[Chalkarts]

I've only gotten to read my core books and some fluff online but none of the real serious lore.
I think I've got a pretty good bead on all the races and how they interact with each other except for the orcs.
They seem devoid of anything significant.

What am I missing, what makes an orc unique versus just a guy with tusks.

[PiXeL01]

Well in SR they are just that, a big guy with tusk, who was forced into adulthood as he become a teenager.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Expounding on that... imagine being biologically an adult but still being legally a child until your middle age. And retirement programs don't kick in until 15 years after your life expectancy.

[Tecumseh]

Depending on how motivated you are to read the fluff, The Complete Trog talks a lot about this question on pages 12-19.

One of the most obvious differences is that orks age and mature much faster than humans. The 4th Edition core book has a table where the average lifespan of an ork is listed as 35-45 years (SR4, p. 72). What happens when you've reached maturity by age 12, and are the size of a very large adult, but you're still in middle school? The rest of metahuman society and laws aren't really designed to accommodate that difference effectively, unless it is to exploit it. The shorter lifespans often promote a "live fast, die young" mentality, since orks know that they're going to die young no matter what, be it biology or bullets.

(Earlier editions were a bit fuzzy on wheher this was an inherent feature of the race or if it simply reflected their lower standards of living. However, 5E explicitly codified it by offering the positive quality "Human Lifespan", 10 karma, The Complete Trog, p. 17.)

First through Fourth Editions talked more about orks having a gestation period of 6 months, with "litters" that averaged four babies. This led to large families, which led to more impoverishment. The age of maturity suggest that orks start having kids young, likely in their teens, and don't really survive long enough to raise them for very long. Fifth Edition has backed away from this "larger families" angle but I don't think they've explicitly disavowed it. The word "litter" is a homonym with some unflattering alternative meanings, and it makes orks seem less human/metahuman, so this language has been removed and the concept has been de-emphasized.

Looks like I've been ninja'd by some others saying the same thing, but more succinctly. Hopefully this gives you a bit more to work with.

[Wenlocke]

There does also seem to be a wide streak in ork (and especially troll) mentality, that crops up in a number of areas, of "why bother fighting the stereotype?"

[Chalkarts]

I'm working on a background, for some reason I can't make a character unless the background works in my head.

The character is a cheating gambler, card counter, low grade computer skills, photographic memory.

He was caught, forced to work off his debt as a skillwire/rigger driver, Bodyguard, driver, valet, grunt for a mid level executive.
escaped with his hardware
Very likeable guy, lots of charisma, the face.

I'm trying to decide if this concept better fits a human or an ork.

The ork toughness would be cool but I feel like cheating at casinos might be more of a human thing, lol.

[PiXeL01]

Such racist bigotry! Why shouldn’t an Ork be a gambler? They have all the more reason to seek out Lady Luck than breeders, sorry I means humans! Orks are even more downtrodden than humans so keep at it.

[Beerhamut]

Stay Ork. Squishy humans are so drab.

[Michael Chandra]

Pfff, Strength and Body are irrelevant when you face a Sniper putting some APDS through you. Dandelion Eater all the way, Tusker. You go and play meatshield.

Disclaimer: This user only plays Humans because he refuses to stoop to playing Elves for Social Streetsams. Edge all the way!

[Beerhamut]

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough > Vanilla
Just sayin'

[Tecumseh]

I actually think that gambling, and cheating at gambling, would tie in well with the 'live fast, die young' ethos. Conversely, getting caught and losing valuable years working off his debt could make him bitter, or acutely anxious about the remaining years. So maybe he doubles down on his recklessness, thinking that he's making up for lost time.

Mechanically, an ork is not the optimal choice, but it can be done if you're not concerned about min-maxing things.

[Reaver]

There is no reason why an Ork can't be a gambler, or a smooth talker...

Granted, mechanically they are not an optimal choice (no bonus to charisma), but doesn't mean they (orks) can't be anything they choose to be...




Seriously, people get hung up on the "numbers" side of things too much. There is no reason why a trog or tusker can't be anything! Be that a award winning scientist, or a legal expert, or a construction engineer (Especially the a construction engineer! Not much brain power required there from my experience!) or any other profession.

Sadly however, there are some practical limitations. If an Ork's lifespan is only 45 years, spending 25 years gaining the educational knowledge to be a doctor leaves the poor Ork working his "golden years" when physically all he wants is a blanket and a rocking chair...

Which ties back into the "life fast die young and leave a good looking corpse" mentality of many trogs and tuskers... And society in general.

Orks' maturation rate is very much out of sync with a modern world and the knowledge one needs to be successful in a modern era. Orks and trolls both mature physically much quicker then rest of humanity, but they still learn at the same rate as everyone else. So if it takes 16 years of schooling to be a Doctor... (12 years of primary and high school, 4 years of medical school) That is HALF their lives spent learning just to do something!

They will never reach the age to collect a pension or old age security, and eventually they will become too "old" to actually perform their jobs, requiring them to be forced out, or quit...

And none of this speaks to the overt racism that actually exists in SR... Such as the Aztlan "breeding" program that began after the Yucatan Wars, and which we saw the effects of in WAR! (you'll have to read close to see what I mean, see if you can find it!).


No, SR is "against" the trog and tuskers... but that's what makes them fun too    

[Chalkarts]

your replies have made me decide on Ork for his race.
He'll be all charm and talk, less on the tough.

His skills won't be a high priority because he's skillwired.  A for attributes so I can make him charming.

[Seras]

your replies have made me decide on Ork for his race.
He'll be all charm and talk, less on the tough.

His skills won't be a high priority because he's skillwired.  A for attributes so I can make him charming.

One of my favorite characters was a orc decker/ fixer. Orcs have big families with the whole multiple births stuff........ So I spent all my Karma on high loyalty, low influence connections.

You see beeing an Orc he had lots of Cousins. He had a cousin who was a mechanic, a cousin who worked security, a cousin who worked at a corp bar as a barkeeper , a cousin who drove a limo for the corps, a cousin who was a cab driver, a cousin who had a stuffer shack.....you get the idea. ^^

So whenever the team needed something , they would turn to the orc and say: " Say Hellion, don't you know somebody ? "   He usually did 

It was great fun for everybody !

[PiXeL01]

Ever since I started playing SR back in the early days of 2e I have been drawn to Orks. My current character is an Oni Technomancer though he’s a bit out of his element in Denver being from PCC.

Orks have soul, character. Even if downtrodden