Orc and Half-orc with unified mechanics and no Rage

[Exedor]

I have decided to try my hand at both the orc and half-orc using a unified game mechanic. I am not a fan of rage mechanics and thought that giving orcs and half-orcs claw and bite attacks, in addition to decent weapon attack capabilities, would express their ferocity elegantly. I'd like to hear what everyone thinks of this interpretation. Sorry but I cannot seem to get the formatting on the stat block correct:

***NOTE - I have updated the mechanics and posted this to google docs, where the layout is better. See below***

Orcs are monstrous, 7' tall humanoids with a boar-like visage, varied skin tones from green to gray, and savage ways. They live in forests, mountains, hills and barren places. They hate elves and dwarves and will attack them on sight. Orcs are tribal and spend most of their energy fighting each other though they also make war on all settled peoples. They found their hostility on an ancient grudge, the particulars of which vary from tribe to tribe. Half-orcs are the usually offspring marauding orcs and human women, though the reverse happens, albeit rarely. These half-breeds appear somewhere between orcs and humans, towering over most humans but not quite as large as full-bloods.

Hit points: An orc gains 1d14 hit points at each level. A half-orc gains 1d12 hit points at each level.

Weapon training: Orcs prefer to fight with clubs or axes, They are trained in the battleaxe, club, dagger, mace, short bow, spear, long sword, two-handed sword and, war hammer. If half-orcs grow up with humans they are also trained with the hand axe, pole arm, short sword, sling, and staff. Orcs may wear any armor made for them and can use shields, but orcs are not capable of creating anything other than leather armor themselves and should be equipped appropriately. Half-orcs that live amongst humans can wear any armor and use shields.

Alignment: Orcs are chaotic by nature, rarely organizing in groups larger than bands, and will fight each other if no one else is around to prey upon. Perhaps 1 in 100 orcs is neutral, and they may separate themselves from other orcs, or if very cunning, they may achieve positions of power, forging a tribal confederation and threatening settled human or demi-human societies. Lawful orcs are incredibly rare, and would inevitably be outcasts, if they even make it to adulthood in the brutal orc society.

Half-orcs also tend toward chaos, but not nearly as strongly as orcs. Half-orcs can generally keep their chaotic nature in check well enough to subsist at the margins of human society. Neutral half-orcs can be well-integrated in those societies, and lawful half-orcs, while rare, might be driven to help defend human society against the depredations of orcs.

Orc / Half Orc
Lv Atk Crit die/tbl + c/b Action Die (claw/bite) Ref Fort Will
1 +1 1d12/III + 1d4/M 1d20 + (1d14 claw/bite) +1 +1 +0
2 +2 1d14/III + 1d6/M 1d20 + (1d14 claw/bite) +1 +1 +0
3 +3 1d16/III + 1d8/M 1d20 + (1d16 claw/bite) +1 +2 +1
4 +4 1d20/III + 1d10/M 1d20 + (1d16 claw/bite) +2 +2 +1
5 +4 1d20/IV + 1d12/M 1d20 + 1d14 + (1d20 c/b) +2 +3 +1
6 +5 1d24/IV + 1d14/M 1d20 + 1d14 + (1d20 + 1d14 c/b) +2 +4 +2
7 +6 1d30/IV + 1d16/M 1d20 + 1d16 + (1d20 + 1d14 c/b) +3 +4 +2
8 +7 1d30/V + 1d20/M 1d20 + 1d16 + (1d20 + 1d16 c/b) +3 +5 +2
9 +7 1d30/V + 1d24/M 1d20 + 1d20 + (1d20 + 1d16 c/b) +3 +5 +3
10 +8 2d20/V + 1d30/M 1d20 + 1d20 + (1d20 + 1d20 c/b) +4 +6 +3

Orcs use their claw-like hands or their boar-like tusks as an additional attack, with an associated action die. This is called a "claw/bite" attack, and can represent a claw, or a bite, or a combination of both, and at higher levels an orc receives multiple claw/bite action dice. The claw/bite attack cannot be used if the orc is both wearing a helmet and using a two-handed weapon; or wearing a helmet while using a one-handed weapon and a shield. The damage is 1d4 + strength bonus. This attack does not represent two-weapon fighting (pg. 94-95) and indeed orcs lack the self-discipline to learn to fight with two weapons. Orcs often prefer two-handed weapons, and with their additional bite attack they can be fearsome and intimidating opponents in melee. Half-orcs' claw/bite attack damage is 1d3 + strength bonus. Otherwise, their claw/bite attack functions identically as a full-blooded orc. Unlike full-blooded orcs, half-orcs are capable of two-weapon fighting. An orc or half-orc's first action die (or dice at lv 5+) may be used for weapon attacks or claw/bite attacks, whereas the second die (or dice at lv 6+) may be used for claw/bite attacks only.

Initiative: Orcs are so powerful that even when using two-handed weapons they roll 1d20 for initiative. Half-orcs suffer the usual -1d initiative penalty for using a two-handed weapon.

Luck: Orcs and half-orcs add their luck modifier to critical hit rolls. Orcs revel in inflicting terrible wounds on their enemies, and love to celebrate those they have dealt and received, reliving and retelling them over and over in memory, ritual, story and song. Half-orcs may or may not admit to sharing this predilection.

Infravision: Orcs have infravision 60', but they have poor vision in daylight, suffering a -1 penalty to attack rolls and skill checks associated with precise vision. Half-orcs have infravision 30' and see normally in daylight.

Languages: Orcs speak orcish, and leaders or exceptional orcs speak common if they live near humans. Half-orcs usually speak both orcish and common.

[beermotor]

I like this WAY more than the "ragey" ones. Well done, I might use this at table.

[Exedor]

Thanks! I personally find rage mechanics are clumsy and hard to keep track of, or at least no one ends up wanting to do that. Also, the ragey character is a steamroller in combat, but when the rage is done, useless. I realize that can be fodder for interesting situations in-game but I can't think of a time when I was playing or DMing when it worked well. Then again, maybe my players and I are not that smart

Funny, I was actually trying to think of a Half-orc interpretation that did not include rage, and discovered crit table M, a Pathfinder option for half-orcs to have a bite attack, and the Crawl! orc's bite as well. It occurred to me that the half-orc could be sort of a subclass of orc. The first (3.5) campaign I ever ran was a bunch of pre-gen half-orcs. They were meant to stand in as a subplot until the expanded gaming group could all meet with their humans and elves, but they never could. The subplot became the whole story, and the players took the half-orc thing to an amazing place. They took over an orc tribe and started using orcs as cannon fodder in very inspired ways. Ever since then I've been partial to half-orcs.

My thinking with this version of the orc and Half-orc is that the extra action dice at lv1 including claw/bite make the orc/half-orc a unique threat, and lends a savage feeling in combat. I built upon the crit tables, and the addition of using monstrer crits for the claw/bite attack, and adding luck to crit rolls captures the brutal nature of the wounds an orc would inflict. There is something scary about "I hit him with my maul and then bite his face", whereas "I go into a rage and my strength and stamina go up and I hit with every attack" does not get me there, emotionally. I feel rage mechanics show their nature as a simulacrum during game play to the point where they break up the narrative of combat. My orcs will generate (relatively) frequent critical hits as well, competitive with the warrior though not quite as good at higher levels. I have not play tested this but I hope to find more opportunities to run DCC and convert more friends!

My personal bias, of no import to anyone but me, is that if I want to invent something, it should not be of whole cloth if I can avoid it. I prefer to dip into the existing mechanics and build on them in a new way. I do not disagree with drawing inspiration from 3.5/Pathfinder mechanics but I figured I would stick with the basic rulebook, Tolkien orcs and half-orcs, and let's not forget the Crawl! orc class, to which mine owes some props.

[Exedor]

I've updated the tables and posted a google doc:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1clL ... sp=sharing

I changed the action dice progression;I felt it was a bit too many attacks too soon. I have smoothed out the saving throw progression. If anyone has comments or criticism I would welcome it. I love this game so much I want to contribute.