How to play an orc? (Role play not skills)

[rabbi82]

Hi all,

I was wondering how to play a proper orc.

So, if you are playing an orc, what behaviour or attitude do you focus on, to make your group mates "feel" that you are an orc.

Looking forward to hear from you

Best regards

[SheepishEidolon]

As a starting point, you can check out the Pathfinder Wiki, especially "Culture & Society".

Orcs of Golarion is dedicated to describe life of orcs and half-orcs, and the book does it quite well. There are other books (Advanced Race Guide, Inner Sea Races, Belkzen), but they are not as dedicated as Orcs of Golarion. The Advanced Race Guide bits can also be found at d20PFSRD.

[Quixote]

Yeah, it really depends on the setting and the culture of the orcs in question.

My half-orcs tend to be on the quiet side; when you're the subject of constant prejudice and everyone assumes you're a stupid, violent brute, I imagine you'd learn to keep your head down and your thoughts to yourself for the most part.
And then there's the self-self-fulfilling prophecy aspect, where a world constantly assumes you're a stupid, violent brute shapess you into someone with little experience in the more sophisticated spheres and plenty with petty violence and physical labor.

If they're especially witty or charismatic, they might be inclined to less savory or respectable occupations; if most people dislike you at first glance, might as well roll with it. They might be especially snarky and gregarious, using the weight of their personality to steamroll over people and their smarts to stay a step ahead of any consequences.

Outside of traditional medieval fantasy civilization, I usually play up the fact that such people are no strangers to pain and discomfort, and that even the more urban of them have some experience roughing it. They're usually more closely tied with the land than a typical human, though that ranges from a grudging, practical respect to a mystic spiritual connection.

Of course, a lot of these issues fade with time. A lvl2 half-orc ranger is still closely tied to the mundane aspects of the world, but at lvl10, they could well have seen enough weird, crazy, insane, dangerous stuff to have set them apart from normal society. The petty prejudice of the common folk doesn't matter as much after you've walked down the Bottomless Stair in the Witch-Well of Angubond and faced the Withered Worm that gnaws at the roots of the world.

And as for full-blooded orcs, it's all just intensified.

[Mark Hoover 330]

Looking at Orc instead of Half-Orc as a playable race in PF, we're talking about a race whose standard bonuses/penalties are +4 Str, -2 on Int, Wis AND Cha. If humans are the baseline Medium sized race then, Orcs by comparison are physically much more defined, muscled and imposing but they are generally less intelligent/cunning with a weaker force of personality. This race, regardless of class/NPC class chosen, would on average fail more Will saves, be less intimidating, and generally have weaker mental facilities than humans.

Looking further into their stock standard racial traits, PF suggests that Orcs as a playable race have an obvious familiarity with their own racial language and weapons. They also have 60' Darkvision but light sensitivity. Finally, they have Ferocity, meaning that Orcs can continue fighting after they fall below negative HP or they can go unconscious and immediately stabilize.

Fighting and combat is obviously a major portion of their culture, but specifically what KIND of combat. The first thing that leaps to mind is that "Orc" weapons are generally melee types (except for the hornbow) and their impressive Str bonus probably leads to a lot of build optimization around this. Thus I would guess that the combat standard Orcs engage in is usually hand to hand, melee combat, grappling, etc.

So you've got a PC race with below average mental stats, a very high Str bonus, several melee weapons, natural Ferocity and Darkvision 60' with Light Sensitivity as a weakness. This would suggest a culture that doesn't necessarily respect or encourage mental capability. Physical prowess, combat readiness and the ability to keep going after sustaining lethal physical damage are the essential cultural cornerstones of this race.

My advice would be to roleplay from that. Make a point of avoiding bright or even normal light conditions whenever possible. Use your strength and physical prowess in everything you do, even as a substitute for actual skills; even if you don't have the feat that adds your Str to your Intimidate skill, roleplay throwing your weight around and breaking things to make your points.

Exemplify your Ferocity. Purposely give yourself a point of non-lethal damage, just to show off how unfazed you are by pain. When in combat goad your opponents into coming at you, just so you can show off how you can take their blade to your stomach and just keep going. Laugh at scars smaller than your own but show deference to those with deeper wounds.

Lastly, try to define what that increased Str looks like on your character. If you've also got a high Dex and above average Con, you might be a ropy bag of muscles, wiry but extremely well defined; on the other hand if you've got an average con and didn't put much of anything into Dex you might be some lumbering hulk. Give yourself a voice and cadence that matches that body type.

Of course, all of this advice is based on a culture I'm inventing from the race traits of the PC race in PF 1e. Orcs might, based on the setting, be highly religious or druidic in nature. Perhaps you've taken the alternate racial trait Feral, are playing a Barbarian, and are taking the FCB for Barbarians offered to Orcs so you have a little more Rage/day than standard Barbarians - in this instance you might only communicate in grunts and whistles, constantly snacking on whatever edible flora and fauna is in your immediate vicinity and are generally ill-tempered most of the time.

[Sysryke]

Part of your answer is going to come from alignment and how "traditional" NPC orcs are in your campaign. If orcs for the most part are still the violent, barbaric, and maybe cannibalistic monsters of classic D&D, then obviously you being part of a troupe of heroes (presumably good), already has you playing against type.

Usually, even if they are a bit more common, orcs are depicted as less civilized or developed. Their societies tend to be a little more primitive or old world tribal. I like to draw from that to give my orc characters a more simple or maybe harsh world view. They don't necessarily have to be stupid, but certainly they aren't erudite or fancy in their speech. Think more stereotypical "good solid county folk" but with a little natives on a raid thrown in. I played a very well received Orc Shaman. Stats hurt the casting some, but he worked with the Mammoth Spirit, so his Str could play in more, and I choose spells that were less saving throw reliant. He was an ambassador for his tribe seeking new lands. His people were technically barbarians, but had deep cultural roots. One thing he was famous for was his "friendship" ceremony. He would cut small slivers from his arms and offer the bits to others to consume, thereby sharing spirit and cementing the friendship bond. Super grody to us civilized folks, but to his people this made perfect sense.

On a less cringy note, you can also consider that an orc is almost always going to be a cultural outsider. Common is probably not going to be their first language. Have fun trying different accents, misunderstanding, misquoting, or misusing cultural idioms, and generally not always forming your words correctly.