Half Orcs - suggestion


Homebrew and House Rules


Pathfinder Adventure Subscriber

The original Half-orc was +2 Str -2 Chr -2 Int

Then we pointed out that they have a natural lean to shaman and should get a bonus wisdom. Then there was the arguments over the penalties to charisma and intelligence was to much.

+2 Str +2 Wisdom -2 Chr -2 Int

Back in the 90s there was a good article about the half-orcs in the Dragon. It discussed how the half-orc raised among orcs didn't get much education or intellectual challenges so they represented the -2 to Int. The half-orcs raised among humans were social outcasts and always had trouble fitting into society and that accounted for the -2 cha.

So when a player makes a half-orc he should choose between childhood with the orcs in the wilderness or with humans repressed in the towns.

Half-orc - Human raised
+2 Str +2 Wisdom -2 Chr

Half-orc - Orc raised
+2 Str +2 Wisdom -2 Int

You can leave it there or define them further by taking away the orc weapon proficiency from one raised by humans and give them a skill focus feat.

RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

dulsin wrote:
Then we pointed out that they have a natural lean to shaman and should get a bonus wisdom.

I would argue that they have a natural lean to shaman because they don't have a penalty to Wisdom. There's no need to further enforce the stereotype.

That said, I posted my take on the half-orc over here, and it's basically an inversion of yours... instead of always getting +2 Wisdom, they always get -2 Cha. But they get +2 to any mental stat, and can choose to put that into Cha, giving them only +2 Str overall. (I was asked about, and gave an explanation for the always-Charisma penalty on that thread; short version, I disagree that the half-orc raised among orcs is any less socially repressed.)

So to lay it all out, my half-orc can have any of:
+2 Str, +2 Int, -2 Cha.
+2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Cha.
+2 Str.


Pathfinder Adventure Subscriber

Well that won't work for our group. 8)

Dark Slither the metal band of half-orc bards is a hugely popular running joke in our campaigns.

RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

So nobody in your group would ever, ever, ever consider playing an elven bard? In 3.5 nobody had a problem playing humans pretty much all the time, and they didn't have a bonus to any attribute.

Rambling a bit, but I guess I just don't get the idea that if you can't have a 20, you fail. I play casters who start with a 15 all the time... Elite Array doesn't make unplayable characters!

Liberty's Edge

Along somewhat similar lines, I give half-orcs +2 to any one ability score (per the Core Rules) and the option to additionally get -2 Int and +2 Str or Con -- representing a half-orc who takes more strongly after the orc parent.

I don't allow the +2 bonuses to stack: you can't take the "more orcish" option to get -2 Int and +2 Str and then add your floating +2 to Str as well.

(I do the same thing for half-elves: +2 to any one score, and the option to also get -2 Con and +2 Dex or Int, again with no stacking of bonuses.)

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