Half-Orc
The original orcs were created by the one-eyed god Gruumsh at the dawn of this world. They are one of the first intelligent beings that lived here, together with the dragons, dwarves and lizardfolk, even though intelligent might be stretching it.
Gruumsh created the orcs in his image, a brutish, aggressive and savage folk, that only knew conquering and breeding. Their only purpose was to destroy and to make the world theirs. The god was a controlling god, never letting his creations any amount of freedom, instantly smiting those who disobeyed or were different from his vision.
Nature finds a Way
No matter how powerful a god is, they are not omnipotent. The orcs spread to all corners of the world. Sometimes a change in an orc was too subtle to be recognized at first, or happened while Gruumsh was otherwise engaged. At other times lesser gods like Maglubiyet or Hruggek, who did not have the power to create their own folk, influenced and hid orcs that were changed, in order to have their own servitor folk.
Being one of the creatures most prone to evolutionary change, this has slowly given rise to many kinds of creatures, like hobgoblins, bugbears and different breeds of goblins. They might seem completely different to orcs, but still share the same origin, even though they would never recognize that fact.
Most of orcish descendants still carry with them the evil taint of Gruumsh, with one noteable exception, the folk called half-orcs. They have escaped the gaze of their creator and are free to choose their own fate. Some people believe that they are called half-orcs because only one of their parents is orc, but that is not true, as orcs cannot produce progeny with other folk.
The name is simply because other civilized folk still see them as orcs, while orcs see them as enemies, and they are caught in between. Never fully accepted on either side, they see themselves as being half in one world and half in the other.
The Mark of Gruumsh
The one-eyed god Gruumsh created the orcs, and even those orcs who turn away from his worship can’t fully escape his influence. The same is true of half-orcs. Some half-orcs hear the whispers of Gruumsh in their dreams, calling them to unleash the rage that simmers within them. Others feel Gruumsh’s exultation when they join in melee combat - and either exult along with him or shiver with fear and loathing.
Half-orcs are not evil by nature, but evil does lurk within them, whether they embrace it or rebel against it. Beyond the rage of Gruumsh, half-orcs feel emotion powerfully. Rage doesn’t just quicken their pulse, it makes their bodies burn. An insult stings like acid, and sadness saps their strength. But they laugh loudly and heartily, and simple bodily pleasures- feasting, drinking, wrestling, drumming, and wild dancing- fill their hearts with joy. They tend to be short-tempered and sometimes sullen, more inclined to action than contemplation and to fighting than arguing. The most accomplished half-orcs are those with enough self control to get by in a civilized land.
Tribes and Slums
Half-orcs most often live in small tribes, isolated from other civilization. Of the other folk, humans are most likely to accept half-orcs, and half-orcs almost always live in human lands when not living among their own tribes. Whether proving themselves among rough barbarian tribes or scrabbling to survive in the slums of larger cities, half-orcs get by on their physical might, their endurance and sheer determination.
Scarred and Strong
Half-orcs’ grayish pigmentation, sloping foreheads, jutting jaws, prominent teeth, and towering builds make their orcish heritage plain for all to see. Half-orcs stand between 6 and 7 feet tall and usually weigh between 180 and 250 pounds.
Half-Orc Names
Half-orcs usually have names appropriate to the culture in which they were raised, orcish in their own tribes or a human name if living among humans. They do not use surnames or clan names, but might add a descriptive last name, such as Skullsplitter, Bearhunter or the Tough.
A half-orc who wants to fit in among humans might trade an orc name for a human name. Some half-orcs with human names decide to adopt a guttural orc name because they think it makes them more intimidating.
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Male Orc Names: Dench, Feng, Gell, Henk, Holg, Imsh, Keth, Krusk, Mhurren, Ront, Shump, Thokk
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Female Orc Names: Baggi, Emen, Engong, Kansif, Myev, Neega, Ovak, Ownka, Shautha, Sutha, Vola, Volen, Yevelda
Half-orc traits
Your half-orc character has certain traits deriving from your orc ancestry.
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Ability Score Increase. Your Strength and Constitution ability scores, both current and maximum, increase by 2, while your maximum Intelligence ability score is reduced by 2.
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Age. Half-orcs mature a little faster than humans, reaching adulthood around age 14. They age noticeably faster and rarely live longer than 75 years.
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Alignment. Half-orcs are no longer slaves of Gruumsh, and his dark will is harbored no more within their souls. As such, half-orcs tend towards neutrality rather than evil, with an equal predisposition for both chaos and law
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Languages. You know Common and Orc. Orc is a harsh, grating language with hard consonants. It has no script of its own.
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Size. Half-orcs are somewhat larger and bulkier than humans, and they range from 5 to well over 6 ft tall. Your size is Medium.
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Speed. Your base speed is 30 ft.
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Low-light Vision. Thanks to your orc blood, you have superior vision. You can see in dim light as if it were bright light, and an additional 60 ft into darkness as if it were dim light.
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Menacing. All Intimidation skills cost 0 to you.
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Relentless Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
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Savage Attacks. When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
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Dense. (If either Intelligence or Wisdom are 6 or lower, or both 8 or lower, you also have this trait.) You are too dull-witted for magic that twists the senses to affect your mind. You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.
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In addition you can choose (or roll with 20% chance each) any of the following traits:
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Ironguts: Orcs eat almost exclusively meat, and can even eat meat on the edge of rotting. You have inherited the strong stomach from your orcish ancestry, allowing you to roll all saving throws against ingested poisons with advantage. However, this has also killed your sense of taste, causing you to have disadvantage on all Perception checks concerning taste or smell.
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Razortusk: Your powerful jaws and steely teeth are deadly enough to give you a bite attack. The attack deals 1d4 + your Strength modifier piercing damage and you are considered proficient. This also gives you a more fearsome appearance, causing you to have disadvantage on all Charisma ability checks, except Intimidation, against non-orcs.
Half-Orc Class Options
A half-orc approaches some classes is a bit different than other races. When you select one of these classes, it is modified as follows:
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Alchemist
Hmmm… who knew such a strange thing existed. An orc alchemist tend to be more brash when it comes to tasting their experiments. If you do not have it already, you gain the trait Ironguts described above.
The downside is that you do not have the alchemist feature Studious Expertise.
However, the upside is that your bombs and poison concoctions are not deadly to ingest for you. In fact, even though they taste terrible, they can function as potion concoctions when you drink them.
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Barbarian
Half-orc barbarians gain the following trait at 1st level.
Blood vengeance
Seeing an ally fall in combat fills you with a raging and murderous fury. Whenever one of your allies is reduced to 0 hit points, you may rage as a reaction. This does not spend any of your fury, but your attacks have to focus on the cause of your ally’s fall. The rage ends if the ally is brought up above 0 hp, or if you no longer focus on the primary enemy.
In addition, you have access to the Eye of Gruumsh path.
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Bard
Orc music is basically a lot of drumming, not rarely on the skulls of their vanquished enemies. If you use a drum as your focus, you can keep a bardic song going with only the instrument. This means you can still talk, and even cast spells requiring only verbal components while playing.
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Cavalier
Orcs have a special connection to dire wolfs, and as a half-orc cavalier you share that connection. You may have one as your steed. However, since you are only a half-orc, the cooperation is not optimal, and it looses the Pack tactics trait.
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Cleric
Religious half-orc are often extremely devoted. As a creature not fully accepted in any culture, they can find religion as a way to really fit in somewhere.
Tenacious survivor
When you die due to failing too many death saves, your spirit lingers long after any other would have passed on. For a number of rounds equal to your Constitution modifier after you failed your last death save, you can still be brought back to life with magical healing.
In addition, whenever the Cleric class description mentions your Wisdom modifier, you may instead use your proficiency bonus.
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Cursed
Half-orcs can become cursed just as most other folk. You may choose Wisdom or Charisma as your spellcasting ability instead of Intelligence. You make this choice at level 1 and cannot change this later.
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Druid
Your savage attacks trait is applicable on all attacks in wild shape in addition to weapon attacks. In addition, any form you wild shape into will have +2 Strength.
Note that if you are reduced to 0 hp in your beast form, the relentless endurance trait is not triggered.
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Feyblood
No change.
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Fighter
As a half-orc fighter you may use your proficiency bonus instead of your ability score bonus when calculating AC and initiative.
In addition you gain the Blood rage trait.
Blood rage
Whenever you use your relentless endurance trait, you may instantly enter a blood rage. You have advantage on all melee attack rolls, double your crit range and double all damage dice. The rage remains as long as you stay at 1 hp.
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Inquisitor
Just as any other religious half-orcs, those that choose the path of the inquisitor are often extremely devoted. As a creature not fully accepted in any culture, they can find religion as a way to really fit in somewhere.
You gain the tenacious survivor trait from the cleric section.
Whenever the Inquisitor class description mentions your Wisdom modifier, you may instead use this modifier +3 or your proficiency bonus, whichever is lower. In addition, you may use the same modifier instead of Strength or Dexterity when attacking. Make this choice at level 1 and it cannot be changed later.
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Paladin
As most half-orcs are outcasts, many half-orc paladins recognizes that often those who are monstrous are not necessarily evil and that sometimes even those who are evil became that way because of circumstances and misfortune. Some half-orc paladins take up these misunderstood creatures as their cause, standing up for the monstrous creatures and, when possible, leading them to the light. These paladins are called Redeemers.
Whenever the Paladin class description mentions your Strength or Charisma modifier, you may instead use that modifier +3 or your proficiency bonus, whichever is lower. This also applies to attack and damage rolls.
In addition you gain the blood rage trait from the fighter section.
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Professional
Half-orcs are not known for their skills with crafting, but rather the opposite, being shoddy craftsmen.
A half-orc professional can use his quick study feature to gain proficiency with weapons, armor or shields in addition to the other choices.
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Ranger
Half-orc generally prefer being up close to their enemies, so they often prefer melee weapons to ranged weapons.
You gain the following trait:
Smell fear
Your keen senses can actually smell fear, allowing you to stalk and track quarry that is in fear even in total darkness.
In addition, whenever the Ranger class description mentions your Wisdom modifier you may instead your proficiency bonus. In addition, you may use the same modifier instead of Strength for attack and damage.
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Rogue
Pushed into a life of crime by the society around them, half-orcs gravitate toward criminal activities that suit them best. Half-orc rogues leave subtle tactics and finesse to halflings and humans, and rely on brute strength and thuggery when they go about making mischief.
You gain the Brute force trait.
Brute force
You gain rank with the Club weapon group and can perform sneak attacks with such weapons, even if it lacks the finesse property.
In addition you can use the bonus action granted by cunning action to make a Strength check to grapple or shove an opponent within reach.
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Sorcerer
As a half-orc spellcaster, you can use you superior body mass to smash the target of a spell attack.
You gain the Spell smash trait.
Spell smash
You can smash an enemy as part of casting an attack spell (i.e. uses an attack roll). If you do, add your Strength ability modifier instead of your spellcasting ability for the attack roll. If you hit, also add bludgeoning damage equal to your Strength modifier in addition to the normal effects.
When casting a ranged spell this way, it counts as a melee spell and does not have disadvantage against adjacent targets.
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Swashbuckler
Half-orcs are usually too large and bulky to choose this way of life. So you are either a very lithe half-orc or an extremely confident and/or lucky half-orc, maybe a little stupid as well. Select on of the following:
If you are a half-orc of smaller stature, with gloves and a hood you could probably pass yourself of as a human.
If you are the second option, you may reduce your Intelligence by 2 and increase Luck by 2. Whenever a class feature uses Intelligence, you may use your Luck instead. In addition, you confidence is so extreme, that it leaves astonished people in its wake. When you use the supreme confidence feature to gain advantage on Charisma checks and succeed with the check, it also functions similar to a command spell with a slightly longer duration (at DMs discretion).
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Warlock
You gain the spell smash trait from the sorcerer section.
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Wizard
You gain the spell smash trait from the sorcerer section.