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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Oct 2, 2023 18:16:46 GMT -5
Just like the title says, do you allow Half-Orc PCs in your campaign? Please elaborate if the mood hits you...
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Oct 2, 2023 18:24:07 GMT -5
I voted YES.
I've always allowed Half-Orcs in my campaigns. I used the PHB entry for many sessions until I started developing my campaign world in greater detail. At that point, they were pretty much like the PHB entry except I modified the lore. In my world, Half-Orcs are a somewhat new race that came about due to a curse by the gods. In the recent past there was a world spanning war that involved all nations at every point. There were 2 nations - one Human and one Orc - that had established a peaceful coexistence between them and refused to take up arms against each other. The gods made the Humans take on Orcish features as they grew older and the Orcs to become more human-like in appearance as they aged. With this, all the children born to these two peoples would take on a Half-Orc appearance. That's how the Half-Orcs came to be in my campaign.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 2, 2023 21:04:47 GMT -5
I would say it depends on which campaign. Are orcs 100% evil, or just 100% Chaotic or are some neutral or even rarely lawful.
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Post by hengest on Oct 3, 2023 11:58:38 GMT -5
I voted YES. I've always allowed Half-Orcs in my campaigns. I used the PHB entry for many sessions until I started developing my campaign world in greater detail. At that point, they were pretty much like the PHB entry except I modified the lore. In my world, Half-Orcs are a somewhat new race that came about due to a curse by the gods. In the recent past there was a world spanning war that involved all nations at every point. There were 2 nations - one Human and one Orc - that had established a peaceful coexistence between them and refused to take up arms against each other. The gods made the Humans take on Orcish features as they grew older and the Orcs to become more human-like in appearance as they aged. With this, all the children born to these two peoples would take on a Half-Orc appearance. That's how the Half-Orcs came to be in my campaign. I was going to say no until I saw this. I like what you've done with the notion. This I would have IMC (if I had thought of it). As written in the 1st ed. books, maybe not. |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 3, 2023 12:56:24 GMT -5
I say no because they're evil and I don't run evil games. I don't run evil games either. But in OD&D you only have three alignments Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic. Good and Evil are not assigned to any of them and I always took that to be an individual thing. That is one of the reasons it makes sense that you can negotiate with intelligent monsters. |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 3, 2023 14:59:54 GMT -5
You can still negotiate with intelligent monsters in AD&D/DAD. Good is selfless and Evil is selfish in AD&D which I kept. We define it differently and play different games. I think of (in OD&D) of Neutral as Selfish. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Oct 3, 2023 18:57:13 GMT -5
It's a part of what happened when AD&D was released. Most people don't even know how to play the alignments in either edition. For real! |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Oct 3, 2023 19:01:41 GMT -5
@jamesdixon and The Perilous Dreamer, I don't run evil games either. There's some variation, of course. Not everybody is the strictest morality so they might lean on a captured bad guy a little heavier than would be expected BUT I definitely hate the murder hobo style of play. The Half-Orcs I allowed were more of a tragic hero sort of character. They faced backlash and had to work harder to be viewed as one of the good guys. |
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Post by Crimhthan The Great on Oct 3, 2023 23:53:33 GMT -5
I do not have Half-Orcs or Half-Elves. I just don't want that mix in my game.
However, as I have posted elsewhere, gnolls are a cross between goblins and trolls. Tromes are a cross between gnomes and trolls.
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Post by hengest on Oct 4, 2023 9:16:40 GMT -5
I do not have Half-Orcs or Half-Elves. I just don't want that mix in my game. However, as I have posted elsewhere, gnolls are a cross between goblins and trolls. Tromes are a cross between gnomes and trolls. Gnomes and trolls! Intriguing... I like the Lawful Neutral Chaotic system best. I never really could get into even the AD&D 1E system for practical purposes. It looked cool on paper, but then...I dunno, it supposed a real (magical) basis of something in world that I couldn't define in hard terms. Even if I personally believe in some moral absolutes like The Perilous Dreamer, most of those "hard nos" aren't going to come up in my game anyway. So then everything else...I don't know. Just very hard for me. I'd rather do LNC any day. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Oct 5, 2023 7:27:29 GMT -5
I do not have Half-Orcs or Half-Elves. I just don't want that mix in my game. However, as I have posted elsewhere, gnolls are a cross between goblins and trolls. Tromes are a cross between gnomes and trolls. Gnomes and trolls! Intriguing... I like the Lawful Neutral Chaotic system best. I never really could get into even the AD&D 1E system for practical purposes. It looked cool on paper, but then...I dunno, it supposed a real (magical) basis of something in world that I couldn't define in hard terms. Even if I personally believe in some moral absolutes like The Perilous Dreamer , most of those "hard nos" aren't going to come up in my game anyway. So then everything else...I don't know. Just very hard for me. I'd rather do LNC any day. 100%. The extra AD&D alignments intrigued me as a young boy, but it was a bit too much. I'd take the 3-axis system of Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic any day. |
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Post by oldskolgmr on Oct 5, 2023 16:13:56 GMT -5
In response to The Semi-Retired Gamer 's OP; I would if I ran an Arduin OD&D game. Otherwise it would depend on the setting. <EDIT; Crimhthan The Great I only know you from your posts, but it is good to see another Old Tyme Murkhillian posting.> |
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Post by Axenhammer on Oct 9, 2023 16:12:28 GMT -5
I allow Half-Orcs at my table, they are far from the weirdest people on Ehmetera, we have
Human, Neanderthal, Aquatic Human, Dark One
Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf, Gully Dwarf, Grey Dwarf, Korobokuru
Dark Elf, Grey Elf, High Elf, Valley Elf, Wild Elf, Wood Elf, Sea Elf, Snow Elf, Half-Elf
Rock Gnome, Forest Gnome, Deep Gnome
Hairfoot Halfling, Stout Halfling, Tallfellow Halfling, Kender
Half-Orc
Minotaur
Irda
Carp Hengeyokai, Cat Hengeyokai, Crab Hengeyokai, Crane Hengeyokai, Dog Hengeyokai, Drake Hengeyokai, Fox Hengeyokai, Hare Hengeyokai, Monkey Hengeyokai, Raccoon-Dog Hengeyokai, Rat Hengeyokai, Sparrow Hengeyokai
Bamboo Spirit-Folk, Sea Spirit-Folk, River Spirit-Folk
Uldra
Kobolds
On Ehmetera all peoples except Mankind lean toward law or chaos. Minotaurs and Dwarves are lawful people, Irda, Elves and Hengeyokai are chaotic people, Kobolds tend toward extreme alignments, Uldra tend to fill the neutral, Gnomes are neutral good with chaotic tendencies, Halflings are neutral good with lawful tendencies.
Half-Orcs are both Mankind and Orckin, half-orcs are not bound to chaos like full-blooded orcs are cause they are part human it is totally possible for a half-orc cleric or fighter to be lawful good, they just have a very unhappy origin.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 9, 2023 16:43:16 GMT -5
I allow Half-Orcs at my table, they are far from the weirdest people on Ehmetera, we have Human, Neanderthal, Aquatic Human, Dark One Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf, Gully Dwarf, Grey Dwarf, Korobokuru Dark Elf, Grey Elf, High Elf, Valley Elf, Wild Elf, Wood Elf, Sea Elf, Snow Elf, Half-Elf Rock Gnome, Forest Gnome, Deep Gnome Hairfoot Halfling, Stout Halfling, Tallfellow Halfling, Kender Half-Orc Minotaur Irda Carp Hengeyokai, Cat Hengeyokai, Crab Hengeyokai, Crane Hengeyokai, Dog Hengeyokai, Drake Hengeyokai, Fox Hengeyokai, Hare Hengeyokai, Monkey Hengeyokai, Raccoon-Dog Hengeyokai, Rat Hengeyokai, Sparrow Hengeyokai Bamboo Spirit-Folk, Sea Spirit-Folk, River Spirit-Folk Uldra Kobolds On Ehmetera all peoples except Mankind lean toward law or chaos. Minotaurs and Dwarves are lawful people, Irda, Elves and Hengeyokai are chaotic people, Kobolds tend toward extreme alignments, Uldra tend to fill the neutral, Gnomes are neutral good with chaotic tendencies, Halflings are neutral good with lawful tendencies. Half-Orcs are both Mankind and Orckin, half-orcs are not bound to chaos like full-blooded orcs are cause they are part human it is totally possible for a half-orc cleric or fighter to be lawful good, they just have a very unhappy origin. Great post Axenhammer. You should start a thread and tell us more about Ehmetera. |
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Post by Admin Pete on Oct 9, 2023 17:09:44 GMT -5
I allow Half-Orcs at my table, they are far from the weirdest people on Ehmetera, we have Human, Neanderthal, Aquatic Human, Dark One Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf, Gully Dwarf, Grey Dwarf, Korobokuru Dark Elf, Grey Elf, High Elf, Valley Elf, Wild Elf, Wood Elf, Sea Elf, Snow Elf, Half-Elf Rock Gnome, Forest Gnome, Deep Gnome Hairfoot Halfling, Stout Halfling, Tallfellow Halfling, Kender Half-Orc Minotaur Irda Carp Hengeyokai, Cat Hengeyokai, Crab Hengeyokai, Crane Hengeyokai, Dog Hengeyokai, Drake Hengeyokai, Fox Hengeyokai, Hare Hengeyokai, Monkey Hengeyokai, Raccoon-Dog Hengeyokai, Rat Hengeyokai, Sparrow Hengeyokai Bamboo Spirit-Folk, Sea Spirit-Folk, River Spirit-Folk Uldra Kobolds On Ehmetera all peoples except Mankind lean toward law or chaos. Minotaurs and Dwarves are lawful people, Irda, Elves and Hengeyokai are chaotic people, Kobolds tend toward extreme alignments, Uldra tend to fill the neutral, Gnomes are neutral good with chaotic tendencies, Halflings are neutral good with lawful tendencies. Half-Orcs are both Mankind and Orckin, half-orcs are not bound to chaos like full-blooded orcs are cause they are part human it is totally possible for a half-orc cleric or fighter to be lawful good, they just have a very unhappy origin. Do you have writeups of each of these races? I see you have Halflings and Kender, the Kender are all bad guys right?  |
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Post by Axenhammer on Oct 9, 2023 17:43:03 GMT -5
Do you have writeups of each of these races? I see you have Halflings and Kender, the Kender are all bad guys right? Kenders aren't bad. They're just misunderstood. Kender are the Halfling version of a marauding barbarian |
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Post by Axenhammer on Oct 9, 2023 18:07:33 GMT -5
I allow Half-Orcs at my table, they are far from the weirdest people on Ehmetera, we have Human, Neanderthal, Aquatic Human, Dark One Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf, Gully Dwarf, Grey Dwarf, Korobokuru Dark Elf, Grey Elf, High Elf, Valley Elf, Wild Elf, Wood Elf, Sea Elf, Snow Elf, Half-Elf Rock Gnome, Forest Gnome, Deep Gnome Hairfoot Halfling, Stout Halfling, Tallfellow Halfling, Kender Half-Orc Minotaur Irda Carp Hengeyokai, Cat Hengeyokai, Crab Hengeyokai, Crane Hengeyokai, Dog Hengeyokai, Drake Hengeyokai, Fox Hengeyokai, Hare Hengeyokai, Monkey Hengeyokai, Raccoon-Dog Hengeyokai, Rat Hengeyokai, Sparrow Hengeyokai Bamboo Spirit-Folk, Sea Spirit-Folk, River Spirit-Folk Uldra Kobolds On Ehmetera all peoples except Mankind lean toward law or chaos. Minotaurs and Dwarves are lawful people, Irda, Elves and Hengeyokai are chaotic people, Kobolds tend toward extreme alignments, Uldra tend to fill the neutral, Gnomes are neutral good with chaotic tendencies, Halflings are neutral good with lawful tendencies. Half-Orcs are both Mankind and Orckin, half-orcs are not bound to chaos like full-blooded orcs are cause they are part human it is totally possible for a half-orc cleric or fighter to be lawful good, they just have a very unhappy origin. Great post Axenhammer . You should start a thread and tell us more about Ehmetera. Where would i do that? |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 10, 2023 1:44:20 GMT -5
Do you have writeups of each of these races? I see you have Halflings and Kender, the Kender are all bad guys right? Kenders aren't bad. They're just misunderstood. The stories I have read about how people play Kender would make their alignment Evil-Evil. With PvP drama as a standard feature. |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 10, 2023 1:45:34 GMT -5
Yeah, Axenhammer, at that link, start a thread in the lower section of the page and then we will go from there. |
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Post by Admin Pete on Oct 10, 2023 19:52:12 GMT -5
The stories I have read about how people play Kender would make their alignment Evil-Evil. With PvP drama as a standard feature. My Kender thief was a good boy and he never did anything he didn't regret... Well except the one time we were in a layer of Hell fighting demons. He saw the party cleric praying with her holy symbol and he just had to get a closer look at it when she was sleeping. I rolled really well for move silently and pick pockets, scoring a 1 on the pick pocket skill. He took that holy symbol to have a good look at it in his room. He ended up falling sleep and forgot to return it. The next day we were fighting demons and nearly had a wipe because the cleric couldn't cast any healing spells. My Kender went ooopppps silently and made sure to return the holy symbol that night with equally impressive rolls. No one was ever the wiser... Wow, "he never did anything he didn't regret," what an epitaph. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Oct 12, 2023 7:24:24 GMT -5
I allow Half-Orcs at my table, they are far from the weirdest people on Ehmetera, we have Human, Neanderthal, Aquatic Human, Dark One Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf, Gully Dwarf, Grey Dwarf, Korobokuru Dark Elf, Grey Elf, High Elf, Valley Elf, Wild Elf, Wood Elf, Sea Elf, Snow Elf, Half-Elf Rock Gnome, Forest Gnome, Deep Gnome Hairfoot Halfling, Stout Halfling, Tallfellow Halfling, Kender Half-Orc Minotaur Irda Carp Hengeyokai, Cat Hengeyokai, Crab Hengeyokai, Crane Hengeyokai, Dog Hengeyokai, Drake Hengeyokai, Fox Hengeyokai, Hare Hengeyokai, Monkey Hengeyokai, Raccoon-Dog Hengeyokai, Rat Hengeyokai, Sparrow Hengeyokai Bamboo Spirit-Folk, Sea Spirit-Folk, River Spirit-Folk Uldra Kobolds On Ehmetera all peoples except Mankind lean toward law or chaos. Minotaurs and Dwarves are lawful people, Irda, Elves and Hengeyokai are chaotic people, Kobolds tend toward extreme alignments, Uldra tend to fill the neutral, Gnomes are neutral good with chaotic tendencies, Halflings are neutral good with lawful tendencies. Half-Orcs are both Mankind and Orckin, half-orcs are not bound to chaos like full-blooded orcs are cause they are part human it is totally possible for a half-orc cleric or fighter to be lawful good, they just have a very unhappy origin. That's got my interest up and I would like to hear more about Ehmetera. |
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Post by Crimhthan The Great on Oct 12, 2023 11:51:01 GMT -5
In response to The Semi-Retired Gamer 's OP; I would if I ran an Arduin OD&D game. Otherwise it would depend on the setting. <EDIT; Crimhthan The Great I only know you from your posts, but it is good to see another Old Tyme Murkhillian posting.> I get on here now and then.  You should post more, you young guys are the future, those like me are nearly gone. |
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Post by simrion on Oct 13, 2023 4:35:52 GMT -5
I've never really had much of a problem with "evil" characters in my games. Players rarely "truly" play evil anyway and I don't enforce alignment to strongly anyway, unless you're playing a Paladin of course. Most of my players just want to play their character with abandon and evil is an excuse to do so. Group peer pressure usually keeps the evil character in line. Now if I was running HackMaster I'd have to use the alignment tracker (dear God like a statistics class!) as that is an important part of that parody version of 1E  |
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You should post more, you young guys are the future, those like me are nearly gone.
