So I have a lot of orcs minis. We've been over that before.
I have orcs from Wargames Factory, TSR, Reaper (Dark Heaven Legends and Warlord-style Bones), Copplestone, Games Workshop, Dark Ages (I think that's the name), and three kinds from Black Tree Designs (one being old Harbringer orcs, I think). Plus some others, probably.
That doesn't count the goblins, hobgoblins, and whatever else I thought was sufficiently orc-like to convert to orcs.
So my orcs are sometimes pig-faced, sometimes flat-faced. Sometimes they have fangs. Some have big heads. Some have smallish heads. Some have thick bodies. Some narrow. Some I got too heavy-handed with the black wash.
So how about some variations?
All of these are just random ideas.
Pig-Faced Orcs
Traits: Add Acute Taste and Smell 3, Overweight, and increase HP by 2.
Fanged Orcs
Traits: Add the Ravenous trait (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1, p. 38).
Big Orcs
Traits: Raise SM to +1. Add +3 to ST and HP.
Little Orcs
Traits: Lower SM to -1. Reduce ST and HP by 2; add Striking ST 2 so you don't have to change their damage lines on the writeup.
Barbaric Orcs:
Traits: Add DR 3 (Tough Skin, Does Not Stack With Armor). Remove encumbrance from armor.
Dark Orcs:
Traits: Add +1 to IQ and DX and add Magery 0 to traits.
Two-Weapon Orcs:
Traits: Add Ambidexterity, Special Training (Two-Weapon Fighting without TBAM or WM), and Two-Weapon Fighting (Dungeon Fantasy 3: The Next Level, p. 41).
The only weird one up there is the Dark Orcs thing. But in some games I played, "black orcs" were the smarter, nastier orcs. So, that's one way to deal with my overabundance of black wash - I'm making them smarter and nimbler, not a color and wash error.
These all stack except that you can't have Small Big Orcs. But Big Fanged Orcs? Yep. Small Barbaric Dark Orcs? Big Dark Fanged Pig-Faced Two-Weapon Orcs? Sure!
I like it. WYSIWYG is always nice from a GM perspective, because you've got less record keeping to do. Better for the players, because it helps them track threat assessments without asking the same dumb questions over and over.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I think it can be oddly simpler than "all of these minis are just placeholders." Guy has no armor? He's got natural DR and he's Barbaric. Has two weapons? Then he's a skilled two-weapon fighter. Etc. Want to make sure they can't track you by scent? Shoot down the pig-faced dudes. It makes life easier for the GM and the players alike.
DeleteThese are great ideas--I really do like the WYSIWYG minis, and like the idea of differentiating them accordingly. Question: what kind of orcs did the party employ in the past (or was that hobgoblins)?
DeleteThey dragooned some hobgoblins into service at one point. The orcs, just generic ones using whatever mini I felt like using.
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