The half ogre

[Harbinger]

Half ogre is one of the only Large sized races that are at all feasible to play. So my question is, are they any good? I know plenty of races with Level Adjustment don't have enough to make up for it (*cough* hobgoblin *cough*), so do the half-ogres racial bonuses really make up for its +2 LA? It seems a bit steep to me.

[Rhatahema]

I would say that half-ogres are almost worth +2 LA. Large size is nice. A permanent enlarge person on a lower LA race would be better most of the time, but spells are subject to dispelling and suppression. I wouldn't want that on a fighter built around being large.

There are better options for large races (anthropomorphic baleen whale from Savage Species, the half-minotaur and half-ogre templates from Dragon Magazine, to name a couple), but Half-Ogres are probably most likely to be DM approved.

[Harbinger]

I would say that half-ogres are almost worth +2 LA. Large size is nice. A permanent enlarge person on a lower LA race would be better most of the time, but spells are subject to dispelling and suppression. I wouldn't want that on a fighter built around being large.

There are better options for large races (anthropomorphic baleen whale from Savage Species, the half-minotaur and half-ogre templates from Dragon Magazine, to name a couple), but Half-Ogres are probably most likely to be DM approved.

There's also the fact that the half-minotaur doesn't really make much sense, and the whale is just plain stupid.

[SowZ]

There's also the fact that the half-minotaur doesn't really make much sense, and the whale is just plain stupid.

Half-Minotaur makes about as much sense as Half-Ogre. But anthropomorphic Animals are, by and large, stupid, yes.

[Rhatahema]

There's also the fact that the half-minotaur doesn't really make much sense...

Half-minotaur makes at least as much sense as a minotuar. It's quarter bull, three-quarters human! Well, if you apply the template to a human, anyway.


...and the whale is just plain stupid.

WHATEVER. One day I will play an anthropomorphic baleen whale, and sing whale-songs in battle. Maybe I'll even apply the half-minotaur template for good measure, but reflavor it as Half-Toothed whale. The gore attack could be a big narwhal tusk.

Anyway, yeah, Half-Ogres are okay. The Half-Ogre template has the potential to be better, if that's allowed. You could apply it to an Orc to make an Ogrillion (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Ogrillion), which I think is a more believable pairing anyway.

[Ranting Fool]

WHATEVER. One day I will play an anthropomorphic baleen whale, and sing whale-songs in battle. Maybe I'll even apply the half-minotaur template for good measure, but reflavor it as Half-Toothed whale. The gore attack could be a big narwhal tusk.

I once had my players meet a anthropomorphic baleen whale who talked REALLY slowly and was the living portal to a very very small demi plane on a much slower timespeed (where a bunch of npc's have been hiding for a long time :smalltongue:) and to get to this demi plane you just have to walk into his open mouth :smallbiggrin:

PC's "I ROLL SENSE MOTIVE!"
ME "You believe that he believes this to be true" :smallbiggrin: ah so much fun

[Ravens_cry]

I once had my players meet a anthropomorphic baleen whale who talked REALLY slowly and was the living portal to a very very small demi plane on a much slower timespeed (where a bunch of npc's have been hiding for a long time :smalltongue:) and to get to this demi plane you just have to walk into his open mouth :smallbiggrin:

PC's "I ROLL SENSE MOTIVE!"
ME "You believe that he believes this to be true" :smallbiggrin: ah so much fun
I wish I could speak whale. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk3ZxmptZy8):smalltongue:

[the_david]

An awakened whale bard would be awesome. Unfortunately, it would have a charisma of 7-9...

[Ravens_cry]

An awakened whale bard would be awesome. Unfortunately, it would have a charisma of 7-9...
Even with that, it would have an awesome Intimidate check. +4 bonus for every size category larger than your target, baby. Still, if they had a fair bit of levels, and lucked out on the 9, ability score increases and magic items would be enough they could at least cast bardic spells, though probably not too offensively.

[Ranting Fool]

I wish I could speak whale. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk3ZxmptZy8):smalltongue:
Yes I did channel a bit of Dory when making that NPC :smallbiggrin:

[Ravens_cry]

Yes I did channel a bit of Dory when making that NPC :smallbiggrin:

Well duh, Dupin.:smalltongue:

[The Viscount]

One thing to me that makes Half-Ogre worth it is the ability to apply the Primordial Giant template. It's one of the only practical ways to get it, and the template itself is LA +0. Its racial stat adjustments cancel out the hurt from half-ogre's hit to mental stats and let you come out with a net bonus, and one of a few at will SLAs is very nice.