Astlanian, and for that matter all "real orcs" are a bit more complex as there are several very different races of orcs. Which race or races you have tends to depend on what world or region you are in.

The races come from how the different orc tribes descend from the older jotnar races.

Where the multiple races, or "tribes" of orcs have formed Hordes, there is often a lot of cross breeding so you end up with quite a lot of mixes.

In fact, in Astlan and the worlds of it' local verse you find a great deal of variety.

Physical differences that come from original orc races:

Skin tone from most common to least common: Green (ish), Brown (ish), Grey (ish), Red (ish)
Tusk size: Huge, Large, Medium, Small, nearly non-existent (often with half orcs)
Overall physical size.
In general, most are larger than humans both in height and BMI, they are just beefier.
That being said, there are some that are only a bit taller than humans and less bulky than usual orcs.
Nearly all have very strong bones and pronounced skull features. They have excellent constitutions. Stamina is also quite high.

Sort of as a guideline: The greener or browner, the bigger the tusks and overall size, although the reddish ones are often more on the order of the Brownish ones in terms of size. But there can be exceptions for individuals. Greyish orcs tend to be thinner, and sometimes taller. Very much like a Peter Jackson orc.

I would argue that physical characteristics go hand in hand with that same guideline, the bigger, the stronger, more endurance etc.

And to some extent, the same might be said of intelligence and wisdom, particularly wisdom. Shamans are not typically the largest/strongest orcs. Intelligence is culturally based. D&D measures it in human and elven terms so it's naturally biased against orcs. So the question is how much of this is biological and how much is cultural or occupational?

The biggest orcs are often the most aggressive warriors, and often perceived as the dumbest. They are also the orcs most other races see as these guys are most likely carrying out routine R&P operations on the other races. But this is a stereotype for humans as well.

But, I do think that Grishnakh, Thargus and others on the Skull Crusher would say that "ogres are pretty stupid" and those orc races closer to ogres tend to be stupid, burly orcs as well.

So that's probably not a huge amount of help, but the sheer variety of the race (and yes this comes from excessive R&P operations) makes it hard to pin down.

T-A-G did a quick search to find Orc characteristics in "Animus" the RPG he co-wrote, which takes place in Astlan, a very long time ago but was unable to quickly find the orc character traits (stuff is scattered in lots of files many of which are in extinct word processing formats)

As far as D'Orcs: All of the first generation D'Orcs are at least Greater Demons. later generations, particularly children may only be Major Demons.

The D'Orc regiment commanders are archdemons. Book III is the first time we start to see the D'Orcs actually using their more demonic like powers, but there is a lot more coming as we get to know them and see them in action.

D'Orcs all speak "Universal" so can communicate with anyone anywhere.

Orcs speak trade (or common for where the live), almost all speak Doom Orcish or some variant, if they were ever part of the Doompire (some may not have been). Many (particularly leaders and shamans) speak variants of Jotunish, including various ogrish dialects. It is not uncommon for them to speak gnoll, gnome, koboldish, or some Dok Alfar tongues.

The whole sunlight thing is libelous propaganda. Yes, there may be some more underground races that have that issue, but a huge number of orcs are nomadic and roam plains following game herds, etc. Think Dothraki.

Actually, I think the greyish ones tend to be more underground, they may be a little bit sensitive. Haven't deal with them a lot.

Oh, yeah, and the Visterothi do have some issues, but that's a side affect of their unlife immunity.

And, yes, Visterothi tend to be very tall, and thinner than the average orc. Again, side affect of genetic manipulation. They started out much like the other orc races and evolved.

Tizzy

Unfortunately, no where at the moment.

We did quite a bit of beta testing with players near me and the other author of the game, however, we both got tied up with our dissertations and then day jobs and never finalized and published it.

To be honest, it was a bit of work for players (including the game master or AM). Everything was pretty complex, particularly when trying to generate higher level mana wielding characters.

The magic system is exactly what is described on this site and in the books, the only thing you don't see here are the numbers and probabilities. But, for example, all that astrology and elemental affiliations? That has a numeric impact on your chance of casting a spell correctly. E.g. your astrological sign and element, and the current astrological month and element, positive and negative. They are small modifiers of 5% or less, but if you are trying to cast something really difficult, you want to align the stars/time of casting with the spell and your own sign/element. Every little bit helps.

In the books, Lenamare can pretty much ignore such things, because he's so experienced He only has to worry when casting really high spells, e.g. teens (13th) or higher, and for those, just obtaining the spells and components is a major quest.

Jenn and Gastrope' however can't. That's why for example, your school, pyromancy, conjuror, thaumaturgy are important. If you want to succeed, you need to align your sign/element with the professions. Yes, a feminine water sign can do pyromancy, or pyromantic spells, but they aren't as good at it as a masculine fire sign. Interestingly actual gender is less important than your lunar affiliation.

As does your level vs the level of the spell. If you've got the mana, you can try to cast any spell you have/find/know. Of course, part of knowing is being high enough level/experience to understand the spell, and thus trying to cast a spell you found way above your current level means a high chance of failure...or fumble.

Yes, you can fumble a magic spell and it may not be pleasant.

As some example:


Spell Code: W18IC-D1h-R1000-A2500

Wizard spell, 18th level, Indirect, Conjury, Duration 1 Hour, Range: 1000 ft, Area 2500 square feet.

Obviously, Exador's are bigger, they last until he's done with them, and can be considerably bigger. That is covered with the Upgrade code, the additional mana required to increase the area and duration of the spell.

Of course, I love this particular spell, I doubt Lenamare knows it, and if he does he's not that stupid.




Wizards and Clerics were pretty normal, just a bit more number intensive, but animages and some types of druids/shamans got very complicated for the AM (AniMaster) because the player has to describe exactly what they are doing and the logic underpinning it, and then the AM adjudicates their chance of success based on how close it is to "known effect difficulty levels"

For lesser affects and a high level animage, or well documented affect (e.g. the Form of Fire) it was straight forward. But animages can come up with about any variant they can think of, or something not even listed as a "known effect & difficulty"

Most of the beta adventures took place in Gizzor Del, but there were some in Freehold and the Council States.

The combat system was similar to Steve Jackson games. It was figure/hex based and you literally had to be behind your target to backstab it. The combat was every bit as complicated as the spell casting.

It's funny, the other author did the combat system, I did the magic system, and completely independently, they both wound up being intensive and time consuming. A single dungeon adventure could last a very long time.

We both did the character creation was also intense and intricate accounting for lots and lots of possibilities and variations.

For highly experienced Necromancers:



Wizard, 15th level, Indirect, Necromancy, Duration 1 hour, Range 10000 ft, Area: basically the area around the caster within range, e.g. 1000 ft radius.

I want this game to exist. I need to play it. I would gladly help finish it.

Edited by user Saturday, August 31, 2019 12:12:33 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

WWLD. That is both creepy, scary, and hilarious. Also, I can't count.

It would be nice to have Animus, but to be honest, it would just be a curiosity. I have no time to play, nor a group to play with, so it'd just be me giving you more money. Not a bad thing, mind you.

I suspect that people who like your books sir, are ones willing to put in the time and effort to play a more complicated game. And really? Who WOULDN'T want to play a D'Orc?

An ascendable/worthy D'Orc "orc" would probably be a 25th level barbarian. An actual several thousand year old D'Orc would be much much higher (probably--although not all are---this is actually something that will start to be discussed in the coming books, including OOA)

Tizzy would not care if you didn't play.

He would only want to ensure that you bought every rulebook, expansion, module, playset, licensed figures, etc that were issued.

What is this sleep thing of which you speak?

I vaguely remember it before Tizzy showed up on my doorstep.

He's busy during the day, when I am "expected" to write. I guess he's doing the stuff I am writing about.

He then shows up around my bed time and hovers over my bed telling me his adventures and/or haranguing me to write faster.

Thankfully, I pass out before too long due to second hand smoke...this lasts until the smoke alarm wakes me in the morning and I get up to open some windows and doors.

Unfortunately, passing out due to second hand demon weed is not conducive to restful sleep because I end up wandering around the astral plane all night and that is not as fun as it seems.

I was actually thinking about that at the gym yesterday.

Divine Ascension was always an "iffy" thing in D&D, starting with "Gods, Demigods and Heroes" which basically sent Monty (sic) Haul players into over drive.

Of course, no player of mine, ever accused me of running Monty Haul dungeons, far from it. However, I enjoyed dragging my own favorite characters into dungeons operated by such DM's, and even got one Divine Ascensed. And, let's just say it got crazy.

So that is definitely problematic for any game.

However, one expansion module I thought of for a new release would be The Abyssal Adventures Handbook.

In this version, players can create newly enslaved demon characters, enslaved to an NPC wizard (the GM of course) who would send the newbie demon on quests and tasks. Now, obviously where the cheating comes in is the die roll that determines what level you show up at.

I am thinking, no one comes in higher than a Fiend, and most likely you start as a Sprite or Imp, or maybe a Shadow for very skilled players.

Even so, an imp or sprite would be higher level than a normal 1st level character, and a fiend would start even higher. Actually, I have the levels written down somewhere. It's in the "Monster Manual" section. Have to dig that up.

OMG: I just found my random demon creation tables! I forgot I even have those, these would be perfect for creating the appearance of a demon character. There are die roll tables for shape, color, horns, wings, skin, mouth/teeth, ears, nose everything.

Then there is the demonic offspring table. I do remember that one.

EEK: Just found Tom's character sheet! He was never actually played as a character, we never got anyone high enough level to not be squashed by him.