Orcs
I play an orc at Glenshadow's Tavern, and although the orc I play is not very orc-like much of the time,
I have reasons behind this, as you will see. I also have decided to write a quick page on orcs, so people know what
I am talking about here.
I'll start off by saying that orcs are typical 'cannon-fodder' of the fantasy world. They have appeared
in many different stories, games, and books, and there is no standard for an orc other then 'big, mean, and ugly'.
From what I am aware of, they appeared earliest in J.R.R.Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books, often being
confused from and with goblins. Orcs have also appeared in Forgotten Realms books, and Shadowrun books as well, I believe.
They are also common to various fantasy roleplaying games, such as AD&D, and fantasy GURPS.
Orcs have recieved alot of popularity from the computer games Warcraft and Warcraft II. If you are on-line, and have never
heard of these games, go find 'em quick, before someone discovers! They also are common to the CCG Magic:The Gathering, and
a card-based RPG, Dragon Storm.
Differences Between Games
The description of orcs differs from various game systems and stories. Their appearance varies widely from game to game. In some, they
look like two-legged pigs, while in others, they more closely resemble primitive humans. Still in others, they have their own look entirely. In most games, they are green in color, about
human size. In tolkien, however, I believe they are a grey color. In Warhammer, they have no hair, or so I was informed.
As far as intelligence goes, they vary widely from game to game. In Tolkien, I got the impression that they were fairly intelligent
creatures. In most game systems, their intelligence is about equal to that of a human who is not very bright. In a few games, their intelligence is simply labeled as "stupid. There are other
disagreements as well, such as their battle ability, which varies from poor fighters to creatures with very sophisticated battle techniques. And there is still the half-orc question. In some game systems, orcs rarelly interbreed with
any other race. In other game systems, they do often with some races, but not others.
I looked around for links different stuff on orcs, but most of it was to Muds, and the information contradicted itself
so much that I decided to leave it out, with the exception of a Tolkien Link . Here is
a link that goes to information orcs, and here is another--these are just to show the inconsistancies between games.
Orcish Images--Some orc pics I scanned.
My Version of Orcs--Alright..since there's such widespread disagreement on the details of orcs, this is the kind I play.
stormgirl@hotmail.com
