AW at-will · ENC encounter · DLY daily |
Fields: Req requirement · Trig trigger · Tgt target · Atk attack · Hit/Miss/Eff · 1°/2° primary/secondary · Sust sustain · After aftereffect · Spec special |
Shorthand: Str/Dex/Con/Wis/Int/Cha = ability mod · EONT/SONT = end/start of your next turn · sq = square(s) · CA combat advantage · OA opp. attack · MBA/RBA melee/ranged basic attack · HP hit points · tgt target · [W] weapon dice
| ENC | Furious AssaultHalf-Orc Racial PowerFree Pers | Your monstrous wrath burns inside you, giving strength to your attack. Trig You hit an enemy · Eff The attack deals 1[W] extra dmg if it’s a weapon attack or 1d8 extra dmg if it isn’t. |
An obscure legend claims that when Corellon put out Gruumsh’s eye in a primeval battle, part of the savage god’s essence fell to earth, where it transformed a race of humans into fierce half-orcs. Another story suggests that an ancient hobgoblin empire created half-orcs to lead orc tribes on the empire’s behalf. Yet another legend claims that a tribe of brutal human barbarians chose to breed with orcs to strengthen their bloodline. Some say that Kord created half-orcs, copying the best elements from the human and orc races to make a strong and fierce people after his own heart. If you ask a half-orc about his origin, you might hear one of these stories. You might also get a punch in the face for asking such a rude question.
Half-orcs favor their human lineage in appearance, but are distinguished by skin that tends to various shades of gray, broad jaws, and prominent lower canine teeth—though these are still a far cry from the jutting tusks of orcs. On average, they are taller and stronger than humans as well. Their hair is usually black, though it grays quickly with age. Most half-orcs who live among humans favor human styles of clothing and hairstyle, but a few adopt orc traditions, tying small bones or beads into long braids or bunches of hair.
Half-orcs don’t live quite as long as humans do. They mature quickly, reaching adulthood at about 16 years, and rarely live past the age of 60.
Half-orcs combine the best qualities of humans and orcs, though some would argue that the good qualities of orcs are few and hard to find. From their orc blood, half-orcs inherit great physical strength and toughness. They are fierce warriors, fleet of foot as they charge into battle.
Their human blood makes half-orcs decisive and bold, resourceful and self-reliant. They are adaptable and able to make their way in almost any circumstance. Although half-orcs often live on the fringes of society in human towns and cities, they still find ways to prosper in a world to which they don’t fully belong. For all their good qualities, many half-orcs exhibit characteristics that polite society finds uncouth or undesirable. Half-orcs have little patience for complicated rules of etiquette or procedure and find little value in hiding their true opinions in order to spare someone’s feelings. They enjoy the simple pleasures of food and drink, boasting, singing, wrestling, drumming, and dancing, and they don’t find much satisfaction in more refined or sophisticated arts. They’re prone to act without much deliberation, preferring to overcome obstacles as they arise rather than consider every possible outcome and make contingency plans. These qualities lead some members of other races to consider them rude or crass, but others find their brashness refreshing.
Half-orcs generally live among either human or orc cultures—some in bustling human towns or cities, others among remote human or orc tribes. Most half-orcs have two half-orc parents, but sometimes half-orcs marry and have half-orc children with humans or orcs. Orcs show grudging respect to half-orcs for their considerable strength and for their cunning intelligence, which sometimes allows halforcs to rise to leadership positions in orc tribes. Although possessed of many strengths, half-orcs frequently encounter prejudice in human communities. Thus, most half-orcs gravitate to careers involving physical labor or violence. For some, the life of an adventurer is either a natural extension of that trend or a way to throw off the weight of prejudice. The adventuring life also means finding a place in a group of allies and equals—a simple pleasure that is all too hard for many half-orcs to find in the world.
Three sample half-orc adventurers are described below.
Tarak, a half-orc rogue, is at home in the city. He grew up in the rough-and-tumble wharf quarter and ran with street gangs and rough sailors. Everything changed when a sailor dropped dead at his feet, leaving a mysterious box in Tarak’s possession. The box brought chaos into his life until he fled the city and fell in with some adventurers on the road. Tarak doesn’t know what’s in the box—its strange lock has defeated every attempt to open it, and its hard metal sides resist breaking. But goblins and doppelgangers have proven themselves willing to kill to get the box for themselves, piquing Tarak’s interest.
Murook is a warden, born and raised among an orc tribe. She was a staunch defender of her tribe for years, but her ties to the primal spirits of wood and stone slowly coaxed her away from the worship of Gruumsh and led her to question the brutality the orcs performed in his name. She made her way to human lands and has struggled to fit in, trying to leave behind the barbarian ways of her tribe and adopt at least a veneer of civilization, but she is still far more comfortable among the trees and mountains than confined in a city or village.
Dorn is a half-orc ranger who prefers not to talk about his birth and his family. He spent most of his life in a hut at the outskirts of a farming village, hunting and trapping in the surrounding forest, keeping to himself and asking only to be left alone. His life turned upside down on his thirtieth birthday, when a group of adventurers stopped in the village looking for directions to an ancient ruin. The villagers steered the adventurers to Dorn, who agreed to guide them through the forest. He never returned home, because that first adventure led him into many more.
“I’ll tear out your heart and make it my feast!”
In the veins of your people flows the mingled blood of orcs and humans, a perfect union of ferocity and adaptability. In general, half-orcs manifest the best traits of humans and orcs. In your heart, though, orc drums beat a call to war, stirring a savage craving for violence. You brim with fury you can barely contain, and in the thick of combat it overflows into a raging torrent. Only battle can feed the hunger in your soul, for you were born to the bloodfury.
For your entire life, you have felt the stirrings of war within you, the conflict between the human and orc halves that define your divided nature. From the battle raging inside, you derive great power, great strength, and above all, a great capacity for destruction. In combat, you lose yourself to the storm, unleashing your bloodfury in a frothing display of violence that inspires fear in all who fight you.
| ENC | Unbound AssaultBloodfury Savage Attack 11Std Melee wpnWeaponTgt One creature | You tear across the battlefield, eager to feed fresh kills to your weapon. Eff Before the attack, you shift 3 sq. · Atk Str or Dex vs AC · Hit 3[W] + Str or Dex dmg, and you gain a +4 bonus to dmg rolls against tgt until EONT. Spec When you gain this power, choose Strength or Dexterity as the ability you use when making attack rolls and dmg rolls with this power. |
| DLY | Frothing MadnessBloodfury Savage Utility 12Minor PersStance | Something erupts inside you, turning you into a relentless force of destruction. Eff Until the stance ends, you gain a +2 bonus to dmg rolls and a +5 bonus to saving throws. |
| DLY | Murderous RageBloodfury Savage Attack 20Std Melee wpnWeaponTgt One creature | You swear that your foe will not survive this battle, as you focus your steadily growing fury on it. Atk Str or Dex vs AC · Hit 4[W] + Str or Dex dmg. Eff Until the end of the encounter, you gain a +1 bonus to dmg rolls against tgt. Whenever you hit tgt with a melee attack, this bonus increases by 1. Miss Half dmg. · Spec When you gain this power, choose Strength or Dexterity as the ability you use when making attack rolls and dmg rolls with this power. |