Orcs

[mike_ravenwood]

I was burning up an Orc when I came across two questions.

1) What is the point of Void Embrace. It lists it as allowing the Orc to recover from tax/sickness. Under the Blasphemous Hatred trait it states that they don't suffer Tax. Which is correct?

2) What exponent does Blasphemous Hatred start at?

[luke]

Ouch! That is some down home errata that you've found, mike!

Orcs DO suffer from Tax. Their art is horribly punishing on their ill-suited frame. Void Embraceis put in first as flavor--orcs get screwed as sorcerers (they are terrible at it!), and second to allow players to create seriously fucked up Orc Sorcerers that can't recover from Tax and are therefore just orcy-missiles. Third, it is a place holder skill. It doesn't have a lot of value in the current set, but I included it so I could develop other special abilities for orcs in the future that would be based on it. (BTW, you could play an Orc w/o it. Get a high starting Forte and cast all your spells Patiently. Can be done! Then VE can be learned in game.)

Blasphemous Hatred should start (and advance) exactly like Faith as described on page 26 of the CB. But, you know, if I had my druthers I might rework Orcy magic a little bit. Basing half of their Sorcery on Faith makes life inordinately hard for them (try to advance your BH! It can really only be done via practice). While this a great "balancer", I don't know if it works. If you are frustrated or stuck with this just use BH as the orc equivalent of Gifted and base Orc spells on Will+Skill.

What happened for your orc's Brutal Life?

-abzu

[mike_ravenwood]

I looked at BH as related to elven grief. using their guidlines for increasing Grief, i estimated that for every action that would way down the soul of an Elf, would increase Orcs hate for the world around them. Excluding the lower levels for minor things like lying, and maybe increasing it for things like disfiguring wounds from their vicious lives. As far as using it for Faith, I had planned to have higher Objectives, for one as a balancing function- they can advance the stat through more than testing, and two, whatever dark thing respondes to their cries for help aren't the most helpful of beings, and there version of help might not be what the orc is crying out for.

as for the Orc I burned, it was just a fancy NPC to trouble my players. He had a few missing digits, and would have fleshed him out a bit more but a excellent bow shot ended his tortured life.

[luke]

Damn it, why didn't I think of that?

Of course it should mirror Grief! Of course, of course, of course.

If it does, though, there should be an attendant limit, just like Grief. How about, "Madness." Eventually the orc is so filled with rage and hate that he becomes a raving lunatic.

Right right right. And BH can then be used like Faith alone? (It should still cause Tax, though. It's bad!) And when combined with the Rituals it can be used to cast specific spells? Hm, but Faith and Sorcery are really two opposed philosophies.

Fuck Blasphemous Hatred. It should just be called "Hatred". Every orc should get it, like grief for elves. But only orcs who buy the Blasphemous trait should get the spell casting abilities. This would allow us to base some skills/effects on the orc's Hatred (like Berserker?) while limiting the big magic to the Servants.

I will think more on this. I am in the middle of creating two other variants for system mechanics. I will get back to this one next.

-abzu

ps I HATE well placed bow shots.

[mike_ravenwood]

If mixing the two magics rubs you the wrong way, have two variations. One version allows use as faith. Calling upon darker forces to aid the "faithful". Other version of the trait, allows the Rituals. applying the rituals ( the two skills ) fueled by the overwhelming Hatred. This way the Orcs have Priest and Wizards. The Priests are in tune with Evil Deities of destruction and pain. While the their casters can call upon the dark forces around them to bring unholy creatures to their aid...maybe, and casts some destructive magic. Their magic is more primative though, requiring blood sacrifices and is very ritualistic. Perhaps for those with the BH trait, when they max out at 10, they are taken by those same dark forces they called upon and they are trasformed into lessor demons or some supernatural mostrousity. As a payment for the aid they were given in life, their lives now belong to the Dark... just a thought.

[luke]

this is another direction completely. It sounds like you are leaning toward just making Orcs use the SUMMONING (http://www.burningwheel.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownload&cid=5) rules which detail all the bargaining and soul-loss and transformation when dealing with "dark creatures." This would be pretty easy to do. Just add the Orc summoning spells to the Spirit Callings list, essentially making them Anima Callings (which is exactly what they are).

Making vanilla orc priests and wizards is another option. It is definitely the easy way out. But it is so, well, vanilla. I really try to give each culture/race its own unique magical voice. And the priest/wizard dialectic is already firmly esconced for men.

I like your initial idea of basing their powers on their Hatred in reflection of their opposition to elves. The real problem arose when I tried to mix faith and sorcery to create something new. Changing this is going to fundamentally change orc magic--either taking something away or adding something new. But I don't think it really works as is. Well, I mean, it works now, but I see problems for it in the future.

hm............

Tangentally: Orcs are tough to make. If you want to create more than fodder, make sure you give them an extra lifepath or two-- 5-7 lps makes some tough ass orcs. Servants are also very hard to make powerful with just a few lifepaths. Their life is exceptionally hard and it takes a number of paths for them to really plateau into a comfortable playing level.

-abzu-hmmmmmmmmmm
::revising character sheet::

[luke]

well, i went and did it. i took a crack at revamping Orc magic.

click here to hate (http://www.burningwheel.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownload&cid=7)

check it out.

[mike_ravenwood]

Looks pretty cool, definately rounds out the Orcs with a little flare. Should make for some interesting new encounters.
Thanks for adding me to the Designer's Notes!!! I showed my girlfriend but she just shook her head and walked away... god I'm a geek : )
Oh well I wouldn't have it any other way.