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Sabledrake Magazine July, 2000
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Orcs and their KinCopyright 2000 by Michael L Straus
No creature is more prevalent and associated with fantasy bad guys than the Orc. Orcs are the eternal grunts and flunkies of fantasy fiction and are often regulated to the roll of cannon fodder and comedy in fantasy role playing games. In a sense the Orc has become a Joke. But as any fan of the writing of J.R.R. Tolkien or the Record of Lodos War saga knows, Orcs are not a joke and it is about time they be presented as the fearful, foul abomination that they were meant to be. Orcs are evil, vile and tough. They are trained for war almost since birth. An average Orc soldier is the equivalent to two normal men in strength, combat abilities and skills. And the High Orcs are even worse. Here then are the Orcs and their foul brotherhood for the Interlock© System. Enjoy and may once again the word Orc be associated with terror and not comedy. General Information and Rumors on Orcs and their Kin:Orcs and ... Sunlight -- Orcs and their Kin turn to stone when they are exposed to sunlight. WRONG! Although Orcs and their Kin are not as effective in Sunlight they can still operate in sunlight. They dislike the sun but if forced to they will go out in it. They are -4 to all roles while in sunlight. Orcs and ... Fire -- Orcs and their kin are destroyed by fire. Wrong! Orcs and their kin dislike fire and avoid it but they are not destroyed by fire, they take as much damage from fire than any one else but they dislike it more than most. Orcs and ... The Dark -- Orcs can see in the dark as if it was a cloudy day, they can see objects clearly up to almost a mile. In daylight on the other hand they can only see objects that are about fifty feet away. Orcs and ... Smell -- The Orcs sense of smell is their strongest sense. Like any other predator an Orc can track an opponent simply by his odor. They can smell fear, they can smell changes in the weather and like a shark they can smell blood. Orcs and ... Poison -- Orcs are a foul, evil race. Everything about them is filthy including their vile black weapons. Almost all Orc weapons are poisoned and even those that are not will be so dirty that there is a risk of infection should you get hit by one. Orcs themselves are highly resistant to poisons and disease, they receive a +4 to all rolls when dealing with poison and resisting the effects of toxins of any kind. Orcs and ... Combat -- The word honor and fair do not exist in the Orc language. They are dirty fighters. They will cheat in combat every chance they get, they prefer to ambush their opponents and use hit and run gorilla tactics. They will run from a fight if things are going badly and then come back when you least expect them to. Orcs love to play dead, taking a wound and then falling as if slain. They will wait until your guard is down then jump up again. In a stand-up fight, an Orc is a strong and savage opponent, equal to two men in strength and cunning, and are bred for war almost since birth. They will press any advantage they have and use their foul weapons to handicap you and then kill you slowly later. Orcs do not keep prisoners; any one captured by an Orc will be tortured and killed slowly, and the fate of females captured by Orcs is far, far worse. Orcs and ... Evil Masters -- Thankfully, on their own Orcs are a lazy race. They do not like to do work but the will do it if the have to. Orcs are the perfect servant race, they are bred to serve their evil masters. In the mythology of Middle Earth, Orcs were Elves that Morgoth was able to corrupt and turn in to his servants. So almost from their very beginning the Orcs existed to serve evil. If Orcs are in the area then chances are there is something far worse behind them. Orcs and ... Elves and Dwarves -- Orcs are servants of the Shadow and are the natural enemy of Elves and Dwarves. Dwarves and Orcs have a long feud as not only do they both like to live underground, but Orcs have taken over and slain many Dwarves' kingdoms and it is the Orcs' fault that the Dwarves are a fading race. No creature hates an Orc more than a Dwarf, except perhaps for the Elves. The war between the Orcs and the Elves is legendary and dates back almost to the dawn of both species existences. Elves represent everything that is good and fair in the world while Orcs are the embodiment of all that is foul and corrupt. Orcs destroy everything they come across including the forests that the Elves love so much, and even worse is the fact that ... at least according to J.R.R. Tolkien ... the Orcs were in fact bred from Elves that had been corrupted by the Shadow. Orcs and ... Water -- Orcs dislike water. They never bathe and they tend to avoid streams and lakes unless they can be corrupted by the Orcs. Many are the tales of those fleeing Orc pursuit who were saved by hiding in a large lake or under a waterfall. Those were the lucky ones. Orcs dislike water but they will cross it and enter it if they want to. There are even rumors of a few Orcs that actually like to bathe and be clean. Orcs and ... Holy Ground -- Like all creatures of Shadow, Orcs can not enter or cross Holy ground. Orcs and ... The Goop -- Orcs are famous for the foul-smelling "Black Goop" they carry as a alcohol. Although no one other than the Orcs knows what is in the Goop, it is a strong , foul , thick liquid that if drunk tastes like the most disgusting drink you have ever had but will remove fatigue and give a false sense of warmth. This goop can also be applied to open wounds and will double the healing rate of any wound it is applied to, but that wound will become an ugly scar. Orcs and ... Cold -- Orcs are highly resistant to Cold and Heat. The strong, sturdy race gets +3 to all die rolls to resist the effects of heat and cold.
Orcs - General:As a species, Orcs are short and squat with long powerful arms and legs. They are a foul-looking race of humanoids with elongated snouts and huge fangs. Their eyes are small and beady and are almost always Red or sickly yellow. Their ears are long like those of Elves but are covered with scabs and thick coarse hair. The body of an Orc is covered with a thin coarse dark fur and their skin is pale green. They smell rank and there is a foul aura about them. Orcs will always be in armor of some sort, most often leather or chain, and they will always have three weapons on their person. They favor Scimitars and short swords as they are cheap weapons and easy to make. They also like to carry long daggers and their favorite weapons are their black bows and barbed arrows. Orcs are tireless trackers and hunters and the almost perfect soldier. They live for war and, although fat and stupid, when it comes to combat there are none better. To Generate an Orc, roll it as a normal character in Interlock but add the following:
Orcs - Trackers:As if a normal Orc is not bad enough, Orc trackers are the "rangers" of the Orc society. Bred from birth to be hunters and trackers they are a faster, more cunning breed of Orc. Armed with well-made Orcish black bows and barbed arrows they are as good a hunter and tracker as any human "Woodsman" and can even give an Elf a run for their money.
Orcs - Black:The dreaded "High Orcs" or Black Orcs come from an ancient breeding stock of the Orcish blood and are believed to still carry a trace of Elves and Human in their blood line. They are far stronger and smarter than the normal Orcs and are the natural leaders of Orcish society. Their skin and hair is a dark gray or black. They are almost always found in their trademark black chain mail wielding Long Swords and Long bows. Few creatures are more respected and feared than a Black Orc, and One High Orc is equal to three men.
Orcs - Half:No human female raped by an Orc would ever allow her child to come to term, and normally any 1/2 Orc that is born in an Orc society is instantly killed as they are seen as an abomination and weak. So where do 1/2 Orcs come from? In most cases they come from breeding programs conducted by evil men to create a better Orc. Saurmen from the "Lord of the Rings" bred 1/2 Orcs as they were smarter than Normal Orcs and were not affected by sunlight. Perhaps other evil men have followed in this idea and bred 1/2 Orcs for the same reason. 1/2 Orcs are seen as abominations and outcasts by all other species. Even other Orcs hate them and will not willingly allow them to exist unless their master says otherwise. A 1/2 Orc is larger than a normal Orc and a lot smarter. They can infiltrate human society a lot easier than normal Orcs as they can appear to just be very ugly and foul humans.
Ogres:These huge, dumb inbred hill men are a member of the Orc race though obviously not as smart or dangerous as their Orc cousins. Ogres are big, lumbering brutes good only for their strength and courage in battle. Totally fearless, an Ogre will charge any foe and keep pounding on that foe until they are down or the Ogre has been slain. Huge, fat and ugly, they have thick brown skin and huge mops of black hair and facial hair. They usually just wear skins and tunics as their natural armor protects them from most things. Their favorite tactic is to throw huge boulders at their opponents or hit them over the head with a tree trunk.
Trolls:In the mythology of Middle Earth, the Trolls were made as a Mockery of the Ents. In other mythologies, Trolls are descended from the Giants that once ruled the Earth or are the spawn of some foul demon. Whatever the truth, there are few creatures in the world of fantasy more dangerous than the Troll. Although not very smart, the Troll is a cunning and relentless predator. Able to see in the dark and smell track as good as any bloodhound, they are huge and unbelievably strong. Their natural armor makes them almost invulnerable. Even worse, they can regenerate from most wounds give enough time. While their are tales of armored Trolls that have been employed by the forces of evil, these are just rumors so far. Trolls do not work well with others. They are loners by nature and see everything else as food. They are huge, fat green creatures with long powerful arms and legs and huge gaping mouths. They are armed with thick sharp claws and teeth capable of biting through stone. A Troll's body is covered with a thin oil that makes them waterproof like a duck and insulates them from cold like a penguin. Many think this oil is flammable and that trolls take extra damage from flame. This is untrue.
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