Ramblings on Kara-Tur Oriental Adventure, and Orcs
In the distant past TSR published Oriental Adventures for AD&D and naturally it had a few remakes through the rule changes. I always liked the original ideas presented in the 1e rules.
A while back I started a 5e game based on the idea of making the 5e setting more Asian, right now that game is on pause for a variety of reason including people's health. One up side to the pause is I am reviewing the older materials published for D&D in it's various forms and considering what I really want to do. I have come to the conclusion after reading and thinking it over Kara-Tur could really be its own world not a strange land off in some corner of what ever is the current official D&D world and timeline is. Now of course other people are working on 5e versions of various Kara-Tur classes and oriental culture based ideas so I will be looking at that too. I must say I am still partial to 0e through 1e type rules. The 5e play conversions between me as DM and the players, an old AD&D player, two new to the game and one 5e experienced player have often revolved around a lot of is that right? Type comments as the 5e version seems less deadly or some mechanic is making us rule hunt, or makes no sense to the party... though I must say it is better than the last version I play tested as a player, no one seemed to like that version. So what would I really like to do in my dream world of Kara-Tur honestly I would love to play a more Basic version, go old school.
I have made some DM decisions about my ideas of Kara-Tur Races regardless of rules.
One Kara-Tur races in the original printing of Oriental Adventures all stay, Korobakuru, Hengeyokai, Spirit Folk and of course Humans. However, no Elves, Half-elves, Halflings, Gnomes or traditional D&D Dwarves because I feel the races unique to Oriental Adventures replace these more western culture based fantasy races nicely.
Two add in Half-Orcs. Old school pig headed Orcs just fit nicely in an Oriental Adventure setting. The background for the race can be different of course. This then got me thinking on the whole Green Pig headed Orcs of old and soon I was thinking of all the pig headed alien races and green people in books, movies or sci-fi tv shows. So after some musings I decided a few things.
Home Brew Orc/Half-Orc fun fact number one: Adult fertile females produce an effect on males like Star Trek's Orion Slave Girls... no matter how Orcish they look Human and Orc Males basically are not normally inclined to kill them, mate yes, but kill rarely. I just think what a great survival mechanism for the species... yes they are the weaker gender, maybe males run the political show, but the girls got some seductive power no one can explain.
Though traditionally in D&D Orcs are presented along the dirty barbarian stereotype line I think a little rework is needed, sure they wear animal skins, rough fabrics mostly, use bone and shells in ornaments that is not all they use in clothing. They certainly could acquire through conquest or even trade other materials. They need not be "dirty" and "stinky" just because their Orcs either. Orcs in D&D dwell in cave communities and villages but there is also a very assumed nomadic war band aspect. They are also nocturnal by nature. So in considering the Orc D&D Gods and preferred living locations and activities I feel some conclusions are possible. They prefer underground hidden communities, or cave mountain type strongholds, mesa type towns that sort of thing. As they are nocturnal this means they probably don't large scale plant agriculture much, but might do night gardens with plants that bloom at night for instance or underground fantasy fungus type gardens. Any domestic beast of burden animals they keep would be nocturnal as they would most likely travel at night outside. They are night raiders and night hunters. Half-Orcs actually might be a boon to an Orc community in that they can keep day time guard and function in the day better. An outside Orc town would function the opposite of a human town if you think about, the day guard would go around with the all is well speech in an Orc village, The Day Watch.
A while back I started a 5e game based on the idea of making the 5e setting more Asian, right now that game is on pause for a variety of reason including people's health. One up side to the pause is I am reviewing the older materials published for D&D in it's various forms and considering what I really want to do. I have come to the conclusion after reading and thinking it over Kara-Tur could really be its own world not a strange land off in some corner of what ever is the current official D&D world and timeline is. Now of course other people are working on 5e versions of various Kara-Tur classes and oriental culture based ideas so I will be looking at that too. I must say I am still partial to 0e through 1e type rules. The 5e play conversions between me as DM and the players, an old AD&D player, two new to the game and one 5e experienced player have often revolved around a lot of is that right? Type comments as the 5e version seems less deadly or some mechanic is making us rule hunt, or makes no sense to the party... though I must say it is better than the last version I play tested as a player, no one seemed to like that version. So what would I really like to do in my dream world of Kara-Tur honestly I would love to play a more Basic version, go old school.
I have made some DM decisions about my ideas of Kara-Tur Races regardless of rules.
One Kara-Tur races in the original printing of Oriental Adventures all stay, Korobakuru, Hengeyokai, Spirit Folk and of course Humans. However, no Elves, Half-elves, Halflings, Gnomes or traditional D&D Dwarves because I feel the races unique to Oriental Adventures replace these more western culture based fantasy races nicely.
Two add in Half-Orcs. Old school pig headed Orcs just fit nicely in an Oriental Adventure setting. The background for the race can be different of course. This then got me thinking on the whole Green Pig headed Orcs of old and soon I was thinking of all the pig headed alien races and green people in books, movies or sci-fi tv shows. So after some musings I decided a few things.
Home Brew Orc/Half-Orc fun fact number one: Adult fertile females produce an effect on males like Star Trek's Orion Slave Girls... no matter how Orcish they look Human and Orc Males basically are not normally inclined to kill them, mate yes, but kill rarely. I just think what a great survival mechanism for the species... yes they are the weaker gender, maybe males run the political show, but the girls got some seductive power no one can explain.
Though traditionally in D&D Orcs are presented along the dirty barbarian stereotype line I think a little rework is needed, sure they wear animal skins, rough fabrics mostly, use bone and shells in ornaments that is not all they use in clothing. They certainly could acquire through conquest or even trade other materials. They need not be "dirty" and "stinky" just because their Orcs either. Orcs in D&D dwell in cave communities and villages but there is also a very assumed nomadic war band aspect. They are also nocturnal by nature. So in considering the Orc D&D Gods and preferred living locations and activities I feel some conclusions are possible. They prefer underground hidden communities, or cave mountain type strongholds, mesa type towns that sort of thing. As they are nocturnal this means they probably don't large scale plant agriculture much, but might do night gardens with plants that bloom at night for instance or underground fantasy fungus type gardens. Any domestic beast of burden animals they keep would be nocturnal as they would most likely travel at night outside. They are night raiders and night hunters. Half-Orcs actually might be a boon to an Orc community in that they can keep day time guard and function in the day better. An outside Orc town would function the opposite of a human town if you think about, the day guard would go around with the all is well speech in an Orc village, The Day Watch.
I am musing right now on how I want Orcs to be presented beyond something for PCs to kill. How they really fit in the wastelands and abandoned places.
Keep It Simple gradually got chucked out the door in D&D as far as rules are concerned and I miss KIS. I will have to give some thought on which direction I really want to do but old school is appealing.
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