Half Orc
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Half-orcs are more often than not born from tragic circumstances involving Orc raiding parties. Although half-orcs now commonly exist from half-orc parents themselves or on the rare occasion, consenting human and orc parents, half-orc are still commonly viewed as the offspring of violent rape.
Growth Rate & Stages
Half-orcs mature a little faster than humans, reaching adulthood around age 14.
Additional Information
Social Structure
In most cultures, half-orcs were prejudiced against. Within the lands of their human ancestors, half-orcs were commonly seen as savage thugs and looked down upon. As a result, most half-orcs in human society were forced into menial labor or violence for a career. Some chose to take on the life of an adventurer, perhaps merely as another acceptable means to wealth and power or sometimes as a way to throw off the shackles of other people’s perceptions.
Within orc society, half-orcs were often looked down upon as weaker and inferior creatures, but overall they tended to fare better. Most orcs grudgingly acknowledged the superiority of the half-orc’s intellect as well as their comparable strength. As a result, it was not entirely unusual for a half-orc raised amongst orcs to rise to a position of power within his or her tribe.
Half-orcs who lived among humans were frequently drawn to adventure simply because few opportunities were present to them for less-violent occupations. Pressured into martial lifestyles and rejected by polite society, half-orcs often only found acceptance among other races by proving their worth as adventurers. Likewise, the only friends a half-orc was likely to make were other adventurers, often being an outcast of sorts. Recently, in some larger cities, movements for the equal treatment of mixed racial children have begun to catch on although the support is not widespread.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Half-orcs usually have names appropriate to the culture in which they were raised. A half-orc who wants to fit in among humans might trade an orc name for a human name. Some half-orcs with human names decide to adopt a guttural orc name because they think it makes them more intimidating.
Male Orc Names: Dench, Feng, Gell, Henk, Holg, Imsh, Keth, Krusk, Mhurren, Ront, Shump, Thokk
Female Orc Names: Baggi, Emen, Engong, Kansif, Myev, Neega, Ovak, Ownka, Shautha, Sutha, Vola, Volen, Yevelda
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Orcs regard battle scars as tokens of pride and ornamental scars as things of beauty. To enhance these scars, ritualistic scarring is often commonplace and considered to be points of pride and marks of an individuals achievements. Other scars, though, mark an orc or half-orc as a former slave or a disgraced exile. Any half-orc who has lived among or near orcs has scars, whether they are marks of humiliation or of pride, recounting their past exploits and injuries. Such a half-orc living among humans might display these scars proudly or hide them in shame.
Common Myths and Legends
The one-eyed god Gruumsh created the orcs, and even those orcs who turn away from his worship can’t fully escape his influence. The same is true of half-orcs, though their human blood moderates the impact of their orcish heritage. Some half-orcs hear the whispers of Gruumsh in their dreams, calling them to unleash the rage that simmers within them. Others feel Gruumsh’s exultation when they join in melee combat—and either exult along with him or shiver with fear and loathing. Half-orcs are not evil by nature, but evil does lurk within them, whether they embrace it or rebel against it.
Beyond the rage of Gruumsh, half-orcs feel emotion powerfully. Rage doesn’t just quicken their pulse, it makes their bodies burn. An insult stings like acid, and sadness saps their strength. But they laugh loudly and heartily, and simple bodily pleasures—feasting, drinking, wrestling, drumming, and wild dancing—fill their hearts with joy. They tend to be short-tempered and sometimes sullen, more inclined to action than contemplation and to fighting than arguing. The most accomplished half-orcs are those with enough self-control to get by in a civilized land.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Half-orcs most often live among orcs. Of the other races, humans are most likely to accept half-orcs, and half-orcs almost always live in human lands when not living among orc tribes. Whether proving themselves among rough barbarian tribes or scrabbling to survive in the slums of larger cities, half-orcs get by on their physical might, their endurance, and the sheer determination they inherit from their human ancestry.
Half-orcs often had poor relations with other races, in particular, the Sun Elves or dwarves, due to mutual racial enmity. Halflings and gnomes are also typically distrusting of half-orcs, although not to the degree of dwarves or Sun Elves. Even among their human brethren, half-orcs were generally distrusted or feared.
Half-orcs reacted to this distrust in a number of ways. Some half-orcs will fall into introverted behavior, trying to attract as little attention to themselves as possible in a manner paradoxical to the image of boisterous barbarian half-orcs typically evoke. Others have tried their hardest to do good unto others, whether out of sincere charity or simply a desire for approval and acceptance. Some half-orcs have taken neither approach, accepting who they are and instead will give others no choice but to accept them or leave.
The troubles that their heritage has brought them teach most half-orcs to be mistrusting and suspicious. Some half-orcs had as much trouble forming bonds with others as other races have had to accept them, making friends with great difficulty and losing them with much greater ease.
Lifespan
75 years
Average Height
Male: 6'6"
Female: 6'1"
Average Weight
Male: 350lbs
Female: 300lbs
Average Physique
Half-orcs’ grayish pigmentation, sloping foreheads, jutting jaws, prominent teeth, and towering builds make their orcish heritage plain for all to see. Half-orcs as such appeared bestial to humans, though amongst orcs they were considered human-like physically.
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