Stats: Weak Alone, Strong Together
I remember when I only had to talk about one monster per week. Now we have four on average. Hooray! I’m so tired…
Orcs come in four different flavor. You’ve got vanilla orcs, the Orc War Chief, the Orc Eye of Gruumsh, and the Orog. While they each share many of the same attributes, each one has something different and unique to bring to the horde.
Except for the regular orc. This basic enemy, with a very low AC and HP total, is your typical ‘hit it until it dies’ brute that you’d expect. It can either swing a greataxe at you or throw a javelin. Its only interesting ability is Aggressive, which allows it to move up to its speed towards any hostile creature it can see as a bonus action; that would be a point in its favor, had all the others not had this same ability and more.
The War Chief is significantly more durable and dangerous. Its AC and HP are significantly higher, and its weapons do far more damage, especially with Multiattack. On top of having Aggressive, it also has an ability called Gruumsh’s Fury, which allows it to do an extra chunk of damage when it hits with a weapon. It also has Battle Cry, a unique action that allows it to give all of its allies advantage on attack rolls for the rest of the round as well as giving the chief an extra attack as a bonus action. While it’s still a mostly straightforward fight, those two abilities set the War Chief apart as a particularly dangerous orc.
Physically, the Orc Eye of Gruumsh isn’t as strong as the War Chief. Its AC is equal to the chief, but its HP is significantly lower. It also only has one melee weapon, which doesn’t do a whole lot. Luckily, it makes up for that with spells!
- Cantrips (at will): guidance, resistance, thaumaturgy
- 1st level (4 slots): bless, command
- 2nd level (2 slots): augury, spiritual weapon
Those spells aren’t particularly dangerous when used on itself. When used on others, however, they turn the Orc Eye of Gruumsh into a deadly support monster. Suddenly, the straight-forward orcs and the war chief are much more dangerous and tricky to handle.
Oh, and then there’s the orog. He’s literally just the regular orc, but stronger. Like, it’s literally exactly the same, but the numbers are higher. There goes all that hype the lore built up. So… boo.
On their own, none of these monsters are particularly interesting. Sure, some of them are pretty powerful and might give your players a hard time. They’re straight-forward, weak, and kinda lame.
But together? Oh, boy, put all three of them together and you’ve got something special! The simple but dangerous front-line power of the orcs and orogs. The deadly leadership of the chief. The magical buffing of the Eye. Altogether, these guys become a force to be reckoned with and can make for an incredibly fun battle.
Fun fact: the very first boss I ever KOed a player with was an Orc War Chief. He would have had a horde along with him, but the players blew them all up. I still remember the look of fear on their faces when the chief rose from the ashes. Ah, good times.
Placement
The orcs mostly live up to their place as fantasy’s go-to monster. They’ve got some truly deep and interesting lore and their stats can make for an amazing fight, provided they’re all put together in the same place. Sure, they’re basic. But so is vanilla ice cream and everyone loves that!
With all that in mind, I’ll be putting the Orcs at #35 on the Best of the Bestiary!
- Beholder
- Death Tyrant
- Mind Flayer
- Dragon Turtle
- Mummy/Mummy Lord
- Nagas (all three of ’em)
- Green Dragons
- Red Dragons
- Blue Dragons
- Black Dragons
- White Dragons
- Silver Dragons
- Couatl
- Behir
- Aboleth
- Sea Hag
- Lamia
- Bronze Dragons
- Brass Dragons
- Copper Dragons
- Gold Dragons
- Chuul
- Kuo-Toa
- Gibbering Mouther
- Kraken
- Intellect Devourer
- Chimera
- Death Knight
- Fomorian
- Bone Devil
- Dracolich
- Faerie Dragon
- Gelatinous Cube
- Lich
- Orcs (all four of ’em) <—————–
- Magmin
- Kobold
- Kenku
- Hobgoblins
- Night Hag
- Green Hag
- Black Pudding
- Ankheg
- Hook Horror
- Oni
- Storm Giant
- Hill Giant
- Empyrean
- Efreeti
- Grimlock
- Minotaur
- Dao
- Cloud Giant
- Manticore
- Drow (all four of ’em)
- Shadow Demon
- Modrons (all five of ’em)
- Marilith
- Drider
- Aarackockra
- Azer
- Demilich
- Spectator
- Gray Ooze
- Ochre Jelly
- Hydra
- Marid
- Harpy
- Werejackal
- Half-Dragon
- Cambion
- Fire Giant
- Nothic
- Animated Armor
- Banshee
- Basilisk
- Yochlol
- Bulette
- Cloaker
- Darkmantle
- Doppelganger
- Ghoul and Ghast
- Ettin
- Medusa
- Pit Fiend
- Erinyes
- Chain Devil
- Bearded Devil
- Barbed Devil
- Spined Devil
- Ice Devil
- Mimic
- Djinni
- Merrow
- Nalfeshnee
- Glabrezu
- Chasme
- Grell
- Barlgura
- Horned Devil
- Balor
- Shadow Dragon
- Myconids (all four of ’em)
- Werebear
- Lizardfolk
- Vrock
- Dretch
- Gnolls (all three)
- Goristro
- Hezrou
- Manes
- Frost Giant
- Weretiger
- Werewolf
- Duergar
- Quasit
- Dryad
- Flumph
- Goblin
- Nightmare
- Wereboar
- Wererat
- Githyanki
- Planetar
- Imp
- Ogres/Half-ogres
- Clay Golem
- Flameskull
- Displacer Beast
- Carrion Crawler
- Githzerai
- Grick
- Invisible Stalker
- Rug of Smothering
- Bugbear Chief
- Bugbear
- Flesh Golem
- Vine Blight
- Twig Blight
- Needle Blight
- Mephits (all six of ’em)
- Bullywug
- Hellhound
- Ettercap
- Gas Spore
- Cockatrice
- Lemure
- Homonculus
- Merfolk
- Solar
- Deva
- Gorgon
- Hippogriff
- Griffon
- Cyclops
- Centaur
- Ghost
- Fire Elemental
- Water Elemental
- Air Elemental
- Stone Giant
- Deep Gnome
- Dinosaurs (All six of them)
- Iron Golem
- Stone Golem
- Earth Elemental
- Galeb Duhr
- Helmed Horror
- Flying Sword
- Crawling Claw
- Violet Fungus
- Shrieker
- Gargoyle
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