Half Orcs

Half orcs are a tragic figure in any story. Made via an nonconsensual encounter between an orc and a female human or elf, they commonly face issues from their own parents, whether that is neglect, abuse, abandonment, or something else. They do not have a country of their own, living in the societies of either humans or elves, facing discrimination and pity in both.

In game mechanics
There are two subraces of half orcs; human parentage and elven parentage.

'Ability Score Increase. 'Your Strength score increases by 2.

'Alignment. 'Half orcs do not tend to any alignment, being incredibly variable.

'Size. 'Half-orcs are somewhat larger and bulkier than humans, and they range from 5 to well over 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

'Speed. 'Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

'Darkvision. 'Thanks to your 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.

'Menacing. 'You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

'Relentless Endurance. 'When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

'Savage Attacks. 'When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

'Languages. 'You can speak, read, and write Common and Orc. Orc is a harsh, grating language with hard consonants. It has no script of its own but is written in the Dwarvish script.

Human parentage
'Ability Score Increase. 'Your Constitution score increases by 1.

'Age. 'Half-orcs mature a little faster than humans, reaching adulthood around age 14. They age noticeably faster and rarely live longer than 75 years.

Elven parentage
'Ability Score Increase. 'Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

'Age. 'Half-orcs mature significantly faster than elves, reaching adulthood around age 30. They age noticeably faster and rarely live longer than 125 years.

'Languages. 'You can speak, read, and write Elvish in addition to the previously stated languages.

Troubled origins
Half orcs are a by product of interspecies relations of orcs and whatever species they can get their hands on, generally either humans or elves. The birth of a half orc is often marked by a tragic event in the mothers life ~9 months ago. As such, half orcs are one of the most likely demographics to be abused, neglected, or abandoned in human cities. Elven half orcs face different problems.

Human half orcs
Half Orcs with a human mother are incredibly likely to be abused, neglected, or abandoned. With these factors pushing on them, half orcs are often troubled with behavioral issues manifesting in a variety of ways. Mainly lacking positive role models, half orcs often turn to the slum gangs in the cities. These gangs, formed to protect half orcs, provide shelter and a discrimination free place, and other positive benefits to their members, only serve to further isolate the half orcs from their human side. Often, members of these gangs turn to criminal activity, leading to an underworld made up of predominately half orcs and poor humans. These criminal half orcs taint the already tainted reputation of half orcs and simply increases discrimination, a vicious cycle.

This is not to say half orcs are evil, or natural criminals. Rather, they are a byproduct of their environments, tragic and harmful as they may be. There are notable half orc philanthropists, soldiers, business men, and community leaders who all seek to improve the situation for their kin.

Elven half orcs
Half orcs that are elven do not face the same issues as human half orcs, but they face issues nonetheless. Elven tribes have strong social bonds, allowing them to assist in the raising of the child, for the most part treating it as one of their own. Unfortunately, there are biological differences that are simply so large that they cannot be ignored. This is to say the sleep a half orc needs, and their age are both factors in being treated differently. Elves enter a trance for four hours a day, being ready for a new day following the trance. Half orcs need rest for 8 hours in order to be on the same level. This causes any elven tribe burdened by a half orc to be forced to sacrifice 4 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The other issue is their age. Elven half orcs mature around age 30, and live to a max of 125. Elves see this to be tragic, a comparable situation would be a human child being cursed to die at age 20. While elves do their best to avoid treating these children different, it is impossible to treat them the same as full elves, as they are looked upon with pity their entire lives. This often leads to an elven half orc departing the tribe during their childhood, or slightly after they become an adult.