Orcs

Base Height (M/F): 58”/56”
Height Modifier: 1d12
Weight (M/F): 130/90
Weight Modifier: Height Modifier x3d6

Base Age: 12 Years
    Aristocrat, Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer: +1d4
    Bard, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger: +1d6
    Adept, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Wizard: +2d6

Native Languages: Orc, Latinian
Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Giant, Goblin, Undercommon
Ability Adj.: +4 Str, -2 Int, -2 Wis, -2 Chr

Base Speed: 30 ft.

Description
Orcs resemble primitive humans with gray-green skin covered with coarse brown to black hair. Orc eyes run the same color range as human eyes, but with a reddish tint.

Origin
Like the other humanoid races, many of the orc tribes were driven into the Arkonian badlands first by the Elves and later by the Clasbron. Most orcs now living in Novaria do so as mercenaries in Tiel’s humanoid battalions.

Views

Orcs hate everything they can kill and fear everything they can’t. Among the human cultures, Orcs have some respect for Clasbron savagery in combat though the legends of the Clasbron wiping out their people from the lands east of the Chardon River will never allow the two to enter even an uneasy truce. Orcs also begrudge the Futhark their love of battle, almost seeing them as kinsman but enemies to be slaughtered nonetheless. The Latinians are viewed by Orcs as soft creatures whose love for buildings and art have made them weak. Should they ever break the shackles of Tiel’s armies, most orcs agree the Latinians will be the first to fall to the orc hordes. Orcs have a seething hatred for all elves since the chief of elven deities stabbed out the eye of their own deity. Elves must be destroyed at all costs and the current war Tiel wages against the elves has brought many an orc to offer their services to the King’s legions. Orcs also have no love for dwarves; though a thinking orc might respect dwarven combat prowess and grit, in general orcs have no use for dwarven permanence or strictures of dwarven society. They are a dangerous race and must be exterminated. Halflings are seen by orcs as easy pickings and an orc left to his own devices amongst halflings will consider it a challenge to see how many he can kill before someone stops him. The arcane abilities of many kobolds makes an orc think twice before attempting to stomp them to the ground. To orcs, goblins are just as good on a spit as they are on the battlefield and it is not uncommon to see any remaining orcs collecting the bodies of goblins that fell in battle to take home for a snack. Orcs resent being ordered around by hobgoblins and frequently test a hobgoblin's authority. A hobgoblin that loses dominance over a band of orcs has a short life expectancy.

Culture

The savage and ignoble Orcs form the backbone of Novaria’s humanoid forces. Weaker Orcs serve as common foot soldiers while the stronger ones command small war parties. Orcs are aggressive and unpredictable and need a strong leader to keep them in order before they are let loose to wreak havoc upon the battlefield. In their home environment, orcs live in natural caverns or those that they force weaker humanoids excavate. Orcs may also build crude fortifications of poorly made huts and surrounded by weak wooden palisades. The strongest male in the tribe rules these settlements as chieftain. The chieftain maintains the position until someone stronger can wrest it from him. If the chieftain dies suddenly, fighting breaks out amongst the remaining orcs until the strongest emerges victorious. In urban areas, orc hovels are just as shabby as their rural counterparts but instead of tribes, orcs roam the streets as gangs of thugs and combat between rival orc gangs are not uncommon.

In orc society, the female has no rights. She exists only for the pleasure of the orc male, to bear children and ensure domestic chores are completed. Orcs take as many wives as they can afford to feed and are free to do with them as they please, though they are recognized as the personal property of an individual orc. When the orc males are absent, however, the orc female has authority over the slaves of her household and often times takes her frustration and rage out on them.

Orcs have a healthy respect for their pantheon of gods, the chief of which is Gruumsh of the One-Eye. The highest-ranking shaman of the tribe is considered the equal of the chieftain in spiritual matters and works with or against the chieftain to obtain his personal goals.