Orcs are the scourge of civilization, the raiders who come in the night, slaughtering innocents for treasure and the simple joy of the kill. Their brutality extends even to their own kind, with tribes battling for supremacy and only the strongest individuals surviving to adulthood. Yet despite their fearsome image, orcs maintain a society of their own, having carved out the legendary Hold of Belkzen. Within this chaotic region, warlords vie for supremacy, adventurers plunder ruins long lost to orc barbarism, and those bold orcs who imagine a better life struggle for change.
Whether your players are treasure hunters stealing the riches of the past, soldiers seeking to end the orc threat once and for all, or orcs seeking to escape or rule their brethren, this book has everything you need to run a campaign in the war-torn Hold of Belkzen, including:
Detailed gazetteers of Belkzen’s settlements, from the surprisingly cosmopolitan capital of Urgir to the turbulent Blood Plains and the rare non-orc settlements such as Freedom Town and the hanging monastery of Sech Nevali.
Information on the terrifying orc gods, such as Dretha the Dark Mother and the Blood God, Nulgreth.
Overviews of the most prominent orc tribes, from the Empty Hand and the Broken Spine to the Ice Tooth and the Skull Eater.
Information on orc warfare, including their beast-powered war machines.
Tons of new adventure sites ripe for exploration, including the draconic Sleeper and the Flood Road, plus a detailed regional map ready to lead your player characters to riches—or a bloody death.
Nine new monsters, random encounter tables, and more!
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Belkzen, Hold of the Orc Hordes is intended for use with the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can be easily adapted to any fantasy world.
Written by Tyler Beck, Jason Garrett, Alex Greenshields, and David Schwartz
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-710-9
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
I read Belkzen, Hold of the Orc Hordes just in case my players in Curse of the Crimson Throne happened to visit the area. They didn’t really (magic is a wonderful thing), but that’s okay—it’s a good book anyway! As a product in Paizo’s Campaign Setting line, the book is 64 pages long, has high-quality glossy paper, and is in full colour. As the title indicates, it covers Belkzen, rugged region east of Varisia inhabited primarily by various orc tribes. If you have an interest in orcs or are just looking for a dangerous place to set an adventure, this could be the book for you.
I’m not a huge fan of the cover—-it’s cool, but also confusing and I had to look at it multiple times before realising the orc is mounted on an armored rhinocerous-type creature. This art is reproduced on the inside back-cover sans text. The inside front cover is a beautiful map of Belkzen. It’s done in a “realistic” in-game style apart from the place-name captions. The inside of the book is divided into three sections of unequal length. The interior artwork is strong, and the book is laid out well.
The “Belkzen Gazetteer” (24 pages) starts with a history of the region and a useful timeline. The writers have done their homework, as it encapsulates material from previous campaign books, adventures, etc. Each of the various areas of Belkzen are then covered in a 3-4 page spread, and it quickly becomes clear that Belkzen is a region, not a nation-state, as warring orc tribes hold their territories fiercely. The section includes coverage of the Blood Plains (with some great Shoanti flavour), the Conquered Lands (from Giantslayer?; the hanging Peacock fortress of Sech Nevali is really cool!), Smokespur (lots of mysterious places and megafauna—-now I want to do an all-orc campaign to explore it), Urgir (the “capital” of Belkzen), and Whisperfall (a borderland haunted by dragons; Freedom Town is interesting). Perhaps most useful to GMs preparing for their PCs to visit Belkzen is a sidebar on what it takes to do so safely (a tribal token or joining an established caravan).
“Adventuring in Belkzen” (28 pages) begins with coverage of orc deities—each gets about a half-page of coverage. Although they’re all Chaotic Evil, I found them really interesting to read about, and I imagine this is probably the only place to find so much information on them (the general books on gods in the Inner Sea tend to short-change the racial pantheons). Next up, the numerous orc tribes in Belkzen receive a brief overview of a couple of paragraphs each. Some real attention has been paid to established canon here, with references to Eando Kline, the oft-forgotten NPC Guide, and more. Readers interested in how orcs do war will enjoy the pages on orc siege engines (compatible with the rules from Ultimate Combat). Probably the bulk of the section is taken up with an overview of adventure sites (about half a page or so for each). There are some really interesting places here—-the Battle of Lost Hope (a bridge miraculously guarded by a Paladin of Iomedae), The Sleeper (the capital of the Runelord of Gluttony!), and the Flood Road (with important information on the Flood Truce, an annual event that brings the warring orc tribes together).
Last up is the Bestiary (10 pages). It has random encounter tables for each area, provides four new animal companions for the pet lovers, and introduces some new monsters (a couple of which, the “burning child” and the “floodslain” template, are pretty neat).
Overall, this is an excellent product, and I can’t think of anything substantive to complain about. If the topic piques your interest, it’s definitely worth the purchase.
I used this book for two different campaigns and I think it deserves it a better rating.
Map & gazetteer:
Spoiler:
The book starts off with a map that's stained in blood which is a nice effect. A lot of places are marked there - it would be quite challenging to prepare all of them, so maybe use only a fraction of the map for your campaign. Neighbouring countries and places are missing, which is unfortunate.
The gazetteer is good enough to give an impression on Belkzen. Flood Truce is an interesting concept that adds more depth to orcs. History is summarized within 2 1/2 pages - for me the rise from Underdark and the reign of the Whispering Tyrant were the most interesting parts.
Five areas get a four-page write-up: Blood Plains, Conquered Lands, Smokespur, Urgir and Whisperfall. While some of the content is typical for orcs, human settlements, undead menaces and even a hanging monastry are mentioned. Urgir as an orc metropolis should make a great place to visit for adventurers.
Adventuring:
Spoiler:
Eight gods are described on half a page each - pretty helpful if you want to add more depth and flavor to enemy divine spellcasters. The orc tribe list has some surprises like female chieftains, worship to Sarenrae and wyvern tamers. Conflicts between tribes get some room here, which could contribute to the story.
Orc war machines, siege engines and mounts show a few creative ideas which might add to flavor when battling orcs. The 14 pages of adventure sites are a wealth of starting points for adventures, but you will have to make up most maps and stat blocks for yourself. Only the map of a small human settlement is detailed enough to be used directly, imo.
Bestiary:
Spoiler:
There are 8 creatures and a template, but I found only a few of them to be actually helpful - which is not so different from regular bestiary books, but still a limitation. Ankhrav is a more powerful ankheg - nice if you want to add a boss to an ankheg encounter. The Burning Child is an unique flavorful creature which probably works better as a story element than as a straightforward encounter. Dahzagan is pretty cool if you want to augment an orc horde with an orc-related outsider.
So, overall this book gives you a good introduction into the area, but limited material that can be used directly. Orcs naturally get a lot of attention here, still it's not "Orcs of Golarion, Campaign Setting edition" - which is a blessing, given the high quality of the nonorc material. The book walks a fine line between the classic orc horde and surprising new takes on the greenskins - and succeeds in doing so. There are some decent adventure hooks, which might be the most interesting part.
Belkzen, Hold of the Orc Hordes should have been an opportunity to add more depth to orcs in Pathfinder, and to be fair, it makes a couple tokens attempts to do so. However, on the whole, it misses out on the opportunity, instead focusing mostly on describing locations and adventure sites, many of which happen to have orcs in them. It does little to give the orcs any real character beyond violent killers or to differentiate one orc tribe from another. By the end of the book, orcs remain pretty much as faceless as they’ve always been, just fodder waiting for for the PCs to kill them.
THE GOOD:
All major locations are mentioned and get a description.
Half of the inside art is great.
4 solid settlement stat blocks.
8 orc gods get half a page each.
24 orc tribes get a short write-up inclusive their leaders and their level.
The 4 orc warmachines are all solid.
The adventure site section is absolutely awesome - this is were the book shines! All 15 sites are great!
Half of the monsters in the bestiary are good.
THE BAD:
The inside-cover map of Belkzen is not very beautiful.
The timeline spans 10.000 years and is only one page.
3 settlements don´t get a stat block.
The city maps are not detailed enough.
Only 4 of 8 orc gods get pictures.
Not enough orc war-machines and the art for the 2 large ones that are shown is not very awe-inspiring.
Half of the monsters in the bestiary are lame.
Bristle Boar
Bull of Zagresh
Warcat of Rull
Whisperfall Vulture
These four were mine! *squee*
LOL... I'm actually very proud of them. Can't wait to see them in action!
I also did a bunch of orc tribes but I don't yet know which ones made it into the book (My contributor copy isn't here yet). Can someone with the PDF just quickly list all the tribes, and I'll point out which ones were mine?
So, this is awesome and I hate that I have to wait for the end of February. How much detail do they go into with the tribes? Also, any new items or something like that? What about the major powers of belkzen? Any word on their motivations or movements?
Bull of Zagresh
Warcat of Rull
Whisperfall Vulture
These four were mine! *squee*
LOL... I'm actually very proud of them. Can't wait to see them in action!
I also did a bunch of orc tribes but I don't yet know which ones made it into the book (My contributor copy isn't here yet). Can someone with the PDF just quickly list all the tribes, and I'll point out which ones were mine?
I will say thank you then as I will be using a Warcat of Rull as my Hunters companion.
Edit:
Orc Tribes:
Black Sun
Blood Trail
Bloodied Gauntlets
Broken Spine
Burning Sun
Cleft Head
Dead Eye
Death's Head
Defiled Corpse
Drowning Sand
Eight Fingers
Empty Hand
Gutspear
Haskodar
Ice Tooth
Murdered Child
One Eye
Open Barrow
Skittering Ravager
Skull Eater
Steel Eater
Storm-Screamers of Rull
Twisted Nail
Wingripper
So, this is awesome and I hate that I have to wait for the end of February. How much detail do they go into with the tribes? Also, any new items or something like that? What about the major powers of belkzen? Any word on their motivations or movements?
Tribes are only detailed so much as this is the leader and here is how they act. Some are a little bigger then others but most of the tribes are only about a quarter of a page. There are a few new things like the orc war machines, Siege Engine Ammo, mounts, and there gear. I really have not got into major powers of belkzen the closets thing is the tribes but I have not fully read through the Gazetteer yet.
What's the Warcat of Rull like? Anything like a smilodon/sabre-toothed tiger?
It is like a tiger meats an Armadillo. But the picture was a little weird as it had more scales then the plate of an armadillo. It gets huge size and is very strong. The animal companion does not get huge.
How much info is there on orc gods? Any standout god lore that grabbed you?
The gods have a half page write up like normal for the campaign setting line. The one that I liked the most was Rull the Thunderer. I did a spoiler on him earlier.
I also liked Sezelrian the God of Fire.
Sezelrian:
He is the God of fire, magic and revenge. Domains chaos, evil, fire, magic. SD Ash, Demon, Divine, Smoke. Favored Weapon Heavy mace. His symbol is a boar skull on fire.
He is also the god that gave orcs intelligence and is the orc god of magic. His picture is pretty cool. He looks like an Orc Witch Doctor with a heavy mace that has sparks and smoke but does not have burn.
Black Sun
Blood Trail
Bloodied Gauntlets
Broken Spine
Burning Sun
Cleft Head
Dead Eye
Death's Head
Defiled Corpse
Drowning Sand
Eight Fingers
Empty Hand
Gutspear
Haskodar
Ice Tooth
Murdered Child
One Eye
Open Barrow
Skittering Ravager
Skull Eater
Steel Eater
Storm-Screamers of Rull <- This one was mine. None of the other names are the same as the ones I submitted, but it's possible the developer changed the names of one or two others. :)
Twisted Nail
Wingripper
Can't wait to get the book so I can see the descriptions of all of these!
I know it's mainly about orcs in Belkzen, but are there any references to other orcs in Avistan? Perhaps mentioned in the history/timeline of tribes that emerged from the Darklands and moved onto elsewhere?
I know it's mainly about orcs in Belkzen, but are there any references to other orcs in Avistan? Perhaps mentioned in the history/timeline of tribes that emerged from the Darklands and moved onto elsewhere?
I know it's mainly about orcs in Belkzen, but are there any references to other orcs in Avistan? Perhaps mentioned in the history/timeline of tribes that emerged from the Darklands and moved onto elsewhere?
For that look at the Orcs of Golarion book.
It's possible Inner Sea Races will cover some of this too? [/speculatory]
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Mikaze wrote:
If you're interested in playing one for Giantslayer, I can offer supplementary material for the Bloodied Gauntlet(some) and the Burning Suns(a lot) to help you fit into that campaign. I'm sure the creators of the Ice Tooth and Storm Screamer tribes will have some advice too!
The Burning Suns sound interesting. What can you share?
If you're interested in playing one for Giantslayer, I can offer supplementary material for the Bloodied Gauntlet(some) and the Burning Suns(a lot) to help you fit into that campaign. I'm sure the creators of the Ice Tooth and Storm Screamer tribes will have some advice too!
The Burning Suns sound interesting. What can you share?
A lot. :) It will need to wait until after the street date though, and does need the disclaimer up front that whatever isn't in the book isn't official canon.
I can go ahead and say that
Spoiler:
it's extremely friendly towards consensual half-orc origins, the tribe is predominantly CG/CN, they're in a position that has left them desperately needing allies and/or an exodus strategy, their attitudes about cannibalism and slavery are better than the norm but could still use work(especially the latter), their burial rites might come across as both beautiful and horrifying to some, a popular and somewhat dangerous holiday sport involves smashing burning Rovagug effigies made of stuffed ankheg exoskeletons, and Mahja might have a (possibly aasimar) child waiting to be claimed as a PC.
If you're interested in playing one for Giantslayer, I can offer supplementary material for the Bloodied Gauntlet(some) and the Burning Suns(a lot) to help you fit into that campaign. I'm sure the creators of the Ice Tooth and Storm Screamer tribes will have some advice too!
The Burning Suns sound interesting. What can you share?
A lot. :) It will need to wait until after the street date though, and does need the disclaimer up front that whatever isn't in the book isn't official canon.
I can go ahead and say that ** spoiler omitted **
Well, that about does it. My PC for Giantslayer will either be a Burning Suns barbarian, or a Half-Orc offspring of a Burning Suns warrior and priest of Sarenrae. :)
If you're interested in playing one for Giantslayer, I can offer supplementary material for the Bloodied Gauntlet(some) and the Burning Suns(a lot) to help you fit into that campaign. I'm sure the creators of the Ice Tooth and Storm Screamer tribes will have some advice too!
The Burning Suns sound interesting. What can you share?
A lot. :) It will need to wait until after the street date though, and does need the disclaimer up front that whatever isn't in the book isn't official canon.
I can go ahead and say that ** spoiler omitted **
I could have missed it but what part of the Hold is the Burning Suns living in?
Hmm, so does it go into the Orc Cults at all, or which gods aside from Rovagug play the largest part in tribes? Some appear devoted to the Orc Gods, but at the same time, are they a minority?
An interesting bit - the orc deities all grant four domains and four subdomains.
Which means they're actually CR 26-30ish demigods, rather than true gods.
Rull the Thunderer:
I also like that the Orcs met Rull the Thunderer when they breached the surface (weather wasn't a thing to them until then), and now I'm wondering if that was meant literally. "About time you made it up here, you primitive screwheads. Now listen up..."
Also, I'll admit grinning at the Dead Eye tribe's entry and their god.
@ Major_Blackhart - Dretha, Nulgreth (Blood for the Blood God!), Sezelrian, and Zagresh the Destroyer all have artwork. You've already seen Dretha's art on the blog.
Ok, this is awesome information. Is there further information on them and their cults or just little blurbs?
Also, what about the big two that EVERYONE in Belkzen talks about, Rovagug and Gorum?
There are so many questions I need to ask but won't because I want to read it all. DAMMIT!!
Edit: Also, the # of domains doesn't necessarily denote demi-god status. The Giant Pantheon, Dwarven Pantheon, Alseta, Brigh, Hanspur, Naderi, etc have 4 domains each. It simply means that they're lesser gods than the big ones. Don't know what that actually means, but it just means that they have less influence maybe or are limited in followers or something.
Ok, this is awesome information. Is there further information on them and their cults or just little blurbs?
Also, what about the big two that EVERYONE in Belkzen talks about, Rovagug and Gorum?
There are so many questions I need to ask but won't because I want to read it all. DAMMIT!!
Edit: Also, the # of domains doesn't necessarily denote demi-god status. The Giant Pantheon, Dwarven Pantheon, Alseta, Brigh, Hanspur, Naderi, etc have 4 domains each. It simply means that they're lesser gods than the big ones. Don't know what that actually means, but it just means that they have less influence maybe or are limited in followers or something.
No, 4 domains means a being of demi-god level power. This includes Demon Lords, Archdukes, Horsemen, Empyreal Lords, Elemental Lords etc.
Any divine being with only 4 domains is a Demi-god, while any divine being with 5 domains is a true deity.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Mikaze wrote:
A lot. :) It will need to wait until after the street date though, and does need the disclaimer up front that whatever isn't in the book isn't official canon.
I could have missed it but what part of the Hold is the Burning Suns living in?
Requisite Disclaimer: This isn't official canon but:
Spoiler:
These days they stick to the Conquered Lands, with their primary settlement being hidden south of Trunau between that and the Nirmathi border of the Mindspin Mountains, further south than the Skittermounds. In the past they moved around further north, but after the situation became too hot for them there and survival began to outweigh their earlier zeal, a semipermanent relocation was needed.
As they've painted a big target on their backs with their earlier crusades(especially the disastrous attempt to take Scarwall), any connections with Trunau, if any at all, are kept quiet though Halgra lends what aid or wisdom she can to her one-time student. The speculative whispers that Halgra is the "father" of Mahja's aasimar child are kept even more closely guarded.
I could have missed it but what part of the Hold is the Burning Suns living in?
Requisite Disclaimer: This isn't official canon but:
** spoiler omitted **
Thanks Mikaze that works my friend decided to play a half orc druid from the Burning suns and he has made himself an unofficial ambassador. So I am working on some ways to put that into the ap.
As their god of magic, does Sezelrian look like he would be fit for worship by a witch doctor...or does he appear to be more on the divine end of things ?
As their god of magic, does Sezelrian look like he would be fit for worship by a witch doctor...or does he appear to be more on the divine end of things ?
Witch doctors would be perfect for Sezelrian. He is depicted as an orc witch doctor. They say that all orcs that use magic, of any kind, owe thanks to him no matter the god they actually worship.
Joana wrote:
Is there a map in this book which shows where Trunau is in relation to the other settlements of Belkzen?
Yes it does have a map that shows the different sites. It is the inside cover of the book.