Orcs of the Misty Mountains - Playable Culture

[Michebugio]

This is my attempt to create a playable version of the Orcs. My intent is just to create game mechanics to let your players play a party of Orcs, regardless of how Loremasters and players should behave in such circumstances. It is even possible to play an Orc as part of a Fellowship (I will add rules for that), but of course I don't recommend it, if you want to stay true to the original spirit of the game.

For now, I will gladly accept any advice you could give, and please add comments

Most of all, corrections of my bad english would be very much appreciated!


ORCS OF THE MISTY MOUNTAINS

“Isildur was marching north along the east banks of the River, and near the Gladden Fields he was waylaid by the Orcs of the Mountains, and almost all his folk were slain. He leaped into the waters, but the Ring slipped from his finger as he swam, and then the Orcs saw him and killed him with arrows.”

DESCRIPTION
Bred by the first Dark Power in the early years of the world to serve him in many wars, Orcs are an evil race of intelligent creatures. Their malicious spirit is full of hatred for all living things including their own kind, and when left to their own devices they often end up quarrelling fiercely over futile questions. They are usually strong and agile, quick and robust, and ready to learn or devise new methods or instruments of torment. Their appearance and size differs from tribe to tribe, but many prominent features are common to all Orcs, such as swarthy skin, short legs and broad, slanted eyes, wide mouths and long fangs.
Of the several different breeds of Orc serving the Shadow, the Orcs of the Misty Mountains are among the most numerous: they are used to living and making war in the deep places beneath the earth, where their sight is keener than any other Orc. When they are encountered in their mines, they are savage fighters and reckless in assault, but they leave the dark under the mountains only when marching to war or to avenge their fallen kind, as they suffer badly the light of the sun.
The Orcs of the Misty Mountains are a wild and independent lot, bent on their own purposes and aims when the Shadow’s influence is weak, but ready to obey the will of their Master when directly subject to it. The smallest among them are often referred to as goblins.

STANDARD OF LIVING
The Orcs of the Misty Mountains are a folk at war, and carve a living out of raids, lootings and depredations. Their constant fight with the Free People and even between themselves leaves them struggling to do more than simply feed their growing armies. Their culture ranks as Frugal.

ORC ADVENTURERS
The Orc chieftains of the Misty Mountains cannot really oppose the many young warriors who express their desire to leave their tunnels to plunder and prey upon the weaker of their own kind, or to exact revenge against the Free Peoples. Moreover, this tendency is a never-ending supply of enemies and adventurers from the Free Folks of the North, who frequently set out to hunt them.
Suggested Callings: Slayer, Treasure Hunter. Orcs make enemies readily, and many is the slaughtered chieftain’s son who goes seeking vengeance. Others, though, seek only to conquer or steal the marvels of other folks.
Unusual Calling: Scholar. Brutish and savage, Orcs take no interest in study.


WHAT THE GREAT GOBLIN SAYS…

• Bardings: 'we already slew a King of Men at the Gladden Fields, we could have killed Bard the Dragonslayer as well if their elf friends and Durin’s Folk didn’t help him! But his downfall is just a matter of time…'
• Beornings: 'my predecessor, Bolg, was killed by Beorn the Skinchanger. We will have our revenge on him and all his folk, I promise!'
• Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain: 'many of their ancient strongholds already lie in ruins, or they belong to us. We’ll cut Durin’s Folk down to the last dwarf.'
• Elves of Mirkwood: 'the Elves are growing weak and losing interest in things outside their Realm in Mirkwood. Soon they won’t be a danger anymore…'
• Hobbits of the Shire: 'I heard about this small folk, who once defeated my distant ancestor Golfimbul, but I’ve never seen one myself. If we’ll find some, we’ll stew and eat them!'
• Woodmen of Wilderland: 'our closest enemies, with that annoying Brown Wizard protecting them! But Dol Guldur will rise again, and when this happens we’ll exterminate them and burn their homes to the ground…'


ORCS AND SHADOW
Orcs were born in the taint of the Shadow and are cruel and cunning, often directly subject to the will of their Dark Lord and bearing orders for all malevolent creatures with hate for the Free Peoples: as such, they have totally succumbed to the Shadow. For this reason, Orc characters cannot ever accumulate Shadow points, nor they can ever choose the Heal Corruption Fellowship phase undertaking. Instead, an orc adventurer starts with the Murderous Flaw and all the four negative Traits related to his Calling’s Shadow weakness (if he already has the Murderous Flaw as part of the Curse of Vengeance, he must choose another Flaw among Cowardly, Thieving, Treacherous or Tyrannical, so to have a total of five negative Traits).
Also, Orcs do not have a score of Hope. They have a score of Hate instead, and they can use it to invoke Attribute bonuses or to trigger the effect of a Cultural Virtue. Similarly to Hope, if an orc character finds his Hate score reduced to zero points, he is spiritually spent and cannot bear to continue a struggle of any sort, so he will flee from any source of danger or stress.


CULTURAL BLESSING

Night-eyes
"There's only one thing those maggots can do: they can see like gimlets in the dark."

Orcs of the Misty Mountains are adapted to living in the pitch black darkness of caverns and tunnels. As such, all Orcs have the Night-eyes Trait (see below) in addition to their normal Traits. For the same reason, though, they loathe the sunlight more than anything else: they lose 1 point of Hate at the end of the first round of combat fought while exposed to the light of the sun.

New Trait: Night-eyes
No darkness is too dark for the eyes of the Orcs. They can see perfectly at night, underground or in a dense forest, and suffer no penalty related to darkness whatsoever.


STARTING SKILL SCORES
Copy the following skill ranks onto the character sheet and underline the favoured skill:

Awe 0 Inspire 0 Persuade 0
Athletics 2 Travel 3 Stealth 2
Awareness 2 Insight 0 Search 3
Explore 2 Healing 0 Hunting 2
Song 1 Courtesy 0 Riddle 0
Craft 1 Battle 0 Lore 0

Weapon Skills
Choose one of the following two weapon skill sets, and record it on the character sheet:

(Swords) 2, Spear 1, Jagged Knife 1
Bow of horn 2, Broad-headed spear 1, Jagged Knife 1

SPECIALTIES
Choose two Traits from:

Fire-making, Misty Mountains-lore, Mountaineer, Smith-craft, Torturer*, Tunneling
*new Trait


BACKGROUNDS

1 – Tunnel stalker

You are a small orc of Goblin-Town, and the endless cave systems below the Misty Mountains have always been your home. You traveled stealthily from one tunnel to another always looking for new passages and secret galleries, spying upon rival tribes and stalking incautious adventurers who dared to come too close to Goblin-Town. You learned that, more often than not, a well-placed arrow shot from the dark was enough to earn an easy prize of meat and new equipment.

Basic Attributes
Body 3, Heart 3, Wits 5
Favoured Skill
Stealth
Distinctive Features
(choose two Traits from those listed)
Cautious, Elusive, Keen-eyed, Nimble, Small


2 – Escaped snaga

You are a snaga, a word that in the Black Speech means “slave”. Serving the Necromancer in Dol Guldur, you’ve always been considered a lesser orc by those stronger than you, no more than a hound used to track down the enemies of the Dark Power. But when the Shadow was cast out of his fortress, you managed to escape to the West, finding refuge below the Misty Mountains. Now your tracking skills only serve yourself, and you will finally have your share in the hunt of the Free People.

Basic Attributes
Body 3, Heart 2, Wits 6
Favoured Skill
Hunting
Distinctive Features
(choose two Traits from those listed)
Cunning, Curious, Small, Swift, Keen Scent*
*new Trait


3 – Son of the Chieftain

Your father is an Orc-Chieftain of Gundabad, who earned his status by simply being the largest, most wicked and cruel of his warband. You don’t admire him, nor you feel proud for being his progeny: as soon as your strength will match his, you will challenge and kill him to become the new Chieftain of your tribe. Until then, you’ll prove your cruelty on the battlefield, taking the lives of dwarves, men and elves alike, and of whoever will cross your path to glory.

Basic Attributes
Body 4, Heart 2, Wits 5
Favoured Skill
Battle
Distinctive Features
(choose two Traits from those listed)
Fierce, Proud, Reckless, Swift, Vengeful


4 – Tough Guard

You were chosen among the strongest and boldest to guard the immense halls and mines of Moria, the ancient dwarf stronghold that now you call home. There you learned to trust your senses to recognize each and every of the slightest sounds your ears could catch from the depths, from the creaks of feet on unsteady stairs to the splash of a rock dropped by someone in the water. What couldn’t escape your attention couldn’t escape your blade, either.

Basic Attributes
Body 4, Heart 3, Wits 4
Favoured Skill
Awareness
Distinctive Features
(choose two Traits from those listed)
Bold, Quick of Hearing, Robust, Suspicious, Wary


5 – Messenger of Lugbùrz

You are an emissary of Barad-dûr, sent on an errand for your Master to spy upon the Free Folks of the North and to rouse all creatures with evil intent in the Wilderlands. You spread your lies and promises of power among orcs and fouler things, hoping that one day you will command yourself a great army to conquer the North and rule Men, Elves and Dwarves with the iron fist of the Orcs.

Basic Attributes
Body 4, Heart 1, Wits 6
Favoured Skill
Riddle
Distinctive Features
(choose two Traits from those listed)
Clever, Lordly, Secretive, Swift, Wary


6 – Black Uruk

You are a Mordor-breed Uruk, larger and stronger than most of your kind, living in the caves below the Redhorn Pass. Your ancestors were sent from Minas Morgul to reinforce the lesser orcs of the Misty Mountains, and under their command they ambushed and killed Isildur at the Battle of the Gladden Fields. The strength in your black blood still runs powerful, as well as your thirst for battle.

Basic Attributes
Body 5, Heart 1, Wits 5
Favoured Skill
Athletics
Distinctive Features
(choose two Traits from those listed)
Bold, Fierce, Grim, Hardy, Wrathful


ENDURANCE AND HATE

Endurance: 23 + Heart score
Hate: 8 + Heart score


ORC NAMES

Male names: Azog, Balcmeg, Boldog, Bolg, Golfimbul, Gorbag, Gorgol, Grishnàk, Lagduf, Lug, Lugdush, Mauhùr, Orcobal, Othrod, Radbug, Shagrat.


Next time: Cultural Virtues and Rewards!

[Deadmanwalking]

Why lower attributes than is usual? I mean, if we're talking playable ones, they should likely be on the same power level as the rest of the game, IMO anyway.

In terms of skills, Search 3 seems really unnecessary and un-thematic (they aren't quite that good at finding people or things, as a rule), and it seems like they should have either Awe or Battle for purposes of intimidation (likely Battle, since the social uses of Awe seem inappropriate). I'd thus drop Search to 2 and add Battle 2. Travel 3 might also be excessive...or not.

Explore also seems a little weird to be Favored, though I don't know what I'd replace it with, I must admit.

[Michebugio]

Why lower attributes than is usual? I mean, if we're talking playable ones, they should likely be on the same power level as the rest of the game, IMO anyway.

Because, quoting from The Silmarillion, orcs were created by Morgoth "in mockery of the elves": you'll notice that their Attribute scores are those of Sylvan Elves, minus 1 each. This is intentional and somehow the reverse of what was done with the Elves of Rivendell: Orcs are wretched and ruined creatures, but they have the huge advantage of being totally "immune" to Corruption (actually, that's simply because they are already totally corrupted).

In terms of skills, Search 3 seems really unnecessary and un-thematic (they aren't quite that good at finding people or things, as a rule), and it seems like they should have either Awe or Battle for purposes of intimidation (likely Battle, since the social uses of Awe seem inappropriate). I'd thus drop Search to 2 and add Battle 2. Travel 3 might also be excessive...or not.

Explore also seems a little weird to be Favored, though I don't know what I'd replace it with, I must admit.

I based the scores on these quotes from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings:

"Orcs made no beautiful things, but many clever ones including machines, tools, weapons, and instruments of torture, were delighted by wheels, engines, and explosions, and could tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled dwarves."

From this I deduct that Craft should be 1 but not more than that (their items are of poor quality), and that the "tunnelling and mining" skills should match those of the dwarves: hence, Search 3 and Explore 2. Explore is Favoured because, if you think about it, Orcs are constantly patrolling wild and dangerous areas, from the depths of the Misty Mountains to the Mirkwood, and crossing those territories should come almost instinctive to them.

Then:

"Orcs were as keen as hounds on a scent, it was said, but they could also climb."

This means at least Athetics 2 and Hunt 2, but that could be even more.


Regarding Travel 3, these are the quotes that made my decision:

"Orcs travel fast"

"Orcs will often pursue foes for many leagues into the plain, if they have a fallen captain to avenge."

"You must dig swift and deep, if you wish to hide from Orcs."

"Dwarves too can go swiftly, and they do not tire sooner than Orcs."

Especially the last one really seems to indicate that Orcs and Dwarves have similar hardiness with regard to travel.


Finally, on Battle: I don't think they should have any point on that. Orcs are a very undisciplined lot, and even Beornings, who are fierce warriors, do not start with any point in that skill. And the Dwarves have only 1 point. This is because Battle is, actually, a mix of tactics, training and discipline on open field maneuvers, rather than actual combat skills (which are covered by the Weapon Skills).

[poosticks7]

This is great, I could see this being a fun one off or mini campaign.

I love what you've come up with so far but perhaps you could take it one step further and actually do cultures for them i.e Moria, Gram, Gundabad. Then there would be more variety in the players. (I know that might be stretching things a little).

Also cultural rewards need doing.

I could actually see my players totally digging the idea of playing lowly orcs as a change of pace.

[Deadmanwalking]

Search doesn't seem nearly as linked to mining as it is to, say, finding people. Which Orcs aren't always very good at. And I'm suggesting dropping it to 2, not removing it altogether.

And the lack of the the ability to intimidate remains a problem. You could do it with Awe instead of Battle if that seemed more appropriate (and it might), but Orcs being flat-out bad at intimidating? That just seems wrong.

And I agree that different cultures seem a good idea. Mordor Orcs or Uruk Hai seem more inclined to Body than Wits, for example.

[Angelalex242]

Uruk Hai would even have normal PC stats, mostly because Saruman's pretty good at violating nature and has a lot of human in the Uruk Hai.

[Glorelendil]

I can't imagine using this in a campaign, but I love this sort of thing anyway.

I'm on my phone but will read more carefully later and give feedback.

[Michebugio]

This is great, I could see this being a fun one off or mini campaign.
I could actually see my players totally digging the idea of playing lowly orcs as a change of pace.

I can't imagine using this in a campaign, but I love this sort of thing anyway.

In fact, this was born out of an idea for a one session (or mini campaign) after we completed Tales from the Wilderland. In the end, the players' Orcs should have battled the NPC version of their previous PCs (and probably get killed)

Also cultural rewards need doing.

I will post them soon. Be patient

Search doesn't seem nearly as linked to mining as it is to, say, finding people. Which Orcs aren't always very good at. And I'm suggesting dropping it to 2, not removing it altogether.

And the lack of the the ability to intimidate remains a problem. You could do it with Awe instead of Battle if that seemed more appropriate (and it might), but Orcs being flat-out bad at intimidating? That just seems wrong.

In my mind, Search works as a kind of "Hunting indoors". Think about how the goblins of Moria tracked down the Fellowship of the Ring in the labyrinthic galleries of the fortress, just because of the sound of a rock thrown in the water by Pippin. That was probably a double Extraordinary Success, both on an Awareness check and on a Search check.
Think also about the Woodmen of Mountain Hall: they have Travel in place of Stealth (they are more used to travel on mountains and valleys, than to hide in woods) and Search in place of Hunting (they work in the mines and trade the ore to live, instead of hunting in the forest).

Regarding Awe: I was very close to giving them a point, but then I remembered that Awe is more than simple intimidation. It's the generic ability to make an impression, good or bad. For example, Dwarves have no points in Awe, but they are nevertheless fearsome warriors: it's just that they are gruff and secretive, so far from being "lordly". Orcs have no social skills except brutal intimidation, which is NOT Awe, in my point of view.

Also, think about the Goblins. Instead of treating them as a separate race (which they are not, by they way), I specifically made two of the backgrounds (Tunnel stalker and Snaga tracker) fitting for "goblin" (a.k.a. smaller orcs). Goblins and Orcs of the Misty Mountains are Cowardly (by the rules in the Loremaster's Book), so it makes less sense for them to be "intimidating": I prefer to leave the choice to players, who can make particularly impressive Orcs by spending some points on Awe.

[poosticks7]

Here is an example of how to use it in a campaign.

The PCs are tracking a group of orcs that have captured someone/something - it is a long distance chase and the LM wants to change things up a little.

As a one off session the players are given orc characters to play (who are being chased by the PCs). Imagine the Uruk Hai chapter from the Two Towers - it really could be something special if the group could pull it off.

That is one example of how you could fit it into a campaign, another might revolve around a band of allusive orcs that are terrorising a region - imagine switching things up and the players are trying to out fox their own characters. You could reward good play with XP for the actual PCs the players usually play.

You need a good group of players to pull it off - but it has potential.

[Fridokind Wargaug]

As orcs being a people entirely bred for fighting, they should start with higher skills in weapons, maybe.

To balance this treat, orcs should have a huge malus for travelling during day. They should acquire 1 or 2 encumbrance for a successful travel roll and 3 or 4 for a failed one (depending on season).

One of my players asked me in our very first session, whether he can play an orc. This will be really good news for him...