Originally posted by Keovar


In old AD&D, the Orogs started as an Orc/Ogre hybrid... the name Or©Og(re) is actually pretty straightforward. I don't think that that's how they are intended to be in Birthright, however. I think that the Orogs of BR are simply a replacement of orcs - bigger, tougher, but also alot more darkness/underground dependent. This naturally puts them at odds with dwarves, and creates the major plot-hook of the Dwarven kingdoms slowly being lost, forcing the dwarves to make alliances with outsiders if they want to survive.

IMC, we use the Orcish god Ilneval as the basis for Torazan. If you look at his entry in the 2e book Monster Mythology, it even says Ilneval is the patron of Orogs, and his personality and favored equipment compares well to that of a BR Orog. Even though the BR boxed set refers to Torazan possibly being a demon, we decided that the common belief was wrong in this instance, and that Torazan is truly a god, though he acts quite fiendish and limits his attention to Orogs in the same way that Moradin allows only dwarf worshippers.

Whether they're a product of Orogish eugenics or simply breeding out (e.g. Dwarves tend to kill the weakest/slowest/dimmest of the pack, resulting in only the strongest being available to produce "new" orogs) would have a similar effect. I hadn't thought about the specifics of the Orog patron deity, although there's much in the Monster Mythology that probably could be brought into Birthright (if I'd manage to unpack my D&D stuff and read it ;)... but that's probably a thought for another thread