Orcs in Birthright?

[ghost681]

Are there any?

[DanMcSorley]

On 12/11/06, ghost681 <brnetboard@birthright.net> wrote:
> Are there any?

There are goblins of several varieties, orogs, and ogres and other
giants. There are canonically no orcs in Birthright. In 2nd edition,
an orog was typically a half-orc, half ogre. This was handwaved away
and they just said orog was a species of humaniods.

I like orcs, so when I wanted them in my Birthright game, I used the
LotR solution- the Gorgon wanted a mighty army of loyal, hardy troops.
So he bred a line of goblin/orog/awnsheghlien men, foul of visage,
evil of temper, with little horns on their head, hooves instead of
toes, and fierce loyalty to the patriarch of their line. These gorgs
filled the role of orc quite nicely.

--
Daniel McSorley

[irdeggman]

There are likewise no gnomes in Birthright either.

And only one type of elf, dwarf, halfling and dragon too.

Manslayer is "unique".

[The Swordgaunt]

While there are no Orcs in the BRcanon, orcs are fun. I've introduced them as a lesser Orog-race found on other continents.

The mythos goes something like this. When Azrai called the goblin races, a tribe of Orcs were the first to answer. In reward, the Shadow grantet them more strenght than they ever imagined. Their lesser cousins were ostrasiced and left behind when the dark hordes advanced.

[ghost681]

Thanks for answering my question and giving my ideas how incorporate orcs into the game

[kgauck]

I've taken the same approach as others have described. I use the orc stat block for an orog sup-species of servile laborers back home in the orog realms. The orog stat block is for the fighting and commanding orogs that wander about the world, to find the orc one needs to enage with laborers in the orog realms.

[Fizz]

I for one am very happy there are no orcs in Birthright. I've never found much about orcs to be excited about- they're the standard warrior-type for every evil-doer in most settings. Their exclusion from Birthright helps to keep the setting unique, i think.

-Fizz

[kgauck]

1HD adversaries are useful, and goblins are super-plentiful enough for them to be the only non-human adversary a new party can encounter. Kobolds are handy for the same reason. A lot of skeletons and zombies set a tone when you use them alot in BR (everyone who knows the setting starts thinking SW campaign). Gnolls and lizardmen are OK, if the geography makes sense, but these aren't super common adversaries either, and they're a full CR1.

Take an orc, make him a warrior 1, give him a tool like weapon, such as a pick or handaxe, or a simple, almost found weapon, like a club, have them lug something valuable for their orog masters, and you have an encounter that introduces orogs without waiting for the PC's to be able to face off against an orog only force of raiders. By the time the party is that powerful the orcs are just orog civilians who cower at the sight of adventurers and otherwise background description.

Goblins are core to the setting, I'll make goblins dangerous through mid-level. Orcs are training wheels.

[irdeggman]

IMO reliance on demi-humans and monsters for "encounters" goes against one of the basic structures of the setting. It is very much human-centric.

Therefor most encounters will be along the lines of bandits and rival human organizations. These are "easy" to adjust to any CR desired. Just treat them as you would a PC and give class levels as desired.

Starting level encounters would be against NPC class classed NPCs (warriors mostly).

There are "monsters" in Birthright but they shouldn't be showing up all that frequently until higher levels, the levels where placing in orcs doesn't add much.

And Cerilian goblins comprise all goblinoids - goblins, hobgoblins and bugbears - which (as has been pointed out) covers a large range of CRs.

[Doyle]

Need a low HD ugly humanoid? - try goblins, they come in three sizes, ranging from small and smart to big tough and stupid.
Group of Orogs too tough for the party? - use less. While orogs are on average smarter than humans, there can always be the odd youngster whose ego eclipses that intelligence and sneaks off to try and bring back a human head to impress their mate - even if said head is a member of the party.
A reasonable challenge regardless of the party level? Try an opposing party of humans. Birthright offers 5 human races, each with dozens of factions that don't get along, all with political factions that change monthly (dependant on the regents last action).

IMC I've recently pitted the party against another party of similar level and there was the potential for a TPK on either side if the situation were played badly - very close to happening too. Good gaming and clever roleplay had the party escaping mostly unscathed with most of the information that could be gained and a few new mysteries... and perhaps a couple of new enemies that will plague them at inconvenient moments.

Orcs can prety much be replaced by the middle sized goblin if you relly want them. But if you want your 'Sauron' to have a similar type of troop, get the Vos to flock to his banner.

IMHO,
Doyle