Homebrew Elf-Orc Species Details

Dexterous Yet Durable

Elf-orcs are blessed with the beauty of elves, marred only by jutting jaws, prominent teeth and a slight hunch to their build. Elf-orcs stand between 6 to 7 feet tall yet lack the broad, bulky bodies of their orc parent, instead having slim builds with their natural muscle wrapped tightly beneath the flesh. Their skin tones tend to reflect that of their elven parent tinged with a grayish, dulling hint.

There is an almost elegant quality to their purposeful movements, reminiscent of lion or tiger—powerful, yet precise and fluid. Elf-orcs are not as strong as full orcs, nor as agile as pure elves, they instead embody a near-perfect balance between might and speed. They are impulsive and erratic, making them all but impossible to anticipate in battle; a trait which earns the respect of some of their parent races, if not their acceptance.

Turmoil Within

The elf-orcs are a people that not only struggle with others, but also conflict with themselves. The whispers of the orc god Gruumsh do not directly reach their minds, kept at bay by their fey ancestry, yet his influence still burns in each and every elf-orc. It's this influence with amplifies their already chaotic tendencies, a gift also of their elf blood, and sees them act on instinct—unpredictable but often reckless, with little regard for law and order. It drives them to violence, and only the fine control granted by their elven heritage allows them to—mostly—rein in these urges.

Likewise, their elf blood steers them toward doing good—a task made difficult by the fact that they are widely shunned, along with their vicious cravings and aloof nature. These often futile desires commonly lead to frustration, and see more elf-orcs maintain a neutral or evil alignment than any form of good.

Misunderstood by their parents and almost every other race, including other part-orc people, elf-orcs feel most at ease among tieflings who know what is to be scorned by the masses. The few elf-orcs in existence often find a home among the slums of human cities or wander the lands as lone drifters. Those with power who come to accept elf-orcs find them to be both capable and efficient, often employing them as personal bodyguards, lethal assassins, bounty hunters or shock troops.

Elf-Orc Traits

Your elf-orc character has certain traits deriving from your mixed ancestry

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength, Dexterity and Constitution score each increases by 1.

Age

Elf-orcs combine the strange mixture of maturing quickly and yet living long lives. They reach adulthood by the age of 15, yet live up to 150 years.

Alignment

Nearly all elf-orcs are wildly chaotic, inheriting traits of chaos from both sides of their parentage. Elf-Orcs can be of any alignment but they are almost always conflicted; their orc blood drives them towards violence and evil, whilst their elven heritage exerts a strong influence toward good.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

Thanks to both your elf and 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.

Fey Ancestry

You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Aggresion

As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward an enemy of your choice that you can see or hear. You must end this move closer to the enemy than you started.

Erratic Dodge

Born from conflicting races, with an unknown story and your very blood chaotic; no enemy can predict you. You may use your reaction to either give yourself advantage on a Dexterity saving throw, or force a creature to reroll an attack against you, taking the lowest of the two rolls for their attack. You can use this trait once per short or long rest.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish and Orc. Elvish is fluid, with subtle intonations and intricate grammar. Orc is a harsh, grating language with hard consonants.