Disclaimer: This might, or might not happen according to interest. I am looking for people who are willing to approach this with an open mind.
The purpose: I am looking for people who are willing to apply for Grey orc, but with a unique twist for our group will be primarily focused on religion. At the same time, our religion will be unique, in that our gods will be twisted into a more lawful/neutral evil outlook instead of the chaotic evil that so defines many of the orc races.
The Orcan race is extremely numerous and wide spread, heresies are bound to develop, but as long as the belief remains the same, and their drive to conquest and intended purpose of each god is the same, I do not think their gods will care.
The tribe is called "Iron-Eye."
To understand the concept, You need to see how the tribe views the orc gods.
QuoteSadim.
[/B][/SIZE](Baghtru)
Symbol: A Broken Knee-bone
Portfolio: Strength, Loyalty. Unquestioning obedience.
Alignment: lawful evil.
Place within the Tribe: Sadim is viewed as a god whose entire purpose is to serve the Lord Iron Eye, to grant his soldiers the strength, and purpose to hold the line, and even fight to the death should it be required to accomplish the goal. He isn't viewed as stupid, but rather, a fanatical obedient figure, who merely does what he is told, and refuses to think for himself, beyond how to best accomplish his orders.
His Priests are the bodyguards of the chief, but won't do anything unless ordered beyond physical training.
Dogma: Obey, and do not depart from the ranks of battle unless ordered to. You shall remain rooted in place till the chief orders you forward or back. Trust in your superiors, and do not think beyond the objective given to you. Loyalty is all that is needed of you, for in this, lies the strength of Sadim.
Iron Eye.
(gruumsh)
Symbol: A Masked face, but with an unblinking Iron Eye.
Portfolio: Discipline, Territory, Hatred, organization.
Alignment: Neutral Evil.
Place within the Tribe: Iron Eye is seen as the father of the tribe, a horde leader who wishes his people melded into a single grand army to crush all opposition. He sees the means to accomplish this by organizing, and training his people rigorously, for there shall come a day when the stout hearts of dwarves shall crumble, and the flighty elven people shall flee beneath the marching hordes of the orcan race.
Dogma: Organize, train, and train more. You must act as one, as the gods act as one, make use of all your resources, however distasteful, form alliances with the lesser races, then crush them when their usefulness is over with. Your gaze shall be that of Iron, and so to shall your ambition to further the purpose of the orcan People.
Ilvenal.
Symbol: A blood covered sword
Alignment: NE
Portfolio: War, Patience, Fury. Stratagy
Place in the tribe: Ilvenal is the lieutenant of Iron Eye, in that he is the ambition behind the throne. He is no coward, but will always approach the situation with caution, and how to best surmount the difficulty presented before him. He doesn't believe in throwing away any tools, even if they are past usefulness, for their might come a time to make use of them again. The tribe considers him prudent, patient, and cautious, but at the same time potentially volatile, for his fury is great when the patience comes to an end.
Dogma: Patience, thought, strike. Do not hesitate to leap upon an advantage, but always retain the mind that your plan might fail, and so in such prepare the Plan that must come afterwards. Consider the terrain, your surroundings, and be ready to respond accordingly to the changing situation of War. Should all plans fail, and death is unavoidable, unleash the fury of the orcan race, and die admist the corpses you shall create, do not surrender, for the pride of the tribe shall be at stake.
The Mother (Luthic)
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Symbol: A claw circled by Magic Symbols
Portfolio: Magic, motherhood, mystery.
Place in the Tribe: The Mother is a mysterious figure, shrouded in fire upon her right, and ice on her left. She gave birth to the orcan race, and is the protector of the females in the tribe, but she also is thought of as the Mother of Magic. And is respected and feared. She is the strength of the mysteries, magic. And her goals are mysterious, but she is acknowledged and respected as the Wife of the Iron Eye.
Dogma: Magic is mysterious, and it shall remain so. Power bestowed upon another shall be different bestowed upon the other. Decipher the magic of the lesser races, and use it to augment your own power- but always use orcan magic first to show the strength of your tribe, for in the end, strength is not decided by the length of your spear, but by the power of your mysteries. Do not coddle those who show weakness, rather, slay them, for this is the last duty of a woman, to keep the tribe strong, by slaying the weak young she bears. Use the Mysteries to strengthen the tribe in the battles they must face, and weaken your foes.
Fogrot.(shargaas)
Symbol: A White dagger swirled in Darkness
Alignment: Chaotic evil.
Portfolio: Assassins, Darkness, Vengeance, outcasts. Stealth
Place in the Tribe: Feared, hated, and reviled, Fogrot is a whispered name in dark places. His faithful are the nightmares in the tribe, bitter at being rejected, but at the same time, loyal to the cause of the gods. They sneak out from tribe, and slay those who would come to the tribe. A corpse with a white dagger painted upon it is their trademark symbol, and all orcs in the tribe give it a wide birth.
Dogma: You are alone in the darkness, but you musn't fear, nay, you shall embrace it. Take revenge on the lesser races for it is their fault that you were cast out, thought weak and unable to conform to the strictures of the Iron Eye. Praise the Fogrot, for in the Fog of War, none shall escape the field of battle. Slay those who flee the lines, for their example shall strike terror into your foes, seeing our resolve to do what must be done to prove victorious in the end.
Symbol: A grave, with a lonely skeleton within it.
Alignment: NE
Portfolio: Death, plague, undeath.
PLace within the Tribe: A dark god, and feared without doubt. His followers bury the dead, but are feared, for they each seek the grave to end a torment they see is upon them. They raise the dead from the graves and send them to do battle upon the field, they do not let the dead rest, not when they can still be useful. Little is known about them, other than they hold a facination for plague, death, and the undead.
Dogma: Death will claim you. And you shall still fight. For even in death, you shall aid the tribe. Release plagues, to weaken foe and the weak in your tribe so they may be culled. Disturb the graves of your foes, and take what is within them. Build barrows to house the dead so they shall be ready before the next battle begins. Turn the land into a land of sickness for those of the non-orc, for Yurtrus has given us the strength to survive the deadliest plagues. Kneel before him, and beg for his mercy, and it might come.
This is still in the works, but the group will be entirely player based, hailing from a secluded mountain tribe in the spine of the world. Deep in the mountains, secluded from many other orc tribes, and those it has, destroyed and incorporated into their beliefs. Clerics will be rare, but important. The tribe leans toward neutral evil, and lawful evil, but chaotic evil remains.
They retain the ancestral hate of dwarves and elves, but few of the tribe has ever seen them. Half orcs are considered lesser beasts, but are often used as spies, to keep an eye on the human expansion.
Our Primary goal for our group is to return to our tribe, through what costs, no one shall know. We do not know how to return.
Lesser goals: Pillage, and claim territory to further our original goals.
Discover the Mysteries of the Netherese and the Ilythiiri.
The Mists will be our primary focus here, as we believe it may become the grandest Mystery of All, the unraveling of the mystery here.
Note: This won't happen soon, if even, but I wish to see the player base/dm reaction and thoughts on this. Please keep is constructive.
http://www.escapefromunderdark.com/old_forums/viewtopic.php?t=32347
Orc info there
A Lawful Evil twist on the orcs? That is a great idea, it's sort of like Banites, too much 'sterotype'. Time to mix it up I say... and EfU is the place for it I'd say... the Orcs following the standard gods of the Orcs have certainly been screwed bad enough they MIGHT be open to conversion and new ideals.
One thing I'd suggest to really differentiate from the normal orcs is to try and eventually turn the standard orcs into an equivelent of Uruk-Hai, given that the faction is in the LE angle of things, that could very well fit. (for those unfamiliar with Lord of the Rings, Uruk-Hai are basically super orcs with the edges of: More strength/resiliance, full plate armor/strong shields, and strong swords equivilent to the Bastard Sword)
Also, given that the Orcs will see magic as a mystery, I'd suggest having standard-orcs in the group be less-than-familiar... I'm talking as far as having no spellcraft at all, even in the negitives perhaps to represent the lack of knowledge of magic within these Orcs as magic is a 'mystery'. Thus the Spellcaster orcs should be in great prestige, as they have unravelled mysteries (Perhaps a cross-breed of Wiz/Sorc, or even wiz rather than sorc?)
Having all Barbs for melee is certainly fine... but I think to represent the Lawful part, there should be some fighters (IE, 'Iron-eye' (Grumush) followers).
I'm seeing equivilents in the method of thinking of these orc gods, and the common pathenon of the Forgotten Realms, listed below to help with getting an idea for better construction of characters for this cool concept. (note: This is inferance and guessing)
Sadim: Similar to Torm in the aspects of Loyalty.
Iron eye: Bane, as it's focused on domination.
Ineval: The Red Knight, as it's caution and tactics
The Mother (Luthic): Mystra, as Mystra's title is 'The Lady of Mysteries'
Fogot: Shar. What else from Darkness?
The Grave (Yutrus): Moandar, in the aspects of Rot.
Hopefully this helps along the lines of visualizing the new veiw on the Orc Pathenon that this young Champion_of_Brandaboris is presenting us, and perhaps use such as a base-referance to figuring the characters out.
I envisioned the Gods here, and how the tribe views them, working together as a Cohesive unit, working together to dominate the world. Only Fogrot, Shargaas, remain independent, working his own methods to advance the race.
The Mother is the patron of magic- Sorcerers, bards, etc...would favor her, the weave, and book magic, is all but unknown.
The tribe would resemble how Orogs go about their business, but instead of ignoring the other gods, the tribe would acknowledge each god, and try and attribute actions to the cause of each god.
Understand it is a very tentative thought, and a Dm can say, "No." At any moment.
But I figure it might be a nice idea to represent orcs in a new light.
If they can twist the Triad into the Three, Why not the Orc Gods into something new, but at the same time representing what they originally held?
I'd be interested, having some experience playing Mountain Orcs.
Though this is tentative to the 'Not happening any time soon' part of your post. It might be awhile before my current character runs his course.
Lawful Orcs are lame TBH I like the CE ORCS CE ORCS FTW!
QuoteNote: This won't happen soon, if even, but I wish to see the player base/dm reaction and thoughts on this. Please keep is constructive.
Dr.D, I request you read the posts. Why are they lame? And why would you be against something new?
Having played both a mountain and gray orc(on efu no less!)I can tell you this concept is FAR more suited to gray orcs, who as a race are far more religious.
<.<..>.> Having read over the Uncommon races thread for orcs and goblins, I agree with the ImpossibleDream.
I'd love to see LE orcs and variety.
Orcs as a whole are chaotic creatures. Unless I here a really awesome backstory I think LE Orcs R not cool.
-DRD
Dr. D, you made your point, now stop spamming. And saying that all orcs are chaotic is a generalization, like saying all Dwarves are lawful. CE is a FAVOURED alignment of the Orcs, not a 'must follow' rule.
I bet Konius Sten had an awesome backstory.
Yeah, I'd be into this totally.
Quote from: Blubie;134136I bet Konius Sten had an awesome backstory.
He did
The Legend:
We were lost, disorganized in the chaotic rabble that so characterizes our race. We marched forward, proving victorious at first, but they rallied, and used our own weakness against us, the thoughtless fury of our race, and we died in the thousands upon thousands. We turned the land barren, forcing our people to move on to new pastures, only to encounter races already settled, and their forces, disciplined, and equipped with steel, defeating ours.
It was then he came to us, an orc with an Iron Eye. He spoke of a revelation he had atop the highest of mountains in the spine, how his eye was struck out by a spear, and the tip melted, forming him this Eye of Iron within his skull. He spoke that we should learn from the mistakes of the past, and adapt, for this was the will of the Iron Eye, The Gods of the Orcan people.
So we heeded his wisdom, and forged our weapons in Iron, tossing away sticks and sharpened Stake, delving deeper for the valuable ores, and him guiding our tribe, we forged our men into powerful ranks, and the women, those who could, learned the mysteries of our people. He gathered exiles from other tribes, and molded them into what they are now, he gathered our witch doctors, and taught them the arts of the undead.
As time progressed, we delved deeper into the Mountains, and came upon a dwarven clan, we slaughtered them all, and made their halls our home. Their forges our own, and we perfected the spear, the sword, and the armor plate.
Our warriors were ready for war.
The Gaze of the Iron Eye shall Dominate.
Our Fury shall be controlled through discipline, our warriors obedient to the orders of high.
We will conquer.
Still very much into this. So what exactly would this group be doing? How many people are you looking for? And what roles are available?
Our group would be designed to work as a cohesive unit, and perhaps form a temporary alliance with House Sharboneth as we set out to exterminate the infidels (The wild orcs) That will be here to oppose us.
I seek sorcerers, fighters, ((And clerics, but you will need to speak with a DM to see if it would be allowed))
4 people would be enough, but I'd be happy with two, or three. We would recruit half orcs into our cause as well. ((Maybe see if we can grab a Prelude.))
Our goal here would be find a way to return Home to the tribe. But in the meanwhile, seek ways to empower ourselves with the mysteries given here.
A Sorcerer/Palemaster concept is a firm possibility, as is the usual bard/PM, as you have a basis in faith.
We are not soldiers of random, wanton destructions. Rather, a focussed, directed force, who believe in martial discipline above wild fury. So Fighters would be more common than Barbarians, but not by much.
Working contracts, (Verbally, we don't know how to read) and smashing heretics, delving into the mysteries of the Netherese, Ilythiiri, and the Mist.
We would possibly see the Mist as the essence of the Mother, and it is to be gathered and brought back to our people.
As I said, many possibilities could work here.
Why not just make half orcs following orc deities?
You won't need to app, you'll be able to survive longer around other players, you'll be able to stroll everywhere you want.
You can have the same concepts. You can even push the concept to "hey we're LG orcs-pallies" and we'll cleans the world of our unpure brothers... etc.
Of course, playing orcs can be fun...
Half orcs would just be a cheap, work around the concept.
The orc subrace is there to add the element of challenge this would be requiring, and be much fun with!
#TwistedOrcs
IRC channel for those interested
I'm insanely interested in what you're proposing here. I've been looking for a new character concept to roll with and I think this is just my sort of thing. I'd probably have a preference towards playing either a cleric or barbarian based character, although I'm open to fitting the role of any position that needs to be filled in the ranks. My only requirement is that I don't play a wizard or sorcerer, seeing as I have some level of disdain for playing them at lower levels. I'll be following the progression of all this closely. It'd be nice to see some DM input, though.
I'd hop on the IRC channel but I'm completely ignorant of how to use IRC.
I am feeling that clerics will be unlikely unless we get a DM OKAY on this thread.
I am looking to play a sorcerer myself.
Sounds like Bane to me. FTW
Unless I'm wrong, the dms won't accept mass apps for monsters subraces chars. The concept is nice though!
I'd approve of making this an actual concept.
Id like to be apart of this.Ive been waiting for an orc concept to come around on EFUA and have missed any that have.Ill make what ever is needed and Will App. if this gets off the ground.
I really like the back story And would love to make a Wep.Master of of Grummsh.
O shi- I just Thread necromanced >.>
While I have a main, shoot me PRIVATE MESSAGES, if interested.