An Orcish Dream

[alex_greene]

I'd had a weird dream this morning. I thought I'd share it.

Legend: An Orcish Dream

I'm tempted to stat it up as a full Legend adventure (you'd need the Legend Core Rulebook and Monsters of Legend, and optionally Cities of Legend: Skaar, City of Orcs). What do you think?

 

[MongooseMatt]

Would _Love_ to see this...

 

[warlock1971]

Great detail, would be awesome to see this a reality.

 

[alex_greene]

Would _Love_ to see this...

If that's an invitation, I'll get on with it. I'll email you.

 

[Prime_Evil]

Would _Love_ to see this...

If that's an invitation, I'll get on with it. I'll email you.

I certainly hope so!

The hints about your vision for Orc culture are intriguing - the orcs have a bit of a Klingon vibe, but with a ritualistic angle that is original.

Hmmm...I wonder if it would be possible to have a setting where Orcs focus on spirit magic rather than divine magic and the historical conflicts between them and humans is largely due to religious intolerance? Perhaps humans believe in the divine powers and Orcs have an animistic view of the universe? That could be an interesting approach that gets away from mere competition for territory.

 

[Simulacrum]

If you can give Legend orcs a treatment that reinvents what we expect from the name while playing to few typical preconceptions, as Glorantha did for trolls, that would be great

 

[alex_greene]

If you can give Legend orcs a treatment that reinvents what we expect from the name while playing to few typical preconceptions, as Glorantha did for trolls, that would be great

Orc Week

Orc Week: Images of Orcs

More to come, as soon as I write up more about these creatures.

I mean, you've had your adventurers fight against them so long, have you ever wondered about trying to make them your own creation, giving them your own vision of them rather than using a third - generation idea based on some other guy's work?

Here's my vision. As for where I'll take them - that's a matter for my current adventure module WIP, The Blood Path, and possibly future modules and articles.

 

[Prime_Evil]

One thing worth pointing out is that for a lot of the young 'uns out there, the dominant image of Orcs in fantasy is not derived from Tolkien, but rather from World of Warcraft. And this portrayal is far more sympathetic than that provided by Tolkien...

After all, the various Warcraft games presented Orcs as a playable race and invited (human) players to identify closely with them. Their struggle against human intolerance and oppression was closely modeled on the struggles of native peoples against colonialism. In many ways, the Warcraft games depict Orcs as "noble savages" in the tradition of Rousseau whose struggle against "civilizing" human oppression was seen as a fight to maintain their own cultural traditions - including an animistic spirituality and a close link to their ancestral territory. This was a bold reinterpretation of "Orcishness" and it is a tribute to the skill of the folks at Blizzard that it has largely displaced the older images of Orcs in the minds of teenagers around the world. If you look for images of Orcs on Deviant Art or similar sites, you will find that roughly 60% of them are sympathetic portrayals that draw on the tradition established by World of Warcraft rather than Tolkien (Heack...there's even a whole trope of sexy orc warrior women out there, which just proves that Rule 34 is true :lol: ).

 

[alex_greene]

One thing worth pointing out is that for a lot of the young 'uns out there, the dominant image of Orcs in fantasy is not derived from Tolkien, but rather from World of Warcraft. And this portrayal is far more sympathetic than that provided by Tolkien...

Coolness. However, I've never played WoW, or any other MMORPG. Whatever similarities I come up with between my conception and World of Warcraft will be entirely coincidental and thus untainted by exposure to those games.

Besides, I want to explore my own ideas about what would make orcs playable, including their culture, expectations, tastes and mores.

However, the Rule 34 kids are spot on with the idea of sexy orc dames.

 

[Prime_Evil]

Coolness. However, I've never played WoW, or any other MMORPG. Whatever similarities I come up with between my conception and World of Warcraft will be entirely coincidental and thus untainted by exposure to those games.

It still kind of reflects the other side of the conflicted Western notions of "primitive" peoples though - on the one hand the orcs are the threatening marauders of Tolkien who hate "civilisation", but on the other hand they are the noble savages of WoW who are closer to nature than humans and have a deep spiritual connection to the natural world. In some ways, I see these as two sides of the same coin.

If you go right back to the original Old English source material, orcs were defined by the fact that they were "outsiders" who dwelt in the wilderness:

Þyrs sceal on fenne gewunian ana innan lande.

They were certainly inimical to humanity, but the reason for this was never revealed. There are hints that they were part of a shadowy category of creatures that also included trolls and giants, but nothing as formal as the elaborate taxonomies of humanoids that appear in modern RPGs. Beyond those few mythic elements, pretty much everything is a modern invention.

There may be some additional inspiration gleaned from the fact that the term Orc is cognate with the early Italian orco ("man-eating ogre") and may have some relationship with Orcus, the early Roman (possibly Etruscan??) god of the dead. Also, it is worth noting that the term ork in Old Saxon meant strength or might or capability...a term that may be distantly related to the English "work". Compare the Swedish orka (stamina), Icelandic orka (energy), German werk, etc. This hints at a being with physical strength and stamina...plus a possible association with physical labour.

Besides, I want to explore my own ideas about what would make orcs playable, including their culture, expectations, tastes and mores.

That's a good approach. I'd be wary of simply inverting the tropes inherited from Tolkien though.

However, the Rule 34 kids are spot on with the idea of sexy orc dames.

Rule 34 of the internet states that if it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions.

(Warning: Do NOT Google this with safe search turned off. Otherwise you need to make a SAN roll immediately...)

 

[alex_greene]

Orc Week: Orcs and Water

The next piece of the puzzle. GM instructions on tuning up your orcs, and blurring the lines between monsters.