to be short-tempered and sometimes sullen, more inclined to aelion than eontemplation and to fighting than arguing. The mosl aeeomplished half-ores are lhose with enough self. eontrol to get by in a civilized land.

## TRIBES AND SLUMS

Half-ores most often live among ores. Of the other raees, humans are most tikely to aeeept half.ores, and half. ores almost always live in human lands when not living among ore lribes. Whether proving themselves among rough barbarian tribes or serabbling to survive in the slums of larger cities, half-ores gel by on their physieal might, their enduranee, and lhe sheer determinalion lhey inheril from lheir human aneeslry.

## HALF-ORC NAMES

Half-ores usually have names appropriate lo the eullure in whieh they were raised. A half-ore who wanls lo fit in among humans mighl trade an ore name for a human name. Some half-ores wilh human names decide to adopt a guttural ore na me beeause they lhink it makes lhem more intimidating.

* Male Ore Names: Deneh, Feng, Gell, Henk, Holg, Imsh, Kelh, Krusk, Mhurren, Ront. Shump. Thokk
* Female Ore Names: Baggi, Emen, Engong. Kansif. Myev. Neega. Ovak, Ownka, Shaulha, Sulha. Vola, Volen, Yevelda

 Your half-ore eharaeter has eertain traits deriving from your ore aneestry.
* Abi/ity Score lncrease. Your Strength seore inereases by 2, and your Constitution score inereases by I.
* Age. Half-ores mature a tittle faster than humans, reaehing adulthood around age 14. They age notieeably faster and rarely tive longer than 75 years.
* Alignment. Half-ores inherit a tendeney toward ehaos from their ore parents and are not strongly inclincd toward good. Half-ores raised among ores and willillg to tive out their tives among them are usually evil.
* Size. Half-ores are somewhat largcr and bulkier than humans, and they range from 5 to well over ti feet tall. Your size is Medium.
* Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision. Thanks to your ore blood. you have superior vision in dark and dim eOllditions. Vou ean see in dim tight within 60 feet of you as if it were bright tight. and in darkness as if it were dim light. You ean't diseern eolor in darkness, only shades of gray.
* Menacing. You gain proficieney in the Intimidation skill.
* Relentless Endurance. When you are reduced to O hit points but not killed outright. you can drop to I hit point instead. Vou can't use this feature again unti! you finish a long resto
* Savage Attacks. When you score a criticaI hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of thc wcapon's damage dice one additional time and add it lo lhe extra damage of lhe criticaI hit.
* Languages. You can speak. read, and write Common and Ore. Ore is a harsh. grating language with hard consonants. It has no script of its own but is written in the Dwarvish script.