D&D General What have you done with Orcs in your games?

[Voadam]

So there are a lot of options for portraying Orcs in D&D games, from Gruumsh touched 5e default ones, to Eberron druid history ones, to the alignment splits of 3e and on Chaotic Evil, AD&D Lawful Evil ones, and Basic Chaotic Orcs. Outside of D&D there are 40K fungi biologic weapons, Warcraft Orcs, Lord of the Rings Orcs, Shadowrun style metahuman Orks, and others that can be taken as inspiration.

What have you done with them in your games?

 

[commandercrud]

Kill them.

 

[Oofta]

Nothing other than that they originate from Jotunheim (home of the giants). I rarely use them.

 

[HJFudge]

So there are a lot of options for portraying Orcs in D&D games, from Gruumsh touched 5e default ones, to Eberron druid history ones, to the alignment splits of 3e and on Chaotic Evil, AD&D Lawful Evil ones, and Basic Chaotic Orcs. Outside of D&D there are 40K fungi biologic weapons, Warcraft Orcs, Lord of the Rings Orcs, Shadowrun style metahuman Orks, and others that can be taken as inspiration.

What have you done with them in your games?

I've done them a few ways.

When I was younger I did the 'from another world' way, where they came over with the Elves to flee a dying world that both sides had reduced to inhabitable, and the basic campaign idea was that the Elves arrived first and portrayed themselves as victims, but the Orcs were actually the ones attacked first and the slow reveal of that, of the party at first treating the orcs as 'KOS enemy' to learning as they go that it wasn't exactly so black and white as the Elves originally said it was made for an interesting tale.

I've done non-sentient monsters, victims of a curse basically that took away their reasoning and left nothing but violent rage (think Reavers from Firefly/Serenity).

Currently, I don't run them at all in my campaign.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I rarely use them.

...

This is pretty much my point with them.

I'm in a similar boat. They serve no useful purpose and aren't interesting or cool or memorable. They're weak gruel. In my homebrew setting they don't even exist.

 

[Voadam]

In one Freeport Game the party tussled with an Orc pirate captain in the city and so he kept recruiting new crews of immigrant orcs to go after the party.

I made a point of having each new wave have a distinctive patron god war cry.

First one was Gruumsh! One-Eye sees all! We found you, Gruumsh!

The second one was Blood for the Blood God! Odin!

Third was Souls for the Death God! Vecna!

The fourth was planned out as Evil-Eye! Balor!

I didn't get Blood and Thunder! Talos look upon these souls we slay in your honor!

Or to any cyclops ones.

It was a fun way to tie in the multicultural aspect of the world, Freeport being an international hub, orcs being used as cheap labor and muscle as a thing in the city, different orcs being different, but also have it go with an identifiable theme for orcs.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I a future game, I'll try to make the Orc (from Orruk, meaning ''the people'' in their language) more of a way of life akin to the Qunari from Dragon Age.

• You are not an Orc, you are Ork, meaning you can be from any origin and still identify as Ork if you follow the harsh set of rules and precepts of their belief.
• They live highly regimented and organized lives, where each member has a role in the society, chosen for them at a young age by the Maidens of Luthic who raise all children commonly. They do not make difference between men or women; the only important is the role you have to further the advance of the Orruk.
• They keep to themselves most of the them until they are asked by a superior to venture in the lands of other humanoids. The Ork people often tries to conquer the lands of the men, elves and dwarves that they see as decadent, lazy and chaotic, to bring them the way of the Ork so they can live more efficient lives.
• Their long tradition of waging wars allowed them to develop highly advanced form of medicine, weaponry, architecture and other sciences, but they are really reluctant in sharing them, seeing it as the property of the Orruk.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I have a second group that decided Gruumsh isn't all that great and have since turned to following the druidic religion. They're more herders/foragers than raiders, but they still can fight. And the Gruumshians are still out there and still a problem for everyone else (including the "heretics.")

 

[Horwath]

1-4th level cannon fodder for PCs so they can feel powerful, before they get trashed by BBEG for being overconfident.

 

[bedir than]

So there are a lot of options for portraying Orcs in D&D games, from Gruumsh touched 5e default ones, to Eberron druid history ones, to the alignment splits of 3e and on Chaotic Evil, AD&D Lawful Evil ones, and Basic Chaotic Orcs. Outside of D&D there are 40K fungi biologic weapons, Warcraft Orcs, Lord of the Rings Orcs, Shadowrun style metahuman Orks, and others that can be taken as inspiration.

What have you done with them in your games?

My home game has no orcs. It does have the variety of goblins, all reskinned into an intelligent smogpunk empire that was once myth and has returned to the land. None suffer penalties and like all of the peoples (playable races) they have free will, no general alignment, and run the gamut of personalities and identities.