Do Orcs make good Clerics?

I recently remembered the Orc Eye of Gruumsh from the 2014 Monster Manual. I noticed that all of its spells are Cleric spells, and that gave me an idea for an Orc War Domain Cleric character. The problem is that since Orcs are basically designed to be martial classes, I'm not sure how suitable the Cleric class is for an Orc. I know picking Protector for the Divine Order feature is an option for a martial-inclined character, but I've heard people say how bad Protector is compared to Thaumaturge. Should I go through with the idea?

The impact of species choice on class choice in 5.5e (and even 5e, with TCoE rules for ability scores) is pretty minimal, unless you're really into hyper-optimization of game mechanics. Any species can be a good Cleric.

Protector is not spectacular, but it's fine. The issue with it is that Clerics don't get access to Weapon Mastery features, and (aside from War Clerics, a limited number of times) can't generally make more than one weapon attack in a turn. This means that you will still generally be dealing more damage with cantrips than with weapon attacks, especially if you take Potent Spellcasting at level 7. But damage output isn't everything, especially not for a Cleric, and the difference isn't all that huge; the heavy armor training alone might be worth taking Protector.

If your goal is to be a front-line smashy smashy Cleric, another approach (especially if you're starting at a higher level than 1) is to take a level of Fighter first, then multiclass into Cleric. One level of Fighter at the bottom gets you everything that Protector does — so you can take Thaumaturge and thus effectively have both options — as well as a Fighting Style feat and Weapon Mastery.

I think Orc is a great species for Cleric, perhaps one of the best (if we're talking 2024 species).

Many Clerics don't have much to do with their Bonus Action (now that Spiritual Weapon requires concentration), so Orc's Adrenaline Rush allows them to turn it into 2X mobility and some extra HP at the same time. This is of course very helpful for reaching your melee targets, but it also pairs really well with Spirit Guardians, allowing you to hit most of the battlefield.

Of course, if you're going War Domain, there would be some competition for your Bonus Action, but it could be good to have both options, since they are both limited use. And Orc's second survivability feature, Relentless Endurance, is also of course great for frontline combat. 

Not sure I'd say Protector is bad, especially if you're planning on a martial build. Quite the opposite: Heavy Armor & Martial weapon helps you get the most out of melee combat. I think many often go with Thaumaturge with non-martial Clerics for the extra cantrip and a little more skill, since you can still get pretty decent AC with Cleric's Medium Armor & a decent DEX score of 14. You should definitely feel good about Protector if you are going for a melee Cleric, I'd say.

What level is your campaign reaching?

In the unlikely event you reach level 20, you may wish to go Protectorate and not take the Fighter dip at the beginning. Getting access to wish, even if it is 2d4 long rests of a cooldown can be very powerful. …at least in my opinion. Can’t say I’ve ever been in a position to use the wish spell.

Then again, you get stuff sooner if you start Fighter, but then you put of your other Cleric abilities by a level. Is it worth it? I’m very curious, especially since I’m considering purchasing Arcane Unleashed and would want to make an Arcana Domain Cleric build to have just in case.

In 2024 rules, orc is an excellent cleric. Adrenaline surge isn't a big deal, but one of the most important jobs of a cleric is to stay up (as long as the cleric is up, the rest of the party can go down and you can still recover), and Relentless Endurance is made for staying up.

I think both features are great for a Cleric, though I wouldn't pick a species or subclass specifically for a feature that triggers only when you drop to 0. 

Mobility for a Cleric running Spirit Guardians is pretty potent, I can attest. Each target you hit is +3d8 of extra damage (or half). Adrenaline Surge doubles your mobility to at least 60, likely enough to get most/all enemies and end on a preferred spot. Since you likely wouldn't be doing much else with your Bonus Action other than maybe Healing Word, this is very efficient action economy, from what I've seen.

A buddy of mine has been playing an orc war cleric of Gruumsh in our “monster team” campaign for about a year now and the character is an absolute beast. Complete unit.

5.5 Orc has incredible synergy with cleric. Adrenaline Rush is a very strong ability and combines amazingly with spirit guardians as others have mentioned. The fact that is proficiency bonus per SHORT REST means you have access to it basically whenever you want it. 

You may be concerned about bonus action clog with adrenaline rush on a war cleric. Don’t be. How it has played in practice is that he always has an option for exactly how he wants to play his turn. He has a ton of flexibility in terms of how offensive or defensive he becomes on a turn to turn basis. The combination of several limited use BA abilities means he’s always using his BA for something. It’s an incredibly efficient and versatile build.

War Cleric in general has impressed us a lot as we’ve progressed through the campaign. It doesn’t necessarily jump off the page as super powerful, but trust me, it is.

10/10 would absolutely recommend trying an orc war cleric of gruumsh. The RP is ripe for the picking and the mechanics are their to support the fantasy.

Like any species, Orcs Cleric can be built quite differently depending of your Diety & Domain. I'd go for example;

• Orc Life Cleric of Luthic the Cave Mother, goddess of healing and home.
• Orc War Cleric of Illneval the War Master, god of strategy and martial skill.
• Orc Trickery Cleric of Shargaas the Night Lord, god of darkness and stealth.

Quote from tslewis123 >>

I recently remembered the Orc Eye of Gruumsh from the 2014 Monster Manual. I noticed that all of its spells are Cleric spells, and that gave me an idea for an Orc War Domain Cleric character. The problem is that since Orcs are basically designed to be martial classes, I'm not sure how suitable the Cleric class is for an Orc. I know picking Protector for the Divine Order feature is an option for a martial-inclined character, but I've heard people say how bad Protector is compared to Thaumaturge. Should I go through with the idea?

 I would argue that Orcs are not built for martial classes as much as they are designed to be durable. Clerics are probably going to be targeted a lot. Adrenaline Rush does not require that you rush into danger and with Relentless Endurance, you can take one more hit than anyone else could. That can make all the difference. You do not have to be a Protector or martial-focused Cleric to benefit from these features at all. 

I agree Protector is not necessary to be a martial Cleric. It kind of depends what you want to really do: hit stuff hard, take hits, generally be in the thick of things, etc.

Defensively, you should only lose 1 AC without Protector, since you'd still be rocking Medium Armor, and you could pump your DEX to 14 for a +2 to AC. You could afford this by no longer needing a 13 STR for your Heavy Armor. Plus, you can use a shield either way. 

Offensively, your weapons would be martial and thus hit a little harder: d8 instead of a d6, generally (assuming you are using a one-handed weapon + a shield).

Modest bump in AC & damage, but easily worth it if that's what you're looking forward to doing. The tradeoff is one less cantrip, which is not terrible, and not being as good at Arcana & Religion checks, which may well be no problem at all. It depends mainly on how critical skill checks are to your DM (low-stakes info dumps, or important stepping stones, etc.), as well as if there are anyone else in your party that has said skills. Arcana is usually more important than Religion, unless your campaign is largely focused around undead, etc. 

 I'm in 5.5 now but still keep older ideas. I love backgrounds but do not like all the species having the mundane choice to select their ability bonuses. I still use them from 5.0 before the change. Having said that, playing a species that is off brand the typical path still is not something I'm concerned with. But leaving the ability bonuses for species does allow the dominant slant for the class options. Hence, orcs are more likely fighters, halflings are rogues and so on. I have a 5.0 halfling paladin which is far off brand. It is a lot of fun to play without the strength bonus. Still maxed strength at 14, charisma 15. My point is if you are playing 5.5 and only backgrounds, it does not matter what species is where because they all get the same bonuses. (Halfling with +2 strength is funny.) If you play before Tasha's, then it matters.  

Orc War Cleric would definitely be a fun melee build.  But I would definitely consider a dip in another class to get weapon mastery so you could use Nick with two scimitars.  Ranger 1 would give you Hunter's Mark and weapon mastery and then you could just go Cleric X.  You don't even have to do Ranger at level 1 because you don't need it there.  I would totally go Cleric 5, and then take a ranger dip.

The Orc's temp hit points would be nice, but might be rarely beneficial at higher levels.

I think a Druid dip might also be beneficial for the build.  Circle of the Sea Druid is great for melee builds, and Shillelagh can make a simple quarterstaff eventually hit like a Great Sword.

I typically take Sage background with druids to get some wizard spells with wisdom stat.  If I was playing an orc cleric I would be strongly tempted to take disguise self as the free once per day spell just so I could hide my ugly mug when I needed to blend in better.  True Strike would be the other obvious choice for a wizard cantrip.  For the 2nd wizard cantrip I would probably take blade barrier for the first few levels and switch between that and guidance for my concentration if I am not using Bless.  Once I hit level 5 I would swap out blade barrier for another damage cantrip like Acid Splash or Mind Sliver just to round out my offense options.

One other build option I would consider is taking a few levels in Artificer and swapping the Sage background for the Guide background.  Take shillelagh with the Guide background and few other druid things.  Start as artificer to get con saves and some utility spells and cantrips.  Then go at least Cleric 5 to get spirit guardians, before going artificer 2-3 to get attunements and probably armorer.  You lose some cleric spell progression but gain really power armor and gear and more utility.  You'd have to have at least int 13 and this would likely result in some min-max sacrifices.  But I think the end result would be very satisfying.