Orc Feats

 

Ancestor Fetish

You carry a pouch holding little things your ancestors valued in life, and they watch over and protect you in battle through this link.

Benefit: You get a +1 luck bonus to armor class per level while you hang onto your spirit pouch, up to a total of +10 at 10^th level.  You may not use any other form of armor, shield, or magical or psychic protection while you wear the pouch if you wish to enjoy this bonus.  This effect may not be dispelled.

 

Improved Ancestor Fetish

Your link with your ancestors is very strong, and they shower their favor on you in battle as one of their favored heirs and champions.

Benefit: The luck bonus you gain from your ancestor fetish no longer has a level limit, and your base movement rate increases by 10 when you have the spirit pouch in your possession.

Prerequisite: level 12+, ancestor fetish feat

 

Soul of the Wanderer

You are a hardy soul in touch with the spirits of your people.  The strength of your race makes you difficult to kill and protects you in times of danger.

Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to all of your saving throws for every three character levels you have attained.  You may only enjoy this benefit if you are not wearing or carrying any objects which grant you an artificial bonus to your saving throws.

 

Waaaaagh!!

You have learned to harness your battle rage to a greater extent than your other brethren.  You, like your forefathers, understand well the value of rage and what it can do for a warrior in battle.

Benefit: You add an additional +1 to your strength and constitution scores when you use the rage ability.  You may not take this feat if you do not have the rage ability to begin with.  Furthermore, you may choose a single use of your rage ability per day which you will not be winded after.

Prerequisite: The rage ability

 

Two Handed Bashing

You have learned to put extra weight behind your attacks made while holding a weapon in two hands.

Benefit:  You add an additional +2 to damage rolls made with any weapon you wield two handed.  You may only use this ability with weapons which can only be used two handed.

 

Beast Totem

You hold the spirit of a certain type of animal in high esteem, and the spirits of your animal favor you with their blessings.

Benefit:  You gain the benefit of having an animal familiar of the appropriate animal type.  This ability does not actually grant you an animal companion or familiar of any type, though it does grant you a +4 divine bonus to all skill checks made to influence or control your chosen patron animal.  Only true animals may be chosen as focuses for this feat.  You may only take this feat once.

 

Beast Cultist

You have attuned yourself to the spirits of your animal patron to such an extent that they have nested in your soul and grant you a measure of their power.

Benefit:  Your type changes to Shape Shifter and you become a lycanthrope of the same type as your spirit animal.  You do not enjoy the damage reduction of a normal lycanthrope, do not suffer from the special allergies of your chosen lycanthrope subtype, and cannot inflict the curse of lycanthropy with your natural attacks.  You qualify as a naturally born lycanthrope however, and suffer none of the shape shifting problems of a normal were-beast, nor are you necessarily prone to fly into murderous rages.  You may only take this feat once.  After taking this feat you are forbidden from possessing more than three magical or psychic items of any kind including weapons, armor, etc.

Prerequisites: level 9+, beast totem feat

Hardiness

Years on the trail and sleeping out under the stars have made you tough and hale.

Benefit:  Your wounds heal twice as fast as normal and you gain a +2 bonus to saving throws made to resist poisons, diseases, or the harsh effects of weather.  If you are being tended by someone with the Heal skill you are assumed to be getting complete bed rest regardless of your activity level (traveling, laboring, etc)

Prerequisites: endurance feat

 

Resilient

You have gained the ability to shrug off some of the damage you take from hits.

Benefit:  You gain damage reduction 1/-, and this stacks with any other damage reduction you already enjoy (from barbarian levels, for instance).

Prerequisite: You must already have a damage reduction score of at least 1/-

 

Boon of Gork

Gork is an enigmatic figure amongst the orcs rumored (though not confirmed) to be the orc deity of bashing.  God or no, he has smiled upon you at some point and you have learned how to bash.  Hard.

Benefit: You gain an additional +1 to attack and damage rolls made while you are raging, as well as a +1 inherent bonus to your strength score.

Prerequisite: Gork must have smiled on you at some point.

 

Boon of Mork

Mork is an enigmatic figure amongst the orcs rumored (though not confirmed) to be the orc deity of clever bashing.  God or no, he has smiled upon you at some point and you have learned how to bash.  Cleverly.

Benefit:  You gain a +2 to the skills Knowledge: Tactics and Knowledge: War, as well as a +1 inherent bonus to your intelligence score.

Prerequisite: Mork must have smiled on you at some point.

 

Scent

You have an exceptionally keen sense of smell, rivaling that of certain animals.

Benefit:  You gain the Scent special ability, as described in the Monster Manual.

 

War Drummer

You are skilled with the war drums of your people, and can inspire them in battle.

Benefit:  Allies hearing you play the war drums (this counts as a full round action) gain a +1 morale bonus to all attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and physical skill checks as long as you continue to play.

Prerequisites:  2+ ranks in Perform (War Drums)

 

Creators Note:  These feats are not intended to be available to normal PC’s unless they are playing humanoid characters without a lot of access to wealth, magical items, or the trappings of civilization.  This list of feats has been composed primarily to help DM’s create tough humanoid (primarily orc) encounters for higher level characters which can challenge them without requiring that a boatload of powerful magical items be given to “savage” humanoids just to enable them to compete with PC’s.  Humanoids with access to these feats but little in the way of magical items and similar gear should probably be assigned a challenge rating equal to their level plus their racial CR: the potency of these feats compensates for the absence of magical gear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This list of feats was not created to make orcs invincible: it was meant to counterbalance the enormous advantages enjoyed by the other races of most campaign settings and provide an adequate reason why orcs as a race deserve better than to serve as slaves and cannon fodder in every campaign setting they are introduced to.  It also exists to provide an excuse for the continued existence of the orc race beyond vague explanations having to do with breeding like rabbits.  The following are some guidelines which an enterprising GM can take into account to make orcs a more fitting challenge for the characters in their campaigns.  There is no need to go looking for strange and powerful races to challenge your PC’s when a perfectly good one which hasn’t received proper attention has been present the entire time.

Orcs are usually depicted as a savage race with strong violent urges, bad tempers, and little self discipline.  This makes them perfect for the Barbarian character class, and it is recommended that the average orc warrior encountered be a Barbarian.  Orcs hailing from more civilized societies are encouraged to be Fighters, but in all cases it is not recommended that an orc be given levels of the Warrior NPC class out of the Dungeon Masters Guide.  Orcs are creatures with the kind of mentality suited to the more serious PHB classes, making them Warriors causes them to lose some of this luster.  Human city watchmen who learn some fighting skills but are not expecting battle on a regular basis make better Warriors than orcs do. 

Orc religious life is very intense, as evidenced by their racial fanaticism and the fact that shamans and priests hold strong advisory positions within their tribes.  Because they live in the wilds or underground and are not as technologically advanced as most other races as a rule (due to their lower intelligence), orcs should have a relatively high number of clerics and druids among their number.  Druids are spell casters who draw upon natural forces to cast their spells, and there is nothing about the Druid class which prohibits evil or destructive behavior in the slightest.  On the contrary, destruction is a manifestation of natural forces and the forces of nature do not refuse to allow themselves to be manipulated if the wielder is not running around pretending to be Captain Planet.  Natural magic is free to everyone, and considering the harsh conditions most orcs are forced to survive in it stands as reasonable that they have a respect for these forces and learn to manipulate them.

Orcs are well suited to physical combat and as a superstitious and faithful lot are also well suited to divine magic.  They are not well suited to psychic talents, arcane magic, stealth, or technological innovations.  Thus, orcs are most likely not going to have heavy armor, wizards or sorcerers, or psychics amongst their number at all.  These weaknesses are made up for by the other humanoid races with whom orcs normally have dealings, however.  It should be noted in all cases that each of the types of humanoids presented below in a supportive role with orcs can get away with filling that role without becoming “civilized” or losing any of the cultural quirks that make them wandering monsters.

Goblins are the rogues of the humanoid world, and have racial bonuses which make them every bit as well suited to stealth and assassination as their PHB counterparts.  In an orc horde it can be safe to assume that there are a sizable number of goblin rogues who check for and set traps, scout the terrain, catch spies, and notice tricks and traps set for their larger and less sneaky brethren.  Orcs may have the tendency to bully creatures weaker than themselves, but goblins are creatures notorious for getting even: an abusive orc must still fear getting his throat slit in his sleep or his food poisoned.  Thus, orcs can cooperate with Goblins in a situation where they do the hard fighting while the goblins protect them from the sniping of elves or notice such things as charms or hear invisible creatures. 

Kobolds are the newly christened spell-casters and arcane muscle of the humanoid world, and have a racial proclivity for traps which makes them weak by themselves but invaluable to the hordes that different forms of humanoids often form.  The rationale behind Kobold spell-casting is a good one: kobolds are little draconic creatures who speak the language of dragons and breed like rats.  For all this, their draconic ancestry has left strong traces of magic in their bloodlines and they can draw upon this magic with natural talent and wield it with practice.  Kobolds breed at an incredible rate and die in droves, but if their numbers are that great then the odds of one surviving to harness its latent magical powers and grow to be a formidable sorcerer are all the greater.  Kobolds, like dragons, can have innate knowledge of arcane subjects and understand the meaning of magical words intuitively when they hear them (spell craft).  Thus a horde of humanoids is not only justified in containing sorcerers, it is justified in containing a *LOT* of sorcerers capable of casting a variety of low level supportive spells to aid their comrades or a handful of fireballs in a pinch.  Kobolds do not need books or the trappings of sophistication that wizards often don in order to fill this role, nor do they need snazzy outfits: their power comes naturally.

Magical and alchemical items are not impossible for humanoids to get their hands on, but should ideally be kept fairly rare.  Kobolds are certainly capable of figuring out alchemy or taking item creation feats by learning to intuitively use their powers to create magical items, and clerics or druids should have no problem with the task of creating magical items appropriate to their classes.  It is recommended, however, that these magical items not spill over into the ranks of orc warriors.  The feats provided above are tailored to allow orcish fighting types to go toe to toe with adventurers without getting slaughtered.  The act of combating humanoids should ideally be difficult and challenging without needing to equip the humanoids with magical items to the point where every humanoid band will be slaughtered if it lacks the levels and resources of an adventuring party.  It remains perfectly feasible and recommendable, however, for clerics and sorcerers among humanoid bands to have created a handful of magical items to help them with their chosen tasks, particularly wands holding low level spells for attack, healing, or defense.