Quote Originally Posted by lacco36 View Post
I normally use human bandits - and in one case elven bandits - since the game world I normally play is quite human-centric.

Also, I would suggest you to take a look at how Burning Wheel manages orcs. It's quite interesting.

In my current game world, the orcs are a bit different - not only bags of menacing hit points (no hitpoints also, detailed wound system) - during worldbuilding one of the players came with an idea for a half-orc character, a friendly wild guy with nature-loving streak, who can - and will - kill you with your own arms torn off if you make him too angry. Result is in spoiler.

Spoiler: Elves and Orcs
Show
I never viewed Elves as "nature loving hippies" and also liked Sapkowski's version (basically: elves are planehopping race that usually travels somewhere, subdues the available races, sucks resources and goes on, but they were "stranded" in local plane and can't get away unless they open some planar gates; the elves that are born on local plane are basically "wild" elves - not "high" elves, but they like to pretend they are this ancient natural race).
So elves - they are the "magic" race. Long-lived, careful not to upset the balance, but still able and willing to exploit natural resources to their limit. They build cities, castles, utilizing magic as far as possible.

So with Player X's basic premise for nature-loving orc, the wheels in my brain started working and voilá - ORCS are the nature race. Wild, free, naturalistic, predatory, animalistic - they live in harmony with nature. Elves are wary of long-term consequences, but still change and manipulate nature, an orc just lies down in middle of forest and takes a nap, hunts only to feed himself and his clan - something inspired by an old book of native american tales I read a long time ago (no idea about RL counterparts).

Orcs have camps, no real cities - and where possible, try to have as small impact on nature. So when they build actual settlements, they build them in ruined cities, temples - even dungeons - so they "use" the space provided instead of building a new city. And some of them also have druidic magic available - the only "natural" source of magic.

Orcs still have their "dark side" - when they are in line with nature, they are calm and peaceful. But when they see nature suffer, they start slowly to hate - and in the end the hatred consumes them.

Oh and the wars between human nations and orcs? Human nations - most of them - still think this is orcish "warlike nature" and desire to conquer. But the wars originated from the basic conflict - humans took too much from nature too fast; orcs tried to take it back.


But back to the discussion:

Which fairy tales would you use in your games?
I love this take on orcs! You've helped me solve some writer's block in one of the setting's I'm making concerning the role of orcs in the setting!