HALF-ORC

Fierce warriors who combine human resolve with orc savagery

RACIAL TRAITS

Average Height: 5´ 9˝–6´ 4˝

Average Weight: 155–225 lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity

Size: Medium

Speed: 6 squares

Vision: Low-light

Languages: Common, Giant

Skill Bonuses: +2 Endurance, +2 Intimidate Half-Orc Resilience: The first time you are blood-

ied during an encounter, you gain 5 temporary hit points. The temporary hit points increase to 10 at 11th level and to 15 at 21st level.

Swift Charge: You gain a +2 bonus to speed when charging.

Furious Assault: You have the furious assault power.

Furious Assault

Half-Orc Racial Power

Your monstrous wrath burns inside you, giving strength to your

attack.

Encounter

Free Action Personal

Trigger: You hit an enemy

Effect: The attack deals 1[W] extra damage if it’s a weapon

attack or 1d8 extra damage if it isn’t.

An obscure legend claims that when Corellon put out Gruumsh’s eye in a primeval battle, part of the savage god’s essence fell to earth, where it transformed a race of humans into fierce half-orcs. Another story suggests that an ancient hobgoblin empire created half-orcs to lead orc tribes on the empire’s behalf. Yet another legend claims that a tribe of brutal human barbarians chose to breed with orcs to strengthen their bloodline. Some say that Kord created half-orcs, copying the best elements from the human and orc races to make a strong and fierce people after his own heart. If you ask a half-orc about his origin, you might hear one of these stories. You might also get a punch in the face for asking such a rude question.

Play a half-orc if you want . . .

to be big, strong, and fast.

to harness anger into resilience and combat power.

to be a member of a race that favors the barbarian, fighter, ranger, and rogue classes.

S TE VE ARGYLE

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Physical Qualities

Half-orcs favor their human lineage in appearance, but are distinguished by skin that tends to various shades of gray, broad jaws, and prominent lower canine teeth—though these are still a far cry from the jutting tusks of orcs. On average, they are taller and stronger than humans as well. Their hair is usually black, though it grays quickly with age. Most half-orcs who live among humans favor human styles of clothing and hairstyle, but a few adopt orc traditions, tying small bones or beads into long braids or bunches

of hair.

Half-orcs don’t live quite as long as humans do. They mature quickly, reaching adulthood at about 16 years, and rarely live past the age of 60.

Playing a Half-Orc

Half-orcs combine the best qualities of humans and orcs, though some would argue that the good qualities of orcs are few and hard to find. From their orc blood, half-orcs inherit great physical strength and toughness. They are fierce warriors, fleet of foot as they charge into battle.

Their human blood makes half-orcs decisive and bold, resourceful and self-reliant. They are adaptable and able to make their way in almost any circumstance. Although half-orcs often live on the fringes of society in human towns and cities, they still find ways to prosper in a world to which they don’t fully belong.

For all their good qualities, many half-orcs exhibit characteristics that polite society finds uncouth or undesirable. Half-orcs have little patience for complicated rules of etiquette or procedure and find little value in hiding their true opinions in order

to spare someone’s feelings. They enjoy the simple pleasures of food and drink, boasting, singing, wrestling, drumming, and dancing, and they don’t find much satisfaction in more refined or sophisticated arts. They’re prone to act without much deliberation, preferring to overcome obstacles as they arise rather than consider every possible outcome and make contingency plans. These qualities lead some members of other races to consider them rude or crass, but others find their brashness refreshing.

Half-orcs generally live among either human or orc cultures—some in bustling human towns or cities, others among remote human or orc tribes. Most half-orcs have two half-orc parents, but sometimes half-orcs marry and have half-orc children

with humans or orcs. Orcs show grudging respect to half-orcs for their considerable strength and for their cunning intelligence, which sometimes allows halforcs to rise to leadership positions in orc tribes.

Although possessed of many strengths, half-orcs frequently encounter prejudice in human communities. Thus, most half-orcs gravitate to careers

	involving physical labor or violence. For some, the life	RC
	of an adventurer is either a natural extension of that
		-O
	trend or a way to throw off the weight of prejudice.
	The adventuring life also means finding a place in a	LF
	group of allies and equals—a simple pleasure that is	A
		H
	all too hard for many half-orcs to find in the world.
	Half-Orc Characteristics: Brash, ferocious, hedo-
	nistic, impulsive, short-tempered, tough, uninhibited
	Male Names: Brug, Dorn, Druuk, Gnarsh, Grumbar,
	Hogar, Karash, Korgul, Krusk, Lubash, Mord, Ohr,
	Rendar, Sark, Scrag, Tanglar, Tarak, Thar, Ugarth,
	Yurk
	Female Names: Augh, Bree, Ekk, Gaaki, Grai,
	Grigri, Gynk, Huru, Lagazi, Murook, Nogu, Ootah,
	Puyet, Tawar, Tomph, Ubada, Vanchu
	Half-Orc Adventurers
	Three sample half-orc adventurers are described
	below.
	Tarak, a half-orc rogue, is at home in the city. He
	grew up in the rough-and-tumble wharf quarter and
	ran with street gangs and rough sailors. Everything
	changed when a sailor dropped dead at his feet,
	leaving a mysterious box in Tarak’s possession. The
	box brought chaos into his life until he fled the city
	and fell in with some adventurers on the road. Tarak
	doesn’t know what’s in the box—its strange lock has
	defeated every attempt to open it, and its hard metal
	sides resist breaking. But goblins and doppelgangers
	have proven themselves willing to kill to get the box
	for themselves, piquing Tarak’s interest.
	Murook is a warden, born and raised among an
	orc tribe. She was a staunch defender of her tribe
	for years, but her ties to the primal spirits of wood
	and stone slowly coaxed her away from the worship
	of Gruumsh and led her to question the brutality
	the orcs performed in his name. She made her way
	to human lands and has struggled to fit in, trying to
	leave behind the barbarian ways of her tribe and
	adopt at least a veneer of civilization, but she is still
	far more comfortable among the trees and mountains
	than confined in a city or village.
	Dorn is a half-orc ranger who prefers not to talk
	about his birth and his family. He spent most of his
	life in a hut at the outskirts of a farming village, hunt-
	ing and trapping in the surrounding forest, keeping
	to himself and asking only to be left alone. His life
	turned upside down on his thirtieth birthday, when
	a group of adventurers stopped in the village looking
	for directions to an ancient ruin. The villagers steered
	the adventurers to Dorn, who agreed to guide them
	through the forest. He never returned home, because
	that first adventure led him into many more.

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