I found Orcus....

[SangoProduction]

Well, when all negative energy originates from Orcus, and all undead have at least the imprint of Orcus on them....with Orcus being the single most powerful non-deity demon (but nearly became one)...it does kinda make sense that negative energy is evil, and that even intelligent undead eventually become twisted and maligned.

[Ellrin]

Well, when all negative energy originates from Orcus, and all undead have at least the imprint of Orcus on them....with Orcus being the single most powerful non-deity demon (but nearly became one)...it does kinda make sense that negative energy is evil, and that even intelligent undead eventually become twisted and maligned.

Is this Golarion, Greyhawk, or other? Because in most of the major D&D settings, I thought Orcus was just affiliated with undead, not the source of negative energy, which comes from the negative energy plane.

Am I completely misremembering? I never knew a ton about the lore in the first place.

[Eldan]

No, the idea that negative energy originates with Orcus is new to me too.

Orcus is mainly about preserverence, determination and stubornness. He's one of the few demon lords who is neither an Obyrith nor one of their creations. For all that it is said that the Abyss is chaotic and a free-for-all, most of the top is occupied by creatures who have always been that powerful. Orcus is the one who rose through the ranks by sheer bloody-mindedness, starting out as a lowly mortal soul, and who refuses to die. He's not the source of Undeath. He's undead, because he keeps coming back.

[SangoProduction]

Is this Golarion, Greyhawk, or other? Because in most of the major D&D settings, I thought Orcus was just affiliated with undead, not the source of negative energy, which comes from the negative energy plane.

Am I completely misremembering? I never knew a ton about the lore in the first place.

I just heard about it from a secondary source. It's quite possible that they were not telling it properly.

EDIT: He also said it was for 5e. I never even bothered to check, as if I made a claim on the internet, someone would surely tell me I was wrong, if I was. I'll make sure to remember his inaccuracy and take his word with more salt.

[Misereor]

Well, when all negative energy originates from Orcus, and all undead have at least the imprint of Orcus on them....with Orcus being the single most powerful non-deity demon (but nearly became one)...it does kinda make sense that negative energy is evil, and that even intelligent undead eventually become twisted and maligned.

Depends on what kind of cosmology you use.
Canon Orcus was always related to undeath, but never described as the original source of it.

I don't know what flavor you like, but I myself usually make a convenient distinction between demonic and "natural" undeath.
I have normal undeath create "the restless dead" (unable to rest in peace because something was left unfinished), whereas demonic undeath creates "the hungry dead" (hatred for and the wish to consume all life), and I typically have Orcus squabbling with whatever God of death the campaign has for the portfolio of undeath.

It gives me a reason for using two types of undead that have the same stats, but very different flavor and behavior. One type are animated by restless souls that the God of death allow to return to complete or come to terms with something. They can be very dangerous to the living, but that is usually incidental, and they don't go seeking out the living to destroy them. The second kind have more of the kind of undead apocalypse flavor players sometime enjoy, and are corpses possessed by a malign essence related to Orcus. (I tie it in with the Obyrith Shard, which is slowly contaminating all aspects of the Multiverse, including undeath.)

[Pronounceable]

Never heard of this before in any setting.

It's neat. Sounds like homebrew of someone who really likes the Rod Clutcher. It's deffo not "canon", except canon is dumb anyway and doesn't really matter. I wouldn't use this myself but it's a cool method of making Mr Goatskull the top dog instead of ol' Monkeyfaces.