Alright guys, so I have a player who is interested in playing a paladin with the Redeemer archetype, which is normally restricted to Half-Orcs, as a full Orc. Now, I know that at the end of the day, it is my call as to whether or not I allow this, but I wanted to get some second opinions on this from y'all.
It is important to note that character creation is being done by using 4d6, drop lowest, rolled 7 times and dropping one set and that my players aren't really heavy optimizers, and this player does understand that the penalties to mental stats may impact some of the classes abilities.
So yeah, go ahead and tell me your opinions on this.
Thanks in advance
Ask the other players. They're the ones who have to:
A) adventure with an Orc.
B) adventure with someone who keeps trying to redeem the enemy, rather than just kill 'em and take their stuff.
There's good RP potential in the concept, but it may not work in every party.
I feel as though I'm unusual in this, but I instead ask myself if there's any good reason not to allow something, with the default expectation being that I will. If something is disruptive or otherwise bothersome, it's usually pretty obvious.
I'd let him. Half-orc paladin is already odd, but orc doesn't make it much worse. It has some potential, especially when interacting with other orcs.
By the way, there is the level 5 spell Half-blood Extraction which could turn him into a full orc anyway.
The fluff for the archetype says " [the redeemer] recognizes that often those who are monstrous are not necessarily evil and that sometimes even those who are evil became that way because of circumstances and misfortune."
I'd think a character who grew up in an "evil" culture but who broke out of his or her cultural programming in pursuit of something better would know understand this intimately whether they were orcs or half-orcs. It honestly makes more sense for orcs who grew up among orcs than it does for half-orcs who grew up among humans. The only reason to deny the archetype to orcs IMO is if you wanted to GM fiat that orcs don't ever turn away from traditional ways (which I wouldn't recommend.)
Honestly I'd have more of a problem with a PC who wanted to play an Orc period (I'm not a fan of races that get a +4 to anything) than a PC who wanted to play a Redeemer Orc. If you're okay with an Orc PC, and okay with an Orc PC Paladin, then be okay with an Orc PC Redeemer Paladin.
Personally I would allow it for any PC whose backstory involves growing up as a member of an "evil" and "monstrous" race or society, since it fits the fluff.