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Orc

2016-04-17T16:44:24Z

2600:1012:B05F:5BEB:C505:6209:FE69:3B0D: /* The Master Template */

{{NeedsImages}}

Orcs are a fantasy race that is used in a number of settings. Compare to [[Ork]]. They are generally depicted as barbaric humanoids with green skin. Typically, they are stronger than an average [[human]], though generally less intelligent as well (except in Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40,000, Lord of the Rings and the Elder Scrolls, where they are, amusingly, physically inferior to the human race that is a facsimile of the [[Vikings]]. Thus proving that beards and axes end all things and that the Vikings can rape anyone).

They enjoy molesting, eating and generally mistreating the goblins, their smaller cousins. They have longstanding relationships with trolls and ogres, their larger and stupider neighbors, whom they con into performing demeaning menial tasks and press into service in wartime. Their relations with more distant races are more variable - some may work for humans as mercenaries, for example, while others will attack humans on sight. They are also interfertile with many other races, leading to the existence of [[half-orc]]s. The long-standing exception to this is [[elves]]. All orcs hate elves, and this makes them good people.

Historically, the term was used to describe the Normans invading the Saxon occupiers of Britain in 1066. It is also an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'demon', according to Tolkien, who lifted the word from Beowulf.
== The Master Template ==
Orcs as we know them have their beginnings with Tolkien's works. The first orcs were created by Melkor shortly after the first elves awoke. Some of these elves wandered about exploring this world that they had awoken in and were captured by some of Melkor's maiar and were taken to Angband, his base of operations. There they were tortured, abused, cursed, mutated and selectively bred until you got orcs. The result was a species of ugly, bad smelling, ape like, long armed, claw handed, hairy humanoids which were brown, grey and black in coloration, had an aversion to sunlight, and ranged in size from smaller than a hobbit to as large as a man. These creatures would make up the bulk of Melkor and Sauron's armies. In Arda, [[Goblin]] is just another word for Orc (although in practice it refers mainly to the smaller types used most often as menial laborers). "Uruk" means orc in Black Speech.

Tolkien's orcs are not stupid. They are capable of making weapons (bows, spears, daggers, shields and curved swords), armor (helmets and mail), good (if unpleasant) medicine and are pretty good engineers. They are almost as good at mining as Dwarves are. Nor are all orcs identical. There are variations among orcs both in terms of individual personalities and differences between groups. Orcs from the Misty Mountains are described as being fairly tribal while those of Mordor are regimented. There are also different breeds of orcs, besides the garden variety orc you also have 'snufflers' bred for following scent trails and the larger and more sun resistant Uruk-Hai bred by Sauron and Saruman, supposedly made by crossbreeding orcs with humans and specialized to act as commanders. However they are violent, sadistic, spiteful, enjoy breaking stuff, have no concern for aesthetics and are as a rule hateful and miserable. Fighting, killing, gaining power, bossing their subordinates, torturing and presumably raping captives can only give temporary reprieve. They hate Sauron and especially Melkor, but serve them out of fear and their psychic influence over them. They are capable of internal loyalty and do have some social taboos (being accused of eating other orcs is a considerable insult even though they are perfectly fine with eating non-orcs) which are enough to let them act together as groups, although these groups tend to collapse due to infighting after reaching a certain size in the absence of a leader who can terrify them into submission.

Despite this, little is said by Tolkien about how orcs live their lives on a day to day basis as their role in the story is as a force which threatens the heroes and those around them. It can be extrapolated, however that it is usually cruel, brutish and short. The question of whether they are intrinsically evil is never brought up, and several of Tolkien's unpublished works suggest that this was due to his own misgivings with the concept of a wholly evil race; Melkor had no power to create other beings himself, but the fact that elves could be corrupted would also imply Eru had either made the souls of some elves either inherently evil or easily corrupted to become evil. This in turn contradicted his own views on the nature of Eru as a wholly good deity while also opening up some thorny questions of faith for Tolkien himself, and even in his last writings it appears he could not come up with a satisfactory explanation for how they could be universally evil by nature.

==Mold-Breakers==

As the above suggests, orcs are typically your generic barbarian rapine-horde of bad-guys in most fantasy settings. However, there are a couple of notable exceptions.

'''[[Al-Qadim]]''' is notable for being probably the first full-on retooling of the orcs from "rampaging barbarian tribes" to "just one more fantasy race that mostly gets along with the others." This is mostly because, rather than having all the races living in their own corners of the world with their own cultures, the deserts of Al-Qadim saw lots of racial mixing around the few oases, and thus a single unified culture comprised of multiple races formed. The only enemies who ''are'' always evil are explicitly supernatural, like the YAKMEN! Also, the most likely setting ever for [[/d/|elf-orc crossbreeding]].

'''[[Eberron]]''' gave its orcs a status as a relatively peaceful race who were once responsible for combating the threat of [[aberration]] hordes from beyond the stars, as well as founders of the tradition of druidism in-setting. Even in the present, they tend to live in the swamp-regions and do no harm; they freely mingle with humans and adopt them into their tribes, so [[half-orc]]s are not only common, but have an expectation of being born from consensual relationships, rather than the "orc man raping a human woman" expectation of most other D&D settings. The Demon Wastes are even full of human, orc, and half-orc [[barbarian]] clans all living and fighting and drinking together for the glory of Kalok Shash, an incarnation of the Silver Flame, in an endless war to make sure nothing ''else'' in the Demon Wastes ever gets out. ''And winning.''

'''[[Forgotten Realms]]''', although certainly playing it straight, had an exception too, in the form of the AD&D-only orc subspecies known as the Ondonti. A ''Lawful Good'' race of peaceful, quiet, contemplative, gentle orcs who devote themselves to Eldath (a minor Goddess of Peace and Quiet Places) and live a humble life as farmers in a hidden valley. They have several Priestly spell-like abilities (Sanctuary (Self) and Purify Food & Water 3/day, Barkskin 1/day and Tree 1/week), are resistant to poison and immune to Charm spells. The general belief of their origin is that they are an example of option 3 in the infamous [[The Orc Baby Dilemma]], with a bunch of Eldathi priests taking orphaned orc infants into seclusion and bringing them up into their cult, causing them to forsake their ancestral barbarity and embrace peace, quiet and advanced hygiene. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/orcondon.php here].

'''[[Spelljammer]]''' is an unusual entry on this list, because its unique orcs, or ''Scro'', are still bad guys. It's just that, in [[AD&D|an era where orcs were defined as being chaotic, anarchic, disorganized hordes]] scro were defined by being cultured, intelligent, disciplined and well-organized soldierly regiments. They are even bigger than normal orcs, pimp out their teeth with much bling, and [[Nazi|wear black leather uniforms when not in battle armor]]. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/scro.php here].

'''[[Warcraft]]''' may be the iconic example of a mold-breaker when it comes to orcs. After making them fairly bog-standard bad guy invaders in the first two games (if a little unusual in that they were also invaders from another planet), the third game offered the revelation that orcs had once been a [[noblebright]] culture of shamans and honorable warriors, but were corrupted into savage, bloodthirsty conquerors by an evil shaman and the setting's demonic BBEG. As a result, the third game focused on their drive to draw their beaten clans out of human territory and found a new nation for themselves where they could try and rediscover their past. This led to the formation of the Horde faction in [[World of Warcraft]], which took off hugely in popularity because of its then-novel idea of traditionally brutal monster races (orcs, [[troll]]s, [[undead]], and [[minotaur]]s) as an ordinary, viably civilized (relatively speaking) faction in its own right. There was even a short-lived tabletop RPG (first a D&D 3.5 spin off, then a more "customized" but still fundamentally D&D-cloned WoW version) as a result. They still fight, bicker, and war with the "good" races, but now it's because of [[Blizzard]]'s refusal to [[Advancing the Storyline|give up the "dual faction" mechanic and let the story progress]] along with long-standing prejudices between both the Alliance and the Horde rather than because they're the bad guys.

'''[[Elder Scrolls]]''' Orcs (or Orsimer, if you wish to use their proper name) are very intelligent and generally known to be the best smiths in the setting besides the long-extinct Dwarves, as well as crazy good soldiers next to the Nords and Redguards. Their skill in fighting with heavy armor has lent them a place as heavy shock legionaries in the Imperial Legions. One Orc even became the continent's best chef. Technically, they're a subspecies of Elf which were transformed into their current state after the Daedric Prince Boethiah ate (and shat out) their greatest champion, who was himself turned into the Daedric Prince Malacath.

'''[[Wicked Fantasy]]''' Orks ''were'' originally the standard Always Chaotic Evil raider types, having been created by malevolent gods for the purpose of fighting for their amusement. And then, one day, thirteen great orkish heroes realized that their race had always been nothing more than slaves, and chose to take a new path. They fought their gods and slew them, and though they still struggle with the lingering blood-rage they were created with, they are now a comparatively peaceful race. They're still a ''dark'' race, but not an evil one. For example, they worship pain as a sacred concept... because, by their understanding of it, pain is ultimately on the side of life and it is the giver of strength. Pain warns you when you are hurt, when you are about to die, but it also pushes you to fight harder, to try and survive. Orks prize battle scars as near-sacred objects; nothing comes without sacrifice, and without a scar, the physical symbol of pain, for reference, a victory is ultimately meaningless.

It's not very common, as one can see, but some DMs have been known to revamp orcs for their own homebrew settings as well.

==Orcs in D&D==
From 3rd edition on, Orcs have been a playable race in the vast list for [[Dungeons & Dragons]], though their stats and standard portrayal have usually been bad enough to keep most people from ever bothering. Even in [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition|4e]], most would probably recommend using [[half-orc]] or [[goliath]] stats and "reskinning" them into orcs. The Players Handbook in [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition|5e]] outright states that it's not ''impossible'' for an orc to not be chaotic evil, but that Gruumsh, the god that created them, didn't give them as much free will as the normal races, making it ''more'' difficult for orcs to avoid being evil. (Half-orcs feel it too, but not as strongly, and it primarily manifests as extremely passionate emotions.)

===AD&D Orc:===
* +1 Strength
* -2 Charisma
* Strength: Minimum 6, Maximum 18
* Dexterity: Minimum 3, Maximum 17
* Constitution: Minimum 8, Maximum 18
* Intelligence: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
* Wisdom: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
* Charisma: Minimum 3, Maximum 12
* Available Classes & Max Levels: Fighter 10, Cleric 9, Shaman 6, Witch Doctor 6, Thief 11
* 35% chance to spot new and unusual constructions
* 25% chance to spot sloping passages
* Infravision 60 feet
* -1 penalty to attack rolls and morale when in direct sunlight
* Weapon Proficiencies: Battle axe, crossbow, flail, hand axe, spear, any bow, any pole arm, any sword.
* Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, armorer, blacksmithing, bowyer/fletcher, carpentry, chanting, close-quarter fighting, hunting, intimidation, looting, religion, set snares, spellcraft, tracking, weaponsmithing.

===3.x Orc:===
* +4 Strength
* -2 Intelligence
* -2 Wisdom
* -2 Charisma
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
* Favored Class: Barbarian

===3.5 Scro===
* +4 Strength
* +2 Dexterity
* +2 Constitution
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Orc Blood (count as orcs for all effect related to race)
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls vs. Elves of all kinds
* Favored Class: Monk
* Level Adjustment: +2

===Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Constitution
* -2 Intelligence
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Low-Light Vison
* Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
* Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
* Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
* +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Handle Animal (Wolf) and Intimidate are always Class Skills for orcs.
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
* Favored Class: Fighter

===World of Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Stamina
* -2 Intellect
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Low-Light Vison
* Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
* Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
* Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
* +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Intimidate is always a Class Skill for orcs.
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
* Favored Class: Barbarian

===4e Orc===
* +2 Strength
* +2 Constitution
* Size: Medium
* Speed: 6 squares
* Vision: Low-light
* Running Charge (+2 to Speed when charging)
* Warrior's Surge (racial encounter power; make a 1[W] + Strength modifier attack with a melee weapon against an opponent's AC and get to spend a healing surge)

===Pathfinder Orc===
* +4 Strength
* -2 Intelligence
* -2 Wisdom
* -2 Charisma
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Ferocity (can keep fighting at zero HP, but is Staggered and loses 1 HP each round automatically)
* Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
* Weapon Familiarity: Automatically proficient with Greataxe and Falchion, treat any weapon with "Orc" in its name as a Martial weapon.

==Green Skin==

One usually wonders where the green coloration of Orcish skin came from, in the old myths (i.e., Lord of the Rings) the orcs were established as barbaric, crude brutes, true; but the approximate skin color was never truly established, the Orcs were generally described as filthy and mucky, with darkened skin and bestial countenances. (Similarly, in the films their skin shades are in varying shades of ash-black and dirty-brown, the occasional bit of face-painting notwithstanding.) It wasn't until the advent of the Hulk comics, and GW deciding to make their orcs different, that the common skin of the orc became green. Because Warhammer's orcs became so memorable, thousands of copycats have followed suit.

This of course may not truly explain why some orcs in DnD have green skin as well, DnD being around before Warhammer, but the a more precise green coloration in its orcs may have come later. Indeed, earlier DnD art shows a variety of skin colors, some of them sallow yellow and earthy reds. Green may have come about because all the other possible colors simply have clashing connotations, such as a calming blue, or offensive real world racial connotations (black, red, brown, and yellow are right out for a barbaric and evil race of XP bags.) Another theory is that Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the 2 co-founders of [[Games Workshop]], also had a lot of communication with Brian Blume, the developer of D&D, especially in the early days of these 2 companies, so it is entirely possible that certain ideas were mentioned and then copied.

==Piggish Looks==

On occasions, a person may find orcs depicted as pig-men, despite the general acception of orcs as being (usually green-skinned) Frazetta Man style cavemen fellows. This goes back to [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], where orcs were described as having a fundamentally "piggish snout" for a face and depicted as more or less a boar's head on a hunched, ugly, green-skinned chimpanzee. Some depictions of orcs thusly refer back to this. It's most common in Japan, where AD&D [[neckbeard]]s grew up to have a huge impact on art, manga and videogames.

==Monstergirl Depictions==
Orcs are not the most commonly seen of [[monstergirls]], as many of the individuals inclined to make monstergirls aren't inclined to find them attractive. Those rare orc MGs seen tend to be, basically, green-skinned amazons; musclegirls of a particularly dumb "fight 'em an' fuck 'em" mentality with a penchant for either raping men or gathering in harems around particularly strong, tough warriors (who may or may not be made to submit).

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Orc is a chubby pink girl with pig ears on her head and a pig's tail (see above about how "pigmen orcs" are popular in Japan). She's a vanilla demihuman-type mamono who goes around in large groups by preference. They're femdommy by nature, but happily submit to maledom if a potential spouse can overpower them in a fight, and also enjoy sharing a spouse between them. Hilariously, this is pretty square with what official sources have established about ''D&D'' orc sexual mores.

==See Also==
*[[Goblins]]
*[[Ork]]
*[[Orcs & Goblins]]

==Gallery==

<gallery>
File:Orcweapons.JPG|Ork made [[Exotic weapons]].
File:Orksword.GIF|Ork make more [[Exotic weapons]].
Image:Female Orc.jpg|gb2kitchen
Image:Orc_bard.jpg|What happens when the DM lets him take a homebrew feat to use his Strength score for Perform (Dance) checks.
</gallery>
{{D&D4e-Races}}

Orc

2016-04-17T16:42:29Z

2600:1012:B05F:5BEB:C505:6209:FE69:3B0D: /* The Master Template */

{{NeedsImages}}

Orcs are a fantasy race that is used in a number of settings. Compare to [[Ork]]. They are generally depicted as barbaric humanoids with green skin. Typically, they are stronger than an average [[human]], though generally less intelligent as well (except in Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40,000, Lord of the Rings and the Elder Scrolls, where they are, amusingly, physically inferior to the human race that is a facsimile of the [[Vikings]]. Thus proving that beards and axes end all things and that the Vikings can rape anyone).

They enjoy molesting, eating and generally mistreating the goblins, their smaller cousins. They have longstanding relationships with trolls and ogres, their larger and stupider neighbors, whom they con into performing demeaning menial tasks and press into service in wartime. Their relations with more distant races are more variable - some may work for humans as mercenaries, for example, while others will attack humans on sight. They are also interfertile with many other races, leading to the existence of [[half-orc]]s. The long-standing exception to this is [[elves]]. All orcs hate elves, and this makes them good people.

Historically, the term was used to describe the Normans invading the Saxon occupiers of Britain in 1066. It is also an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'demon', according to Tolkien, who lifted the word from Beowulf.
== The Master Template ==
Orcs as we know them have their beginnings with Tolkien's works. The first orcs were created by Melkor shortly after the first elves awoke. Some of these elves wandered about exploring this world that they had awoken in and were captured by some of Melkor's maiar and were taken to Angband, his base of operations. There they were tortured, abused, cursed, mutated and selectively bred until you got orcs. The result was a species of ugly, bad smelling, ape like, long armed, claw handed, hairy humanoids which were brown, grey and black in coloration, had an aversion to sunlight, and ranged in size from smaller than a hobbit to as large as a man. These creatures would make up the bulk of Melkor and Sauron's armies. In Arda, [[Goblin]] is just another word for Orc (although in practice it refers mainly to the smaller types used most often as menial laborers). "Uruk" means orc in Black Speech.

Tolkien's orcs are not stupid. They are capable of making weapons (bows, spears, daggers, shields and curved swords), armor (helmets and mail), good (if unpleasant) medicine and are pretty good engineers. They are almost as good at mining as Dwarves are. Nor are all orcs identical. There are variations among orcs both in terms of individual personalities and differences between groups. Orcs from the Misty Mountains are described as being fairly tribal while those of Mordor are regimented. There are also different breeds of orcs, besides the garden variety orc you also have 'snufflers' bred for following scent trails and the larger and more sun resistant Uruk-Hai bred by Sauron and Saruman, supposedly made by crossbreeding orcs with humans and specialized to act as commanders. However they are violent, sadistic, spiteful, enjoy breaking stuff, have no concern for aesthetics and are as a rule hateful and miserable. Fighting, killing, gaining power, bossing their subordinates, torturing and presumably raping captives can only give temporary reprieve. They hate Sauron and especially Melkor, but serve them out of fear and their psychic influence over them. They are capable of internal loyalty and do have some social taboos (being accused of eating other orcs is a considerable insult even though they are perfectly fine with eating non-orcs) which are enough to let them act together as groups, although these groups tend to collapse due to infighting after reaching a certain size in the absence of a leader who can terrify them into submission.

Despite this, little is said by Tolkien about how orcs live their lives on a day to day basis as their role in the story is as an a force which threatens the heroes and those around them. It can be extrapolated, however that it is usually cruel, brutish and short. The question of whether they are intrinsically evil is never brought up, and several of Tolkien's unpublished works suggest that this was due to his own misgivings with the concept of a wholly evil race; Melkor had no power to create other beings himself, but the fact that elves could be corrupted would also imply Eru had either made the souls of some elves either inherently evil or easily corrupted to become evil. This in turn contradicted his own views on the nature of Eru as a wholly good deity while also opening up some thorny questions of faith for Tolkien himself, and even in his last writings it appears he could not come up with a satisfactory explanation for how they could be universally evil by nature.

==Mold-Breakers==

As the above suggests, orcs are typically your generic barbarian rapine-horde of bad-guys in most fantasy settings. However, there are a couple of notable exceptions.

'''[[Al-Qadim]]''' is notable for being probably the first full-on retooling of the orcs from "rampaging barbarian tribes" to "just one more fantasy race that mostly gets along with the others." This is mostly because, rather than having all the races living in their own corners of the world with their own cultures, the deserts of Al-Qadim saw lots of racial mixing around the few oases, and thus a single unified culture comprised of multiple races formed. The only enemies who ''are'' always evil are explicitly supernatural, like the YAKMEN! Also, the most likely setting ever for [[/d/|elf-orc crossbreeding]].

'''[[Eberron]]''' gave its orcs a status as a relatively peaceful race who were once responsible for combating the threat of [[aberration]] hordes from beyond the stars, as well as founders of the tradition of druidism in-setting. Even in the present, they tend to live in the swamp-regions and do no harm; they freely mingle with humans and adopt them into their tribes, so [[half-orc]]s are not only common, but have an expectation of being born from consensual relationships, rather than the "orc man raping a human woman" expectation of most other D&D settings. The Demon Wastes are even full of human, orc, and half-orc [[barbarian]] clans all living and fighting and drinking together for the glory of Kalok Shash, an incarnation of the Silver Flame, in an endless war to make sure nothing ''else'' in the Demon Wastes ever gets out. ''And winning.''

'''[[Forgotten Realms]]''', although certainly playing it straight, had an exception too, in the form of the AD&D-only orc subspecies known as the Ondonti. A ''Lawful Good'' race of peaceful, quiet, contemplative, gentle orcs who devote themselves to Eldath (a minor Goddess of Peace and Quiet Places) and live a humble life as farmers in a hidden valley. They have several Priestly spell-like abilities (Sanctuary (Self) and Purify Food & Water 3/day, Barkskin 1/day and Tree 1/week), are resistant to poison and immune to Charm spells. The general belief of their origin is that they are an example of option 3 in the infamous [[The Orc Baby Dilemma]], with a bunch of Eldathi priests taking orphaned orc infants into seclusion and bringing them up into their cult, causing them to forsake their ancestral barbarity and embrace peace, quiet and advanced hygiene. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/orcondon.php here].

'''[[Spelljammer]]''' is an unusual entry on this list, because its unique orcs, or ''Scro'', are still bad guys. It's just that, in [[AD&D|an era where orcs were defined as being chaotic, anarchic, disorganized hordes]] scro were defined by being cultured, intelligent, disciplined and well-organized soldierly regiments. They are even bigger than normal orcs, pimp out their teeth with much bling, and [[Nazi|wear black leather uniforms when not in battle armor]]. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/scro.php here].

'''[[Warcraft]]''' may be the iconic example of a mold-breaker when it comes to orcs. After making them fairly bog-standard bad guy invaders in the first two games (if a little unusual in that they were also invaders from another planet), the third game offered the revelation that orcs had once been a [[noblebright]] culture of shamans and honorable warriors, but were corrupted into savage, bloodthirsty conquerors by an evil shaman and the setting's demonic BBEG. As a result, the third game focused on their drive to draw their beaten clans out of human territory and found a new nation for themselves where they could try and rediscover their past. This led to the formation of the Horde faction in [[World of Warcraft]], which took off hugely in popularity because of its then-novel idea of traditionally brutal monster races (orcs, [[troll]]s, [[undead]], and [[minotaur]]s) as an ordinary, viably civilized (relatively speaking) faction in its own right. There was even a short-lived tabletop RPG (first a D&D 3.5 spin off, then a more "customized" but still fundamentally D&D-cloned WoW version) as a result. They still fight, bicker, and war with the "good" races, but now it's because of [[Blizzard]]'s refusal to [[Advancing the Storyline|give up the "dual faction" mechanic and let the story progress]] along with long-standing prejudices between both the Alliance and the Horde rather than because they're the bad guys.

'''[[Elder Scrolls]]''' Orcs (or Orsimer, if you wish to use their proper name) are very intelligent and generally known to be the best smiths in the setting besides the long-extinct Dwarves, as well as crazy good soldiers next to the Nords and Redguards. Their skill in fighting with heavy armor has lent them a place as heavy shock legionaries in the Imperial Legions. One Orc even became the continent's best chef. Technically, they're a subspecies of Elf which were transformed into their current state after the Daedric Prince Boethiah ate (and shat out) their greatest champion, who was himself turned into the Daedric Prince Malacath.

'''[[Wicked Fantasy]]''' Orks ''were'' originally the standard Always Chaotic Evil raider types, having been created by malevolent gods for the purpose of fighting for their amusement. And then, one day, thirteen great orkish heroes realized that their race had always been nothing more than slaves, and chose to take a new path. They fought their gods and slew them, and though they still struggle with the lingering blood-rage they were created with, they are now a comparatively peaceful race. They're still a ''dark'' race, but not an evil one. For example, they worship pain as a sacred concept... because, by their understanding of it, pain is ultimately on the side of life and it is the giver of strength. Pain warns you when you are hurt, when you are about to die, but it also pushes you to fight harder, to try and survive. Orks prize battle scars as near-sacred objects; nothing comes without sacrifice, and without a scar, the physical symbol of pain, for reference, a victory is ultimately meaningless.

It's not very common, as one can see, but some DMs have been known to revamp orcs for their own homebrew settings as well.

==Orcs in D&D==
From 3rd edition on, Orcs have been a playable race in the vast list for [[Dungeons & Dragons]], though their stats and standard portrayal have usually been bad enough to keep most people from ever bothering. Even in [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition|4e]], most would probably recommend using [[half-orc]] or [[goliath]] stats and "reskinning" them into orcs. The Players Handbook in [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition|5e]] outright states that it's not ''impossible'' for an orc to not be chaotic evil, but that Gruumsh, the god that created them, didn't give them as much free will as the normal races, making it ''more'' difficult for orcs to avoid being evil. (Half-orcs feel it too, but not as strongly, and it primarily manifests as extremely passionate emotions.)

===AD&D Orc:===
* +1 Strength
* -2 Charisma
* Strength: Minimum 6, Maximum 18
* Dexterity: Minimum 3, Maximum 17
* Constitution: Minimum 8, Maximum 18
* Intelligence: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
* Wisdom: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
* Charisma: Minimum 3, Maximum 12
* Available Classes & Max Levels: Fighter 10, Cleric 9, Shaman 6, Witch Doctor 6, Thief 11
* 35% chance to spot new and unusual constructions
* 25% chance to spot sloping passages
* Infravision 60 feet
* -1 penalty to attack rolls and morale when in direct sunlight
* Weapon Proficiencies: Battle axe, crossbow, flail, hand axe, spear, any bow, any pole arm, any sword.
* Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, armorer, blacksmithing, bowyer/fletcher, carpentry, chanting, close-quarter fighting, hunting, intimidation, looting, religion, set snares, spellcraft, tracking, weaponsmithing.

===3.x Orc:===
* +4 Strength
* -2 Intelligence
* -2 Wisdom
* -2 Charisma
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
* Favored Class: Barbarian

===3.5 Scro===
* +4 Strength
* +2 Dexterity
* +2 Constitution
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Orc Blood (count as orcs for all effect related to race)
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls vs. Elves of all kinds
* Favored Class: Monk
* Level Adjustment: +2

===Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Constitution
* -2 Intelligence
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Low-Light Vison
* Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
* Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
* Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
* +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Handle Animal (Wolf) and Intimidate are always Class Skills for orcs.
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
* Favored Class: Fighter

===World of Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Stamina
* -2 Intellect
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Low-Light Vison
* Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
* Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
* Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
* +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Intimidate is always a Class Skill for orcs.
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
* Favored Class: Barbarian

===4e Orc===
* +2 Strength
* +2 Constitution
* Size: Medium
* Speed: 6 squares
* Vision: Low-light
* Running Charge (+2 to Speed when charging)
* Warrior's Surge (racial encounter power; make a 1[W] + Strength modifier attack with a melee weapon against an opponent's AC and get to spend a healing surge)

===Pathfinder Orc===
* +4 Strength
* -2 Intelligence
* -2 Wisdom
* -2 Charisma
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Ferocity (can keep fighting at zero HP, but is Staggered and loses 1 HP each round automatically)
* Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
* Weapon Familiarity: Automatically proficient with Greataxe and Falchion, treat any weapon with "Orc" in its name as a Martial weapon.

==Green Skin==

One usually wonders where the green coloration of Orcish skin came from, in the old myths (i.e., Lord of the Rings) the orcs were established as barbaric, crude brutes, true; but the approximate skin color was never truly established, the Orcs were generally described as filthy and mucky, with darkened skin and bestial countenances. (Similarly, in the films their skin shades are in varying shades of ash-black and dirty-brown, the occasional bit of face-painting notwithstanding.) It wasn't until the advent of the Hulk comics, and GW deciding to make their orcs different, that the common skin of the orc became green. Because Warhammer's orcs became so memorable, thousands of copycats have followed suit.

This of course may not truly explain why some orcs in DnD have green skin as well, DnD being around before Warhammer, but the a more precise green coloration in its orcs may have come later. Indeed, earlier DnD art shows a variety of skin colors, some of them sallow yellow and earthy reds. Green may have come about because all the other possible colors simply have clashing connotations, such as a calming blue, or offensive real world racial connotations (black, red, brown, and yellow are right out for a barbaric and evil race of XP bags.) Another theory is that Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the 2 co-founders of [[Games Workshop]], also had a lot of communication with Brian Blume, the developer of D&D, especially in the early days of these 2 companies, so it is entirely possible that certain ideas were mentioned and then copied.

==Piggish Looks==

On occasions, a person may find orcs depicted as pig-men, despite the general acception of orcs as being (usually green-skinned) Frazetta Man style cavemen fellows. This goes back to [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], where orcs were described as having a fundamentally "piggish snout" for a face and depicted as more or less a boar's head on a hunched, ugly, green-skinned chimpanzee. Some depictions of orcs thusly refer back to this. It's most common in Japan, where AD&D [[neckbeard]]s grew up to have a huge impact on art, manga and videogames.

==Monstergirl Depictions==
Orcs are not the most commonly seen of [[monstergirls]], as many of the individuals inclined to make monstergirls aren't inclined to find them attractive. Those rare orc MGs seen tend to be, basically, green-skinned amazons; musclegirls of a particularly dumb "fight 'em an' fuck 'em" mentality with a penchant for either raping men or gathering in harems around particularly strong, tough warriors (who may or may not be made to submit).

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Orc is a chubby pink girl with pig ears on her head and a pig's tail (see above about how "pigmen orcs" are popular in Japan). She's a vanilla demihuman-type mamono who goes around in large groups by preference. They're femdommy by nature, but happily submit to maledom if a potential spouse can overpower them in a fight, and also enjoy sharing a spouse between them. Hilariously, this is pretty square with what official sources have established about ''D&D'' orc sexual mores.

==See Also==
*[[Goblins]]
*[[Ork]]
*[[Orcs & Goblins]]

==Gallery==

<gallery>
File:Orcweapons.JPG|Ork made [[Exotic weapons]].
File:Orksword.GIF|Ork make more [[Exotic weapons]].
Image:Female Orc.jpg|gb2kitchen
Image:Orc_bard.jpg|What happens when the DM lets him take a homebrew feat to use his Strength score for Perform (Dance) checks.
</gallery>
{{D&D4e-Races}}

Orc

2016-04-17T16:41:36Z

2600:1012:B05F:5BEB:C505:6209:FE69:3B0D: /* The Master Template */

{{NeedsImages}}

Orcs are a fantasy race that is used in a number of settings. Compare to [[Ork]]. They are generally depicted as barbaric humanoids with green skin. Typically, they are stronger than an average [[human]], though generally less intelligent as well (except in Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40,000, Lord of the Rings and the Elder Scrolls, where they are, amusingly, physically inferior to the human race that is a facsimile of the [[Vikings]]. Thus proving that beards and axes end all things and that the Vikings can rape anyone).

They enjoy molesting, eating and generally mistreating the goblins, their smaller cousins. They have longstanding relationships with trolls and ogres, their larger and stupider neighbors, whom they con into performing demeaning menial tasks and press into service in wartime. Their relations with more distant races are more variable - some may work for humans as mercenaries, for example, while others will attack humans on sight. They are also interfertile with many other races, leading to the existence of [[half-orc]]s. The long-standing exception to this is [[elves]]. All orcs hate elves, and this makes them good people.

Historically, the term was used to describe the Normans invading the Saxon occupiers of Britain in 1066. It is also an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'demon', according to Tolkien, who lifted the word from Beowulf.
== The Master Template ==
Orcs as we know them have their beginnings with Tolkien's works. The first orcs were created by Melkor shortly after the first elves awoke. Some of these elves wandered about exploring this world that they had awoken in and were captured by some of Melkor's maiar and were taken to Angband, his base of operations. There they were tortured, abused, cursed, mutated and selectively bred until you got orcs. The result was a species of ugly, bad smelling, ape like, long armed, claw handed, hairy humanoids which were brown, grey and black in coloration, had an aversion to sunlight, and ranged in size from smaller than a hobbit to as large as a man. These creatures would make up the bulk of Melkor and Sauron's armies. In Arda, [[Goblin]] is just another word for Orc (although in practice it refers mainly to the smaller types used most often as menial laborers). "Uruk" means orc in Black Speech.

Tolkien's orcs are not stupid. They are capable of making weapons (bows, spears, daggers, shields and curved swords), armor (helmets and mail), good (if unpleasant) medicine and are pretty good engineers. They are almost as good at mining as Dwarves are. Nor are all orcs identical. There are variations among orcs both in terms of individual personalities and differences between groups. Orcs from the misty mountains are described as being fairly tribal while those of Mordor are regimented. There are also different breeds of orcs, besides the garden variety orc you also have 'snufflers' bred for following scent trails and the larger and more sun resistant Uruk-Hai bred by Sauron and Saruman, supposedly made by crossbreeding orcs with humans and specialized to act as commanders. However they are violent, sadistic, spiteful, enjoy breaking stuff, have no concern for aesthetics and are as a rule hateful and miserable. Fighting, killing, gaining power, bossing their subordinates, torturing and presumably raping captives can only give temporary reprieve. They hate Sauron and especially Melkor, but serve them out of fear and their psychic influence over them. They are capable of internal loyalty and do have some social taboos (being accused of eating other orcs is a considerable insult even though they are perfectly fine with eating non-orcs) which are enough to let them act together as groups, although these groups tend to collapse due to infighting after reaching a certain size in the absence of a leader who can terrify them into submission.

Despite this, little is said by Tolkien about how orcs live their lives on a day to day basis as their role in the story is as an a force which threatens the heroes and those around them. It can be extrapolated, however that it is usually cruel, brutish and short. The question of whether they are intrinsically evil is never brought up, and several of Tolkien's unpublished works suggest that this was due to his own misgivings with the concept of a wholly evil race; Melkor had no power to create other beings himself, but the fact that elves could be corrupted would also imply Eru had either made the souls of some elves either inherently evil or easily corrupted to become evil. This in turn contradicted his own views on the nature of Eru as a wholly good deity while also opening up some thorny questions of faith for Tolkien himself, and even in his last writings it appears he could not come up with a satisfactory explanation for how they could be universally evil by nature.

==Mold-Breakers==

As the above suggests, orcs are typically your generic barbarian rapine-horde of bad-guys in most fantasy settings. However, there are a couple of notable exceptions.

'''[[Al-Qadim]]''' is notable for being probably the first full-on retooling of the orcs from "rampaging barbarian tribes" to "just one more fantasy race that mostly gets along with the others." This is mostly because, rather than having all the races living in their own corners of the world with their own cultures, the deserts of Al-Qadim saw lots of racial mixing around the few oases, and thus a single unified culture comprised of multiple races formed. The only enemies who ''are'' always evil are explicitly supernatural, like the YAKMEN! Also, the most likely setting ever for [[/d/|elf-orc crossbreeding]].

'''[[Eberron]]''' gave its orcs a status as a relatively peaceful race who were once responsible for combating the threat of [[aberration]] hordes from beyond the stars, as well as founders of the tradition of druidism in-setting. Even in the present, they tend to live in the swamp-regions and do no harm; they freely mingle with humans and adopt them into their tribes, so [[half-orc]]s are not only common, but have an expectation of being born from consensual relationships, rather than the "orc man raping a human woman" expectation of most other D&D settings. The Demon Wastes are even full of human, orc, and half-orc [[barbarian]] clans all living and fighting and drinking together for the glory of Kalok Shash, an incarnation of the Silver Flame, in an endless war to make sure nothing ''else'' in the Demon Wastes ever gets out. ''And winning.''

'''[[Forgotten Realms]]''', although certainly playing it straight, had an exception too, in the form of the AD&D-only orc subspecies known as the Ondonti. A ''Lawful Good'' race of peaceful, quiet, contemplative, gentle orcs who devote themselves to Eldath (a minor Goddess of Peace and Quiet Places) and live a humble life as farmers in a hidden valley. They have several Priestly spell-like abilities (Sanctuary (Self) and Purify Food & Water 3/day, Barkskin 1/day and Tree 1/week), are resistant to poison and immune to Charm spells. The general belief of their origin is that they are an example of option 3 in the infamous [[The Orc Baby Dilemma]], with a bunch of Eldathi priests taking orphaned orc infants into seclusion and bringing them up into their cult, causing them to forsake their ancestral barbarity and embrace peace, quiet and advanced hygiene. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/orcondon.php here].

'''[[Spelljammer]]''' is an unusual entry on this list, because its unique orcs, or ''Scro'', are still bad guys. It's just that, in [[AD&D|an era where orcs were defined as being chaotic, anarchic, disorganized hordes]] scro were defined by being cultured, intelligent, disciplined and well-organized soldierly regiments. They are even bigger than normal orcs, pimp out their teeth with much bling, and [[Nazi|wear black leather uniforms when not in battle armor]]. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/scro.php here].

'''[[Warcraft]]''' may be the iconic example of a mold-breaker when it comes to orcs. After making them fairly bog-standard bad guy invaders in the first two games (if a little unusual in that they were also invaders from another planet), the third game offered the revelation that orcs had once been a [[noblebright]] culture of shamans and honorable warriors, but were corrupted into savage, bloodthirsty conquerors by an evil shaman and the setting's demonic BBEG. As a result, the third game focused on their drive to draw their beaten clans out of human territory and found a new nation for themselves where they could try and rediscover their past. This led to the formation of the Horde faction in [[World of Warcraft]], which took off hugely in popularity because of its then-novel idea of traditionally brutal monster races (orcs, [[troll]]s, [[undead]], and [[minotaur]]s) as an ordinary, viably civilized (relatively speaking) faction in its own right. There was even a short-lived tabletop RPG (first a D&D 3.5 spin off, then a more "customized" but still fundamentally D&D-cloned WoW version) as a result. They still fight, bicker, and war with the "good" races, but now it's because of [[Blizzard]]'s refusal to [[Advancing the Storyline|give up the "dual faction" mechanic and let the story progress]] along with long-standing prejudices between both the Alliance and the Horde rather than because they're the bad guys.

'''[[Elder Scrolls]]''' Orcs (or Orsimer, if you wish to use their proper name) are very intelligent and generally known to be the best smiths in the setting besides the long-extinct Dwarves, as well as crazy good soldiers next to the Nords and Redguards. Their skill in fighting with heavy armor has lent them a place as heavy shock legionaries in the Imperial Legions. One Orc even became the continent's best chef. Technically, they're a subspecies of Elf which were transformed into their current state after the Daedric Prince Boethiah ate (and shat out) their greatest champion, who was himself turned into the Daedric Prince Malacath.

'''[[Wicked Fantasy]]''' Orks ''were'' originally the standard Always Chaotic Evil raider types, having been created by malevolent gods for the purpose of fighting for their amusement. And then, one day, thirteen great orkish heroes realized that their race had always been nothing more than slaves, and chose to take a new path. They fought their gods and slew them, and though they still struggle with the lingering blood-rage they were created with, they are now a comparatively peaceful race. They're still a ''dark'' race, but not an evil one. For example, they worship pain as a sacred concept... because, by their understanding of it, pain is ultimately on the side of life and it is the giver of strength. Pain warns you when you are hurt, when you are about to die, but it also pushes you to fight harder, to try and survive. Orks prize battle scars as near-sacred objects; nothing comes without sacrifice, and without a scar, the physical symbol of pain, for reference, a victory is ultimately meaningless.

It's not very common, as one can see, but some DMs have been known to revamp orcs for their own homebrew settings as well.

==Orcs in D&D==
From 3rd edition on, Orcs have been a playable race in the vast list for [[Dungeons & Dragons]], though their stats and standard portrayal have usually been bad enough to keep most people from ever bothering. Even in [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition|4e]], most would probably recommend using [[half-orc]] or [[goliath]] stats and "reskinning" them into orcs. The Players Handbook in [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition|5e]] outright states that it's not ''impossible'' for an orc to not be chaotic evil, but that Gruumsh, the god that created them, didn't give them as much free will as the normal races, making it ''more'' difficult for orcs to avoid being evil. (Half-orcs feel it too, but not as strongly, and it primarily manifests as extremely passionate emotions.)

===AD&D Orc:===
* +1 Strength
* -2 Charisma
* Strength: Minimum 6, Maximum 18
* Dexterity: Minimum 3, Maximum 17
* Constitution: Minimum 8, Maximum 18
* Intelligence: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
* Wisdom: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
* Charisma: Minimum 3, Maximum 12
* Available Classes & Max Levels: Fighter 10, Cleric 9, Shaman 6, Witch Doctor 6, Thief 11
* 35% chance to spot new and unusual constructions
* 25% chance to spot sloping passages
* Infravision 60 feet
* -1 penalty to attack rolls and morale when in direct sunlight
* Weapon Proficiencies: Battle axe, crossbow, flail, hand axe, spear, any bow, any pole arm, any sword.
* Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, armorer, blacksmithing, bowyer/fletcher, carpentry, chanting, close-quarter fighting, hunting, intimidation, looting, religion, set snares, spellcraft, tracking, weaponsmithing.

===3.x Orc:===
* +4 Strength
* -2 Intelligence
* -2 Wisdom
* -2 Charisma
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
* Favored Class: Barbarian

===3.5 Scro===
* +4 Strength
* +2 Dexterity
* +2 Constitution
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Orc Blood (count as orcs for all effect related to race)
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls vs. Elves of all kinds
* Favored Class: Monk
* Level Adjustment: +2

===Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Constitution
* -2 Intelligence
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Low-Light Vison
* Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
* Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
* Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
* +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Handle Animal (Wolf) and Intimidate are always Class Skills for orcs.
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
* Favored Class: Fighter

===World of Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Stamina
* -2 Intellect
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Low-Light Vison
* Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
* Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
* Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
* +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Intimidate is always a Class Skill for orcs.
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
* Favored Class: Barbarian

===4e Orc===
* +2 Strength
* +2 Constitution
* Size: Medium
* Speed: 6 squares
* Vision: Low-light
* Running Charge (+2 to Speed when charging)
* Warrior's Surge (racial encounter power; make a 1[W] + Strength modifier attack with a melee weapon against an opponent's AC and get to spend a healing surge)

===Pathfinder Orc===
* +4 Strength
* -2 Intelligence
* -2 Wisdom
* -2 Charisma
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Ferocity (can keep fighting at zero HP, but is Staggered and loses 1 HP each round automatically)
* Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
* Weapon Familiarity: Automatically proficient with Greataxe and Falchion, treat any weapon with "Orc" in its name as a Martial weapon.

==Green Skin==

One usually wonders where the green coloration of Orcish skin came from, in the old myths (i.e., Lord of the Rings) the orcs were established as barbaric, crude brutes, true; but the approximate skin color was never truly established, the Orcs were generally described as filthy and mucky, with darkened skin and bestial countenances. (Similarly, in the films their skin shades are in varying shades of ash-black and dirty-brown, the occasional bit of face-painting notwithstanding.) It wasn't until the advent of the Hulk comics, and GW deciding to make their orcs different, that the common skin of the orc became green. Because Warhammer's orcs became so memorable, thousands of copycats have followed suit.

This of course may not truly explain why some orcs in DnD have green skin as well, DnD being around before Warhammer, but the a more precise green coloration in its orcs may have come later. Indeed, earlier DnD art shows a variety of skin colors, some of them sallow yellow and earthy reds. Green may have come about because all the other possible colors simply have clashing connotations, such as a calming blue, or offensive real world racial connotations (black, red, brown, and yellow are right out for a barbaric and evil race of XP bags.) Another theory is that Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the 2 co-founders of [[Games Workshop]], also had a lot of communication with Brian Blume, the developer of D&D, especially in the early days of these 2 companies, so it is entirely possible that certain ideas were mentioned and then copied.

==Piggish Looks==

On occasions, a person may find orcs depicted as pig-men, despite the general acception of orcs as being (usually green-skinned) Frazetta Man style cavemen fellows. This goes back to [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], where orcs were described as having a fundamentally "piggish snout" for a face and depicted as more or less a boar's head on a hunched, ugly, green-skinned chimpanzee. Some depictions of orcs thusly refer back to this. It's most common in Japan, where AD&D [[neckbeard]]s grew up to have a huge impact on art, manga and videogames.

==Monstergirl Depictions==
Orcs are not the most commonly seen of [[monstergirls]], as many of the individuals inclined to make monstergirls aren't inclined to find them attractive. Those rare orc MGs seen tend to be, basically, green-skinned amazons; musclegirls of a particularly dumb "fight 'em an' fuck 'em" mentality with a penchant for either raping men or gathering in harems around particularly strong, tough warriors (who may or may not be made to submit).

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Orc is a chubby pink girl with pig ears on her head and a pig's tail (see above about how "pigmen orcs" are popular in Japan). She's a vanilla demihuman-type mamono who goes around in large groups by preference. They're femdommy by nature, but happily submit to maledom if a potential spouse can overpower them in a fight, and also enjoy sharing a spouse between them. Hilariously, this is pretty square with what official sources have established about ''D&D'' orc sexual mores.

==See Also==
*[[Goblins]]
*[[Ork]]
*[[Orcs & Goblins]]

==Gallery==

<gallery>
File:Orcweapons.JPG|Ork made [[Exotic weapons]].
File:Orksword.GIF|Ork make more [[Exotic weapons]].
Image:Female Orc.jpg|gb2kitchen
Image:Orc_bard.jpg|What happens when the DM lets him take a homebrew feat to use his Strength score for Perform (Dance) checks.
</gallery>
{{D&D4e-Races}}

Orc

2016-04-17T16:40:01Z

2600:1012:B05F:5BEB:C505:6209:FE69:3B0D: /* The Master Template */

{{NeedsImages}}

Orcs are a fantasy race that is used in a number of settings. Compare to [[Ork]]. They are generally depicted as barbaric humanoids with green skin. Typically, they are stronger than an average [[human]], though generally less intelligent as well (except in Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40,000, Lord of the Rings and the Elder Scrolls, where they are, amusingly, physically inferior to the human race that is a facsimile of the [[Vikings]]. Thus proving that beards and axes end all things and that the Vikings can rape anyone).

They enjoy molesting, eating and generally mistreating the goblins, their smaller cousins. They have longstanding relationships with trolls and ogres, their larger and stupider neighbors, whom they con into performing demeaning menial tasks and press into service in wartime. Their relations with more distant races are more variable - some may work for humans as mercenaries, for example, while others will attack humans on sight. They are also interfertile with many other races, leading to the existence of [[half-orc]]s. The long-standing exception to this is [[elves]]. All orcs hate elves, and this makes them good people.

Historically, the term was used to describe the Normans invading the Saxon occupiers of Britain in 1066. It is also an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'demon', according to Tolkien, who lifted the word from Beowulf.
== The Master Template ==
Orcs as we know them have their beginnings with Tolkien's works. The first orcs were created by Melkor shortly after the first elves awoke. Some of these elves wandered about exploring this world that they had awoken in and were captured by some of Melkor's maiar and were taken to Angband, his base of operations. There they were tortured, abused, cursed, mutated and selectively bred until you got orcs. The result was a species of ugly, bad smelling, ape like, long armed, claw handed, hairy humanoids which were brown, grey and black in coloration, had an aversion to sunlight, and ranged in size from smaller than a hobbit to as large as a man. These creatures would make up the bulk of Melkor and Sauron's armies. In Arda, [[Goblin]] is just another word for Orc (although in practice it refers mainly to the smaller types used most often as menial laborers). "Uruk" means orc in Black Speech.

Tolkien's orcs are not stupid. They are capable of making weapons (bows, spears, daggers, shields and curved swords), armor (helmets and mail), good (if unpleasant) medicine and are pretty good engineers. They are almost as good at mining as Dwarves are. Nor are all orcs identical. There are variations among orcs both in terms of individual personalities and differences between groups. Orcs from the misty mountains are described as being fairly tribal while those of Mordor are regimented. There are also different breeds of orcs, beside the garden variety orc you also have 'snufflers' bread for following scent trails and the larger and more sun resistant Uruk-Hai bred by Sauron and Saruman, supposedly made by crossbreeding orcs with humans and specialized to act as commanders. However they are violent, sadistic, spiteful, enjoy breaking stuff, have no concern for aesthetics and are as a rule hateful and miserable. Fighting, killing, gaining power, bossing their subordinates, torturing and presumably raping captives can only give temporary reprieve. They hate Sauron and especially Melkor, but serve them out of fear and their psychic influence over them. They are capable of internal loyalty and do have some social taboos (being accused of eating other orcs is a considerable insult even though they are perfectly fine with eating non-orcs) which are enough to let them act together as groups, although these groups tend to collapse due to infighting after reaching a certain size in the absence of a leader who can terrify them into submission.

Despite this, little is said by Tolkien about how orcs live their lives on a day to day basis as their role in the story is as an a force which threatens the heroes and those around them. It can be extrapolated, however that it is usually cruel, brutish and short. The question of whether they are intrinsically evil is never brought up, and several of Tolkien's unpublished works suggest that this was due to his own misgivings with the concept of a wholly evil race; Melkor had no power to create other beings himself, but the fact that elves could be corrupted would also imply Eru had either made the souls of some elves either inherently evil or easily corrupted to become evil. This in turn contradicted his own views on the nature of Eru as a wholly good deity while also opening up some thorny questions of faith for Tolkien himself, and even in his last writings it appears he could not come up with a satisfactory explanation for how they could be universally evil by nature.

==Mold-Breakers==

As the above suggests, orcs are typically your generic barbarian rapine-horde of bad-guys in most fantasy settings. However, there are a couple of notable exceptions.

'''[[Al-Qadim]]''' is notable for being probably the first full-on retooling of the orcs from "rampaging barbarian tribes" to "just one more fantasy race that mostly gets along with the others." This is mostly because, rather than having all the races living in their own corners of the world with their own cultures, the deserts of Al-Qadim saw lots of racial mixing around the few oases, and thus a single unified culture comprised of multiple races formed. The only enemies who ''are'' always evil are explicitly supernatural, like the YAKMEN! Also, the most likely setting ever for [[/d/|elf-orc crossbreeding]].

'''[[Eberron]]''' gave its orcs a status as a relatively peaceful race who were once responsible for combating the threat of [[aberration]] hordes from beyond the stars, as well as founders of the tradition of druidism in-setting. Even in the present, they tend to live in the swamp-regions and do no harm; they freely mingle with humans and adopt them into their tribes, so [[half-orc]]s are not only common, but have an expectation of being born from consensual relationships, rather than the "orc man raping a human woman" expectation of most other D&D settings. The Demon Wastes are even full of human, orc, and half-orc [[barbarian]] clans all living and fighting and drinking together for the glory of Kalok Shash, an incarnation of the Silver Flame, in an endless war to make sure nothing ''else'' in the Demon Wastes ever gets out. ''And winning.''

'''[[Forgotten Realms]]''', although certainly playing it straight, had an exception too, in the form of the AD&D-only orc subspecies known as the Ondonti. A ''Lawful Good'' race of peaceful, quiet, contemplative, gentle orcs who devote themselves to Eldath (a minor Goddess of Peace and Quiet Places) and live a humble life as farmers in a hidden valley. They have several Priestly spell-like abilities (Sanctuary (Self) and Purify Food & Water 3/day, Barkskin 1/day and Tree 1/week), are resistant to poison and immune to Charm spells. The general belief of their origin is that they are an example of option 3 in the infamous [[The Orc Baby Dilemma]], with a bunch of Eldathi priests taking orphaned orc infants into seclusion and bringing them up into their cult, causing them to forsake their ancestral barbarity and embrace peace, quiet and advanced hygiene. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/orcondon.php here].

'''[[Spelljammer]]''' is an unusual entry on this list, because its unique orcs, or ''Scro'', are still bad guys. It's just that, in [[AD&D|an era where orcs were defined as being chaotic, anarchic, disorganized hordes]] scro were defined by being cultured, intelligent, disciplined and well-organized soldierly regiments. They are even bigger than normal orcs, pimp out their teeth with much bling, and [[Nazi|wear black leather uniforms when not in battle armor]]. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/scro.php here].

'''[[Warcraft]]''' may be the iconic example of a mold-breaker when it comes to orcs. After making them fairly bog-standard bad guy invaders in the first two games (if a little unusual in that they were also invaders from another planet), the third game offered the revelation that orcs had once been a [[noblebright]] culture of shamans and honorable warriors, but were corrupted into savage, bloodthirsty conquerors by an evil shaman and the setting's demonic BBEG. As a result, the third game focused on their drive to draw their beaten clans out of human territory and found a new nation for themselves where they could try and rediscover their past. This led to the formation of the Horde faction in [[World of Warcraft]], which took off hugely in popularity because of its then-novel idea of traditionally brutal monster races (orcs, [[troll]]s, [[undead]], and [[minotaur]]s) as an ordinary, viably civilized (relatively speaking) faction in its own right. There was even a short-lived tabletop RPG (first a D&D 3.5 spin off, then a more "customized" but still fundamentally D&D-cloned WoW version) as a result. They still fight, bicker, and war with the "good" races, but now it's because of [[Blizzard]]'s refusal to [[Advancing the Storyline|give up the "dual faction" mechanic and let the story progress]] along with long-standing prejudices between both the Alliance and the Horde rather than because they're the bad guys.

'''[[Elder Scrolls]]''' Orcs (or Orsimer, if you wish to use their proper name) are very intelligent and generally known to be the best smiths in the setting besides the long-extinct Dwarves, as well as crazy good soldiers next to the Nords and Redguards. Their skill in fighting with heavy armor has lent them a place as heavy shock legionaries in the Imperial Legions. One Orc even became the continent's best chef. Technically, they're a subspecies of Elf which were transformed into their current state after the Daedric Prince Boethiah ate (and shat out) their greatest champion, who was himself turned into the Daedric Prince Malacath.

'''[[Wicked Fantasy]]''' Orks ''were'' originally the standard Always Chaotic Evil raider types, having been created by malevolent gods for the purpose of fighting for their amusement. And then, one day, thirteen great orkish heroes realized that their race had always been nothing more than slaves, and chose to take a new path. They fought their gods and slew them, and though they still struggle with the lingering blood-rage they were created with, they are now a comparatively peaceful race. They're still a ''dark'' race, but not an evil one. For example, they worship pain as a sacred concept... because, by their understanding of it, pain is ultimately on the side of life and it is the giver of strength. Pain warns you when you are hurt, when you are about to die, but it also pushes you to fight harder, to try and survive. Orks prize battle scars as near-sacred objects; nothing comes without sacrifice, and without a scar, the physical symbol of pain, for reference, a victory is ultimately meaningless.

It's not very common, as one can see, but some DMs have been known to revamp orcs for their own homebrew settings as well.

==Orcs in D&D==
From 3rd edition on, Orcs have been a playable race in the vast list for [[Dungeons & Dragons]], though their stats and standard portrayal have usually been bad enough to keep most people from ever bothering. Even in [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition|4e]], most would probably recommend using [[half-orc]] or [[goliath]] stats and "reskinning" them into orcs. The Players Handbook in [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition|5e]] outright states that it's not ''impossible'' for an orc to not be chaotic evil, but that Gruumsh, the god that created them, didn't give them as much free will as the normal races, making it ''more'' difficult for orcs to avoid being evil. (Half-orcs feel it too, but not as strongly, and it primarily manifests as extremely passionate emotions.)

===AD&D Orc:===
* +1 Strength
* -2 Charisma
* Strength: Minimum 6, Maximum 18
* Dexterity: Minimum 3, Maximum 17
* Constitution: Minimum 8, Maximum 18
* Intelligence: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
* Wisdom: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
* Charisma: Minimum 3, Maximum 12
* Available Classes & Max Levels: Fighter 10, Cleric 9, Shaman 6, Witch Doctor 6, Thief 11
* 35% chance to spot new and unusual constructions
* 25% chance to spot sloping passages
* Infravision 60 feet
* -1 penalty to attack rolls and morale when in direct sunlight
* Weapon Proficiencies: Battle axe, crossbow, flail, hand axe, spear, any bow, any pole arm, any sword.
* Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, armorer, blacksmithing, bowyer/fletcher, carpentry, chanting, close-quarter fighting, hunting, intimidation, looting, religion, set snares, spellcraft, tracking, weaponsmithing.

===3.x Orc:===
* +4 Strength
* -2 Intelligence
* -2 Wisdom
* -2 Charisma
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
* Favored Class: Barbarian

===3.5 Scro===
* +4 Strength
* +2 Dexterity
* +2 Constitution
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Orc Blood (count as orcs for all effect related to race)
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls vs. Elves of all kinds
* Favored Class: Monk
* Level Adjustment: +2

===Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Constitution
* -2 Intelligence
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Low-Light Vison
* Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
* Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
* Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
* +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Handle Animal (Wolf) and Intimidate are always Class Skills for orcs.
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
* Favored Class: Fighter

===World of Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Stamina
* -2 Intellect
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Low-Light Vison
* Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
* Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
* Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
* +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Intimidate is always a Class Skill for orcs.
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
* Favored Class: Barbarian

===4e Orc===
* +2 Strength
* +2 Constitution
* Size: Medium
* Speed: 6 squares
* Vision: Low-light
* Running Charge (+2 to Speed when charging)
* Warrior's Surge (racial encounter power; make a 1[W] + Strength modifier attack with a melee weapon against an opponent's AC and get to spend a healing surge)

===Pathfinder Orc===
* +4 Strength
* -2 Intelligence
* -2 Wisdom
* -2 Charisma
* Medium size
* Base land speed 30 feet
* Darkvision out to 60 feet
* Ferocity (can keep fighting at zero HP, but is Staggered and loses 1 HP each round automatically)
* Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
* Weapon Familiarity: Automatically proficient with Greataxe and Falchion, treat any weapon with "Orc" in its name as a Martial weapon.

==Green Skin==

One usually wonders where the green coloration of Orcish skin came from, in the old myths (i.e., Lord of the Rings) the orcs were established as barbaric, crude brutes, true; but the approximate skin color was never truly established, the Orcs were generally described as filthy and mucky, with darkened skin and bestial countenances. (Similarly, in the films their skin shades are in varying shades of ash-black and dirty-brown, the occasional bit of face-painting notwithstanding.) It wasn't until the advent of the Hulk comics, and GW deciding to make their orcs different, that the common skin of the orc became green. Because Warhammer's orcs became so memorable, thousands of copycats have followed suit.

This of course may not truly explain why some orcs in DnD have green skin as well, DnD being around before Warhammer, but the a more precise green coloration in its orcs may have come later. Indeed, earlier DnD art shows a variety of skin colors, some of them sallow yellow and earthy reds. Green may have come about because all the other possible colors simply have clashing connotations, such as a calming blue, or offensive real world racial connotations (black, red, brown, and yellow are right out for a barbaric and evil race of XP bags.) Another theory is that Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the 2 co-founders of [[Games Workshop]], also had a lot of communication with Brian Blume, the developer of D&D, especially in the early days of these 2 companies, so it is entirely possible that certain ideas were mentioned and then copied.

==Piggish Looks==

On occasions, a person may find orcs depicted as pig-men, despite the general acception of orcs as being (usually green-skinned) Frazetta Man style cavemen fellows. This goes back to [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], where orcs were described as having a fundamentally "piggish snout" for a face and depicted as more or less a boar's head on a hunched, ugly, green-skinned chimpanzee. Some depictions of orcs thusly refer back to this. It's most common in Japan, where AD&D [[neckbeard]]s grew up to have a huge impact on art, manga and videogames.

==Monstergirl Depictions==
Orcs are not the most commonly seen of [[monstergirls]], as many of the individuals inclined to make monstergirls aren't inclined to find them attractive. Those rare orc MGs seen tend to be, basically, green-skinned amazons; musclegirls of a particularly dumb "fight 'em an' fuck 'em" mentality with a penchant for either raping men or gathering in harems around particularly strong, tough warriors (who may or may not be made to submit).

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Orc is a chubby pink girl with pig ears on her head and a pig's tail (see above about how "pigmen orcs" are popular in Japan). She's a vanilla demihuman-type mamono who goes around in large groups by preference. They're femdommy by nature, but happily submit to maledom if a potential spouse can overpower them in a fight, and also enjoy sharing a spouse between them. Hilariously, this is pretty square with what official sources have established about ''D&D'' orc sexual mores.

==See Also==
*[[Goblins]]
*[[Ork]]
*[[Orcs & Goblins]]

==Gallery==

<gallery>
File:Orcweapons.JPG|Ork made [[Exotic weapons]].
File:Orksword.GIF|Ork make more [[Exotic weapons]].
Image:Female Orc.jpg|gb2kitchen
Image:Orc_bard.jpg|What happens when the DM lets him take a homebrew feat to use his Strength score for Perform (Dance) checks.
</gallery>
{{D&D4e-Races}}

Chaos Dwarfs

2016-04-17T16:34:01Z

2600:1012:B05F:5BEB:C505:6209:FE69:3B0D:

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[[Image:Dorf hats.jpg|thumb|right|NO [[Hat|HAT]] SHALL BE GREATER THAN MINE!]]
In the deep past of [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]], the [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy Battle)|Dwarfs]] spread far and wide across the Old World. Along the way, they reached a place they called the "Great Skull Land", after all the ancient bones (and especially skulls) scattered there. Though it was rich in minerals, most of them decided that this place was best left alone, but a few were so stubborn, even compared to their fellow Dwarfs, that they decided to live there, to prove that they could.

Unfortunately, this place was infested by [[Chaos]]. Though the Dwarfs that chose to live in the blasted wastes were hardy, even they were not immune to corruption, and they slowly changed over time. The transformation was not simple; for many long years, they only barely survived, as they abandoned or were abandoned by their own gods, but eventually they found favor with [[Hashut]], the bull-like Father of Darkness, learning the secrets of daemon-smithing in exchange for sacrifices. While nobody would describe the Dwarfs as a friendly people, the present-day Chaos Dwarfs are tyrannical and merciless, driven by a need to subjugate all before them, while retaining their mastery of craftsmanship and industry, and backed by stubbornness. Their land is now dominated by Zharr-Naggrund, the obsidian City of Fire and Desolation, and it is from there that they send armies to conquer the land.

Like the regular Dwarfs, their armies are composed of small, elite units, backed by powerful war machines, but Chaos Dwarfs employ Hashut's sorcery where their cousins instinctively distrust magic. Chaos Dwarf machines often have [[daemon]]s bound inside, and their ammunition may be charged with dark alchemy. To round out the army, Chaos Dwarfs employ legions of slaves, especially [[Orc]]s and [[Goblin]]s, both as meat-shields in battle and as an expendable workforce in the mines and forges. And yet, a group of six Norscans led by a Chaos Champion can easily slaughter their way through one of their cities (Yet only because the writer of that story gave the Norscans EXBAWKSHUEG Plot Armor).

Unlike regular Dwarfs, they make use of terrible magical powers, gifts from their bull-god Hashut. However, because Dwarfs were never meant to use magic, its power slowly but inevitably turns their sorcerers to stone. At first, they regard these changes with pride, glorying in them as badges of honor celebrating their victory over the very forces of nature. As time goes by, though, they start to worry more and more about it. In-game, the rules mirror this: miscasting with a Chaos Dwarf requires a toughness check. At first, failure means ''gaining'' a permanent point of Toughness, but as time goes by the side effects stop being cool.

The Chaos Dwarves, while evil and all, are not really expansionist and have more than enough slaves as is. They make their way economically by selling weapons and armour to the Norse. They also got a Mesopotamian thing going for them.

Despite how awesome these guys are, they were ditched by GW because they weren't selling as much as vanilla Chaos, Orks or Elves were to newbie players. For ages they existed only as a dim fond memory to the veterans of the hobby; they did one new model set (the Hell Cannon and its attending Chaos Dwarf crew) but little else. Lo and behold though, Forge World has flown to the rescue. You can now buy some brilliant new Chaos Dwarf models and get the rules to use to play with them. Hopefully a full army of these will be over the horizon soon enough.

==Units==
The most up-to-date ruleset for Chaos Dwarves, sadly, is that found in a Forge World publication; the Chaos campaign ''[[Tamurkhan: Throne of Chaos]]'', but it's fairly extensive and has some fairly nifty units, so it can stand up on its own. Though the book itself suggests they work best when incorporated into a [[Warriors of Chaos]] army, used as part of the [[Chaos Great Host]] ruleset provided in the book, or used as allies.

Common Chaos Dwarves, surprisingly, are not the mainstay of the army, being relegated to roles as warmachine crew, even though they have stats for a champion version (the Overseer) included. They're pretty much the same as Dwarves, even sharing the Resolute and Relentless rules, but they have unique gear in the form of the Hailshot Blunderbuss and a unique rule, Contempt, which means they only take Panic tests as a result of the Breaking or destruction of Chaos Dwarf or Bull Centaur units. This may seem unusual, but since the Chaos Dwarves are explicitly only interested in slave-taking, it makes sense that the common Chaos Dwarf fights only at the side of a huge death-spitting doomsday machine.

Infernal Guard are the Chaos Dwarf equivalent of Slayers, being Chaos Dwarves who have suffered dishonor and seek to atone for it. To do this, they forsake their names and identities, strap mask-helmets of bronze and iron heated red-hot over their faces, and fight for the glory of Hashut. Unlike Slayers, the Infernal Guard is not a death sentence - in theory, anyway. They aren't Frenzied fighters like Slayers, and an Infernal Guard who wins great renown has his mask formally removed and is discharged, his old shame forgotten. They go into battle sporting Blackshard Armor, a unique Chaos Dwarf-devised armor that is proof against flame, and wielding Fireglaives, which are basically repeater-rifles with axe-blades on them so the Infernal Guard can split skulls in melee as well. There are two kinds of Infernal Guard; basic ones, who make up your Chaos Dwarf Core units, and Infernal Guard Ironsworn, who use up Special slots but trade their fireglaives for magic handweapons.

Leadership, naturally, belongs to the magi of Hashut; the Daemonsmiths (Heros who use the Lores of Fire, Death or Metal) and the Sorcer-Prophets (Lords who use the Lores of Fire, Death, Metal or Hashut). Miscasts are deadly (suffer a Miscast, then make a Toughness check; failure costs you a Wound, though the first failed Miscast does give +1 Toughness for the rest of the game). These are nasty characters with a lot of special tricks and gear, including randomized unique magical weapons, naptha bombs, and granting re-rolls to your war machines.

Bull Centaurs are the fastest-moving, hardest-hitting infantry the Chaos Dwarves having, coming in the form of a Special unit choice or the Taur'ruk, a Hero character.

Naturally, the Chaos Dwarves have a variety of dread, daemon-infested warmachines that fill up the Special and Rare slots; the Magma Cannon, Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher, and Iron Daemon War Engine in Special, and the Dreadquake Mortar and Hellcannon in Rare.

Several twisted beasts are further added to the Chaos Dwarf armies; daemonic bull-things of living magma called the K'daai, burning winged daemon-bulls known as Taurus, magic-eating monsters called Lammasu, and armor-plated Giants modified for use as living seige weapons.

Finally, if all else fails, the Chaos Dwarves can pad out their ranks with expendable cannon-fodder in the form of [[Hobgoblin]]; fleet-footed wolfriders, great mobs, even conniving Khans as Hero-grade characters.

[[Category:Chaos]]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category:Dwarves]]