half orcs and orc double axe

[astralpwka]

Okay, here's my arguement... (Am I wrong?)

After Orc Blood (Page 19), it says they can use special orc weapons. Wouldn't an orc double axe be a special orc weapon? Therefore, couldn't a half-orc use a orc double axe without the exotic weapon proficiency?

 

[Thanee]

*LOL*

Of course, not.

That refers to magical weapons, that have special properties when used by an orc!

Bye
Thanee

 

[CRGreathouse]

Thanee is 100% correct.

 

[mmu1]

Or, in a typical campaign, used on a half-orc is going to be more likely course of events.

 

[Mistwell]

This whole "magical weapons, that have special properties when used by an orc" thing is a scam. I've never seen such a weapon in any published module or accessory (though hopefully it does exist somewhere). In addition, it doesn't say just "magic items" it says "special orc weapons or magic items with racially specific orc powers". That implies there are mundane weapons that a half-orc or orc can use that someone of a different race cannot use. The only published "orc" weapon I am aware of is the orc double-axe.

 

[Alchemist]

I would suspect that it's not a "scam", but rather that nobody has exploited this possibility yet. I started to put an adventure together for my players where they were going to face off against an orcish warlord, and his weapon was going to be an orcish weapon, with special powers against Dwarves and/or Elves. The campaign took a different turn, so it got left on the drawing board. Maybe next time.

I think your reading of the passage is literally correct, but the spirit is probably in reference to magical weapons that are orc-only. I haven't seen any mundane weapons that are better or only usable by a dwarf or elf, so why would there be any for orcs?

 

[mmu1]

There might not be "special" weapons only useable by elves or dwarves, but elves, for example, do get free weapon proficiencies.

It really wouldn't hurt the game balance ANY to let orcs use the double axe as a racial ability - you still need Ambidexterity and Two Weapon Fighting to get any real use out of it anyway.

And as far as other orc-specific weapons go, I remember a Dragon article that did have some. One was basically a shot-put, the other I think was a really weird, very long and flexible spear that was used by planting one end in the ground and whacking people by whipping the other end back and forth or something... Also not exactly game-breakers

 

[Mistwell]

Personally, I think halflings should be automatically proficient with the halfling skip rock, half-orcs with the orc double-axe, gnomes with the gnome hooked hammer, and Dwarves with the dwarven waraxe and dwarven urgosh. Elves have the proficiency with swords and bows already. Racial mundane weapons make sense to me.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

The Orc Blood thing isn't a scam--it just isn't currently a good deal for orcs.

In game, it currently makes orcs vulnerable to orcbane weapons. (Of course, they're vulnerable to humanbane weapons as well because of their human blood).

It also means that favored enemyrc counts against half-orcs as well.

Other than that, it doesn't come up although there's no reason why a weapon that could only be wielded by orcs couldn't be created. In theory, its creator would get a discount on the cost of creation so many weapons wielded by orcs are probably like that.

I guess it also applies to prestige classes like the Eye of Gruumsh and Tribal Protector as well. (Permitting half-orcs entry into these classes which are not available to other PC races).

 

[CRGreathouse]

(Of course, they're vulnerable to humanbane weapons as well because of their human blood).

Nope, not by the rules.