OK, so I can find bucket-loads of adventures featuring kobolds and goblins, but I was really hoping to find a few good adventures featuring Orcs: Pathfinder, Necromancer, DCC, whatever, I just want some good Orc Inspiration.
I would love to get a few modules that feature orc encampments, raiding parties, whatever, I need to populate a section of my campaign with orc hordes and need help filling out the areas. Every time I try to sit down, there is a goblin in my way but I cant seem to find A SINGLE ADVENTURE FEATURING ORCS AS THE MAIN NEMESIS(!)
(Ok I lied, the main thing I want are class monster stats, like orc clerics, shamans, warlocks, etc. so I dont have to do all the boring stat-block work myself!)
Try Sons of Gruumsh. It's a 4th lv Forgotten Realms adventure path. I think the names says it all.
Fizz
|
I can wholeheartedly recommend two fantastic sources:
>Tome of Horrors III (Blood Orcs, Black Orcs, etc.)
>Monster Manual IV (I recall there being a suite of variants like half-orc spy, but don't have the book handy at the moment to reference a page number)
Also, I seem to recall a forgotten realms module called, Sons of Gruumsh you may look into for more formal orc set up with a modular storyline.
Hope that helps
-Pax-
|
For flavor, might I suggest Paizo's Classic Monsters Revisited?
For stat blocks, as Fizzban suggested, here's Sons of Gruumsh.
Edit: the PDF of SoG can be found at DriveThruRPG here.
Tallow's Deep, from a very old Dungeon, was one of my favorite adventures. Orc lair with nasty traps.
Orcfest. The name says it all. I think Fast Forward Enterainment wrote it. I have no idea if it is good (even though I own it).
EDIT: Hey, I made a rhyme!
Wow I am loving these suggestions and glad to see that the arguably "quintessential" baddie has some nice featured work. Please continue with the suggestions if anyone know any good resources for orcs, mainly ADVENTURES featuring them. Oone has a map book of an orc stronghold that looks intriguing.
Basically my campaign is featuring a war between Gruumsh and the demon lord Orcus for control of the prime material, so it is going to be a rollicking roller coaster ride between these two warring gods for the players to contend with. SO I really want to add a lot of orcish goodness to the undead goodness I already have.
I will definitely check out SoG, I wonder how hard it will be to separate it from its FR-ness. Moonsea, I will check that one out too.
Nobody knows of any orcish Dungeon Crawl Classics?
I'm trying to remember the title of it, but there was an old issue of Dungeon where a group of low-level adventurers arrive at a fortress in the wilderness shortly before it is assaulted by orcs. Really well done adventure. Of course, it was written with 2nd edition rules, so there will be a needed conversion process, but it would be worth the effort.
It's not coming to mind. I'll have to go digging through boxes, I suppose.
More orc stat blocks for free. Oh, and half orcs too.
Tallow's Deep, from a very old Dungeon, was one of my favorite adventures. Orc lair with nasty traps.
Those where goblins.
I'm trying to remember the title of it, but there was an old issue of Dungeon where a group of low-level adventurers arrive at a fortress in the wilderness shortly before it is assaulted by orcs. Really well done adventure. Of course, it was written with 2nd edition rules, so there will be a needed conversion process, but it would be worth the effort.
It's not coming to mind. I'll have to go digging through boxes, I suppose.
Siege a Kraty's Freehold.
An excellent adventure, very thought provoking.
However is conceptually difficult in places to update to 3.5. Mainly a level problem. Too many Orcs means the adventure almost needs to have moderately high level PCs but even 5th level PCs should be capable of taking on a phenomenal number of Orcs - especially with things like walls and such to help them.
Lilith, you have made my day! I have been looking for just such tools for weeks! I cant wait to get home tonite and play with that, WOW!
Thank you muchly
J~
Siege at Kratys Freehold.
An excellent adventure, very thought provoking.
However is conceptually difficult in places to update to 3.5. Mainly a level problem. Too many Orcs means the adventure almost needs to have moderately high level PCs but even 5th level PCs should be capable of taking on a phenomenal number of Orcs - especially with things like walls and such to help them.
That's the one. I'm not sure if there would necessarily need to be a major power-up of PCs or not. Sure, there are considerations, but there are also things to the players' advantage. Cover bonuses from the battlements, for one. Also, they have the defenders as allies. All those 0-level men-at-arms become at least 1st level warriors.
It would be interesting to see what could be done with it.
Lilith, you have made my day! I have been looking for just such tools for weeks! I cant wait to get home tonite and play with that, WOW!
No problem! :D
Siege at Kratys Freehold.
An excellent adventure, very thought provoking.
However is conceptually difficult in places to update to 3.5. Mainly a level problem. Too many Orcs means the adventure almost needs to have moderately high level PCs but even 5th level PCs should be capable of taking on a phenomenal number of Orcs - especially with things like walls and such to help them.
That's the one. I'm not sure if there would necessarily need to be a major power-up of PCs or not. Sure, there are considerations, but there are also things to the players' advantage. Cover bonuses from the battlements, for one. Also, they have the defenders as allies. All those 0-level men-at-arms become at least 1st level warriors.
It would be interesting to see what could be done with it.
Its conceivable but, in my experience not easy. I actually looked long and hard at using it for my current campaign (though I did this a while ago when my PCs were much lower level) as the concept fits wonderfully with the theme of my current game (Evil Humanoid Invasion).
I found it difficult to really work with. The adventure basically puts the PCs in a position where they can't win a straight up fight with 100 odd Orcs. However they have all the mundane material of a prosperous Free Hold at their disposal in order to even the odds. The adventure essentially asks us to figure out how 25 beeswax candles, or 4 spades etc. etc. can be useful in evening the odds of this fight.
Some of the problems that crop up is that 3.5 codifies some of these aspects of the game, in places where 2nd edition had no rules and the module therefore made up appropriate rules and times. In 3.5 we actually have rules for doing stuff like building a pit or using a trip wire. Problem is it takes 15 years to dig a pit and costs 25 million gp. So the rules, in some cases contradict what the module says.
Even this though is sort of easy to work around. Throw out the trap making rules for this module and mostly use the modules guidelines. It still does not really work in my experience. One of the staples of 1st and 2nd edition gaming was attrition. Modules like Isle of the Ape explicitly state that attrition is the mechanic being used to beat the party down but all sorts of modules depend on the idea. Essentially speaking with enough varmints a 1st or 2nd edition character could just be dragged down unless they were much higher level. A 5th level fighter could just be overwhelmed by Orcs. In 3.5 thats a lot harder. The problem is that 100 orcs versus 2nd level players are too dangerous. There is, I suppose, a perfect level for this adventure and, if you find it, it'll work great but I was pretty much too uncertain what they level was. To low and I have a TPK and too high and a really thought provoking adventure becomes a long tedious cake walk.
We see this problem in Encounter at Blackwall Keep where the module sternly warns the DM that the lizard folk are too powerful - I mean just look at those ELs. Of course, as any time on the AoW boards will show, the modules warnings are going the wrong way. 5th PCs can kill Lizardfolk all day and all night with ease. As long as their extensive collection of cure light wounds wands holds out its really just a matter of wacking 'em and stacking 'em. I don't know how many Lizard Folk would be needed to take down a 5th level party but 80 or whatever it was is a joke. I'd guess they'd need a couple of hundred Lizard Folk to be able to drag down a 5th level party but circumstances would effect this.
Certainly I've personally experienced this in my game. I made an Orc lair full of traps, their were Orcs with Barbarian Levels and a few with other interesting levels, I had cross fires and murder holes etc. etc. My 5th level players cut their way through 150 or so Orcs (including things like Orogs) over a 12 hour period. I'm not sure I'd call it good gaming as it was just one unbelievably long encounter but it was an enlightening experience. What 5th level players, that are somewhat munchkinized, can pull off is, well pretty extreme.
Someone has got to stat out Tauric Orc-Orcas.
Luckily my players are but first level (too soon to be second for my taste!) so orcs are plenty tough for them. Their first encounter was ill-planned and they now fight 6 orcs and an orc lieutenant and are hard pressed, the main fighter will most likely goe down next round. They are quacking, but I am pretty confident they will be victorious. How they will assault the rest of the cavern encampment I have tow wonder...
My problem as DM is I try to make every battle epic, I do not use the attrition method too much. It can make certain areas extremely tricky to survive...
Anyhow, I want to reallty embrace the orcishness of this adventure, and they will defeat all sorts and really get an insight into their foul culture as well. One room contains the hacked corpse of a slain elf, hanging like a gory side of meat from a hook. That sort of wretched thing. I am making my orcs dark, corrupt, foul and the blackest of evil.
So the three main baddies are the orc Lt (about to go down), and his lackeys, then ther is the Orc Shaman (priest) with her entourage, and then the final battle with the orc warlock with his 3 acolytes, who will be weak but magic-using as well...
Can't wait! Oh and thanks for the Dungeon mags tips, totally forgot about them, I will comb thru the copies I have for more orc goodness. I wish there was a big book of orc encounters, lol...
My level 2 elf druid had to cast CLW on his animal companion war dog, provoked an AoO, and got crited from an orc with a great axe. Went from around 4 hp to -20 something in one hit.
Not a good day to be a good guy.
Should have cast defensively.