Since the works of Tolkien (circa 1954), orcs have been classic "fantasy bad guys". Their popularity crystallized with each successive appearance in tabletop fantasy games (and the later Tolkien films), and are now one of the icons of the fantasy genre.
In General[]
In general, Orcs are usually depicted as a sort of combination of various "barbarian" tropes--they're often written as being highly-mobile, war-loving raiders, who sweep in from the hills (or deep underground) to take whatever they want.
To a lesser degree, orcs are often depicted on a sliding scale of "pig-ness", with some having small underbite fangs but otherwise very human-like features,[Note 1] and others being humanoid pig-men, with snouts and boar-like, bristley hair.[Note 2]
I'm The Bad Guy (Duh)[]
Generally speaking, the more supernatural or artificial your orcs are, the less sense they have to make in their setting. If they are cultivated in the ground via dark magic, like warriors grown from dragons' teeth, orcs need little introduction. However, if your orcs are in a fully-functioning society, with generations of individuals, all with their own ambitions and circumstances, it may be harder to justify why all (or even most) of them are baddies. For the latter, look for inspiration among the sources of old barbarian tropes.[Note 3]
Historic Inspirations to Draw Upon[]
- Vikings (late 700s to late 1000s) were a job or occupation of medieval Scandinavian society. Piracy and raiding brought goods, food, and money (in metals) back home, and even in peacetime a viking could find work just transporting goods as a trader. Vikings had a relatively high "return on investment" since they could plunder the relatively wealthy coastal towns and monasteries.
- The Goths, particularly the Visigoths, known for the Sack of Rome (410 AD). Oddly enough, their main push to raiding inland (towards Rome) was economic, both from taxes from Rome and from being displaced from another trope-defining faction, the Huns.
- The Huns, nomads from Central Asia, Caucasus and Eastern Europe, and real-life inspiration to many fantastical "apocalyptic barbarian" tropes (even appearing as antagonists in old Christian tales of saints). If you were a commoner in 450 AD, you may have believed that "all of Christendom" was about to fall under the thundering hooves of the East... at least until 453, when Attila died.
Conclusions[]
Based on these notes, perhaps orcs got into the habit of raiding merely because it became "rather easy" to raid from adjacent lands. In GURPS, Orcs tend to have high HT, Rapid Healing, and occasionally Tough Skin, which means the average orc is much more likely to survive minor injuries, and have a lot less of a personal (or societal) hangup about getting into fights. It is, on a personal level, less dangerous to get into a scrap, as an Orc... as long as one protects their vulnerable bits, like the vitals and head!
The Great Boom[]
Another potential source of huge orc raids: The Great Boom. Legend says that every once in a while (perhaps every few years, perhaps once a generation), there's a great population boom in the Orc Lands (possibly magical shenanigans, if your orcs are summoned-up) and the resulting great migration in all directions causes some... political friction (similar to the Goths escaping the Huns, above).==Orc (GURPS Fantasy)== Cost: -9 ([5]+[45]-[59]+[0]+[0]) points
Description
This the stereotypic Orc of fantasy with a little bit of Tolkien added in.[1]
- Attributes and Secondary Characteristics [5]: IQ-1 [-20]; HT+1 [10]; Basic Speed+0.75 [15]
- Advantages and Perks [45]: Acute Taste and Smell 2 [4]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Fearlessness 2 [4]; Fit (Only at Night, -20%) [4]; Infravision [10]; Rapid Healing [5]; Resistant to Disease (+3) [3]
- Optional Advantages [N/A]: None
- Disadvantages and Quirks [-59]: Appearance (Unattractive) [-4]; Bad Temper (12) [-10]; Callous [-5]; Disturbing Voice [-10]; Impulsiveness (12) [-10]; Sadism (12) [-15]; Unfit (Only by Day, -20%) [-4]; Bowlegged. [-1]
- Optional Disadvantages [N/A]: None
- Skills [0]: No Racial Skills
- Optional Skills [N/A]: None
- Innate Magic [0]: None
- Features: None
Orc (Yrth)
Cost: -22 ([6]+[4]-[33]+[1]+[0]) points
Description
These are closer to the D&D style of orc then the Fantasy version.[2]
- Attributes and Secondary Characteristics [6]: IQ-1 [-20]; HT+2 [20]; HP+3 [6]
- Advantages and Perks [4]: Acute Hearing 2 [4]
- Optional Advantages [N/A]: None
- Disadvantages and Quirks [-33]: Bully (12) [-10]; Intolerance (Total) [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-10]; Doesn’t regard betrayal as wrong [-1]; Kowtows to stronger people [-1]; Measures social standing by things “controlled” [-1]
- Optional Disadvantages [N/A]: None
- Skills [1]: Brawling (DX/E) at DX [1]
- Optional Skills [N/A]: None
- Innate Magic [0]: None
- Features: None
| This is regarding an unofficial conversion of D&D material to GURPS. |
Orc (Monster Manual 3.5)
Cost: 20 ([20]+[0]-[0]+[0]+[0]) points
Description
Conversion of Monster Manual 3.5 Orc by BoneSea and jhubert from GURPS Repository
- Attributes and Secondary Characteristics [20]: ST+4 [40]; IQ-1 [-20].
- Advantages and Perks [0]: Dark Vision [25]
- Optional Advantages [N/A]: None
- Disadvantages and Quirks [-0]: None
- Optional Disadvantages [N/A]: None
- Skills [0]: No Racial Skills
- Optional Skills [N/A]: None
- Innate Magic [0]: None
- Features: None
GURPS Repository Variants[]
These are all statblocks
References[]
- ↑ GURPS Fantasy pg 110
- ↑ GURPS Banestorm pg 169
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