Nonstandard Orc warlord suggestions


Homebrew and House Rules

Shadow Lodge

The title really says most of it but to elaborate.

My current home campaign will soon revolve around the events of something called The Second Great Orc war, a gigantic conflict between the humanocentric Imperium and a massive Orc WAAGGGHH that hasn't been matched in 200 years with a number so big that it is said "The fires of their camps paint the plains like a brush fire, a million burning stars of energy and violence set to burn the world before them."

In between all this sits the party, the native nomadic tribes, and the human frontiersmen trying to survive this massive war that is happening around them.

Now one of the things I'm really interested in doing is presenting the various leaders and personalities of the Orc WAAAGH as as varied and diverse as my party and other characters and I'm looking to get some interesting ideas for Orc Khans that will stand out to my players both mechanically as well as narratively and help hammer home that though they are different from humanity they are not all (at least their leaders) the same.

So does anyone have any interesting ideas?


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It may sound silly, but take a look at Orcish leaders from Warcraft in the Warcraft 1 and 2 era.

Some ideas based on those Warlords.

1: Leader of a cavalry focused warband that rides wolves. Specialises in hit and run tactics where rider and wolf fight in unison. Is a massive and powerful fighter with a bad temper.

2: Calm, spiritual leader who communes with the dead. You could turn him into a full blown necromancer but you don't have to. He basically is the guy that keeps the orcs at home in mind, thinking of his people as a whole and not just his clan or himself.

3: Superstitious, tribal warrior who has a thing for guerilla tactics and forested battle grounds. A survivor more than anything and will abandon his allies if it gives him a chance to survive.

4: Nasty, masochistic warlord who revels in pain (think Kuthite). Has amputated his own hand to replace it with a stump mounted blade. Craves battle more than any other.

5: Strong, aggressive and stupid. Stereotypical Orc made worse. Basically a Hill Giant in an Orc's body. Is Warlord because he is the strongest and most aggressive of his clan.

6: Nasty, conniving and physically weak Orc that came into power through magic and subterfuge. Manipulates others to his own advantage. Might deal with extraplanar entities.

7: Honorable warrior that only joined his fellows warlords out of loyalty to them. Doesn't see the point of senseless slaughter and is only in it to make sure his people come out alive on the other end.

8: 5 but with a brain. Relies more on superior equipment than brute strength. Brilliant tactician.

You could also sprinkle in one or two warlords that aren't actually Orcs but things like Trolls, Giants, Ogre Mages, Hags, demons or fey.

EDIT: You could also think of someone who isn't a true Warlord because they look down on his tactics but who does actually lead a small clan. Think of assassins and poisoners.


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One idea I've thrown around in my head is an Orc who has made a deal with demons for the promise of more power than any Orc warlord before him. In exchange he has promised whatever demon lord he has pledged himself to a ridiculous number of souls, and to do that he required a large number of sacrifices, which means a lot of nasty evil priests.
This Orc is cagy, and more cunning than his kin. He devised a way to turn his army into a roving horde of rampaging demonic priests. Their "right of passage" is an elaborate ritual that completes with a sacrifice, and an oath of fealty in a language that the Warlord calls "true orc" (Abyssal). Their weapons are blessed by the Warlord's high priests (either demons in disguise, or Orc shaman in on the real scope of what's happening.)
To build this army, he either murdered (by his own hand, or through another) all of the various leaders of the surrounding Orc tribes. He then consolidated his power and took them over one-by-one, crushing any opposition.
As far as crunch goes, I imagine a Bloodrager from the Advanced Class Guide with the Abyssal bloodline. He'd be potent on the battlefield, and if you need to give him an extra boost, there are quite a few Demon Lords that hand out some pretty scary boons. With the amount of sacrifices he's making, demons will be begging to court him. He might even be made into a half-fiend.

Scarab Sages

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An Orc Warlord charged to study his opponents, and in doing so aquires some very human characteristics. Makes mistakes every now and again as he's an outsider looking in. His clan does much the same, though with less understanding.

When the humans attack this warlord's camp, it's a near recreation of one of the human's own villages.

Shadow Lodge

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Cool ideas so far.

Gheddon wrote:

One idea I've thrown around in my head is an Orc who has made a deal with demons for the promise of more power than any Orc warlord before him. In exchange he has promised whatever demon lord he has pledged himself to a ridiculous number of souls, and to do that he required a large number of sacrifices, which means a lot of nasty evil priests.

This Orc is cagy, and more cunning than his kin. He devised a way to turn his army into a roving horde of rampaging demonic priests. Their "right of passage" is an elaborate ritual that completes with a sacrifice, and an oath of fealty in a language that the Warlord calls "true orc" (Abyssal). Their weapons are blessed by the Warlord's high priests (either demons in disguise, or Orc shaman in on the real scope of what's happening.)
To build this army, he either murdered (by his own hand, or through another) all of the various leaders of the surrounding Orc tribes. He then consolidated his power and took them over one-by-one, crushing any opposition.
As far as crunch goes, I imagine a Bloodrager from the Advanced Class Guide with the Abyssal bloodline. He'd be potent on the battlefield, and if you need to give him an extra boost, there are quite a few Demon Lords that hand out some pretty scary boons. With the amount of sacrifices he's making, demons will be begging to court him. He might even be made into a half-fiend.

This is actually the crux of a lot of the Orc invasion with most of the big factions having demonic ties to either Nurgal or Koschetiche (The 2 most popular gods of the orcs). Many of the orcs are motivated by prophecy of Nurgal called "The season of blood and slaughter" a time when the skies will redden and weep with the blood of their enemies, when orcs will dance and fight and kill amidst a literal season of gore which marks the blessing of Nurgal and his approach to lead them on.

So with that in mind at least 1 major leader is a cleric of Nurgal and I can say at least one heavy warchief is a bloodrager of Koschetiche who allies with the WAAGGH quickly and sets about wrecking frozen death on the world.

That being said there is already a nice bit of variety that has started to show up some examples are:

A musket wielding blackpowder barbarian who likes to shoot people from point blank range and bludgeon people to death with his musket but amidst the fog and gunsmoke of his onslaught

A Nocticulan warpriest who is known as one of the greatest diplomats, assassins, and lovers of the entire WAAGGH! He prowess in all of the aforementioned fields have lead to many a warchief seeking her favor so that she (or one of her chosen) might bear their children.

Maddoc the Mad Doc: an artificer supreme who designs insane weapons of war for some of the tribes in the war effort. His inventions have been as amazing as they are deadly and more then once to both sides so he is either loved or loathed depending on what tribe you ask.

A warchief who believes himself the reincarnation of the greatest warchief of all time and thinks that he will lead the WAAGGHH! to victory and achieve his true reincarnated form once he defeats the greatest rival the orc tribes have known in 65 millennia.

At least one dragon disciple who is a figure head for a few of the other leaders to use as a rally since his history and visible dragonic might make him an easy flag to build behind. In reality though he is just an insanely strong fighter who loves the feelings of blood and combat and does so to appease himself.

I do like the idea of a hill giant in here somewhere. Probably as a follower to either an Ogre or Ogrekin tribe who are both very numerous in the region.

Ohh another one I might do is something like a living tank that was bred to be stupid and strong like an Ogrekin orc (can anyone say 20 Str at start without putting any more points in it?) that are bred to just run shit over. Hell he could lead a platoon of lesser ones.


Orc Warlord who believes in the value of Fodder. Dominates less tribes and puts them up front to weaken his enemies while he patiently watches from the rear with his elite troops. He is a Patient Tactician who only commits his "real" troops when he is confident that the enemy is tiered and weak from killing slave troops and other expendables.

Sczarni

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How about a Warlord who is near-obsessed with siege weapons? His troops go in with battering rams and siege towers while his cavalry pummel the battlefield with catapult fire. His base camp is actually a warship made to slowly amble across dry land either by magic or by slave labor (like in the Conan remake.) When the party goes up against him, he's piloting an Apparatus of the Crab.

A Blight Druid or Alchemist who specializes in plague warfare. Why risk the lives of his fellow orcs when plague rats are so plentiful and so effective? His geurilla troops throw stingchucks and other splash weapons full of poison, and probably have a few "trained attack oozes" to let loose on their foes. His lieutenant is some sort of necromancer who raises fallen soldiers on either side and sends them back into battle to continue spreading disease.

A cadre of elite Orc warriors who are actually lycanthropes-- either were-stags or were-bears would be cool. They motivate lower-ranked soldiers with the promise of making them lycanthropes if they prove their worth.

An Orc sorcerer who prepares for battles by casting Exploding Runes and Symbol spells onto his warriors' shields for the enemy to see. He bolsters his troops' morale with talk of "using the enemy's language against them" and legends talk of his troops winning battles as soon as the enemy is in sight.

A golem-crafter who commands four or five different golem "lieutenants". Each liutenant commands a squad containing at least one spellcaster, who can heal or bolster the golem with the right kind of spell. Each golem has banners attached to its shoulders, and acts as a living rally point as well as a military force.

Liberty's Edge

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Throwing in a few Cavalry ones.

A Cavalier(order of the sword). He's studied the human school of warfare. Throws, quote "Ashigaru" units into the face of the enemy while he and his bodyguard swing around back for a charge.

Mounted Archer Samurai warlord who uses a Comp. Longbow and relies on being faster than everyone else.

Light Cavalry (Horse Lord Ranger). As Samurai, only with shortbows and is more willing to have brief bursts of melee.

Infantry:

Orc who is obsessed with digging. Latrine pits, dug-outs, dug-ins, trenches...his officers have guilded trowels, and the most organized unit is the engineers.

Shadow Lodge

lucky7 wrote:

Throwing in a few Cavalry ones.

A Cavalier(order of the sword). He's studied the human school of warfare. Throws, quote "Ashigaru" units into the face of the enemy while he and his bodyguard swing around back for a charge.

Mounted Archer Samurai warlord who uses a Comp. Longbow and relies on being faster than everyone else.

Light Cavalry (Horse Lord Ranger). As Samurai, only with shortbows and is more willing to have brief bursts of melee.

Infantry:

Orc who is obsessed with digging. Latrine pits, dug-outs, dug-ins, trenches...his officers have guilded trowels, and the most organized unit is the engineers.

I might have to skip on some of the more horse lordy stuff for them (hobgoblins fill more of that role).

That being said the diggers are freakin' fantastic! I love the idea of orcs that dig under besieged city walls and raise hell. Combine that with the plague druid idea above and I could literally see the platoon digging into the sewage pipes and s and contaminating the whole water table.

Also it really helps that one of my players primary weapons is a shovel so they will have a ball.

Liberty's Edge

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Okay, no horses. Now I'm obligated for 3 more good ones:

A Warlord who specializes in powerful magical beasts as shock troops.

Warlord who focuses exclusively on stealth, sabotage, and assassination.

A Warlord focused on Skirmishing (Troops are lightly armored and focus on speed rather than raw force)

Shadow Lodge

lucky7 wrote:

Okay, no horses. Now I'm obligated for 3 more good ones:

A Warlord who specializes in powerful magical beasts as shock troops.

Warlord who focuses exclusively on stealth, sabotage, and assassination.

A Warlord focused on Skirmishing (Troops are lightly armored and focus on speed rather than raw force)

1. Nice! I actually have plans for at least 1 warlord who rocks a Diplodocus battle platform and rhino riders for sieges & cavalry charges so more magical fair isn't too far off.

2. The aforementioned Nocticulan warpriest kind of fills that assassin role but I could see another one just gotta think of how to make it stand out a bit.

3.cool idea but what would set them apart from the normal skirmisher? Like I'm trying to think of what weapons and armor would fit the theme of Orc and guerilla fighter.

Liberty's Edge

Unarmored Barbarians.

Shadow Lodge

lucky7 wrote:
Unarmored Barbarians.

Ohh I could do that but how do you balance the armor lack? Ohh wait alchemical woad they paint themselves with.

Another one I'm working with is lost technology warriors who mod their power armor so that the lightning of God can power them to victory. Like imagine orcs in power armor that have replaced their armor's battery pack with a lightning rod and have druids drop lightning on them to power the suits. Will be the 1st time you'll ever see your players scream in terror at the idea of shooting the bad guys.


How about--

Orc Warlord Bard who plays his performances on drums made from the skulls of his enemies

Orc Gish Warlord (Magus or Eldritch Knight) who Enlarge persons himself at the start of combat, and leads a group of adepts, wizards, and magi

Pyromanic Orc-- can be wizard for the spells, or just obsessed with using flaming arrows, and flaming catapult shots, and burning oil, and flaming swords, and matches

Orc Oracle Warlod who cut out his own left eye for wisdom, possibly with a raven companion of some variety (ala Odin)

the warlord with his cadre of mysterious orc holy men who do not need weapons or armor to defeat their foes


A Mindchemist Vivisectionist with a racial inferiority complex. He's out to build and seize slaves, farmland, technology and cities in order to civilise the orcs. His science team seek to create uniquely orcish advances with mixed results, while his urban barbarians terrorise towns.

Chaotic neutral druid who believes that civilisation and technology are an affront against nature and that the humans should go back to living in tribes. She's willing to work as part of a large movement and act as a leader only for the chance to permanently reduce the peoples of the world to small anarchic tribes.

Liberty's Edge

How about an Orc or two with Templates? For example:

An Orc Vampire (personally I'd go Rogue or Bard for class, but any works) who uses his inhuman Strength and Charisma to thoroughly dominate his tribe. Has a body-double who he uses to be seen in daylight so nobody knows his secret. Ideally the PCs shouldn't know what they're up against until things go thoroughly sideways during the fight.

A Half-Red Dragon Orc Barbarian. Rides one of his half siblings (a Red Dragon) into battle and really enjoys fire.

An Orc Magus who's become a Lich. Again, not really publically known to be so, which should result in even more hilarity.

An Orc natural were-tiger (or were-whatever), who, again, is not really 'out' as what he is. Again, hilarious surprises when the PCs find out mid-fight.

Half-Fiend Orcs are also obvious, though I don't have a specific one in mind. Maybe an Antipaladin if you don't have one included yet. Check out Demons Revisited for alternate racial modifiers for those descended from particular demons.

The first, third, and fourth probably shouldn't all be used, though two of them, one real early and the other much later might well work without making it seem repetitive.


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Oracle of Flame that wants to see the world burn. Both metaphorically and literally. Believes that from the ashes of old world a new one, more suited to orcs (or maybe just to a new breed of fire-orcs) will be born.

Shadow Lodge

Nathanael Love wrote:

How about--

Orc Warlord Bard who plays his performances on drums made from the skulls of his enemies

Orc Gish Warlord (Magus or Eldritch Knight) who Enlarge persons himself at the start of combat, and leads a group of adepts, wizards, and magi

Pyromanic Orc-- can be wizard for the spells, or just obsessed with using flaming arrows, and flaming catapult shots, and burning oil, and flaming swords, and matches

Orc Oracle Warlod who cut out his own left eye for wisdom, possibly with a raven companion of some variety (ala Odin)

the warlord with his cadre of mysterious orc holy men who do not need weapons or armor to defeat their foes

How the hell did I forget about bards?! I actually had envisioned orc clurtch pipers who rock drums and bagpipes into combat and totally forgot about it!

I'm not really into the idea of holy men with Viking themes here (not really a big part of the narrative in this particular story) but maybe something like that to one of my other gods in game.

Also I do need a pyro, the lack thus far in an orc army is a little criminal.

Grand Lodge

How about a Half-orc leader who's trying to form the tribes into a nation (Like Rome but the orc version) and is a tactical genius as well as a shrewd politician?

Shadow Lodge

Deadmanwalking wrote:

How about an Orc or two with Templates? For example:

An Orc Vampire (personally I'd go Rogue or Bard for class, but any works) who uses his inhuman Strength and Charisma to thoroughly dominate his tribe. Has a body-double who he uses to be seen in daylight so nobody knows his secret. Ideally the PCs shouldn't know what they're up against until things go thoroughly sideways during the fight.

A Half-Red Dragon Orc Barbarian. Rides one of his half siblings (a Red Dragon) into battle and really enjoys fire.

An Orc Magus who's become a Lich. Again, not really publically known to be so, which should result in even more hilarity.

An Orc natural were-tiger (or were-whatever), who, again, is not really 'out' as what he is. Again, hilarious surprises when the PCs find out mid-fight.

Half-Fiend Orcs are also obvious, though I don't have a specific one in mind. Maybe an Antipaladin if you don't have one included yet. Check out Demons Revisited for alternate racial modifiers for those descended from particular demons.

The first, third, and fourth probably shouldn't all be used, though two of them, one real early and the other much later might well work without making it seem repetitive.

I think I'm going to have to do a few of these.

I like the vampire but I'm not sure how I would implement it in a warfront game centered in an American Great Plains style setting without having to make some items to keep him from burning or some GM fiat. On that note though I could make like a Mummy or Graveknight...

On Lycanthropes I've already been playing with the idea of werelions since they are both Nurgals patron animal and pretty just dickish irl which would fit the setting.

Half-fiends have already been mulled around and might come up as specialized offspring from a very specially created Brood Mother orc that has been fleshwarped and demonically consecrated by the Orcish higher ups to produce powerful, combat ready half fiend orcs. Think like the Dhiakia from B4 but with a much lower CR.

And I do totally need an Antipaladin of Nurgal. If this is essentially his party his chosen fighters do need to be their.

Liberty's Edge

doc the grey wrote:
I think I'm going to have to do a few of these.

Happy to have been of assistance, then. :)

doc the grey wrote:
I like the vampire but I'm not sure how I would implement it in a warfront game centered in an American Great Plains style setting without having to make some items to keep him from burning or some GM fiat. On that note though I could make like a Mummy or Graveknight...

Those are harder to conceal, IMO. Personally, I'd stick with Vampire and give him an item of Protective Penumbra at-will. By the magic item creation rules, that's around 4500 gp, and very affordable. EDIT: Rechecked that and I'm totally wrong on price. It's more like 18k. Still doable, though. Or you could have a cheaper and more limited version.

doc the grey wrote:
On Lycanthropes I've already been playing with the idea of werelions since they are both Nurgals patron animal and pretty just dickish irl which would fit the setting.

Ooh, yeah, were-lions are an excellent idea. Go with that.

doc the grey wrote:
Half-fiends have already been mulled around and might come up as specialized offspring from a very specially created Brood Mother orc that has been fleshwarped and demonically consecrated by the Orcish higher ups to produce powerful, combat ready half fiend orcs. Think like the Dhiakia from B4 but with a much lower CR.

Nice. :)

doc the grey wrote:
And I do totally need an Antipaladin of Nurgal. If this is essentially his party his chosen fighters do need to be their.

Oh, yeah, it's basically required.

Shadow Lodge

Shore wrote:
How about a Half-orc leader who's trying to form the tribes into a nation (Like Rome but the orc version) and is a tactical genius as well as a shrewd politician?

Ehh I already kind of have that guy. The big thing to remember if it helps is that for the Orcs this is,

1. Orcs here venerate combat, war, and violence as noble aspirations in in of themselves. Who they are fighting and who's bleed is not as important as the fact that war is occurring and blood is flowing. Think blood for the blood god

2. This whole WAAGGHH! is basically the biggest brawl they've managed in the last 200 years with that last war being the first time in much of their recorded history where they had had an enemy so strong and so prominent that it drew all of their attention and basically united them. It gave them all a target that would give them the bloody warring combat they craved. So in essence they are united by the very fact that they have this one big enemy that they all know they can fight and know will hit back as hard as them.

So basically as long as they are all fighting the same enemy they are basically united.

Now I could play around with a tactical genius but I don't know if I would want to make him...

Actually I have her she would be a fighter.

Also if it helps their enemy (the Imperium) is a lot like Rome already so I wouldn't want to make them too similar. though I will say a whole troop that just uses recovered gear from fallen centurions but uses them in bloody berzerker charges would be very cool.

Shadow Lodge

Mortuum wrote:

A Mindchemist Vivisectionist with a racial inferiority complex. He's out to build and seize slaves, farmland, technology and cities in order to civilise the orcs. His science team seek to create uniquely orcish advances with mixed results, while his urban barbarians terrorise towns.

Chaotic neutral druid who believes that civilisation and technology are an affront against nature and that the humans should go back to living in tribes. She's willing to work as part of a large movement and act as a leader only for the chance to permanently reduce the peoples of the world to small anarchic tribes.

I do like the idea of a Mindchemist vivisectionist who f+~+s with human and animal brains to figure out how to make them suit the war effort though maybe not the inferiority complex. Hell he could be a flesh warper who brings oroci to the fold, creates the half-fiend producing orc brood sow, lobotomizes or mind screws human chattel to make them more compliant (or angry, or lustful, or powerful) as his people need them to be to help fuel the orc war machine. Now who the hell would he worship though...

That will be the question.

Holy shit! He's freakin' Fabius Bile as a half-orc! I must build him now.


A half orc warlord who was raised in human society and is struggling to fit in with the orcs while struggling against the feeling of being a traiter to humanity-- possibly even a character who has been a friend and ally of the PCs (if you have enough time to seed this kind of storyline)

Since the orcs enemy is rome-like you could have Orc Spartacus who is an escaped slave and leads a band of escaped and rescued slaves?

Liberty's Edge

How about a Warlord focused on river/lake combat as such. Make him a werecrocodile, have his units be the Marines.


A noble Prince who's uncle usurped the throne and had him cursed with the form of an orc. Left with no other choice he was driven out into the orc wastelands where he encountered and tribe and managed to take it over by defeating the chief in Trial by combat. Now he is uniting the Orc Tribes into an army to reclaim his birthright.

Shadow Lodge

Nathanael Love wrote:

A half orc warlord who was raised in human society and is struggling to fit in with the orcs while struggling against the feeling of being a traiter to humanity-- possibly even a character who has been a friend and ally of the PCs (if you have enough time to seed this kind of storyline)

Since the orcs enemy is rome-like you could have Orc Spartacus who is an escaped slave and leads a band of escaped and rescued slaves?

Actually have someone like this. The aforementioned fighter. Basically a Half-orc from the frontiersmen (they are much more accommodating of half-orcs) who runs a predominately half-orc regiment during the war. She turns after about the half way mark after winning countless battles and but being discredited because her superiors dismiss her because of her orc genes. In this case though she is more like Hannibal then Spartacus.

Honestly I like the idea of a Spartacus happening amongst the enslaved humans on the orc side or Orc spies trying to incite a slave riot to divert attention from the war effort.

Shadow Lodge

lucky7 wrote:
How about a Warlord focused on river/lake combat as such. Make him a werecrocodile, have his units be the Marines.

I like river combat. The map has actually came up with a lot of river ways I didn't plan so having someone who picks up on that would be cool. That being said he probably won't be a werecroc, skinwalkers are one of the native races in the region so if I'm going to have a crocman it will probably be a skinwalker before I make it a werecroc orc. That being said I can see them working together.

Liberty's Edge

How about...a tactician? A half orc tactician. He's not very scary physically, and his troops aren't anything special, but they can go on for a lot longer and fight a lot harder due to his logistics and ingeniousness.

Dark Archive

Ender much?

Dark Archive

I know you like Magitech Doc so, how about a cyborg who united the tribes using the fear of his alien weapons


What about a Old vet. Orc.

Grizzled, one eyed, grey beard of an Orc who has lived through hell and come out the other side. His strength is on the decline and he's not as fast as he used to be. Young punks keep challenging him and he's gotta think quick to put them down.
He can't count on brute force anymore so he uses dirty tricks and battle field awareness.

He's gone to war with the humans so many times now that he knows what works and what doesn't. He knows he's got to get his people to fight smarter cause Charge with a big axe just doesn't seem to work.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32

BIG BAD DOT!

Sczarni

Orcs of Golarion mentioned that sometimes Orc tribes keep Half-Orcs around despite their apparent "weakness" not only out of respect for what their cleverness can accomplish, but also because they're a living symbol of the orcs' conquest over humans.

What if there were a warlord whose primary goal was to produce as many half-orcs as possible?

This... might be dark territory you may not want to go into, and I wouldn't blame you. If you do, though, it would certainly require some thinking. This would be a tribe of orcs that doesn't kill its victims if they can avoid it, instead taking them hostage for use as breeding stock. (If the party loses a battle but you don't want to TPK them, you could use this as an excuse.) They might also have spies who use disguise self to pose as human, with the goal of either getting impregnated or doing as much impregnation as possible. They'd probably have enchantment magic in order to induce lust, on themselves and their captives.

Is this line of thinking worth pursuing? If you're uncomfortable, I won't go any further.

Shadow Lodge

Silent Saturn wrote:

Orcs of Golarion mentioned that sometimes Orc tribes keep Half-Orcs around despite their apparent "weakness" not only out of respect for what their cleverness can accomplish, but also because they're a living symbol of the orcs' conquest over humans.

What if there were a warlord whose primary goal was to produce as many half-orcs as possible?

This... might be dark territory you may not want to go into, and I wouldn't blame you. If you do, though, it would certainly require some thinking. This would be a tribe of orcs that doesn't kill its victims if they can avoid it, instead taking them hostage for use as breeding stock. (If the party loses a battle but you don't want to TPK them, you could use this as an excuse.) They might also have spies who use disguise self to pose as human, with the goal of either getting impregnated or doing as much impregnation as possible. They'd probably have enchantment magic in order to induce lust, on themselves and their captives.

Is this line of thinking worth pursuing? If you're uncomfortable, I won't go any further.

Lol you're cool homes, well with me at least. If it helps you better understand the region the orcs have been that problem to everyone in the region since the beginning of its history. It's part of why the frontiersmen (the immigrants from the imperium) out here all have a chance of or have some half-orcs somewhere in their family tree. The orcs and their wars with the people therein have been so prolific that it has effected just about everyone even if they don't realize it. It's like how most Europeans have genes from Ghengis Khan.

Also my game is meant to be more adult otherwise I wouldn't be messing around with orcs and massive wars, refugees, and what it's like trying to survive in a warszone. Hell my thematic sources are AoT, the last of us, and XCOM.


I know that the half orcs as products of rape is a familiar trope in D&D/PF/fantasy RPGs in general, but its something that I balk at when used too much-- in my worlkd there are half orcs who are the product of marriages and nations with Aristocracy and even ruling families that are mioxtures of orcs, humans, and half orcs. . .

But do what you do, for sure /soapbox.

Shadow Lodge

Cr500cricket wrote:
I know you like Magitech Doc so, how about a cyborg who united the tribes using the fear of his alien weapons

Not so much cyborgs but a lot of the lost tech comes from the frontier and with the orcs also figuring out how to craft firearms they are way more tech savvy then most people give them credit for.

One faction is essentially a cargo cult that believes that god powers their power armors and weapons through faith lightning. Basically they yank the power cells out of the armor and replace them with lightning rods and have clerics just drop lightning on them to charge them up.

Sczarni

Okay, so an Orc warlord who's into crossbreeding. Could be interesting.

His footsoldiers all employ nonlethal tactics to maximize the number or prisoners they take. I'm thinking an order of monks-- nonlethal damage and lots of grappling/pinning/tying up, with plenty of nets, mancatchers, or lassos as sidearms. Maybe a Blue Rose Cavalier to act as the sargeant.

There should also be some illusion/enchantment based spellcasters-- either bards, witches, or sorcerers. This could allow for orc "spies" to seduce the enemy under disguise spells. In combat, it means Hold Person at low levels (to more effectively take prisoners) and Suggestion at higher levels. It also opens up the possibility that various NPCs might actually be orcs in disguise and may try to seduce the PCs. After all, if the PCs are great heroes, surely claiming their offspring as part of the tribe would be a victory, yes?

As for feeding all those extra mouths, raiding the humans' food supplies should also be a high priority on this warlord's list. A good opportunity for an escort mission or a "standing guard" assignment, should you want one.

The warlord himself? I have to think he'd be a half-orc himself. He might be trying to build a horde where half-orcs like him get more respect. If he's the grandmaster of that monk order, he might be following Irori's teachings and seeking "perfection" by combining the human's cunning with the orc's power. (This may lead to discussion of eugenics and the eventual invocation of Godwin's Law-- proceed with caution.) Or he may simply understand the basic truth that war begets casualties, and he wants to keep the population's numbers up.

Actually, I think he'd be great as a Battle Herald. As a bard and a cavalier, he'd have the combo of enchantment and nonlethal tactics, and he'd be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield when he's got his troops with him.

Shadow Lodge

Silent Saturn wrote:

Okay, so an Orc warlord who's into crossbreeding. Could be interesting.

His footsoldiers all employ nonlethal tactics to maximize the number or prisoners they take. I'm thinking an order of monks-- nonlethal damage and lots of grappling/pinning/tying up, with plenty of nets, mancatchers, or lassos as sidearms. Maybe a Blue Rose Cavalier to act as the sargeant.

There should also be some illusion/enchantment based spellcasters-- either bards, witches, or sorcerers. This could allow for orc "spies" to seduce the enemy under disguise spells. In combat, it means Hold Person at low levels (to more effectively take prisoners) and Suggestion at higher levels. It also opens up the possibility that various NPCs might actually be orcs in disguise and may try to seduce the PCs. After all, if the PCs are great heroes, surely claiming their offspring as part of the tribe would be a victory, yes?

As for feeding all those extra mouths, raiding the humans' food supplies should also be a high priority on this warlord's list. A good opportunity for an escort mission or a "standing guard" assignment, should you want one.

The warlord himself? I have to think he'd be a half-orc himself. He might be trying to build a horde where half-orcs like him get more respect. If he's the grandmaster of that monk order, he might be following Irori's teachings and seeking "perfection" by combining the human's cunning with the orc's power. (This may lead to discussion of eugenics and the eventual invocation of Godwin's Law-- proceed with caution.) Or he may simply understand the basic truth that war begets casualties, and he wants to keep the population's numbers up.

Actually, I think he'd be great as a Battle Herald. As a bard and a cavalier, he'd have the combo of enchantment and nonlethal tactics, and he'd be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield when he's got his troops with him.

I have already been fiddling with the use of some bekyar kidnapper rogues as mooks for a few other groups so I'm probably going to use them as a general force for stealing slaves for the various organizations.


Anti-paladin lich with eldritch heritage orc, and an above average int score is something ive always wanted to try.

Shadow Lodge

christos gurd wrote:
Anti-paladin lich with eldritch heritage orc, and an above average int score is something ive always wanted to try.

That actually sounds pretty cool though antipaladin always makes me think Graveknight rather then Lich. That being said I kind of want to build an orc bloodline lich that could be cool.

Another one I'm mulling around is a female orc warrior of some kind who's part of The Broodless social class. Basically orc women who forgo traditional female roles to participate in martial combat. They also use their war time endeavors to help them select mates, often collecting them from amongst the POW's and slaves they collect as spoils.

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