Orc

Scarred Lands Players Guide

Orc

The orcs are perhaps the most misunderstood of the Redeemed. Long viewed by the divine races as brutal, barbaric raiders, the orcs have lived in and around the Plains of Lede, on the outskirts of human society, for millennia. However, appearances can be deceiving. While it’s true that the typical orc is large and hulking relative to a human, orcs are not mindless, evil brutes. Rather, they have a complex, rich society filled with unique customs and traditions that extend just as far back as those of the dwarves of Burok Torn. While it is true that they fought alongside the titans in the Divine War, the orcs are not and have never been mindless pawns. They just chose the wrong side.

ability score increase: Your Strength score increases by 3 and your Constitution score increases by 1.

age: Orcs reach adulthood at age 12 and live up to 50 years.

alignment: Orcs naturally gravitate toward neutral alignments, although they can be of any alignment.

Size: Medium

speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages: Orcish and any one other language.

race features:

• Aggressive. As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward a hostile creature you can see.
• Darkvision (30 ft.). Traditionally a nocturnal race used to life under the stars, you can see in dim light within 30 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
• Menacing. You have proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
• Orcish Combat Training. You have proficiency with the battleaxe, greataxe, handaxe, and lance.
• Savage Attacks. When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

Physical Description: Orcs are larger even than the Albadians, averaging a foot taller than most humans and much bulkier. The divine races tend to view them as ugly or vulgar; to orcs, the other races seem puny, effete, and underfed. Orcs have dark, leathery skin, ranging from a deep, ruddy tone into dark browns, but regardless often mixed with a greenish cast. They stand stoop-shouldered, their tusked faces lowered nearly to that of the average human until they stand upright. Orcs are renowned for their leatherworking, and orcish clothing can often seem ornate, even exquisite, to other races. Only the dwarves can outshine the orcs in metalworking, though some races prefer the severe, efficient style of fine orcish blades to any intricate, ornate gem-encrusted dwarven axe.
Society: Orcish society is semi-nomadic, based on a complex web of tribal politics interconnected by a few small but industrious villages and towns. They are plains-dwellers, renowned for their riding ability, especially of dire wolves and their great orc hounds (also called red hounds, wolf hounds, or skrakol, meaning “prey-chaser” in Orcish). Orcs place great emphasis on proper riding etiquette. They often form strong bonds with their mounts, treating them as honored allies as much as beasts. Most orcs live in the Plains of Lede or have settled in the Perforated Plains, with a few smaller tribes scattered around the Bleak Savannah. Traces of ancient orc activity, such as battlegrounds and short-lived settlements, can be found throughout Ghelspad’s north. An orc clings to her tribal identity as fiercely as she does her sword or axe, and the customs, traditions, and superstitions of the tribe are prominent in orcish behavior. Because their society spends so much time out in open grasslands, peering up at the night sky on the open plain, the orcs have always had a fascination with astrology. As a result, orcish magic is often revered as both mystical and celestial, leaning toward astrological or shamanistic traditions