Orcs 3.5 history

[j!nx]

just wondering if anybody knows of a source that describes orcs history, they have been around since the beginning of dnd and I have a hard time finding information on them other then the MM was not sure if there was a book or article or some other source of information I missed, I know there simple but I just wanted to know more about them history wise

[Zaq]

just wondering if anybody knows of a source that describes orcs history, they have been around since the beginning of dnd and I have a hard time finding information on them other then the MM was not sure if there was a book or article or some other source of information I missed, I know there simple but I just wanted to know more about them history wise

In-game history (like an equivalent of Races of Stone/Destiny/the Wild, but for orcs), or out-of-game history (as in the history of including orcs in the D&D ruleset and how that's changed over the editions and the years)?

I'm not actually aware of anything official describing either, but it wouldn't hurt to clarify.

[OldTrees1]

Both the Race of the Wild and the Races of Stone have some Orcish history as told by the victors(non orcs). Races of Destiny might have some from the eyes of Half Orcs.

[Necromancy]

I can tell you, that Grummsh One-Eye was not a cyclops......

[inuyasha]

I can tell you, that Grummsh One-Eye was not a cyclops......

Those pictures that draw him as a cyclops anger me so much! He should have a big, rotten, gory hole in his head!

[daremetoidareyo]

One of the tales told by shamans is how the orcs came into the world, and tells of a time when orcs will rule all. The following quotation is taken from the text within Unearthed Arcana, published by TSR/WotC, and written by gaming legend, Gary Gygax:


In the beginning all the gods met and drew lots for the parts of the world in which their representative races would dwell. The human gods drew the lot that allowed humans to dwell where they pleased, in any environment. The elven gods drew the green forests, the dwarven deities drew the high mountains, the gnomish gods the rocky, sunlit hills, and the halfling gods picked the lot that gave them the fields and meadows. Then the assembled gods turned to the orcish gods and laughed loud and long. "All the lots are taken!" they said tauntingly. "Where will your people dwell, One-Eye? There is no place left!"
There was silence upon the world then, as Gruumsh One-Eye lifted his great iron spear and stretched it over the world. The shaft blotted the sun over a great part of the lands as he spoke: "No! You Lie! You have rigged the drawing of the lots, hoping to cheat me and my followers. But One-Eye never sleeps. One-Eye sees all. there is a place for orcs to dwell... here!", he bellowed, and his spear pierced the mountains, opening a mighty rift and chasms. "And here!", and the spearhead split the hills and made them shake and covered them in dust. "And here!", and the black spear gouged the meadows and made them bare.

"There!" roared He-Who-Watches triumphantly, and his voice carried to the ends of the world. "There is where the orcs shall dwell! There they will survive, and multiply, and grow stronger, and a day will come when they cover the world, and they will slay all of your collective peoples! Orcs shall inherit the world you sought to cheat me of!"

Roger Moore's article in Dragon Magazine #62, "HALF-ORCS", probably clarifies the encounter between Gruumsh and Corellon in the most acurate of detail and well debunks the myth of Gruumsh ever having two-eyes or having lost one in battle to Corellon. The following is quoted from Moore's article:


Orcish mythology has several tales of battles between elven and orcish deities. The most famous one occurs between Gruumsh and Corellon Larethian, the chief elven deity. The story goes like this, according to the orcs: Gruumsh ambushes Corellon in hopes of slaying him and drinking his blood, so as to inherit his special powers; Gruumsh fails, of course, through his own short-sightedness, and Corellon shoots an arrow at Gruumsh's eye.

Though the arrow failed to blind Gruumsh, apparently it was not intended to. Elven stories of the same event (much briefer than the tedious orc versions) say that Corellon meant the arrow as a warning to Gruumsh of his vulnerability -- a hint that it would only take the loss of his eye to break Gruumsh's power as a god, and that some being might be capable of bringing this about if he were not more careful. Though Gruumsh rails and curses the elven gods in many later stories, he never again tries to directly assault them, and spends his fury on mortal elves instead. Obviously, he took the hint.

shameless copypasta (http://www.orcs.ca/orcsmain/roleplaydndgruumsh.html)

[j!nx]

In-game history (like an equivalent of Races of Stone/Destiny/the Wild, but for orcs), or out-of-game history (as in the history of including orcs in the D&D ruleset and how that's changed over the editions and the years)?

I'm not actually aware of anything official describing either, but it wouldn't hurt to clarify.

in game history

[j!nx]

One of the tales told by shamans is how the orcs came into the world, and tells of a time when orcs will rule all. The following quotation is taken from the text within Unearthed Arcana, published by TSR/WotC, and written by gaming legend, Gary Gygax:


Roger Moore's article in Dragon Magazine #62, "HALF-ORCS", probably clarifies the encounter between Gruumsh and Corellon in the most acurate of detail and well debunks the myth of Gruumsh ever having two-eyes or having lost one in battle to Corellon. The following is quoted from Moore's article:


shameless copypasta (http://www.orcs.ca/orcsmain/roleplaydndgruumsh.html)

thankyou this is the type of information I am looking for,, how they came about and there culture

[Âmesang]

In-game history would also be dependent on campaign setting, though I suppose there could be some overlap between WORLD OF GREYHAWK® and FORGOTTEN REALMS®, especially when linked together with SPELLJAMMER® (see: scro).

Years ago I attempted to make my own setting and I loosely remember that orcs were created by combining aspects of other races and creatures; the hardiness of dwarves, the ambition of humans, and the ferocity of boars. In the setting orcs were originally non-evil (due to racial deities having built-in Unearthed Arcana paragon levels), but eventually fell into darkness.

[The Viscount]

Those pictures that draw him as a cyclops anger me so much! He should have a big, rotten, gory hole in his head!

There's actually a reason for this. Among some groups of orcs, there is a revisionist view of Gruumsh and his encounter with Corellon Larethian. They hold that the story of him taking Gruumsh's eye is a lie constructed by the elves, and that Gruumsh has simply always had one eye.

If you're doing an Eberron setting, the orcs have an extensive history along with the other races.

[Inevitability]

Also, the Dark Sun orc history: they used to exist, not anymore, too bad.

[j!nx]

* out of game * My GM says he believes orcs originally came form underground and were pushed to the surface from drow and dwarves, and when they came to the surface there greatest enemies were the sun, elves, and themselves and they only seemed to ever get along with humans,, I don't see how this is wrong or right I just seem to find no evidence of either history wise, I guess its what you believe for 3.5 edition??, im just curious of there race even though there simple creatures they have been around since the beginning of dnd,,it seems to be a controversy around our playing table

[the_david]

* out of game * My GM says he believes orcs originally came form underground and were pushed to the surface from drow and dwarves, and when they came to the surface there greatest enemies were the sun, elves, and themselves and they only seemed to ever get along with humans,, I don't see how this is wrong or right I just seem to find no evidence of either history wise, I guess its what you believe for 3.5 edition??, im just curious of there race even though there simple creatures they have been around since the beginning of dnd,,it seems to be a controversy around our playing table

Sounds like the quest for sky from the Golarion campaign setting. (Pathfinder, not 3.5 D&D.) Ofcourse, your GM is free to make of it what he wants too. As others have said, this all depends on the campaign setting. If the campaign setting is homebrew than anything is possible.
D&D is just a game, the story is all in your imagination. Their is no canon for orcs in D&D.

[Âmesang]

Now I want to play as an epic orc cleric. :smalltongue:

"The horrible, life-giving sun! We finally defeated it, with science magic!"

[j!nx]

Now I want to play as an epic orc cleric. :smalltongue:

"The horrible, life-giving sun! We finally defeated it, with science magic!"

id like to see that no one in our group except and my close friend and I likes to play a cleric I like to try different characters and a few of the players in the group just do repeated hack and slash characters it drives me insane

[sokbeest]

Sometimes I try to flesh out orc culture as a DM, but this seems to be the way it inevitably goes:

http://speakwithmonsters.badgods.com/view/orc/