A character concept I really like is a civilized orc fighter who has buried his "fury" deep down and it only unleashes itself in times of true need. Mechanically this will be represented with a deep pool of negative hit points, ferocity, and eventually the Deathless feat tree. I was also looking at using feral and dayrunner orc racial traits, along with the adopted (human) character trait and an Int of 13 (after racial modifiers).
The campaign I'm thinking about using it for is a 5th level, 25 point buy, using any published books we have on hand (I have all published non-campaign specific books except Ultimate Campaign). I was going to use Str 16, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 10 as the character's stats (which includes the +1 ability boost at 4th).
What I am looking for is Pathfinder sources I can use as inspiration for roleplaying such a character. As a smarter than normal humanoid, I want him to carry himself with a certain dignity and restraint, even in the face of hatred from other "civilized" individuals. The more I understand about human or other humanoid reaction to a full-blooded orc, the better I will be able to build my character to anticipate any social barriers the character would have already experienced.
Also, I was thinking about going Weapon Master or Unbreakable fighter archetype to represent his dedication to controling his fury, and relying on a few feats that grant bonuses when at negative hit points to reflect the change in his fighting style/tactics that occurs when he is in true danger and the fury takes over.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
Sounds like Urdnot Wrex from Mass Effect. He's that kind of guy.
If you're going for a civilized Orc, why take Feral?
I mean I can see why mechanically but it doesn't really fit the concept very well, and it seems odd that (barring Linguistics) your cultured Orc would only know Common (not even the tongue of his people).
Other than that minor nitpick, you seem to have everything well in hand. You pretty much know what to expect.
People will at the very least (if they don't find you to be an enemy right off the bat), dumb, weak-willed, and lacking in social graces and hygiene, as well as prone to bouts of temper.
They will, at best, be wary of you, if not outright condescending or even hostile.
If you're going for a civilized Orc, why take Feral?
I mean I can see why mechanically but it doesn't really fit the concept very well, and it seems odd that (barring Linguistics) your cultured Orc would only know Common (not even the tongue of his people).
I decided to go with feral to replace the Orc language and Orc Weapon Proficiency racial traits. In essence, the character was abandoned and left to fend for himself at a very early age and was found by his human adoptive parents. While he had an inherent Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma that was higher than other orcs (nature), his early development and abandonment served to strip him of his orc heritage and gave him a limited tool set for survival (nurture).
Ironically, he will be putting 2 ranks into the Linguist skill to add to the bonus language he receives for an Intelligence of 13. He will begin with Common (the language of his parents), but he will also know Orc (the language of his heritage which he learned at his parent's insistance) and Sylvan (the language of the woodland creatures he most commonly encounters in his forest home). While it may seem redundant to strip him of Orc only for him to take it with Linguistics, it does slightly increase his ability to decipher and understand other languages and to appreciate "the letters of other tongues."
Neato. Seems well justified in that case.
I have an Orc Linguist right now actually (only 8 Int, but I took a trait to offset that). I play him as the surprisingly eloquent Barbarian who lapses into more colloquial/less educated speech in combat. He knows a solid 14 languages currently (12 levels, starting Common and Orc) which comes in handy on occasion, if only for eavesdropping on the Witch and her "secret" conversations.
Orcs are fun characters to both play INTO and play AGAINST stereotype for.
As far as stats go, if you're going to be kitted in heavy armor and using a 2H weapon, it might be better for you to do something like drop Int to 12 (I'm assuming you started with a 15 in it?), along with Dex and then pump Str to 14 (before racials) so you'll have a solid 18 (with less investment!).
So you'd end up with an array like:
14 13 15 14 13 12
Before racials
And
18 13 15 12 11 10
After them.
Then with your level 4 stat bump you can either bump Int back to 13 (though that wouldn't change anything mechanically), or Dex back to 14, leaving you with all around better combat stats, without impacting your effective intelligence or social prowess at all.
Many decry Rogue as weak, but a half-orc Scout wielding a falchion has much to say for it. The alt race traits from the APG makes the 1/2 orc a very effective scout
I was also playing around with monk (martial artist archetype) instead of fighter. I like the idea of him not relying on the traditional trappings of a warrior, but orc monks don't get the same amazing +2 to Constitution score for the purpose of determining when he dies from negative hit points per level that the fighter does. However, they don't have anything favored class option-wise for the monk, so I wonder how gamebreaking it would be to add that option for the monk?
Build would stat as Str 15, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10.
Add in some more skill points, character feats focus on getting to Deathless feat tree at higher levels, and maybe boosting natural armor with Improved Natural Armor (a monstrous feat, but I think my GM would allow the character to take it)... yeah that could work really well.
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I like the idea of him not relying on the traditional trappings of a warrior, but orc monks don't get the same amazing +2 to Constitution score for the purpose of determining when he dies from negative hit points per level that the fighter does. However, they don't have anything favored class option-wise for the monk, so I wonder how gamebreaking it would be to add that option for the monk?
Monks are generally considered weaker than fighters, so I don't think it would be too unbalancing to let an orc monk take the fighter special favoured class benefit. You'd need to ask your GM, though.