| Dragon | Races | - | Best of Dragon, Vol. IV | Dragon 73 |
In From the Sorcerer's Scroll
in issue
#29 of DRAGON Magazine,
E. Gary
Gygax discussed the addition
of new --
and reasonable -- character
races to the
AD&D
game. (Editor's note: This
column was reprinted in
the BEST OF
DRAGON Vol. II anthology,
under the
title "Humans
and hybrids.") In particular,
he outlined the game parameters
of
the half-ogre, the offspring
of human and
ogre parentage.
From what little I've heard
about the
campaigns other people in
the world
have, I've noted, as he
has, that half-ogre
characters do enjoy some
measure of
popularity. Despite the
limitations the
half-ogre has in intelligence,
dexterity,
wisdom, and CHA, and regardless
of
the other obstacles a half-ogre
may
encounter in an AD&D
environment,
the race does constitute
an enjoyable
alternative to humans, dwarves,
and the
like. Those who prefer 'pure'
AD&D
rules can exclude half-ogres
from being
player characters, but can
use them as
NPCs, henchmen, and hirelings.
Some work is needed to flesh
out the
race, whether for use as
player characters
or non-player characters.
Half-ogres may
become fighters or fighter/clerics
only if
used as player characters;
NPCs are
allowed to be clerics only,
in keeping
with the guidelines in the
PH.
DMs might amuse
themselves with a rare bird
who has some
very low level (2nd at highest)
thief
or
assassin abilities, to throw
a wrench into
players' plans. Half-ogres
can advance to
an unlimited level as fighters,
but cleric
advancement stops at fourth
level.
In addition to learning common,
ogrish, orcish, and troll
tongues from
their ogre
parent, half-ogres may learn
one additional language
as well but no
more. The base movement
rate of half-ogres
is 12".
Half-ogres range from 7'
to 8' in height
(80 + 4d4 inches) and weigh
between 315
and 425 pounds (305 + 10d12).
Skin color
and hair color is variable
but tends to be
brown, greyish, black, dull
yellow (skin
only) or one of the above
with a slight
grey-green hue. Most half-ogres
have
human-like eyes, though
about 20% have
the white pupils common
to ogrekind.
The initial age of a half-ogre
when his
or her adventuring career
begins is 15 +
1d4 years for fighters,
20 + 1d4 years for
clerics, and 24 years for
fighter/clerics. An
aging table for half-ogres,
developed
along the lines of the one
on p. 13 of the
Dungeon Masters Guide,
appears below;
for the effects of aging,
also see the DMG.
Young
Adult: 12-18 years
Maturity: 19-40 years
Middle Age: 41-80 years
Old Age: 81-110 years
Venerable: 111-140 years
Alignment
for player characters is a
touchy subject, since most
adventuring
groups are full of paladins,
rangers,
patriarchs, and evil-hating
neutrals.
Player characters can become
true neutral
or chaotic neutral to circumvent
this
problem, making a few steps
in the direction
of chaotic evil when no
one is looking
but generally maintaining
a workable
balance of alignments. I
would not personally
prefer to allow a good-aligned
half-ogre player character
in a game, and
if I had to I'd remove all
the influence of
the ogre parent -- including
all knowledge
of any language but common
and
other human tongues.
There are a number of advantages
and
disadvantages to being a
half-ogre that
Mr. Gygax's article did
not address. On
the positive side, their
greater size and
mass allows half-ogres to
use bastard
swords one-handed and still
get the full
damage figure of 2-8/2-16
from such a
weapon. Greater size and
strength would
also allow the USE of a
rod of lordly might
or hammer
of thunderbolts to better
advantage. Like all beings
but humans,
half-ogres are immune to
lycanthropy.
Large shields would prove
to be easier to
manipulate for a half-ogre
than a human,
and offer the best protection
for such a
large body. Protective rings,
bracers, and
amulets may be used by the
race.
On the negative side, half-ogres
are
never psionic. The alignment
tendency
toward chaotic
evil makes the acquisition
of henchmen and hirelings
difficult, and
can lower loyalty
scores (as noted in the
DMG). The cost of
armor and clothing is
high, perhaps two or three
times the
norm for any other humanoid.
Halfogres,
once slain, will stay dead
unless
raised by a wish or the
use of a rod of
resurrection, requiring
the same number
of charges as a half-orc
of the same class.
(However, poisoning may
be reversed
using the appropriate cleric
spells, as
with any other character.)
When struck by
any weapon, half-ogres will
always take
damage as size L beings
(Beware those
two-handed swords!). They
are also too
big to ride anything but
a huge horse or
an elephant, neither of
which is readily
available or of low cost.
Going deeper into the rules,
there are
even more factors working
against the
half-ogre. Numerous magical
items that
vary in effect with the
user's weight
become less effective when
used by a
being that weighs an average
of 370
pounds. Magical boots, brooms,
armor,
robes, cloaks, and magical
walking or flying
steeds either won't fit,
won't work
very well, or won't work
at all for a halfogre.
Q: In issue #73, half-ogres
are said to have
trouble using magical boots;
however, the
DMG says that magic boots
will expand
to fit creatures of up to
giant size.
A: The DMG also notes,
for boots of levitation
and
boots
of speed, that heavier
creatures will make these
devices less
effective. Certain other
sorts of magical
boots will work for half-ogres,
but some
won't. The half-ogre's exceptional
size
and weight need to be carefully
considered
when they use many sorts
of magical
items like these.
(79.14)
Enterprising DMs may insert
a
potion of half-ogre control
into the
appropriate place in the
chart on potions
of human control in the
DMG, and leave
such lying about for discovery
by enemies
of the half-ogre. The +3
hammer
(dwarven thrower) and hammer
of thunderbolts
will affect a half-ogre
as they will
a full-blooded ogre. Even
as big as they
are, half-ogres aren't big
enough to fully
employ either the mattock
or the maul of the titans.
And half-ogres, whether PCs
or NPCs, are -2 'to hit'
against dwarves
and -4 'to hit' when fighting
gnomes,
because of the skills of
those smaller races
at battling bigger folk.
After all that, one wonders
why halfogres
as PCs would be any
good -- as Mr. Gygax pointed
out. Well,
in a few words, half-ogres
are the best
darn door-openers in the
whole universe.
Those wimpy little kobolds
clutch their
ridiculous little spears
and whine in unison
when 7'6" of solid muscle
smashes
their door to splinters
and walks in, and
even other larger monsters
tend to have
serious reservations about
attacking
unless they belong to the
kamikaze school
of combat philosophy. Half-ogres
might
be able to cause orcs or
half-orcs to call
off attacks, or relate to
ogres and trolls on
a friendly basis (they all
go back a long
way together), and can absolutely
terrify
local human populations
into leaving the
half-ogre's party alone,
simply by smiling
and revealing those fangs
that Daddy or
Mommy Ogre left them.
These influences and potentials
are
subtle things, certainly,
and DMs may
not always take them into
account. If the
player enforces this sort
of attitude by
emphasizing, in delicate
ways, that his or
her character is bigger
and tougher than
anyone else in the party,
other people
will tend to go along with
the idea.
Wishes or the appropriate
magical manuals
and tomes may bring a half-ogre's
weak characteristics up
to more acceptable
levels, and help even out
some of the
imbalance the player might
perceive. It
should be noted that there
is no difference
in maximum ability scores
for male and
female half-ogres. Both
can have up to
18(00) strength, though
only as fighters or
fighter/clerics.
As pointed out earlier, having
halfogres
as PCs is up to the DM
and the kind of campaign
he or she wants
to run. I believe they have
some merit, at
least as NPCs, and can add
interesting
new perspectives to the
game. It is to
them (in particular to Gi-Joe
and John
Grond, the two best half-ogres
in our
campaign) that this article
is dedicated.
Now, go forth and beat those
kobolds
into little pieces!
I.
Half-Ogre ability scores
Strength: 14-181
Intelligence: 3-122
Wisdom: 2-123
Dexterity: 3-124
Constitution: 14-185
Charisma: 2-86
1 -- Roll d6: 1 = 14; 2 =
15; 3 = 16;
4 = 17; 5 or 6 = 18. Fighters
with 18
strength add +25% on roll
for exceptional
strength, up to 18(00) maximum.
2 -- Use 3-10 if human parent
is
below norm in intelligence.
3 -- Use 3-10 if human parent
is
below norm in wisdom.
4 -- Use 3-10 if human parent
is
below norm in dexterity.
5 -- Roll d6, applying the
result
the same as for strength.
6 -- Double the charisma
score
for effective score vs.
ogres and
other half-ogres.
II. Racial preferences
Half-ogres are preferred
(P).
Half-orcs are tolerated
(T).
Humans are regarded neutrally
(N).
All others are hated (H).
Note: These work both ways.
III. Special characteristics
Infravision range is 60'.
The languages of ogres,
orcs, and
trolls are learned only
if the ogre parent
is present.
Two hit dice of the appropriate
type
are gained at 1st level;
progression is
as normal at 2nd level and
above.
Half-ogres have swarthy,
dull complexions
with dark, lank hair.
The preceding guidelines
are paraphrased
from information contained
in
the original article, "The
Half-Ogre,
Smiting Him Hip and Thigh"
in From
the Sorcerer's Scroll, DRAGON
issue #29,
by E. Gary Gygax.
Q: Can half-ogres be barbarians?
A: They can behave
in a barbarous fashion, but cannot be of the
barbarian character class.
They lack the dexterity and agility
of
humans and cannot perform
many of the barbarians' basic skills.
Half-ogres could, however,
be raised in barbarian tribes and be
considered members of such
a tribe, though they would still be of
the fighter class.
(76.65)
Q: Why do half-ogres have such low charismas?
A: No one really trusts
them. They often have their ogre parent's
nastier habits, and many
of them are chaotic evil. While they
might not look particularly
ugly (though some of them do) and
might appear quite competent
and powerful, social prejudice
and their own behavior tends
to strongly limit their charismatic
effect toward other races.
(76.65)
Q: How do half-ogres feel about other humanoid creatures?
A: Use the 'Humanoid
Racial Preferences Table' in the DMG;
half-ogres will feel about
the same way as regular ogres do
toward other creatures.
(76.65)
Q: Do half-ogre characters
(as described in DRAGON Magazine
#73) count as 'giant-class
humanoids' for purposes of rangers'
attacks against them?
A: No; half-ogres,
like half-orcs, are not entirely 'humanoid',
and rangers do not get any
bonuses against them like they do
against normal (full-blooded)
ogres.
(76.65)
Q: Why are the ability
scores for half-ogres rolled differently than
for other races?
A: Certain of the
ability scores for half-ogres are considerably
higher or lower than the
human
and demi-human racial norms.
The change in die-rolling
the ability scores is intended to reflect
this difference.
(76.65)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray
Mouser
Colonel, I was recently
reviewing the write up of the half-ogre that you did in Dragon and which
Roger E. Moore expanded upon later.
I was curious as to whether
you had any half-ogre PC's in your campaign and, if you did, how they fared
in play.
I'd be especially interested
in the reaction of NPCs when confronted by a half-ogre in a town setting,
viz. the reaction of the inhabitants towards the PC.
While half-orc PCs are described
as belonging to the 10% of those fellows tht can effectively pass for human
I didn't see anything similar stated for the half-ogre.
While they probably wouldn't
be killed as quickly as a Drow PC I can't imagine half-ogres getting by
for extended periods outside of somewhere such as Iuz or the Horned Society!
Thanks!
Gray Mouser
The idea of half-ogres is
one to which I no longer subscribe.
About as close to a half-ogre
in my campaign was a PC's henchman ogre that was bitten by a werebear.
The resulting transformed
NPC creatiure was of an alignment quite opposite that of the ogre--and
his master, Terrik, as well.
Your observation regarding the viability of a half-ogre character in a human or demi-human community is quite apt.
Cheers,
Gary
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