Homebrew Orsimer Species Details

Though other races often regard the Orcs as barbarians and even beasts, these noble warriors have an ancient culture forged from endless warfare in their harsh mountain homelands. Orcs live under a simple code of honor by which the strong survive and the strongest rule. As the greatest smiths in Tamriel, their weapons and armor are prized by warriors everywhere. Orc troops in Heavy Armor are among the finest in the Empire, and are fearsome when using their Berserker Rage.

 

Scarred and Strong

With skin tones ranging from light green to dark brown, a heavily muscular frame, and considerable stature the Orsimer stand apart amongst Mer and Men. They also are the only race to display tusks. Born without the magical affinity of their Mer cousins, and following in the footsteps of their revered Trinimac, the Orcs have developed a strong warrior culture that makes them highly valuable in hand-to-hand combat. They often excel as adventurers and legionnaires in the Imperial Legion. This is not to say that they cannot wield magic, however. Certain Orsimer have gone on to be successful mages, finding employment at such places as the College of Winterhold in Skyrim, and various Mages Guilds. They are the only race to rival the Altmer in height.

Orcs are widely considered a race of mer, hence the name Orsimer. They are known to be exceptional warriors similar to Nords, although their culture is sometimes thought of as overly bestial. Despite their barbaric, tribal nature, there is much to admire in their fierce tribal loyalties and generous equality of rank and respect among the sexes. Their impressive warrior qualities stem from their sets of heavy Orcish armors and racial ability to go into a berserk rage, inflicting major damage while caring little for defense. Traditionally, all Orsimer mothers would teach their child how to smith from a young age. If an Orc chieftain has a second wife, she is called the "Forge-wife," in honor of this.

An Isolated Society

Those orcs not born in their home city of Orsinium are most commonly born in what they call Strongholds, small fenced societies. Orc Strongholds are scattered throughout Tamriel. The Orcs have lived in these settlements for centuries. Strongholds are governed by a rigid class system. Every Orc has a specific job and is obligated to perform it. Every man, woman, and child in the fort is also trained from birth to defend it. The Strongholds are led by a chief, who killed the previous chief to prove his strength. Only the chiefs are allowed to have wives, and due to this, they often have several. This method is to ensure that the strongest Orc becomes chief, contributing his genes to the next generation of Orcs who, in theory, should be stronger than the last. Orcs in strongholds follow their own law called the Code of Malacath. The will of Malacath is clarified by the stronghold's resident wise woman. The rules of the Code are simple: do not kill, do not steal, and do not attack people without reason. They do not have jails; instead, offenders are forced to pay a "blood price," in which the criminal bleeds until the victim is satisfied. In cases where the victim was murdered, the chief is consulted to convey an appropriate sentence. Individuals that are not Orcs are normally viewed as untrustworthy and are turned away from the strongholds. However, it is possible for an outsider to gain entrance by becoming "blood kin." This is done by performing a specific task to gain the trust of the Stronghold. This task is normally very dangerous. Crimes committed in a stronghold are not under the jurisdiction of the province's law, but of the tribal orcs. Not ball Orcs are born within these strongholds, but those who are not find a much harder life than the acceptance of the Strongholds. Within the Stronghold, worship of any god besides Malacath can be punishable by death.

Orcs and Malacath

Most orcs hold Malacath as their chief deity, as he is believed to be involved in the creation of the race. As such, most orcs uphold the "Code of Malacath," which is a religious doctrine as well as a code of law used in the orc strongholds. However, there is, or was, a religious conflict brewing which showed signs of becoming a major problem. The Orsimer have always worshipped the Daedra lord Malacath as their main deity. Orsinium's leader, Gortwog, however, has controversially claimed that Malacath is, in fact, a fake and has set up a priesthood dedicated to the worship of the ancient Aedric hero, Trinimac. This has caused controversy, as Trinimac was said to have been devoured by Boethiah, afterwards becoming Malacath. Gortwog's belief that Trinimac still lives and that Malacath is a mere demon is currently the official view taken by the majority of the leading priests in Orsinium. A handful of Orcs within and the vast majority of Orcs outside of Orsinium view Gortwog's beliefs as heresy.

Orc Names

Orc names typically sound rough and guttural, more resembling noises and grunts than fully articulated names. If an Orc leaves the province of Orsinium or Stronghold they are from, their surname will be the Stronghold/province they're from, prefixed with gra- (female) or gro- (male), for example, Moth gro-Bagol and Ghorza gra-Bagol.

Male Orc Names: Bakh, Abzag, Balagog, Ghorbash, Ogruk, Zagh

Female Orc Names: Lagra, Zagla, Harza, Akash, Mogdal, Ulg

Orsimer Traits

Due to their largely isolated socialites, all orcs share certain traits in common with each other.

Berseker Rage

Strong and almost unmatched in combat, the thrill of a fight can put any Orc in an emotional state that grants them great power and endurance on the battlefield. Once per long rest, you may call upon this power. Its effects vary depending on how you choose to use it. You may choose to use it at the beginning of your turn or save it for a reaction.

If used at the beginning of your turn: It does not cost any action and is treated as part of your movement, however, you have to use it before any actions are taken. For this turn, all dice rolls performed by you are doubled. If you roll any 10s, they are not treated as Nat20s.

If used as a reaction: You may use your reaction to half the damage taken by any physical attack. You may know the amount of damage being inflicted before using it.

Forged in Fire

An important part of their culture, Orismer smiths are valued and recognized for their skill. Your intense knowledge of the construction of weapons gives you an innate ability to improve them. You may choose to permanently improve any metal weapon, adding one or more d4 to the weapon's damage. When you do this, make a Smith's Tool check. The roll determines how many d4s are added, left entirely to the DM's discretion. Critical failures do not damage the weapon and you are guaranteed an increase of at least 1d4. This may only be done to any given weapon once. Additionally, this costs an ingot's worth of whatever component the weapon is made out of, which is then consumed. This also increases the weapon's value, if sold, by a minimum of 5g, again based on the Smith's Tool check.

Ironclad

Some say than an Orisimer is born with the strength to wear any armor in battle. You have proficiency in Heavy Armor.

Orcish Strength

Your inherent size and strength give you a commanding presence on the battlefield. When you use your action to Dash, you can use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack or to shove a creature. If you move at least 10 feet in a straight line immediately before taking this bonus action, you either gain a +5 bonus to the attack’s damage roll (if you chose to make a melee attack and hit) or push the target up to 10 feet away from you (if you chose to shove and you succeed).

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Age

Orcs are noticeably longer-lived than most races of Tamriel, usually living as long as elves. They can live to be as old as 1,000 years old.

Alignment

Orcs come from a very violent and rough society where one must be cruel to survive. Because of this, orcs are rarely good. However, they are also rarely Chaotic, as, despite the rough environment of their culture, they also are policed by very strict religious laws that control almost every aspect of their lives, making the majority of Orcs lawful. Orcs born outside strongholds, however, are an incredibly diverse group that can be almost any alignment, as they are not held down by the rules more traditional orcs are.

Size

Orcs are somewhat larger and bulkier than humans, and they range from 6 to 7 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You have a climbing speed of 15 and a swimming speed of 15.

Darkvision

Thanks to your orc blood, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Orc. Orc is a harsh, grating language with hard consonants. It has no script of its own but is written in the Dwarvish script.