Orc Custom Classes
Orcs are grotesque beastmen bred as warriors from men and wild boars by the ancient Zaharans. They stand just over 6’ tall, with pig-like faces, reddish eyes, and black hair. Orcs prefer wearing vivid colors that many humans would consider unpleasant, such as blood red, mustard yellow, yellow-green, and deep purple. Their equipment is dirty and unkempt, though serviceable. Orcs are primarily subterranean, but they are also nocturnal and may be found on the surface at night. Orcs are exceedingly cruel and delight in the torment and murder of others. They are also exceptionally greedy, which makes them particularly attractive to the chaotic rulers who hire orcs as mercenary soldiers.
Requirements
All orc classes require a minimum Strength 9 or better.
Class Category Values
Fighting: Orcs with broad and narrow weapon selections are limited to choosing from swords, spears, flails, axes, spears, polearms, short bows, and crossbows.
Divine: Orcs may never allocate build points to the Divine category. See the Mystic Path orc custom power, however.
Arcane: Orcs may never allocate build points to the Arcane category. See the Mystic Path orc custom power, however.
Orc Value
When building an orc custom class, assign between 0 and 4 build points to the class’s Orc Value. At Orc 0, all orcs gain the following orc custom powers:
Value |
Orc |
XP Cost |
4 |
Orc 4 |
2000 |
3 |
Orc 3 |
1750 |
2 |
Orc 2 |
1500 |
1 |
Orc 1 |
1250 |
0 |
Orc |
1000 |
· Bestial Tongues: All orcs speak their native tongue and two bonus languages, selected from the following list based on their tribe’s proximity to other beastmen and monsters: Bugbear, Draconic, Gnoll, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Kobold, Ogre, Troll.
· Fearsome Size: Orcs get larger as they advance in experience, growing approximately ½ inch of height and 10 lbs of muscle per level. When they have accumulated sufficient XP to be half-way to 2nd level, the orc gains a +1 bonus to damage rolls due to his size. At 4th level, the damage bonus is increase to +2 and the orc’s great size and strength grants a +2 morale bonus to orc henchmen, retainers, and followers. At 7th level, the damage bonus is increased to +3, and at 11th level it is increased to +4.
· Mystic Path: When an orc gains a level of experience, he may choose to gain one level of arcane or divine spellcasting in lieu of all other benefits he would normally accrue from leveling (e.g. hit points, attack throws, saving throws, proficiencies, etc.) An orc may acquire a maximum of 4 arcane casting levels and/or 6 divine casting levels in this manner.
· Subterranean: Orcs gains infravision to a range of 60’. However, orcs suffer a penalty of -1 to attack throws when in sunlight.
· Unempathic: Orcs suffer a -2 penalty to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of humans and demi-humans.
Additional points allocated to the Orc Value stack with points allocated to the Fighting Value for purposes of calculating the rate of improvement for attack throws, to a maximum of 4.
EXAMPLE: The standard orc warrior is built with Hit Dice 2, Fighting Value 1, Orc Value 2. The orc warrior’s attack throws increase as if his Fighting Value were (Fighting Value 1 + Orc Value 2 =) 3.
Experience Point Progression After 8th level
Unlike the experience point progression for human and demi-human classes, the experience points progression required to advance in Orc classes always continues to double, even after 8th level.