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Player > Races > Orc
Starfinder Alien Archive 2 p.91
Orcs are Medium humanoids with the orc subtype.
Due to her conditioning, an orc can
choose one skill that becomes a class skill for her. If
the chosen skill is a class skill from the class she takes
at 1st level, she instead gains a +1 bonus to checks
with that skill. She also receives an adjustment of +1
to the ability score associated with the chosen skill.
In addition, due to her confidence with that skill,
once per day, before she attempts a check with the
chosen skill, the orc can grant herself a +2 bonus to
that check.
Orcs have darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
Orcs receive a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate and Survival checks.
An orc is dazzled as long as she remains in an area of bright light.
Once per day, an orc brought to 0 Hit Points but not killed can fight on for 1 more round. The orc drops to 0 HP and is dying (following the normal rules for death and dying) but can continue to act normally until the end of her next turn, when she becomes unconscious as normal. If she takes additional damage before this, she ceases to be able to act and falls unconscious.
Orcs are rare, although records suggest they were numerous
on lost Golarion. Today, they can be found in greatest
numbers on Apostae, where most are drow-held slaves.
Over the ages, however, some orcs have gained freedom,
creating formidable armed clans on Apostae and a few other
worlds in the galaxy, though many free orcs of Apostae
remain second-class citizens who still serve the drow as
mercenaries, technicians, and laborers.
Few people of the Pact Worlds have ever seen an orc up close,
but most people know their reputation as brutal monsters.
Even the free orcs on Apostae suffer from isolation and drow
propaganda, remaining ignorant of wider possibilities. On
average, orcs have difficulty with attention, memory, and
impulse control. Drow care little for where these tendencies
come from, but their centuries-long influence has changed the
orcs from the brutes described in pre-Gap histories. The drow
have socially engineered their orc chattel to make them useful
servants. From an early age, capable orc youngsters have a duty
to care for any orcs who require help to survive. Aged or feeble
orcs are permitted to endure only to teach the young valuable
skills while indoctrinating them with the appropriate regard for
their betters. Drow overseers keep watch over these enclaves,
with the aid of half-orcs and a few elder orcs rewarded for loyal
service with the right to “retire†to teaching positions.
Within orc enclaves on Apostae, a specialized program of
reward and punishment accompanies education and tempers
orcs for the jobs they are expected to perform. For
example, an orc anticipated to be a technician might be
conditioned to respond well and even take pleasure
in technical work, such that her skill seems
abnormally good. A bodyguard could be habituated
to extreme ferocity in defense of
a ward, belied by an otherwise
composed demeanor. When an
orc becomes an adult, she moves
on to serve the drow house to which she
belongs in her trained capacity. There, her
conditioned mind keeps her bound better
than any chains could.
This social engineering took place for
long enough that free orcs display a
similar cultural structure. These orcs
teach their young with analogous and
comparably brutal methods of reward
and punishment. The young and
weak take on jobs that tougher orcs
have the clout and muscle to refuse.
Eventually, a young orc might join
the ranks of the strong and earn the
right to take on responsibilities
that garner more prestige. She
then sloughs off tasks she
considers to be beneath her
onto the shoulders of
those she sees as
lower than her
in status.
An orc is
ideally suited
to her prescribed duties thanks to the
extensive conditioning she receives. Her
confidence in such areas is also high.
An orc trained to scout the caves
of Apostae, for instance, is likely
to be a sharp climber and
shrewd explorer. She also
knows enough about the
ilee (a lost race native
to Apostae) to know
when she has made an
important discovery.
The social conditions
in which most orcs exist
often make it challenging
for them to assimilate
into other cultures. Orcs are
gruff and terse, interacting
with others only when
necessary. An orc without a
hierarchy to embrace or reject
often struggles to find her
position in a pecking order
that might not exist.
An orc has large and
imposing tusks that
jut from her mouth,
as well as pointed
ears. Most orcs stand
around 6 feet tall and
weigh 200 pounds
or more, with well-defined
musculature.
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