Mounted Orcs

[rojomoke]

Hi,
I have an idea for a campaign setting where the characters aremembers of a nomadic tribe of horse warriors, with a Mongols/Scythians/Parthians feel. Their tribal grasslands are under threat from an invading nation of orcs.
My problem is, what would nomadic warrior orcs use as mounts? Plain old horses don't seem right, and the worgs that they would use in the original source material are too small and relegated to goblins in D&D.
So, any suggestions? I'm using 3.5

[Drakevarg]

Dire Wolves, refluffed so they don't have huge bloody spikes sticking out of their back?

Oh, Bear Cavalry!

[shadowmage]

I used Dire Wolves for aan encounter I built, or Dire Boars might also work.

[ericgrau]

You say they were originally riding worgs? How about dire wolves then?

EDIT: twin strike ninja'd

[Greenish]

Advanced wolfs (4 HD and up) are Large. 4 animal HD doesn't really make them hugely powerful, so that ought to be okay.

If you want something different, have them ride bugs. Large Monstrous Centipede or a Giant Stag Beetle ought to be rather memorable rides.

[Eldan]

Rhinoceroses.

Wooly ones, if you prefer orcs from an arctic climate.

[herrhauptmann]

Dire Wolves, refluffed so they don't have huge bloody spikes sticking out of their back?

So fluffy dire wolves?

[Eloel]

Rhinoceroses.

This.
Rhino-riding is too awesome to pass.

Edit: Or dinosaurs. Dino-riding is almost as awesome as rhino-riding.

[Thajocoth]

If you don't want to use Worgs or Dire Wolves, you could try:

* More orcs
* People they've conquered (Such as elves or gnomes)
* Beholders
* Tarrasques
* Earth Elemental Beasts
* Mobile plants
* Animated weaponry
* Unicorns (The horn actually makes them more viable as a war mount, honestly)
* Kittens

[Zeofar]

Dire Wolves, refluffed so they don't have huge bloody spikes sticking out of their back?

Better yet, saddles are attached to the spikes (with a very thick leather cap at the point...) to give a little extra stability.

You could homebrew Beak Dogs (The Goblinoid mount of choice in Dwarf Fortress that seem to be some sort of raptor-ish dinosaur with, as the name suggests, a beak), which would be pretty "holy–" to most people playing in the campaign when they hear the description.

Also, you could always try bucking the trend that Orcs and all minions and animals that they use are a somehow evil or twisted version of humans and other races. Why not horses? That would still be awesome. It would really drive home the impact that you don't have to be "evil evil" to be horribly brutal and fear-instilling. Expand on it, too. Not crushing and killing an entire town consists of conscripting any man who wants to live as a foot soldier - and they go along with it, too, when they're promised the rights of all the other grunts if they prove their worth. The fact that these guys aren't only ready to massacre anyone in their way, but also making converts among the people that they are massacring has to be pretty demoralizing to anyone with the intent of resisting them. They'll turn people not only with the infamous "look at what we did here. Surrender immediately or there will be no second chances," but actually be finding people happy to join the murderous rampage.

[Drakevarg]

If you don't want to use Worgs or Dire Wolves, you could try:

* More orcs
* People they've conquered (Such as elves or gnomes)
* Beholders
* Tarrasques
* Earth Elemental Beasts
* Mobile plants
* Animated weaponry
* Unicorns (The horn actually makes them more viable as a war mount, honestly)
* Kittens

He's looking for Orc mounts, not Ork mounts.

[Scow2]

Goblins have Wolves.

Rhinos or Dire Warhogs/Boars would be better for Orcs. Something as big, mean, and ugly as they are.

Dinosaur mounts are restricted to halflings.

Catfolk ride Tigers/Dire Tigers.

[Eloel]

He's looking for Orc mounts, not Ork mounts.

I laughed at that.

Also, Rocs, or Giant Eagles, if only for what I call the 'what the heck' factor.

Edit: How about Pegasi?

[Notreallyhere77]

I second the rhinos, but if you have the money and want to pick up good minis, Warhammer fantasy makes regiments of orcs on boars.

[Zaydos]

Black Unicorn from the Forgotten Realms Monstrous Compendium (3.0) (CR 3 I believe)
Hornsaw Unicorn from (White Wolf's) Scarred Lands book Creature Collection II (might be I).
Dire Wolves (CR 3)
Rhinos
Giant Praying Mantises (CR 2)
Tauric gnoll/horses
Large Monitor Lizards

I'd say avoid boars.

[Cieyrin]

Bulette or Elephants? Rhinos are definitely classy orcish mounts. For flying mounts, why not Dragonnes or Manticore? Basically, orcs will ride anything they can bully into carrying them into battle. Alternatively, especially for the smarter mounts, it could be an agreement between the two or the mount could actually be the one in control!

[The Gilded Duke]

I actually ran a pretty successful one shot with a series of Orc Fighters on Heavy War Horses. Heavy War Horses are actually quite dangerous at low levels. To make it more Orcy, I had the heavy war horses wearing barding with Huge Sized Armor Spikes. Made it so the horses couldn't use them in a grapple sure, but they did a decent amount of damage on a charge.

Gave all the Orcs Exotic Weapon Proficiency Lasso, Mighty Throw, Javelins and Lances. They were quite terrifying even at level 2. Orc strength works well with the Lasso mechanics.

[KillianHawkeye]

Don't forget about Winter Wolves!

[avr]

How about horses with a template? In Eberron, Magebred or Horrid. There's plenty of others if you'd prefer.

I'm surprised that bears only got one mention above.

Alternatively, the orcs might travel in groups centered around an elephant carrying ballistae or something.

[Ossian]

Give them kinton clouds, cloth exotic armour, and ninja weapons..

[AslanCross]

How about horses with a template? In Eberron, Magebred or Horrid. There's plenty of others if you'd prefer.

Magebred actually isn't a template. It's like Dire. There are so many monsters that have the qualifier attached so it looks like a template, but it's actually just a bunch of monsters with a common theme. (In this case, A Wizard Did It.)

[J.Gellert]

Tigers?

Bears?

Griffins!

And +1 for Rocs, and the orcs must be dual-wielding throwing axes.

[The Gilded Duke]

Actually magebred is a template. It is on page 295 of the Eberron Core book.
As is Horrid on 289.

[The Mentalist]

Magebred actually isn't a template. It's like Dire. There are so many monsters that have the qualifier attached so it looks like a template, but it's actually just a bunch of monsters with a common theme. (In this case, A Wizard Did It.)

Magebred is a template. It's in ECS I believe.


I was ninja'd

[Drakevarg]

Magebred actually isn't a template. It's like Dire. There are so many monsters that have the qualifier attached so it looks like a template, but it's actually just a bunch of monsters with a common theme. (In this case, A Wizard Did It.)

A Wizard Did It, or a Wizard did it?

[AslanCross]

Hoist me on my own petard. I always thought it wasn't a template for some reason.

A Wizard Did It, or a Wizard did it?

...TMI

[lightningcat]

I like the idea of orcs riding boars.

But, only because I like the idea of dwarves riding rhinos more.

[Ravens_cry]

The first module I ever read came in a PDF on a CD that came with a D&D book I got from the library and it had mounted Orcs. These Orcs were mounted on Hippogriffs and I remember thinking that was pretty cool at the time.

[Xefas]

Alright, prepare yourself. Here goes: Voidmind Cattle. The Orcs' version of Genghis Khan is actually a Mind Flayer, and he Voidminds cows into horrible feral monsters with slime-tentacles coming from their cracked, seeping skulls.

No man in all of the fantasy equivalent of Asia, Europe, or the Middle East would not fear the baleful cry of hundreds of "Moooooooo, ftaghn" descending upon their settlement in the night.

[Gabe the Bard]

If the worgs are too small, you could make them a bit larger and tougher. The orcs could have conquered a tribe of goblins that lived near the grasslands, and then took their worgs in order to breed or mutate them into more fearsome beasts.