I've always been curious about orcs in dnd because of the variety of character art.
Is it personal preference or is there a specific orc style for dnd is there a set style
Im asking because of the massive difference between the world of warcraft orcs Vs lord of the rings orcs Vs Skyrim orcs ect, the barbaric style orcs with green skin and jagged teeth or the more greyish colours with wide teeth.
Orcs vary entirely dependent on the world in which they exist.
So if you have a preferred "style" to your orcs then just make your world the world where those orcs fit! Culture, attitudes, and aesthetics are all entirely different depending on if you're in Azeroth, Toril, or some other world in the wide multiverse of fantasy.
Heck, you could make them vary based on the region of the world that they live in if you wanted to!
It is both the blessing and the curse of TTRPGs that they can be literally everything and anything or nothing entirely dependent on the DM/GM and the player group.
I would say in 1eAD&D orcs were pig faced or of pig decent or however you describe it.
Then in maybe 3e they started to change.
WoW (came out around 3e without checking internet) to differentiate itself and also to ensure no infringement had different art style.
This then led to a change in artist renditions for dnd so video games also influence the look of dnd orcs to what they are now as opposed to how they used to be styled.
So i think the game has had a couple of art styles as you traverse editions.
Add to that DMs/playgroups add their own art styles on top of that and in general you get lots of variation.
As what was already said above, it only matters what your table prefers, there is no absolute.
It depends on the world you are in. In Forgotten Realms there are two distinct orc groups. You have the mountain orcs which were traditional orc barbarian types and then you had the gray orcs which came to Faerun during the Orcgate Wars which are more advance. In spelljammer you have the Scro. After the Elven Navy destroyed the goblinoid/orc fleets, one Orc managed to secret himself and a group of orcs away, they became quite circumspect and turned LE, quite advanced and taught Elven to each of their children so before they would kill an elf they would tell them in perfect elvish why they are killing them.
As you can tell quite a bit of difference between three types of orcs in D&D, the Scro being my favorite with the best development of them all.
Well - in previous editions, orcs were stupid by design, which sort of relegated them to fierce and strong savages, who would have been a credible threat to civilized lands if they had better leadership, better plans, and played better with others.
That's not a thing any more. For good or bad. So now the orcs could be literally anything. It would seem silly and un-orky to have them be a race of fanged, super muscular and aggressive warrior-scientists ... but entirely possible and within your rights. Or, hell, wizard-scientists for that matter.
The one thing that isn't possible, in my opinion, is to have a race of equal intelligence to humans be grunting, slavering, cave dwelling savages.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
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I've always been curious about orcs in dnd because of the variety of character art.
Is it personal preference or is there a specific orc style for dnd is there a set style
Im asking because of the massive difference between the world of warcraft orcs Vs lord of the rings orcs Vs Skyrim orcs ect, the barbaric style orcs with green skin and jagged teeth or the more greyish colours with wide teeth.
Any opinions welcome.
Orcs vary entirely dependent on the world in which they exist.
So if you have a preferred "style" to your orcs then just make your world the world where those orcs fit! Culture, attitudes, and aesthetics are all entirely different depending on if you're in Azeroth, Toril, or some other world in the wide multiverse of fantasy.
Heck, you could make them vary based on the region of the world that they live in if you wanted to!
It is both the blessing and the curse of TTRPGs that they can be literally everything and anything or nothing entirely dependent on the DM/GM and the player group.
Orcs of my campaign are green wth jaggy teeth. Some even have pig nose ..
I would say in 1eAD&D orcs were pig faced or of pig decent or however you describe it.
Then in maybe 3e they started to change.
WoW (came out around 3e without checking internet) to differentiate itself and also to ensure no infringement had different art style.
This then led to a change in artist renditions for dnd so video games also influence the look of dnd orcs to what they are now as opposed to how they used to be styled.
So i think the game has had a couple of art styles as you traverse editions.
Add to that DMs/playgroups add their own art styles on top of that and in general you get lots of variation.
As what was already said above, it only matters what your table prefers, there is no absolute.
Game over man... Game over! -- Pvt. Hudson
It depends on the world you are in. In Forgotten Realms there are two distinct orc groups. You have the mountain orcs which were traditional orc barbarian types and then you had the gray orcs which came to Faerun during the Orcgate Wars which are more advance. In spelljammer you have the Scro. After the Elven Navy destroyed the goblinoid/orc fleets, one Orc managed to secret himself and a group of orcs away, they became quite circumspect and turned LE, quite advanced and taught Elven to each of their children so before they would kill an elf they would tell them in perfect elvish why they are killing them.
As you can tell quite a bit of difference between three types of orcs in D&D, the Scro being my favorite with the best development of them all.
Personally I like the Elder Scrolls aesthethic for Orcs
Per the direction the direction that Wizards wants to go the answer is: yes.
You could leave those details vague and then each player can play their orc the way they envision orcs to be.
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Well - in previous editions, orcs were stupid by design, which sort of relegated them to fierce and strong savages, who would have been a credible threat to civilized lands if they had better leadership, better plans, and played better with others.
That's not a thing any more. For good or bad. So now the orcs could be literally anything. It would seem silly and un-orky to have them be a race of fanged, super muscular and aggressive warrior-scientists ... but entirely possible and within your rights. Or, hell, wizard-scientists for that matter.
The one thing that isn't possible, in my opinion, is to have a race of equal intelligence to humans be grunting, slavering, cave dwelling savages.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.