So me & some friends have been playing pathfinder on & off now for a while, various campaigns. One of the biggest complaints every player has always had was that they loved the Half Orc concept, but the mechanics where a bit lackluster compared to other races.
I proposed the following fix for them. I mostly used half elves as a comparison for it, & noticed they get 1 feature(skill focus) more then half orcs. So thats easy to fix, we just added the Toughness feat for free.
But even with that we thought he was a bit underpowered. So I adjusted orc ferocity a bit by making it level based. The number of rounds you can act is now half your character level, which isnt very broken, but makes it more useful at higher levels(so 2nd its 1, 6th its 3, 12th its 6). Its still a once a day only though.
I have contemplated if it might be a tad bit too powerful, & changeing it to an additional round every 3 levels. So 1 at 1st, 2 at 3rd, 3 at 6th, 4 at 9th, etc.
Opinions? I think it personally makes half orcs a bit more desireable to play as, making them really good tanks, & giving spell casters a bit of an edge in survival vs other non orc spell casters.
I am not really sure what you see as being weak about Half-Orcs. They are generally considered to be one of the best races in the game, easily up there with Humans and Half Elves.
Additionally, Toughness is a significantly better feat than Skill Focus. Yes, I know feats should all be equal since they all have the same opportunity cost, but, well, they're not. Skill Focus and those +2 to two different skills feats are quite a bit weaker than most.
Except for builds focusing on skills. Or when you want to get Eldritch Heritage.
Half-orc's weapon familiarity is worth more than half-elf's skill focus for nonmartial classes. H-elf skill focus is worth more for skill monkeys.
Darkvision is generally worth more than low-light vision.
Multitalented is worth nothing unless you intend to multiclass.
Ferocity is redundant if you go for Diehard feat and Deathless Initiate feat chain from Ultimate Combat.
Personally I prefer to replace ferocity with either Toothy or Sacred Tattoo.
Except for builds focusing on skills. Or when you want to get Eldritch Heritage.
I'll accept the second one, as Eldritch Heritage can net you interesting stuff, but I still can't imagine the first wasting a feat on Skill Focus. I don't care what sort of game you're in, combat is going to happen in Pathfinder, and there's always some way for a feat to make you survive better in a fight than the paltry benefit Skill Focus gives you.
Frankly, the only use I've seen for Skill Focus outside of Eldritch Heritage is so you can reliably UMD earlier. But UMD difficulties are pretty much all static, so at a certain point, even that Skill Focus becomes pointless.
I agree on replacing Ferocity, though--Sacret Tattoo is especially awesome.
I'm actually kind of pissed that Half-Orcs are so awesome--I would never want to play one because they're unfortunately ugly without wasting a feat, but their Alchemist favored class bonus is almost unfairly good for bombing...
I'm actually kind of pissed that Half-Orcs are so awesome--I would never want to play one because they're unfortunately ugly without wasting a feat, but their Alchemist favored class bonus is almost unfairly good for bombing...
Unfortunately ugly? Brutal, I'd have given you, beastial I could have accepted, but ugly? Half-Orcs have no more of an inherent ugliness to them than Half-Elves, Full Elves, or Dwarves for that matter. They are most often depicted as having regular (i.e. not mismatched or grossly disproportionate) features, although perhaps a bit more raw-boned and coarse than some of the "pretty races." If they had a gross racial deformity as part of their make up (pronounced lower canines is not a gross deformity, a hunched back or clubbed foot is), then ugly would be an acceptable descriptor. Some may find the harder lines of the half-orc unnatractive, just as there are those out there who find elves to be anemic and effete and therefore thoroughly unappealing. The streotype of half-orcs being ugly is an artefact of their Charisma penalty in earlier editions of the game.
Unfortunately ugly? Brutal, I'd have given you, beastial I could have accepted, but ugly?
From the PRD:
"Their canines often grow long enough to protrude from their mouths, and these “tusks,” combined with heavy brows and slightly pointed ears, give them their notoriously bestial appearance. While half-orcs may be impressive, few ever describe them as beautiful."
I would consider protruding tusks and heavy brows to be ugly. Sorry.
Half-Orcs have no more of an inherent ugliness to them than Half-Elves, Full Elves, or Dwarves for that matter.
Dwarves are definitely also ugly. The only attractive Dwarves I've ever seen depicted anywhere are a single face choice in World of Warcraft, and a couple choices in Dragon Age.
The Elf description in the prd is not necessarily ugly, but their usual depiction in art is, in fact, what I would consider ugly. All emaciated and angular--ew.
Half Elves, no, they're fine.
Yes, that means I would not play any race as it stands other than Humans and Half Elves (oh, or Kobolds, because they're awesome enough regardless).