“Not all orcs are born. Some spring from the bones of ravaged mountains and the wreckage of shattered forests like an infection spread by destruction.” – 13th Age
The “Building Battles” section in the 13th Age book states that a fair fight boils down to one normal enemy creature per PC, with each creature being of the party’s level. The book does a wonderful job of breaking down monster values of mooks, large (double-strength) monsters and huge (triple-strength) monsters. For the most part the organized play structure in Wrath of the Orc Lord follows the Monster Equivalent table to keep fights fair during game play. But who wants to be fair when you are facing an army of orcs?
Most Orcs presented in Wrath of the Orc Lord are written as level 2 enemy creatures. If your party is up for a challenge, keep the number of orcs outlined in a fight the same and try throwing some of these their way instead…
Orc Berserker (Two Handers)
4th Level Troop [Humanoid]
Initiative: +6
AC 20
PD 18 HP 54
MD 14
Greataxe: +9 vs AC – 16 damage
Dangerous: The crit range of attacks made by orcs expands by 3 unless they are staggered.
Unstoppable: When an orc berserk drops to 0 hp, it does not immediately die. Ignore any damage in excess of 0 hp, roll 4d6, and give the berserker that many temporary hit points. No other healing can affect the berserker or give it more temporary hit points: when the temporary hp are gone, the berserker dies.
Orc Warrior (Sword and Shield)
4th Level Troop [Humanoid]
Initiative: +4
AC 22
PD 18 HP 60
MD 14
Jagged Sword: +9 vs AC – 10 damage, and on a natural even hit make a shield bash attack.
Shield Bash: +10 vs PD – 4 damage and the target is dazed until the end of their next turn.
Dangerous: The crit range of attacks made by orcs expands by 3 unless they are staggered.
[Side Note – We gave the warrior a shield bash ability to make him a little more interesting.]
Orc Shaman
4th Level Leader [Humanoid]
Initiative: +4
AC 20
PD 18 HP 54
MD 16
Crackling Sword: +9 vs AC – 10 damage, on a natural even hit the target takes 5 ongoing lightning damage.
R: Battle Curse: +9 vs MD (1d3 nearby enemies) – 8 psychic damage and for the rest of the battle, melee attacks made by orcs deal +2d4 damage against the target (non-cumaltive)
Dangerous: The crit range of attacks made by orcs expands by 3 unless they are staggered.
[Side Note – The 2nd level shaman featured in the 13th Age book calls for a spear melee attack, but we changed it to a crackling sword to make the shamans more elemental in nature.]
Orc Rager (Dual Wield)
4th Level Troop [Humanoid]
Initiative: +10
AC 20
PD 16 HP 50
MD 14
Dual Sword Strike: +9 vs AC – 12 damage. On an even miss, half damage.
Raging Strike: When an orc rager drops to 0 hp, it can make a final attack as a free action.
Dangerous: The crit range of attacks made by orcs expands by 3 unless they are staggered.
[Side note – These are presented as 7th level mooks in the book. Here they are adjusted to be 4th level normal creatures.]
Orc Phalanx (Spearman)
4th Level Troop [Humanoid]
Initiative: +4
AC 20
PD 18 HP 54
MD 14
Bloody Spear: +9 vs AC – 14 damage; On a natural even hit, the target takes a -4 penalty to disengage.
Wall of Spears: So long as the orc phalanx is next to another phalanx, enemies that disengage from them take 7 damage automatically.
Dangerous: The crit range of attacks made by orcs expands by 3 unless they are staggered.
Orc Vanguard (Dire Wolf Rider)
4th Level Troop [Humanoid]
Initiative: +10
AC 20
PD 18 HP 40
MD 14
Jagged Sword +9 vs AC – 10 damage; On a natural even hit, pop free of the target and move to another target to make a Wolf Bite attack.
Wolf Bite: +9 vs PD – 10 damage
Dangerous: The crit range of attacks made by orcs expands by 3 unless they are staggered.
Orc Archer (Archer)
4th Level Troop [Humanoid]
Initiative: +10
AC 18
PD 18 HP 40
MD 14
Black Arrow +10 vs AC – 8 damage, on a natural even miss make another Black Arrow attack against another nearby target.
Final Frenzy: When the escalation die is 3+, the orcish archer gains a +3 bonus to melee attacks and melee damage.
Dangerous: The crit range of attacks made by orcs expands by 3 unless they are staggered.
Orc Battle Screamer
4th Level Leader [Humanoid]
Initiative: +6
AC 22
PD 16 HP 54
MD 16
Drum Bash +8 vs AC – 14 damage
Instrument (Choose One):
R – Skull Drum +9 vs MD: 16 damage and as a free action, one nearby orc can move or make a basic attack.
R – Bone Flute +9 vs MD: 16 damage and one nearby orc ally deals +2d6 damage of a hit during its next turn.
R – War Bagpipes: 1d3 nearby or far away enemies that can hear the bagpipes must immediately roll a normal save; on a failure, the target is hampered until the end of its next turn.
R – Bone Rattle – Raise one dead orc mook back to life, until the end of the battle or until it is killed again.
Dangerous: The crit range of attacks made by orcs expands by 3 unless they are staggered.
Orc Commander
4th Level Double Strength Leader [Humanoid]
Initiative: +8
AC 20
PD 18 HP 108
MD 14
Flesh Cleaver +9 vs AC – 28 damage, and on a critical hit, decrease the escalation die by 1.
Intensely Dangerous: The crit range of attacks made by orcs expands by 3 unless they are staggered.
When the Commander is staggered however, its crit range is expanded by 4.
Furious Assault: Once a round when a nearby orc misses with an attack, increase the critical strike range of all nearby orcs by 1. This effect is cumulative until an orc scores a critical strike. Once a critical strike is landed, the crit range is reset to the normal value.
Some of these orcs are from the 13th Age book and organized play packet that have been adjusted to be 4th level creatures. Others such as the spearmen, vanguard and commander are our own creations. We modified the orcs in this adventure because our players like being challenged with mobs that have interesting and unique mechanics. We are also fans of the strong, powerful orc instead of the unending horde of orcs. Blood and thunder!
Follow @ZabbyMonky (Sarah) Follow @JssSandals (Ben)
Tales of 13th Age 