I don't want to be, but I can't help but not like the brutes. And dating the man that I am, I am going to hear about Orcs every day for the rest of my life since they are his favorite race.
No matter where I go, I can't find a game that does not feature Orcs in some way, so I know I am going to have to deal with it. But when you create a character specifically to be the Anti-Orc (Aasmimar Paladin/Ranger) and then find out the other three players are playing Orcs, it can be tough. This game is meant to be a One-Shot, so I won't have to deal with it for long.
How do I completely get over Orc Racism? Mr. Nepherti is getting sick of my complaining. Playing an Orc just does not appeal to me in the slightest, so I need either another way or to hear something about Orcs that will make me want to play one. I don't usually play low CHA/INT characters, and I rarely play high STR so this makes it especially tough.
Play a couple rounds of Dawn of War 1 or 2 (RTS games on PC) as Orks and just immerse yourself in the Orkiness.
Go watch the "Of Orcs and Men" trailer (another RPG coming out, but the protagonist is an orc).
Sit in your room for a while and find the deep, animal part of your psyche and just start growling.
Become the Orc.
But... I may or may not be an admitted Orc-o-phile >.>
When I watched LotR, I may have been cheering for the Uruk Hai.
It won't help much in a game that doesn't use this particular houserule, but in my own setting I got rid of Half-Orcs (by making Orcs and Humans incompatible) and gave Orcs their stats; original Orc stats became "feral Orcs" and are exclusively for monstrous non-PCs, whereas the former Half-Orc stats became used for not only Orc PCs but also the more intelligent, more capable members of NPC Orc clans/tribes, particularly their leaders - who tend to be clerics, witches, warlocks (we use a PF/3.5 hybrid system), or druids. You get all the ferocity of the orc flavor, while statistically they can be still quite intelligent and cunning and not have abysmal charisma.
Halaganda Baneglaive was one of my orc BBEGs, a warlock chieftainess who could outplan and outthink any of the brutes in her tribe and quite often was one step ahead of the (assumed to be more intelligent, organized, and capable) Hobgoblin general she was allied with.
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as for how to build a "non-orc-y" Orc, I'd go for a less than optimal build that is still optimal awesomesauce.
Say...dump stat STR....the inherent +4 makes this very feasible.
Then, fix the other stats.
Then, play a class that the other Orcs would kind of scratch their heads and be all "Orcysezwhaaaaat?" about.
Say...Oracle. Sorcerer. Druid. Embrace the feral aspects of nature...Stormborn bloodline sorc, or bear/lion shaman druid, something that is still a neat/nifty/utility class to play, but isn't reliant on wanting to bash the brains in on everything they see and isn't all... Orc-y.
In other words, play the Anti-Orc Orc.
I actually switched out the Orc stat bonus from Paragon (1 RP, +4 to one mental or physical stat, -2 to all stats of the opposite kind) to Normal (0 RP, +2 to one phys, +2 to one mental, -2 to any other)
So that's 8RP, minus 1 (going from Paragon to Normal) which puts us at 7RP
Most races are 10+
So you add "Advanced Strength" for 4RP, putting us at 11RP.
Now you have Orcs who get +4 to Str, +2 to Wis, -2 to Cha.
Strong, wise, good survivalists, a little surly.
And not stupid at all.
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Play the intelligent diobolical mastermind that thinks of the orcs in the party as disposable tools to be discarded when no longer useful.
When I play the evil mastermind, I love having orcs around.
Of course, they won't let me play the evil mastermind anymore. =(
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This man you're dating?
Kill him, and eat his heart.
If he is truly a fan of orcs, he will not only understand - he will respect you for it. Your orc problem will be solved and you will have gained his love - and his powers! - by consuming his heart.
We call that a win-win.
Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts
Just think of Orcs as gorillas.
Read : Orcs by Stan Nicholls
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I suspect Mr. Nepherti has his own form of Orc racism. I am guessing he, and some of his buddies, play Orcs in one distinct stereotype.
Like the human, the Orc comes in many different flavors. My suggestion is a radical one.
Play an Orc.
Create a backstory and that separates your character from other Orcs.
In the Red Hand Campaign I am in, I play a female Orc Ranger named Magna Foeblade. She is the daughter of a chieftain of druidic tribe of Orcs, and a few Half-Orcs. Due to a visit from fey-blooded creature long ago, the Orc tribe became followers of the Green Faith, and have since lived in harmony with the natural world. Seeing themselves as simply another predator species amongst creatures within the natural world, they hunt, and survive. As they are a small tribe, they have begun to seek out other Orcs and Humans for breeding, to revive and strengthen the blood of the tribe. Being the daughter of the chieftain, the most charismatic, and what is known as twin-souled(female Orc with the soul of a male ancestor as well as her own) she was sent out to gather mates. Being as her sworn duty to choose only the strongest mates, she scours the land, adventuring, whilst searching for only the greatest of heroes for potential mates to bring to the tribe.
Magna has become the leader, and favorite member of the current adventuring party.
I love this PC.
If you would like to hear more, send me a private message.
From what I understand the problem is not so much that she doesn't want to play Orcs herself, but that she also doesn't really enjoy it when someone else does. Is that correct?
Well, maybe try some babysteps. Don't make orc-hating characters anymore, but those that just mildly dislike them.
Or talk with the other players "Ok I know you all like Orcs, but I really, really don't. I'm trying to get over it, but till then, lets not push the orciness too far?"
Just a one shot? Surely you can handle it for one night?
The One Shot is just the latest thing in a long line of Orkiness.
It all started when he found out about Warhammer. Then he and his two friends hijacked another friend's Steampunk 3.5 game by playing the Orc Three Stooges: Fatty, Skinny, and Drunky. They were basically 13 year old boys as orcs.
Three years later, I can't say anything even remotely perverted or else I hear the Orc Laugh, which is a deep, guttural Nelson from Simpsons "Ha-Ha." Every Gaming conversation eventually leads to Orcs. Every idea I come up with is met with "well, here's what an Orc would do." Even in real-life conversations about what's on the news or what movie to put on Netflix is usually met with "oh, that's so orky!" and the like.
I don't want to complain, but it does bug me, and I don't know how to make it stop.
I myself plan to play an Elf in the near future.
I really hate Elves.
I choose to do so to improve my RP skills, and defeat my own racism.
I used to always remove Halflings, Elves, and Gnomes from my campaign worlds as I did not like the races.
After years, I instead went to work on modifying the races personalities to be more appealing to me.
I made elves evolved from spiders and turned them into alien-minded assassins who believe life is some grand game, and half the point of the game is figuring out the point of the game.
I made halflings into soccer hooligans who like getting drunk and beating up "the tallies". I also made them the single most populace race in the world and made their culture sort of like the Italian mob.
I made gnomes an evolutionary offshoot of dwarves who experimented on themselves to remove their natural resistance to arcane magic. The result was a loss of height, mass, coherent hair colour, but a gain in spell casting talent.
I'd love the chance to RP an elf "my way" in a game.
Wow, severely sniped. Then again, Mom called and I had to step away while I was typing that response. Anyway, yes the guys do tend to play the Orcs in one general way. No matter how different certain things are about them, they will always be a bit savage and have senses of humor like 13 year old boys (with the exception of the Samarai Orc Subtype he created in his world, though they operate off Half Orc stats).
It's funny someone said "just think of them as gorillas" because he created a type that has a +6 STR, but is illiterate and can only use simple weapons.
And I'm not making "orc hating characters," but the essence of what this Paladin/Ranger is supposed to be just doesn't jive with general orkiness. The character himself is not the typical d-bag Paladin, it's just that I'm---probably irrationally---sick of orcs always crashing any game I play in.
One saving grace, this character wasn't originally made for this One Shot, but a series of encounters and plot arcs (one at levels 4, 8, 10-12, 16, and 20) about this Paladin and the evil dragon that keeps stealing his damsel, being run by Mr. Nepherti. When I heard about the One Shot and that the BBEG was a Black Dragon, I transplanted the character. So at least I still get to play him in an orc free environment, but only until his journey takes him to the Northlands.
Read : Orcs by Stan Nicholls
Now that's just mean. No-one deserves to have to do that.
I made elves evolved from spiders and turned them into alien-minded assassins who believe life is some grand game, and half the point of the game is figuring out the point of the game.
This sounds very very similar to how Driders work in my setting, as I kept them but ditched Drow so I had to come up with a new origin point for spider-centaur people.
I made elves evolved from spiders and turned them into alien-minded assassins who believe life is some grand game, and half the point of the game is figuring out the point of the game.This sounds very very similar to how Driders work in my setting, as I kept them but ditched Drow so I had to come up with a new origin point for spider-centaur people.
Basically, my idea is that normal elves are larval, Drow are a middle point, and Drider are the final true adult form of an elf. Though I have the spider legs coming out of their spine which they can retract at least slightly to try and appear humanoid under a cloak.
The larval stage is like 1000 years, the middle point is about 1000 years, so any Drider you run into is 2000 years old at least.
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Orks, are not Orcs. Pathfinder is not Warhammer.
Your problem is not that you are racist, but that your fellow players are racist against Orcs.
Racism is not always about hate. I refer you to the old Minstrel Shows.
Ask your fellow players to add some non-warhammer Orcs into their games.
As long they continue to set each race as a single racist stereotype, someone will tire of them, and that can take fun away from the game.
If they tend to base their racial profiles on Warhammer, then remind them that humans are racist bigots with a superiority complex, prone to acts of horrific genocide. All humans, all the time. This means human Paladins simply unable to exist.
The fun of all should be considered when playing Pathfinder.
Remind them of this as well.
I made elves evolved from spiders and turned them into alien-minded assassins who believe life is some grand game, and half the point of the game is figuring out the point of the game.This sounds very very similar to how Driders work in my setting, as I kept them but ditched Drow so I had to come up with a new origin point for spider-centaur people.Basically, my idea is that normal elves are larval, Drow are a middle point, and Drider are the final true adult form of an elf. Though I have the spider legs coming out of their spine which they can retract at least slightly to try and appear humanoid under a cloak.
The larval stage is like 1000 years, the middle point is about 1000 years, so any Drider you run into is 2000 years old at least.
I do like that. I already have an origin point for my elves - they're the last survivors of the "Third Court" of the Fae that were exiled and brainwashed to forget their former status long ago and have long since degraded into mortality - so my Driders will need something else for their larval stage... might just go with intelligent spiders that blend in normally, and have Driders and Aranea be related somehow.
But we're off topic >_>
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I myself plan to play an Elf in the near future.
I really hate Elves.
I choose to do so to improve my RP skills, and defeat my own racism.
I made elves evolved from spiders and turned them into alien-minded assassins who believe life is some grand game, and half the point of the game is figuring out the point of the game.
I'd love the chance to RP an elf "my way" in a game.
Elves in Golarion are straight up aliens.
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All snarkiness aside, best thing to do is either A) Find a way to make the characters you make work (you don't have to like orcs, you just need to understand that they're useful tools... emphasis on the tools), or B) Talk to your hubby, and let him know that you're having a hard time playing with the constant orcishness. Everybody should be having fun at the game table, and either you can adapt and love orcs, or they can make allowances. Either way, you need to get the ball rolling if you want change to happen, because they are apparently quite content with the way things are.
Orks, are not Orcs. Pathfinder is not Warhammer.
Your problem is not that you are racist, but that your fellow players are racist against Orcs.Racism is not always about hate. I refer you to the old Minstrel Shows.
Ask your fellow players to add some non-warhammer Orcs into their games.
As long they continue to set each race as a single racist stereotype, someone will tire of them, and that can take fun away from the game.If they tend to base their racial profiles on Warhammer, then remind them that humans are racist bigots with a superiority complex, prone to acts of horrific genocide. All humans, all the time. This means human Paladins simply unable to exist.
The fun of all should be considered when playing Pathfinder.
Remind them of this as well.
Nothing says that an LG Paladin can't commit genocide.
He simply must believe it is the commandment of his god and that it has a good reason.
Space Marines are LG (some are LN). It's just that their ideal of good does not apply to anything that's not human.
And most orcs are pretty similar to Warhammer orcs. Some are smarter, some are less silly, but in general the all have a pretty similar personality.
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Just convince yourself that every race has something to offer.
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i cant stand anything about golarion goblins so we all have our foibles
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Nothing says that an LG Paladin can't commit genocide.
He simply must believe it is the commandment of his god and that it has a good reason.
Space Marines are LG (some are LN). It's just that their ideal of good does not apply to anything that's not human.
Maybe it's just me, but I would most certainly rule that genocide is automatically on the list of "Things that are Not Good" and would get you fallen in a heartbeat.
It's why the good guys of pretty much every setting save Warhammer don't go on crusades to wipe out all the goblinoids/kobolds/orcs/etc. Because eradicating entire species is very much not a Good act.
As much as I love the settings, nobody's Good - in D&D/PF definitions of Good, where Good/Evil/Order/Chaos are extremely objective and defined - in WH of any stripe. Shades of Neutral at best. Good/Evil in WH is far, far more subjective than it is in D&D/Pathfinder.
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Nothing says that an LG Paladin can't commit genocide.
He simply must believe it is the commandment of his god and that it has a good reason.
I don't to turn this into an alignment debate, but... no, just... no. In the real world, you might have a point, but in Golarion, where Law, Chaos, Good, and Evil are quantifiable, this would absolutely not be the case.
Now, if the Paladin was commanded directly by his god, it might work, but again, we have the code to consider, in addition to the fact that, regardless of what the god says, genocide is most definitely not good.
Three years later, I can't say anything even remotely perverted or else I hear the Orc Laugh, which is a deep, guttural Nelson from Simpsons "Ha-Ha." Every Gaming conversation eventually leads to Orcs. Every idea I come up with is met with "well, here's what an Orc would do." Even in real-life conversations about what's on the news or what movie to put on Netflix is usually met with "oh, that's so orky!" and the like.
I don't want to complain, but it does bug me, and I don't know how to make it stop.
Gaming is supposed to be fun for everyone, talk about it, try to figure out a compromise that makes everyone happy, etc., etc.
All that is even more true for relationships in real life.
i cant stand anything about golarion goblins so we all have our foibles
Goblins are cool man.
you dum git, orcs is da best!!! we's da biggest and da strongest and we dont take no lip from none of ya'z. youz lucky you aint part of my game, i have orcs on ya'z so fast itta make ya head spin!!!
now dem elfy boyz dem is da one you should be hatin, alwayz prancin round like deys funny in da head. i say we shoot 'em, stomp 'em, and crush 'em tell dey gots no life left!!!
I do admit, it mainly happens when someone is drunk, and it has significantly declined since he no longer lives with those guys. I feel I over exaggerate, but when it happens, it brings up the "uggh...orcs" mentality.
you dum git, orcs is da best!!! we's da biggest and da strongest and we dont take no lip from none of ya'z. youz lucky you aint part of my game, i have orcs on ya'z so fast itta make ya head spin!!!
now dem elfy boyz dem is da one you should be hatin, alwayz prancin round like deys funny in da head. i say we shoot 'em, stomp 'em, and crush 'em tell dey gots no life left!!!
See what I'm talking about? Everything gets crashed by Orcs. /sarcasm.
Mr. Nepherti wanted me to tell you that his orc for this One Shot has a 20 WIS. The concept is an old-a** orc that wants to die, but is not willing to submit to being voluntarily slain. He will fight to the death with anyone, and not hold back at all. His demeanor is generally very calm and quiet, having outgrown his youthful savage ways. He just wants to die, but is not willing to fall on his sword. He also doesn't want to let old age claim him. The other two guys in this game are playing more stereotypical orcs.
Mr. Nepherti wanted me to tell you that his orc for this One Shot has a 20 WIS. The concept is an old-a** orc that wants to die, but is not willing to submit to being voluntarily slain. He will fight to the death with anyone, and not hold back at all. His demeanor is generally very calm and quiet, having outgrown his youthful savage ways. He just wants to die, but is not willing to fall on his sword. He also doesn't want to let old age claim him. The other two guys in this game are playing more stereotypical orcs.
so basically the wondering orc from skyrim...
let them play who they want to play, if you dont like it ... dont play with your bf anymore. seems like a simple answer to a problem to me.here is my RL experience with this exact issue:
my wife hates playing anything ugly. she cant stand it, she has to be a beautiful human or elf in order to be happy in pathfinder... i FINALLY got her to play a dwarf and have fun with it, she uses the accent and pretends to drink beer at the table. she said " man this is my favorite character ever." now had i trid this when she first started playing she would have had kittens then never played PF again.
if you dont like orcs, dont play orcs. if you cant stand other people playing orcs, then find a new game or a better past time. but at the same time ill feel bad for you because orcs really are the best!
They may tire of it if you just keep calling them Dorks instead of Orcs. It can be amazingly disarming.
I don't know if it's still this way but about 15 years ago, I used to participate in a live Middle Earth game (or sorts) at a state park in which a group usually signed up to be a force of dark elves. They'd dress up like D&D Drow and try to be all "we're so cool" about it. The rest of us just called them dork elves and it kind of ruined the cachet they were after.
Yeah, Elder Scrolls was the direct inspiration. And he's not playing orcs in every single game, it's just that orkiness has invaded our lives ever since that first game with Skinny, Fatty, and Drunky. He has been acting significantly less orky since I've brought this up. Maybe it is just they childish boy humor thing I have an issue with. Orc gets attached since that's what they played.
And they are inspired by warhammer orcs, but it's not a carbon copy.
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Mr. Nepherti wanted me to tell you that his orc for this One Shot has a 20 WIS. The concept is an old-a** orc that wants to die, but is not willing to submit to being voluntarily slain. He will fight to the death with anyone, and not hold back at all. His demeanor is generally very calm and quiet, having outgrown his youthful savage ways. He just wants to die, but is not willing to fall on his sword. He also doesn't want to let old age claim him. The other two guys in this game are playing more stereotypical orcs.
I greatly approve of this.
By the way, my favorite thing in Warhammer is Slaanesh.
There is no man, woman, child, or beast, living or dead, safe from the perversions of Slaanesh.
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Or you can like them on facebook.
And then either 1. continue to play non-orcs and when your bf challenges you, you can truthfully say that you like them or 2. conclude that since you like them, you should play one.
In all honesty, there is very little you can do to change someone else.
About the best you can manage is have a conversation along the lines of:
"Look how about some variety. I am finding the constant multitude of ork characters, ork joke, ork laughs, and ork play style monotonous.
You like The Three Stooges. Ok, I get that. But do you really want to watch only, that all day, every day?
At least consider trying something a little different. If you have to play an orc (not ork) try giving them a different personality and playing them a little different. Or maybe you could play a hobgoblin professional disciplined mercernary."
Like alot of issues, it really requires a conversation. Or just learning to live with it.
I think the problem you have is not with Orcs, but rather with the guys you are playing with being so childish and immature about them. They need to understand that to you it isn't funny and that you don't enjoy playing in games in which they all play 13 yr old boys in an Orc's body.
Sounds like this has more to do with RL than fantasy and they all need to just grow up and be more mature players, playing mature roles in the game or you need to find a new group to play with that you will actually enjoy. It's that simple, be upfront and honest with them about it and let them know it's not a joke on your end and you are not finding them funny or fun to play with anymore.