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Ranin
Seeker

88 Posts

Posted - 16 Sep 2006 :  05:03:29  Show Profile  Visit Ranin's Homepage Send Ranin a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
A sudden thought occured to me. (By the way...hi!)
Half-orcs and half ogres I know exist in the Realms, because of some interaction with isolated humans and orcs in their encampments, which makes sense.

Also, ogres often travel and mingle with the goblinoids and probably speak eachother's language. However, (forgive me if this seems to be a *dumb* question to the real experts of Realmslore) why have I not heard of a mixed ogre-orc peoples, or hobgoblin-orc or hobgoblin-ogre?





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maransreth
Learned Scribe

Australia
157 Posts

Posted - 16 Sep 2006 :  05:06:53  Show Profile Send maransreth a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Mixed ogre-orcs are orogs or ogrillons.
They have seen use in Salvatore's Cleric Quintet series, but apart from that are not very popular.
I have not heard of hobogoblin/ogre/orc mixes before.

Note - With orogs, according to Races of Faerun, they are just Underdark orcs. My interpretation of orog as orc/ogre offspring stems from 2e.
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TomCosta
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
948 Posts

Posted - 18 Sep 2006 :  22:45:44  Show Profile Send TomCosta a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I worked up the ogrillon in the unofficial Bestiary of the Realms II on Eric Boyd's website here: http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/monsters.html
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warlockco
Master of Realmslore

USA
1695 Posts

Posted - 19 Sep 2006 :  01:39:41  Show Profile  Visit warlockco's Homepage Send warlockco a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by maransreth

Mixed ogre-orcs are orogs or ogrillons.
They have seen use in Salvatore's Cleric Quintet series, but apart from that are not very popular.
I have not heard of hobogoblin/ogre/orc mixes before.

Note - With orogs, according to Races of Faerun, they are just Underdark orcs. My interpretation of orog as orc/ogre offspring stems from 2e.



Orogs are no longer Ogre-Orc hybrids, they are "Super" Orcs now.

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Edited by - warlockco on 19 Sep 2006 01:39:59
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader

USA
5402 Posts

Posted - 19 Sep 2006 :  01:47:09  Show Profile  Visit KnightErrantJR's Homepage Send KnightErrantJR a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Kind of like the old Spelljammer Scro . . .
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 19 Sep 2006 :  01:54:20  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR

Kind of like the old Spelljammer Scro . . .



I really liked the scro... They were updated to 3E, recently (Dragon 339), but the article disappointed me by not mentioning Almighty Dukgash. As I said elsewhere, that's kinda like doing a write-up on the githyanki without mentioning Gith...

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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 19 Sep 2006 01:54:43
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KnightErrantJR
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USA
5402 Posts

Posted - 19 Sep 2006 :  02:00:08  Show Profile  Visit KnightErrantJR's Homepage Send KnightErrantJR a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I agree on the update of Scro in Dragon. I also didn't really agree with monk as a favored class for them just because they are lawful and diciplined. Fighter makes perfect sense, even if it isn't very exotic, though Marshall from the Miniatures Handbook would definately be a class that I could see a Scro taking levels in.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 19 Sep 2006 :  02:44:32  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Aye... the monk class really wasn't appropriate.

I tend to view the Scro as violently militaristic, which was how they were described in SPELLJAMMER. That's hardly conductive to the mindset of a monk.

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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 19 Sep 2006 :  02:55:09  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

Aye... the monk class really wasn't appropriate.

I tend to view the Scro as violently militaristic, which was how they were described in SPELLJAMMER. That's hardly conductive to the mindset of a monk.




Ah, but what is the sound of a sword undrawn? Think on this, grasshopper.

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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 19 Sep 2006 02:55:37
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ShadowJack
Senior Scribe

USA
350 Posts

Posted - 20 Sep 2006 :  13:04:23  Show Profile  Visit ShadowJack's Homepage Send ShadowJack a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Sages, Wasn't the adversary in Drew Karpyshyn's book, Temple Hill, an Orog? or do I need another cup of coffee? I remembered him being an orog...

ShadowJack
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Kalin Agrivar
Senior Scribe

Canada
956 Posts

Posted - 20 Sep 2006 :  13:41:32  Show Profile  Visit Kalin Agrivar's Homepage Send Kalin Agrivar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
There was an orog paladin in the War in Tethyr novel

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ShadowJack
Senior Scribe

USA
350 Posts

Posted - 20 Sep 2006 :  15:14:06  Show Profile  Visit ShadowJack's Homepage Send ShadowJack a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I thought HE was an orc?... Shield of Innocence, or something like that...

ShadowJack
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Kalin Agrivar
Senior Scribe

Canada
956 Posts

Posted - 20 Sep 2006 :  15:15:16  Show Profile  Visit Kalin Agrivar's Homepage Send Kalin Agrivar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ShadowJack

I thought HE was an orc?... Shield of Innocence, or something like that...



yeah, that was his name I loved that character...

I havn't read the book in a long time, but I think he was a 2E orog...I could be wrong

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- Lore Keeper of the Vault of Ancestors
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Jorkens
Great Reader

Norway
2950 Posts

Posted - 20 Sep 2006 :  18:50:02  Show Profile Send Jorkens a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Shield of Innocence was an orog as far as I can remember, of the 2ed. elite ogre/orc mix.
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Brace Cormaeril
Learned Scribe

294 Posts

Posted - 15 Jul 2010 :  17:09:55  Show Profile  Visit Brace Cormaeril's Homepage Send Brace Cormaeril a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Are the Scro mentioned in a FR source?
I'm familiar with Spelljammer, and altough SJ is FR canon, is there any Realmslore pertaining to Scro?

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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 15 Jul 2010 :  17:17:58  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Brace Cormaeril

Are the Scro mentioned in a FR source?
I'm familiar with Spelljammer, and altough SJ is FR canon, is there any Realmslore pertaining to Scro?

Not much. There was a scro featured [briefly] in one of the stories among the Realms of ..... anthologies, but I can't recall which at the moment.

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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 15 Jul 2010 :  19:55:38  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
There is a Scro in-source, and I just read about him within the past week - let me see if i can find him again.

I vaguely recall something about the Zhents, but that may not be right. Time to go digging....

Edit: Damn I'm good.
The Blood Axe Smashers sidebar, Ruins of Zhentil Keep, pg.43

Edit2: And as a comment on the original thread topic, I have always considered Hob-Goblins (quite literally, 'High Goblins') as the Goblin-Orc crossbreed. I have read of such cross-breeds numerous times in-source, and yet a separate, distant sub-species is never, ever defined (AFAIK).

Ergo, I postulate, just like certain animals (and I am NOT calling Goblins animals!), the unique genetic hybrid turns-out superior to its parentage, if not in intelligence, then at least in size and strength (I would also argue Hobgoblins are smarter then either as well, but not all that noticeably so).

Thousands and thousands of years of cross-breeding has created a separate race of such creatures. I also hypothesize that there were probably 'breeding programs' in the distant past, most likely by Goblin Empires (Orcs don't appear to have ever established a very high level of culture, unlike Goblins, who apparentlty have in the ancient past). I could definitely see some of those more clever goblins - Blues come to mind - running such race-improving programs (the Xvart is probably another of their creations). Orcs, on the other hand, don't seem to really care who they 'rut' with. There is also the Dekanter Goblins, who may have been changed/augmented by Netherease magic, but could also be one of those cross-breeding attempts (with what, I don't know - Ogres?)

I would go further and say many of such experiments were utter failures (the Bakemono of the east could be an Urd/Goblin variant), and that even their few successes proved to be counter-productive in the long run. Hobgoblins, unlike many other humanoids, will almost always attempt to enslave goblins, which is why goblins prefer not to ally with them (pg.15, The Stonelands and the Goblin Marches, Elminster's Ecologies).

Anyhow, the reason why I put so much thought into these things is because I really grew annoyed at the constant need to provide monster-entries for every single variant in 3e. If two creatures even smiled at each other, we'd see their progeny in MM #37. I would rather find existing groups to 'place blame' on. Now, I'm not saying that a Goblin/Orc crossbreed is going to look and act exactly like a hobgoblin - those were most-likely created by years of selective breeding and thousands of years of evolution. However, if a DM wanted some quick stats for one of those cross-breeds, the Hobgoblins fit nicely. There is no reason to create new monsters, unless completely unlike anything that has gone before, with the shear number of creatures available to us in all five editions (including OD&D), in every D&D setting.


"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 16 Jul 2010 00:40:43
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Kajehase
Great Reader

Sweden
2104 Posts

Posted - 16 Jul 2010 :  04:35:40  Show Profile Send Kajehase a Private Message  Reply with Quote
If humans are animals, albeit clever oned, then why not call goblinoids animals?

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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 16 Jul 2010 :  05:09:57  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Because I've recently been accused of being a racist, so I have to walk on eggs around here.

And no sentient creature should be considered 'an animal', regardless of the correctness of that scientifically. Its not very 'PC'.

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone

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Kyrene
Senior Scribe

South Africa
716 Posts

Posted - 16 Jul 2010 :  09:12:17  Show Profile  Visit Kyrene's Homepage Send Kyrene a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

Because I've recently been accused of being a racist, so I have to walk on eggs around here.
Why, just because you (rightly) don't like elves? Some people take 'PC' just that little too far at times.

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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 16 Jul 2010 :  21:42:00  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Has nothing to do with Elves, it is RW-related, and if anyone knew me, and the many folks I am related to, they would realize I am probably the furthest thing from.

{sigh}

Doesn't matter - folks just look for ways of hurting other folks - its the way of mean people.

The general rule of thumb for me, way back when, was that if you could speak to it, it was a person (with exceptions - some folks are unable to speak for medical reasons). That rule would apply even in science fiction (broadening the 'speaking' definition to 'communicate'). Fantasy, on the other hand, has this whole 'gray area', which is why we have an artificial category called 'beasts' that falls in-between animals and people in the D&D game. Beasts are technically smarter animals, but still animals, and some of them can speak.

Is an Owlbear a person? Its fairly smart, but you can't talk to it. The WoW version - Furbolgs - even wear feathers and other trinkets, and live in huts. Yet you cannot speak to them, so they can't be 'people', right? What about a Leucrotta? They don't look anything like a person; they are quite clearly an animal - yet they can speak.

Magic muddies the waters even more, since it allows us to speak to just about anything, including rocks and dead stuff. Hell, sentient swords and other weapons are part of folklore.

And this is where it gets scarey - would you eat something you can talk to? Bear in mind that in D&D, you can talk to almost anything. The trout you caught for dinner for instance - if it spoke to you, would you still cook it and have it for supper?

Thats part of the point Ed has always tried to make in regards to the Realms - Earth morality is completely out-of-place in a fantasy environment.

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 16 Jul 2010 21:44:03
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader

USA
4211 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2010 :  02:39:21  Show Profile Send Dalor Darden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I would even posit that the morality of one area of Earth is completely out of touch with morality of another region...so how much more silly is it to compare our own sense of morality on what happens in a fantasy world?

I've had people tell me that it would be wrong for a Paladin to kill captured goblins...to which I replied "Having prayed mightily for their souls beforehand, the Paladin would indeed be, within his own moral views, doing the Goblins a favor by preventing them from further staining their souls with future deeds of evil. In HIS view he is both praying for their redemption and then sending them to the heavens where they might be judged without chance of his prayers for their souls being wasted. Who are YOU, a real person, to say that he was in the wrong?"

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The Red Walker
Great Reader

USA
3563 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2010 :  03:15:45  Show Profile Send The Red Walker a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

Has nothing to do with Elves, it is RW-related, and if anyone knew me, and the many folks I am related to, they would realize I am probably the furthest thing from.

{sigh}

Doesn't matter - folks just look for ways of hurting other folks - its the way of mean people.

The general rule of thumb for me, way back when, was that if you could speak to it, it was a person (with exceptions - some folks are unable to speak for medical reasons). That rule would apply even in science fiction (broadening the 'speaking' definition to 'communicate'). Fantasy, on the other hand, has this whole 'gray area', which is why we have an artificial category called 'beasts' that falls in-between animals and people in the D&D game. Beasts are technically smarter animals, but still animals, and some of them can speak.

Is an Owlbear a person? Its fairly smart, but you can't talk to it. The WoW version - Furbolgs - even wear feathers and other trinkets, and live in huts. Yet you cannot speak to them, so they can't be 'people', right? What about a Leucrotta? They don't look anything like a person; they are quite clearly an animal - yet they can speak.

Magic muddies the waters even more, since it allows us to speak to just about anything, including rocks and dead stuff. Hell, sentient swords and other weapons are part of folklore.

And this is where it gets scarey - would you eat something you can talk to? Bear in mind that in D&D, you can talk to almost anything. The trout you caught for dinner for instance - if it spoke to you, would you still cook it and have it for supper?

Thats part of the point Ed has always tried to make in regards to the Realms - Earth morality is completely out-of-place in a fantasy environment.

*Emphasis Mine*

It is not scary at all, it's very simple. Trout is tasty. Eat it, even ask it for a recipe! Owlbear is stringy and tough. Don't eat it

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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader

USA
3240 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2010 :  03:48:00  Show Profile Send Ashe Ravenheart a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by The Red Walker

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

Has nothing to do with Elves, it is RW-related, and if anyone knew me, and the many folks I am related to, they would realize I am probably the furthest thing from.

{sigh}

Doesn't matter - folks just look for ways of hurting other folks - its the way of mean people.

The general rule of thumb for me, way back when, was that if you could speak to it, it was a person (with exceptions - some folks are unable to speak for medical reasons). That rule would apply even in science fiction (broadening the 'speaking' definition to 'communicate'). Fantasy, on the other hand, has this whole 'gray area', which is why we have an artificial category called 'beasts' that falls in-between animals and people in the D&D game. Beasts are technically smarter animals, but still animals, and some of them can speak.

Is an Owlbear a person? Its fairly smart, but you can't talk to it. The WoW version - Furbolgs - even wear feathers and other trinkets, and live in huts. Yet you cannot speak to them, so they can't be 'people', right? What about a Leucrotta? They don't look anything like a person; they are quite clearly an animal - yet they can speak.

Magic muddies the waters even more, since it allows us to speak to just about anything, including rocks and dead stuff. Hell, sentient swords and other weapons are part of folklore.

And this is where it gets scarey - would you eat something you can talk to? Bear in mind that in D&D, you can talk to almost anything. The trout you caught for dinner for instance - if it spoke to you, would you still cook it and have it for supper?

Thats part of the point Ed has always tried to make in regards to the Realms - Earth morality is completely out-of-place in a fantasy environment.

*Emphasis Mine*

It is not scary at all, it's very simple. Trout is tasty. Eat it, even ask it for a recipe! Owlbear is stringy and tough. Don't eat it

That's a tough call, MT

I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.

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Kajehase
Great Reader

Sweden
2104 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2010 :  15:15:15  Show Profile Send Kajehase a Private Message  Reply with Quote

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

The trout you caught for dinner for instance - if it spoke to you, would you still cook it and have it for supper?



Of course I wouldn't eat it, I hate seafood. Now if it was an elk...

There is a rumour going around that I have found god. I think is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
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