So an idea just popped into my head to have an Orc/Half-Orc only party leading a tribe of orcs to victory against the civilized races encroaching on their territory. Gameplay will be very rules-lite, about 4/5 roleplaying and 1/5th combat, so please spend more time on the fluff than the crunch. There will be a party of 3-5, chosen based on how much I like your character rather than party balance, as I can provide NPCs to fill missing roles.
I expect to see all manner of characters and archetypes flaring with Orcish pride!
As a special bonus, if you don't pick the Barbarian class, I will approve a special 'rage-like' ability you can add to your class.
We're starting at any level we decide together, as this is simply an interest check.
Details on the tribe coming if there is enough interest.
This sounds awesome. Thinking about a scarred witch doctor or druid.
I approve of your avatar. And ya, I was expecting a Scarred Witch-Doctor XD
The Witchdoctors of this tribe are almost always female, by the way. It should be pretty interesting to roleplay, since there is actually little-to-no objectification of females in Orc culture, and yet they're often treated as homebodies since they take exclusive care of the children.
Those avatars confused me so bad for a minute.
I'm going to throw Olrune here into the ring. Currently he's a cleric/fighter follower of Gorum, but with this interesting campaign idea I might have him change that level of fighter into barbarian. Maybe, not sure.
Anyways, always love feedback!
P.S. I'm not sure of the character creation rules, but Olrune is currently a level 2 character with a 20 point buy.
One other thing: i expect most of these characters to be at least Neutral. They're defending their lands, not mindlessly destroying settlements. Of course, 'defending your lands' can mean nearly anything to an Orc...
I will be the happiest GM if someone goes for the Beast Rider archetype - or at least the feat that allows Orcs and Half-Orcs to ride a brutish beast rather than a horse.
Battle Herald/Cavalier/Savage Skald, anyone?
@Olrune, I like that your character doesn't have a gruff personality about him despite being a half-orc fighter.
Yeah he's still an orc and can still be pretty abrasive, but he's been among civilization and has learned to behave to not draw too much attention. His endgame view is sort of a hybrid between the orcs current way of life and true civilization. Living in the wilderness with no strong government, but a little more organization than they currently have. He doesn't believe they can even achieve this goal without teaming up.
Ah, I just realized, 'uncivilized' also means things like Kobolds and Goblins... But except in special cases, those races don't have the same cultural sense of 'honor in war' that the Orcs of this area have. So I'm not allowing them.
Dotting with great interest. I'm thinking maybe Druid who specializes in summoning and training animals. He/she fears all the "civilized" people marching in are going to destroy the land and is out to defend not only the Orcish territory, but the surrounding wilderness. Someone keen to animals, and a bit more mellow than the typical orc PC tends to be, though still a bit more savage and bestial than the usual serene druid character. Perhaps they try to serve as sort of a shamanistic guide for other orcs and act as a bridge between them and the wild.
But if Gneil decides to go Druid over Scarred Witch Doctor, I could run a similar character with a Thundercaller Bard, or work out a completely different character to work for a Savage Skald.
I'm going to go ahead and say now that we're starting at level 3. It makes characters more powerful than the average Orc. Beyond that, I've had a grat number of character concepts ruined because we couldn't multiclass at the start.
20 point buy, since it's simple to build with.
Heh, I guess I'm also sorta using this thread to flesh out the idea for myself. Sorry!
@Nido: I like the concept!
Good to hear. The more I look at Thundercaller the more it looks like it could also fit; it's a very savage, shaman-ey looking archetype, so I'll leave the class up in the air for now, depending on where Gneil decides to go and just where I generally feel like developing, especially as the specifics of the game start to come into view. No matter what, I see a Dire Boar being a much more sensible mount than a boring old horse.
YES. I am interested in this a lot! I think I will make a caviler with the Beast Rider archtype for the crazy mount! Not sure if it would be full orc or a half-orc yet but I'll be back in a day or so with crunch/fluff.
@Everyone: Don't post your aliases just yet. I'll have an actual recruitment thread up sometime today or tomorrow.
here's the new recruitment thread.
@Redshirt: There's an Orc and Half-Orc feat that allows you to ride 'bestial' mounts without having to select the Beastrider archetype.
