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Description
Orc tribes (30 to 300
warriors) are extremely competitive, and when they meet it is 75
percent likely that they will fight each other unless a strong
leader (such as a wizard, priest, lord) with sufficient
force behind him is on hand to control the orcs. Being bullies, the
stronger will always intimidate and dominate the weaker. (If
goblins are near,
for example, and the orcs are strong enough, they will happily bully
them.) Orcs dwell in places where sunlight is dim or non-existent,
for they hate the light. In full daylight they suffer a +1 Diff Mod
when attempting to hit an opponent, but they see well even in total
darkness (as an IR scope; short range = 3 meters).
Known orc tribes include
the following: Vile Rune, Bloody Head, Death Moon, Broken Bone, Evil
Eye, Leprous Hand, Rotting Eye, Dripping Blade. If orcs from one of
these tribes are encountered in an area, it is likely that all other
orcs nearby will also be from this tribe.
For every 30 orcs
encountered there will be a leader and three assistants. If 150 or
more orcs are encountered there will be the following additional
figures will be with the band: a subchief with 3-18 guards.
Leaders and their guards will be
the most experienced members of the group.
Orc lairs are underground
75 percent of the time, in an above ground village 25 percent of the
time. There will always be the following additional orcs when the
encounter is in the creatures' lair: a chief and 5-30 bodyguards, females equal to 50 percent of the number of males, young
equal to 100 percent of the number of males. If the lair is
underground, there is a 50 percent chance that there will be from
2-5 ogres living with the orcs. If the lair is above ground it will
typically be a rude village of wooden huts protected by a ditch,
rampart, and log palisade. The village will have from 1-4 watch
towers and a single gate. There will be one artillery piece and one
support weapon (appropriate to the tech level) for each 100 male
orcs (round to the nearest 100).
Orcs are cruel and hate
living things in general, but they particularly hate
elves and will
always attack them in preference to other creatures. They take
slaves for work, food, and entertainment (torture, etc.) but not
elves whom they will kill immediately.
Orcs are accomplished
tunnelers and miners. They note new or unusual construction
underground or sloping passages on a successful Difficult:
Excavation task.
The majority of orcs speak
goblin,
hobgoblin, and
ogre in addition to the languages of orcs.
Description:
Orcs appear particularly disgusting because their coloration — brown
or brownish green with a bluish sheen — highlights their pinkish
snouts and ears. Their bristly hair is dark brown or black,
sometimes with tan patches. Even their armor tends to be
unattractive — dirty and often a bit rusty. Orcs favor unpleasant
colors in general. Their garments are in tribal colors, as are
shield devices or trim. Typical colors are blood red, rust red,
mustard yellow, yellow green, moss green, greenish purple, and
blackish brown. They live for about 40 years.
Half-Orcs:
As orcs will breed with anything, there are any number of unsavory
mongrels with orcish blood, particularly orc-goblins,
orc-hobgoblins, and orc-humans. Orcs cannot cross-breed with elves.
Half-orcs tend to favor the orcish strain heavily, so such sorts are
basically orcs although they can sometimes (10 percent) pass
themselves off as a true creatures of their other stock (goblins,
hobgoblins, humans, etc.).
Orcs typically lag one tech level
behind the world's general tech level. The will be armed and
armored accordingly.
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