Orc, Variant (4e Racial Trait Variant)

Orcs

Orc Lord from the Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords game

The plague of the civilized races, and the world.

Racial Traits

Average Height: 6'0" - 6'5"

Average Weight: 200 – 230 lb

Ability Scores: +2 Strength, and +2 Constitution or +2 Dexterity

Size: Medium

Speed: 6 squares

Vision: Low-Light

Languages: Common, Giant

Skill Bonuses: +2 Intimidate, +2 Athletics

Running Charge: When you charge, add 2 to your speed.

Orc Resilience: The first time you are hit during an encounter, you gain 5 temporary hit points. The temporary hit points increase to 10 at 11th level and to 15 at 21st level.

Warrior's Surge: You can use Warrior's Surge as an encounter power.

Warrior's Surge	Orc Racial Power
You charge with unstoppable ferocity unhampered by terrain or foe.
Encounter  Healing, Weapon
Standard Action	Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength Vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you can spend a healing surge. increase to 2[W] + Strength modifier damage at 21st level.
Special: You may decide to use this power in place of a basic melee attack at the end of a charge. If you do so, you may ignore difficult terrain and opportunity attacks during the charge.

Most Orc tribes worship Gruumsh, the one-eyed god of slaughter. They are a savage race, bloodthirsty, and violent. They are known to roam the land, ripping apart civilizations. Orcs are a very violent race, often waging war between large clans and battle groups. The Orcs love close combat, the taste and feel that a battle provides, and tend to eschew ranged weapons like the longbow or sling for a good warhammer or axe. Most orcs in the tribe follow their leaders into battle, following the strongest in their tribe. Orcs rarely retreat or surrender, and would rather die in battle, pursuing the kill. As in most primitive societies, orc civilization utilizes hereditary classes, and certain members of the society are born into a warrior, servant, and leader classes. However, this society is far more "egalitarian" than others, favouring strength and allowing worthy lower-class orcs to move up in the system.

Orcs believe that they were created from Grummsh, the one-eyed god who asks his followers to multiply, raid, kill, and conquer. Gruumsh created the orcs in his image, placing them on all parts of the world to maximize the carnage that ensued. Often, to thank Gruumsh, a superbly strong orc will remove one of his eyes as a tribute to the one-eyed god of slaughter. Most Orcs are surprisingly honourable when it comes to defeating an enemy, never resorting to underhanded trickery in their battle "tactics". They work off an ideology that every person they kill gives them strength and some tribes even consume enemies, or sacrifice them to Gruumsh.

Orcs are fierce creatures created purely for one thing: War. For this reason, and the fact that many orcs don't speak Common, it is very rare to see an orc in the civilized world, let alone adventure. However, sometimes an orc is born with an unusually intelligent brain and cast out of its' tribe, or an orc child is captured by a raiding party and spared. Orcs are predisposed to evil, and chaotic evil at that, but orcs raised in the civilized world can be good, or even lawful good with a creative backstory.

Play an Orc if you want...

• To be a tough, brutal, and intimidating hero who is feared by many.
• To excel in physical combat.
• To play a unique character that will turn heads, if not bows, in every city you come to.
• To be a member of a race that favours the Fighter, Warlord and Barbarian class.

Physical Qualities

Orcs are tall, broad and muscular, lacking all of the grace and subtlety of most other races. Taller than humans, the skin of an orc can range from grey to dark green. Most male orcs shave their heads to enhance their battle readiness. However, some females may keep their hair long.

Orcs that originate from tribes tend to have tattoos covering their chests and backs with axes, skulls and Orc symbols being very common, an Orc will normally receive or place these on his own body when he has proven himself in defeating a powerful opponent stronger and superior to other beings, the more of these a tribal orc has on their body the more powerful they are likely to be. As young male adolescents receiving theirs after raiding villages in the wastes or slaying a fellow they have been challenged in mortal combat.

Due to how the Orcs were created, and shown by how their diety leads them, Orc was lost the famous long age of the elves, they live for as long as a Human in most cases, children are expected to toughen up quickly handling weapons as early as 8 years old when an Orc is normally as tall as an adolescent human of their gender, Though the orc race due to its violent ways doesn't result in them living to their highest life expectancy, as well as the unhealthy way they often live. Those in the armies tend to grow up with similar swiftness though they are considered battle-ready by the age of ten. Many of the Humans run slaving camps using alchemical means to make growth more rapid taking around six or seven months to raise an Orc to be strong and tough enough to fight in battle.

Playing an Orc

Full Blooded Orc heroes are not too common, there are a large number of orcs, however, they rarely leave their tribe outside of marriage, or being forcibly removed due to defeat and shame. Most orcs are murderous marauders who ache for the thrill of battle and are very selfish looters. However, there are a few groups of orcs that, while crude, violent and barbaric, have experienced the luxuries of civilization over their tents and movable huts. Usually, they have very low intelligence and act quickly without thinking; they act on their baser instinct, however have too much pride to be ashamed of past actions.

Orc often comes from tribes, having gone off to start their own, or challenging the leader for power and losing. Some orcs have seen the luxuries that cities have, and choose to live in them. Other orcs seen in towns might be mercenaries, hired to kill as part of an army, or as an assassin, though Orc assassins are in no way stealthy, or hide the fact that they are one. Orcs enjoy being hired to kill because it merges their love of the fight for their love of material things.

Orc Characteristics: Brash, ferocious, hedonistic, impulsive, short-tempered, tough, uninhibited, Honorable, stupid

Male Names: Brug, Dorn, Druuk, Gnarsh, Grumbar, Hogar, Karash, Korgul, Krusk, Lubash, Mord, Ohr, Rendar, Sark, Scrag, Tanglar, Tarak, Thar, Ugarth, Yurk

Female Names: Augh, Bree, Ekk, Gaaki, Grai, Grigri, Gynk, Huru, Lagazi, Murook, Nogu, Ootah, Puyet, Tawar, Tomph, Ubada, Vanchu

Orc Adventurers

Three samples of an Orc Adventurer are described below.

Krusk, a male orc fighter who lived his life in a tribe of fellow orcs, however as he began to come of age he was never quite strong enough to be a part of the raids and was often left-back with the tribeswoman. One day, as his tribe was out on a hunt, his tribe was attacked by an army. He managed to fight his best, however, everyone in the tribe was slaughtered. For some reason, he managed to survive this onslaught and only a few of his tribesmen returned from the raid. Disgusted with him, his orc brothers told him to get lost, or die. Overcome with anger, they began to beat him to a pulp before ignoring him to look for any others who could have been alive. During this time he managed to grab a few weapons and leave for a city where he sold the extra weapons for a place to stay, aching for revenge against those who killed his tribe and wanting to prove himself to his kin.

Ekk, a female orc Warden always tried her best to fight in the battles, training with the boys, however, she was always left-back during the raid because of her gender. Growing up she became able to fight along with the men, and do labour with the women. Knowing that she could never fight as she wanted Ekk left the village and headed out to defeat as many opponents as she could, collecting ornaments of their death to return to her tribe in a display of their power.

Hogar, a male orc barbarian living with his tribe, had a foul temper even among orcs, starting fights with everything he could, throwing punches at anyone he could. One day during his training and beating up of other orcs, the Chieftain gripped his arm and told him to cool down or the others wouldn't be able to trust him in battle. The Orc was so overwhelmed with violent thoughts and did not wish to be seen as anything but an Alpha male, he attacked the Orc Chief, stating that the tribe must be lead by the strongest, and in this act lost. After Hogar was removed from the tribe his temper cooled slightly. Hogar seeks violence in every manner, more than anything else he wishes to be enthralled in the thrill of battle.

Orc Feats

Heroic Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description
Orc Ironblood	Add one-half your Constitution modifier to the temporary hit points granted by your Battlerager Vigor.
Orcish Slayer	You gain proficiency and a +2 feat bonus to damage rolls with axes and maces.
Orcish Vitality	You gain a bonus to your healing surge value equal to your constitution modifier.
Savage Mastery	You gain proficiency with all axes, the Uruk-Hai Pickaxe, and a +1/2/3 scaling feat bonus to damage rolls with these weapons.
Tribal Mastery	You gain proficiency with all spears, and a +1/2/3 scaling feat bonus to damage rolls when using them.
Uruk-Hai	You gain Darkvision, and a +2 bonus to vision based perception rolls made in complete darkness.

Paragon Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description

Epic Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description

Orc Utility Powers

When your orc character gains a class utility power after 1st level, you can forgo taking a power granted to you by your class. Instead, you gain an orc utility power of the same level or lower.

Savage Demise	Orc Racial Power
You go down kicking and snarling.
Encounter
Immediate Reaction	Personal
Trigger: You drop to 0 hit points.
Effect: (Free Action) You take a standard action.

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