RPG topic pulled from my Hat of Suggestions... Ogrebear wants me to talk about non-stereotypical Orc cultures. Well obviously, you could just shuffle the various races' roles in your campaign and get an interesting result. Give the Orcs the role usually reserved for Elves, while the Elves act like Halflings and the Halflings like Dwarves, and so on. I've thought of something a little more interesting though.
Orcs have been around since the dawn of the role-playing game, and someone, somewhere, has probably already done what I'm about to suggest. Probably even published it. Still, if it's new to me, and new to you... The idea is to pull a Star Trek VI/TNG on their collective asses, and they're the Klingons. This is the Orc AFTER the Battle of Mordor (or its equivalent in your game world). Your Player Characters may have experienced it, and will have to adapt to the change, or it may be part of history and they've known nothing but this status quo. The Orcs are now refugees. Their world has been destroyed by the forces of good causing an influx of Orcish civilians in any land that will take them. Orc warriors have become dangerous mercenaries for hire or brigands/pirates, certainly not helping their people's reputation abroad.
Are they evil?
That's up to you. In the past, the PCs may only have dealt with official representatives of the Orcish government or religion and their warriors. These may well all have been evil. What the present crisis may reveal is that Orc civilians come in all colors and creeds, some good, some bad. Or it may be that while some are friendly and fun, even good-natured, their religion and/or customs are considered "evil". My Klingon analogy remains a good one. Even a "good" Klingon like Worf needs to satisfy his bloodlust, murders his wife's killer, etc., things ethically wrong in the Federation mindset. In the culture itself, "good" Klingons like Kurn, Martok and Kor have participated in massacres and the like. What they've done seems evil, but it isn't to them (they find deception and cowardice to be "evil", so to each his own).
If your PCs are living through the transition
There's certainly a lot of fodder for plots and subplots there. During the transition period, PCs may have to help Orcs settle in harsh desert plains or rocky mountains where no one wants to live, or bring peaceful resolutions in conflicts between refugee settlements too close to human(oid) habitation, or even help the "good" folk oust those pesky Orcs from their territory. The GM should make this process reveal shades of gray to the age-old conflict between Orcs and others, showing the "enemy" in a new light, and asking some important questions about the xenophobia exhibited by the PCs and their allies. Culture clashes abound.
As things settle down
A few decades later, Orc culture will have deviated in different ways depending on what niches the Orcs managed to fill...
-Nomads: Some will have embraced banditry or piracy as a way of life, while more peaceful Orcs living in isolated but harsh corners of the world will be forced to migrate seasonally to survive, living in tents or a string of outposts.
-Slaves: Evil (or unethical) empires will find a desperate worker force in the refugees massing at their borders, and Orcs in those regions could be enslaved easily. If the Orc leadership used to tread on its civilians this way, they may not register a change in lifestyle.
-Underclass: Even if they don't wind up as slaves, Orcs are likely to become the underclass, especially in city settings. Begging and stealing, filling their ghettos with violence, and being employed for only the most menial of tasks, the GM might use them to explore some topical concepts like gang violence, drugs and racial equality. Because there are still first-generation refugees around, the wound is quite fresh. These Orcs are not likely to have equal rights or access to good jobs. They are probably segregated.
-Terrorists and freedom fighters: Some regions might spawn faux-Middle East politics, with enemy groups within a stone's throw of each other. Many Orcs may feel that the other races are keeping them down, have stolen/destroyed their rightful lands, etc. and wish to retaliate. Terrorist cells would be a constant danger even in the most peaceful of areas. Extremism would thrive in the post-Mordor climate.
-Genocide or deportation: If they settled in an evil empire, this might very well happen, especially after a change in the leadership, causing a new wave of refugees (if the Orcs are lucky).
-Lawful co-habitation: If your campaign world has a strict "Lawful Good" civilization, it may embrace the Orc refugees completely, give them arable lands or even space in the cities. As long as Orc citizens obeyed the law, there would be no problem, and these Orcs would enjoy a certain tolerance for their way of life.
-Mini-empires: Some Orcs would get out of Mordor and immediately jump on border towns, creating a small closed-off city-state mirroring the mother culture. The warlords in charge would likely name themselves emperors or gods on Earth (think North Korea) and cause trouble for their neighbors. This might lead to a dangerous rise in Orcish power and ultimately, war. Or these states might be contained by the surrounding powers, yet remain impregnable, an irritant they must always keep careful watch of.
Orcs integrated into other cultures will tend towards assimilation, leaving some of their ways behind and embracing their adopted culture. Or they might go the voodoo route and combine elements from both cultures, creating an interesting hybrid. Some (like slaves) might have their culture forcibly bred out of them, leading to more secret or subtle practices. Orcs NOT integrated into their new culture (either by their own choice or because of segregation) will continue to behave in more Orcish ways, while newer generations may lose their native culture entirely and try to imitate or reject either culture as filtered through their own point of view. Gang culture, Orc Punk, an Orcish Revival, it could manifest in a number of ways. Meanwhile, Orcs that have remained isolated from other humanoid cultures may evolve in various ways away from the mother culture. Nomadic cultures will create traditions based on the needs of the tribe, while despotic city-states will embrace whatever crazed dogma their leader chooses.
There are a lot of avenues to explore, and Orcs from one region to the next may be entirely different. Just like people, which is what they are. As you can see, a lot of ideas can be mined directly from human history or current affairs, indeed, anywhere cultures are living side-by-side, peacefully or not.
Orcs have been around since the dawn of the role-playing game, and someone, somewhere, has probably already done what I'm about to suggest. Probably even published it. Still, if it's new to me, and new to you... The idea is to pull a Star Trek VI/TNG on their collective asses, and they're the Klingons. This is the Orc AFTER the Battle of Mordor (or its equivalent in your game world). Your Player Characters may have experienced it, and will have to adapt to the change, or it may be part of history and they've known nothing but this status quo. The Orcs are now refugees. Their world has been destroyed by the forces of good causing an influx of Orcish civilians in any land that will take them. Orc warriors have become dangerous mercenaries for hire or brigands/pirates, certainly not helping their people's reputation abroad.Are they evil?
That's up to you. In the past, the PCs may only have dealt with official representatives of the Orcish government or religion and their warriors. These may well all have been evil. What the present crisis may reveal is that Orc civilians come in all colors and creeds, some good, some bad. Or it may be that while some are friendly and fun, even good-natured, their religion and/or customs are considered "evil". My Klingon analogy remains a good one. Even a "good" Klingon like Worf needs to satisfy his bloodlust, murders his wife's killer, etc., things ethically wrong in the Federation mindset. In the culture itself, "good" Klingons like Kurn, Martok and Kor have participated in massacres and the like. What they've done seems evil, but it isn't to them (they find deception and cowardice to be "evil", so to each his own).
If your PCs are living through the transition
There's certainly a lot of fodder for plots and subplots there. During the transition period, PCs may have to help Orcs settle in harsh desert plains or rocky mountains where no one wants to live, or bring peaceful resolutions in conflicts between refugee settlements too close to human(oid) habitation, or even help the "good" folk oust those pesky Orcs from their territory. The GM should make this process reveal shades of gray to the age-old conflict between Orcs and others, showing the "enemy" in a new light, and asking some important questions about the xenophobia exhibited by the PCs and their allies. Culture clashes abound.
As things settle down
A few decades later, Orc culture will have deviated in different ways depending on what niches the Orcs managed to fill...
-Nomads: Some will have embraced banditry or piracy as a way of life, while more peaceful Orcs living in isolated but harsh corners of the world will be forced to migrate seasonally to survive, living in tents or a string of outposts.
-Slaves: Evil (or unethical) empires will find a desperate worker force in the refugees massing at their borders, and Orcs in those regions could be enslaved easily. If the Orc leadership used to tread on its civilians this way, they may not register a change in lifestyle.
-Underclass: Even if they don't wind up as slaves, Orcs are likely to become the underclass, especially in city settings. Begging and stealing, filling their ghettos with violence, and being employed for only the most menial of tasks, the GM might use them to explore some topical concepts like gang violence, drugs and racial equality. Because there are still first-generation refugees around, the wound is quite fresh. These Orcs are not likely to have equal rights or access to good jobs. They are probably segregated.
-Terrorists and freedom fighters: Some regions might spawn faux-Middle East politics, with enemy groups within a stone's throw of each other. Many Orcs may feel that the other races are keeping them down, have stolen/destroyed their rightful lands, etc. and wish to retaliate. Terrorist cells would be a constant danger even in the most peaceful of areas. Extremism would thrive in the post-Mordor climate.
-Genocide or deportation: If they settled in an evil empire, this might very well happen, especially after a change in the leadership, causing a new wave of refugees (if the Orcs are lucky).
-Lawful co-habitation: If your campaign world has a strict "Lawful Good" civilization, it may embrace the Orc refugees completely, give them arable lands or even space in the cities. As long as Orc citizens obeyed the law, there would be no problem, and these Orcs would enjoy a certain tolerance for their way of life.
-Mini-empires: Some Orcs would get out of Mordor and immediately jump on border towns, creating a small closed-off city-state mirroring the mother culture. The warlords in charge would likely name themselves emperors or gods on Earth (think North Korea) and cause trouble for their neighbors. This might lead to a dangerous rise in Orcish power and ultimately, war. Or these states might be contained by the surrounding powers, yet remain impregnable, an irritant they must always keep careful watch of.
Orcs integrated into other cultures will tend towards assimilation, leaving some of their ways behind and embracing their adopted culture. Or they might go the voodoo route and combine elements from both cultures, creating an interesting hybrid. Some (like slaves) might have their culture forcibly bred out of them, leading to more secret or subtle practices. Orcs NOT integrated into their new culture (either by their own choice or because of segregation) will continue to behave in more Orcish ways, while newer generations may lose their native culture entirely and try to imitate or reject either culture as filtered through their own point of view. Gang culture, Orc Punk, an Orcish Revival, it could manifest in a number of ways. Meanwhile, Orcs that have remained isolated from other humanoid cultures may evolve in various ways away from the mother culture. Nomadic cultures will create traditions based on the needs of the tribe, while despotic city-states will embrace whatever crazed dogma their leader chooses.
There are a lot of avenues to explore, and Orcs from one region to the next may be entirely different. Just like people, which is what they are. As you can see, a lot of ideas can be mined directly from human history or current affairs, indeed, anywhere cultures are living side-by-side, peacefully or not.
Comments
Taking the idea of using a real world example; The Homeland could take on mythical proportions (like Isreal) leading to an Orcish Return movement centuries later.
Certainly an interesting way of shaking up a game world!