I have been puzzling over this one for a while now ... why Barbarian for the favored class instead of Rogue?
I have no problem with the Druid, a half-orc raised in an orcish society is physically weaker than his brethren, and would definitely use his wits to find a nitch.
But the half orc IS physically weaker than his full blooded kin, and he matures at a slightly slower rate ... why would such an individual chose to go mano a mano into the most fight oriented of the classes against those that are stronger than he? And if the half orc is raised in a more "civilized" society, the barbarian makes even less sense.
"Half-orcs raised in orc society tend to blend in, earning positions of respect so long as they can physically match their peers." (Emphasis mine)
I would think that the rogue, yes, a brutish thug of a rogue, but the sneaky, back stabbing, thinking type would make a lot more sense over the barbarian as a potential favored class. Especially when you take into account the following:
"Half-orcs favor many of the traits of their less-civilized parents, tending toward violence and a dark, brooding outlook. ... Those raised in human society often find themselves the targets of cruel prejudices and are frequently the suspect whenever a crime is uncovered. Due to such difficulties, many half-orcs turn to lives of crime or adventuring, where their combination of strength and wits serves them best." (Again, emphasis mine.)
Both of the quotes come from the blurb on half orcs from the Beta, page 10.
Given this, I think the favored class should change from the Barb to the Rogue.
Comments?
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While i suppose you make a compelling argument, what with your quotes and all, i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you are never gonna see the half orc's favored class change to rogue.
the half orc barbarian is almost something of a sacred cow since 3.0
half orcs raised in orc society would simply emulate their peers, even if not quite as physically mighty
half orcs raised in human society work as barbarians too, as they are sometimes not able to escape their savage backgrounds.
in pathfinder, the orc ferocity racial ability lends itself perfectly to the barbarian class.
Creative Director
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There's a few reasons why barbarian is a favored class for half-orcs.
1) Orcs in Golarion are monsters, and their society is a tribal one that encourages the rise of barbarians to power. Barbarian is the most "monstrous" class (in that they're the most mindlessly destructive), and therefore thematically fits the orc legacy for a half-orc in a way that rogue does not.
2) Half-orcs have had barbarian as a favored class since the start of 3rd edition, and we want to retain all of those original favored classes for all the races.
3) The favored classes need to be spread around; we don't want overlap if we can help it. There's already a little bit of overlap here and there. No other class has barbarian as a favored class, and removing it from half-orcs pretty much removes the class entirely from the list, since it makes even less sense to give it to the other races.
3) The favored classes need to be spread around; we don't want overlap if we can help it. There's already a little bit of overlap here and there. No other class has barbarian as a favored class, and removing it from half-orcs pretty much removes the class entirely from the list, since it makes even less sense to give it to the other races.
Well I do think Dwarves make awesome barbarians, because
A) their Constitution bonus does great with ragesB) Barbarian speed bonus will help the whole party as they travel faster even with a dwarf in the package
C) Automatic proficiency with Dwarven Waraxes are the only halfway reasonable base to build an oversized TWFer on.
Also humans. (do I need to say anything about them)
+ Barbarians are awesome!
Otherwise i fully agree with the Half-Orc having Barbarian as favored class. Even if they are weaker than their full-blooded tribe members, they wouldn't go about and ruin their reputation within the tribe with sneaking around and backstabbing. They'd rather stand in for whatthey are and try to do everything to prove themselves to be no less of a warrior than all the other orcs.
Also Half-orc rogue? The only worse class you could have for a half-orc would be a wizard...
The most obvious reason being that's what they've been archetyped as for a couple of editions.
Some folks really aren't getting the point that PFRPG isn't really a rewrite. It is a continuation with some improvements.
Not everything is going to be different from what it already is.
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Also Half-orc rogue? The only worse class you could have for a half-orc would be a wizard...
While I don't think half-orcs should lose the barbarian class, I contend that half-orcs make excellent rogues. The rogue's skill points help lessen the impact of the intelligence penalty. Their Wisdom bonus boosts their perception skill, their STR helps them do damage, and, most importantly, they have a 30' speed AND darkvision. Seriously, sneaking around while needing a light source is just asking for trouble. Darkvision really helps rogues, and dwarves are slow scouts. Half-orc rogues could even potentially get away without having weapon finesse without as much trouble as your average rogue.
Also Half-orc rogue? The only worse class you could have for a half-orc would be a wizard...While I don't think half-orcs should lose the barbarian class, I contend that half-orcs make excellent rogues. The rogue's skill points help lessen the impact of the intelligence penalty. Their Wisdom bonus boosts their perception skill, their STR helps them do damage, and, most importantly, they have a 30' speed AND darkvision. Seriously, sneaking around while needing a light source is just asking for trouble. Darkvision really helps rogues, and dwarves are slow scouts. Half-orc rogues could even potentially get away without having weapon finesse without as much trouble as your average rogue.
Darkvision is really the only plus half-orcs bring to the rogue class. The strength bonus is close to void since rogues rely on Dexterity for their armor class and shooting, if they go for close combat they'll have weapon finesse, because they simply cant afford putting strength above dexterity as long as they dont have any armor. And their potency for damage comes from sneak attacks much more than anything else. In a point buy system an elf would be able to provide even more Strength to the rogue class because they wont have to pay as high cost for the dexterity score thanks to their bonus, and the little strength a rogue needs is rather cheap to buy. Also they save on intelligence, where we get to the other point.
The point of a rogues many skill points is to have many skill points rather than compensate for an awful intelligence score.A half-orc at best makes a somewhat decent rogue, but they are much better at virtually anything else (bringing orc double axes to rangers, wisdom and strength to druids, paladins, clerics, rangers and monks, bringing strength to fighters, while being more or less neutral with the bard class and only have penalties impeding with exactly the rogue and the wizard)
You are seeing the whole thing from a viewpoint as having the class compensate for the race's penalty. This way the class works against the race. But a halfway efficient character uses its class to make best use of its races bonuses, working WITH the race.