Half-Orcs Revisited [Hackmaster]

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. - Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

I am not overly happy with the current half-orc; they’re deeply cast into a stereotype, with a huge deficit of ability score points that other races do not have, and with every attribute except Dexterity profoundly impacted by their race. The half-orc statistics don’t match up with the half-orc description, and I want to align them more closely with the half-orcs described, rather than the ones statted. Here’s my proposed changes:

New Half-Orc at a Glance

Ability adjustments
+2 Strength
-1 Intelligence
-1 Wisdom
+2 Constitution
-3 Looks

Half-Orc Pros
*low light vision
*One free purchase of the Listening skill
*Size medium for HP (i.e. 10 hp + CON + class roll)
*Gain Tough as Nails as free talent plus additional free talent from following: Fast Healer, Long Distance Running or Pain Tolerant
*Free Hiking/Road Marching Proficiency
*Native Human Language
*Passing: Half-orcs might pass for human; based on their Looks after Step 5 of character creation, they have a 7% chance per point of Looks to pass as human in most circumstances. Subsequent changes to Looks (due to quirks and flaws, effects of criticals, or points spent to increase Looks at level up) do not affect this chance. It is rolled only once. If able to pass for human, they may do so with an Unskilled Disguise check.

Half-Orc Cons
*Half-orcs who cannot or will not pass for human have a terrible reputation. They receive a -8 reaction penalty from dwarves and gnome titans, a -10 reaction from pixie-faeries, and a -4 from almost everyone else (these are the penalties from Racial Preferences, as laid out in the PH and GMG). Only Grel and other half-orcs do not intensely dislike them. “Passing” half-orcs who are discovered must immediately reroll encounter reactions with this penalty.

Preferential talent access
May purchase the following Talents at 50% BP cost
Poison Resistant
Resolute
Tough Hide

Class Costs
Fighter: 20 Assassin: 25 Fighter/Thief: 25
Thief: 25 Barbarian: 35 Cleric: 35
Fighter/Mage: 50 Mage/Thief: 50 Ranger: 50
Mage: 75 Rogue: 75

***

So, what changes, and why?

The Charisma penalty is completely eliminated. Half-orcs are often bold and brash; they’re not wilting and unable to command respect, save from the folks who dislike them for their race. They do not need a hard charisma penalty; that is built in via the Racial Preference adjustments to Reaction checks, and the inherent penalty due to their lower Looks. Half-orcs are no longer paradoxically the worst race at Intimidation. So, remove the Charisma penalty.

My next target? The Wisdom penalty. Half-orcs are not known for their fine sense of empathy, it is true, but Wisdom is “a combination of how practically a person thinks, her good judgment, willpower, strong headedness and how well she can sense the emotions and feelings of others.” Willpower, strong-headedness, and practicality are hallmarks of the standard half-orc. Furthermore, “While they are much stronger than the average human, unlike orcs they have full control over their tempers and violent side.” (PH, p 32). There’s no self-control problem for half-orcs. They should be “selectively vicious”, as page 33 of the PH exhorts their player. Eliminate the Wisdom penalty, or reduce it to -1 and the Intelligence penalty to the same; a bit more brash and less educated than a human in similar circumstances, but not, effectively, subtracting a die from each. With a +2 to Strength, +2 to Con, but a -1 to Intelligence and Wisdom, and a -3 to Looks, they have a net -1 to their attributes, and their impressive bonus Talents are offset by the severe penalties to Reaction Rolls.

Speaking of talents, a shake-up. Instead of free Tough Hide (orcs are noted as having a DR of 0 when unarmored), they instead have Tough as Nails… still very tough, but it manifests as “not as likely to be ToPd” rather than “Takes less damage”. Tough Hide is reduced to a cheap talent, rather than an expensive freebie.

I also added “Passing for Human”. The PH notes that “A few can pass as fully human (those with higher Looks and Charisma, generally) and may not even know of their heritage, while others more resemble orcs than humans.” I tagged this solely to Looks, but their Charisma still plays a role, as it’s an untrained Disguise check (which hinges on Intelligence and Charisma). This roll should also be allowed for sil-karg and half-elves (I included it in my revised sil-karg write up).