orctober - tusks of blood

Orctober rumbles on. Over at Aeons & Auguries, there's an excellent look at orcish architecture just begging for geomorphs.  Siskoid ponders how orcish refugees face the fall of an evil empire.  And at Meatshield.Net, an unexpected approach to orcish diplomacy.

Beefing up orcs is a typical response if a referee underestimates party firepower.  Orcish wereboars are an unexpected escalation but as Hallowe'en approaches it seems apt.  Plus, why let the hill giants have all the fun?  Orcs hulking out under the full moon and with boar friends sounds fun - I pity any shieldwall facing that.  Orcish boar riders are a staple of fantasy wargaming.  Orc-wereboar hoplites with boars fighting cheek by jowl feels right.  Perhaps not so unexpected after all.

Their culture may be less extremist than traditional orc culture but every inch as selfish.  I peg them as Neutral Evil, might-justified and nasty-tempered, too selfish for obsessive hate or psychosis.  With their  resistance to ordinary weapons, their savagery makes them natural skirmishers.  Lunar rages and extreme selfishness makes them poor mercenaries.  This is a group placated or avoided rather than allied with.  Their hatred for elves comes from competing in a shared environment - the latter know how effective silver arrows are.  Their attitude to regular orcs is usually contemptuous and foreign tribes are offered a chance to swear a painful blood oath.  Sharing blood with lycanthropes is often a changing experience...