Ogreborn

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by Jeremy Forbing

Ogreborn is a catch-all term, one which includes half-ogres, for those beings of mixed human and ogre blood. Some appear human-like, though their heritage is still obvious. Others are hulking creatures whose human roots are revealed only by their intelligence and capacity for organization.

Half-ogre is a term not only for those who are half-human and half-ogre, but for those whose ancestry is as much as three-quarters ogre. These brutes tower over their human kin and tend to have streaks of cruelty, though a few work at restricting their venomous rage. Their skin is dark and they tend to have black of flint-gray hair. Half-ogres faces are much like those of ogres, save the eyes, which have the color and shape of a human's and often the glimmer of intelligence. Half-ogres are generally accepted within ogre tribes and communities, though they are often looked down upon, unless their superior intelligence makes them useful or propels them into a leadership role. Any being of more than three-quarters ogre blood is an ogre in all respects, save for the occasional human eye-color or hair.

Those whose blood is less than one-half ogreish are known as thin-blooded ogres or, as ogres call them, derisively, blood ogres. Far more human than any half-ogre, their brutal heritage still sets them apart. They look like broad-shouldered, gray-skinned humans whose sharp lower canines tend to jut out in front of the upper lip, which has led to many cruel comparisons to boars and wild pigs. Yearning for the companionship of humans, yet seldom (if ever) accepted, blood ogres are often loners, remaining far from civilized parts in case their inborn rage should overtake them. The same loneliness that sometimes makes them cruel and dark-souled also makes them loyal friends, and blood ogres treat trusted companions better than many humans treat their own families. This loyalty is easily betrayed however, and the rage of once-trusting blood ogres drives them to terrible vengeance, which only fuels the tales of their animalistic brutality.

Origins: Although many Ogreborn in Ansalon are the products of fate, great numbers of Ogreborn are native to the remote island now-called Jial, far off in the Courrain Ocean. A storm threw a ship of human raiders from the region of Ansalon called Nordmaar off course 500 years before the Cataclysm. When their ship crashed against an iceberg, they filled lifeboats and hastily constructed rafts. For days they floated through the ice floes, desperate to find more supplies to augment what little remained from their fishing aboard the ship. Landing on the abundant shore of Jial, they found a small tribe of ogres. After several small conflicts, the sailors made peace with the ogres and traded goods with them. Over the years, the two groups integrated and even intermarried, resulting a fully blended race of ogre-human crossbreeds that grew to fill the island in great numbers. During the Cataclysm, desperate groups filled sturdily constructed rafts and sailed away from the island to escape famine. Some fled east to unknown lands, but a few came west to the Bloodsea, where they settled small islands or found their way to the ogre lands of Kernen.

The remaining Ogreborn on Jial survived the famine wrought by the Cataclysm, only to be conquered three centuries later by elven colonists. Today, they are a race of slaves and underclass merchants, laboring to build the great stone cities of the Elves.

Relations: Ogreborn relations to their forebear races are strained, as described above. Of other races, only goblinoids tend to get along with them.

Alignment: Due to their human heritage, Ogreborn do not necessarily lean towards any alignment in particular. As a whole, however, they do tend towards extremity. True Neutral ogreborn are unheard of, and the most common alignments are Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Evil, and Lawful Evil.

Ogreborn Lands: Ogreborn have no lands of their own, not even the Island of Jial, which has been conquered.

Language: Ogreborn have no language of their own, instead speaking Common and Ogre.

Names: Ogreborn names tend to be monosyllabic and memorable, though a second syllable has become common as the population has grown. Their names emphasize consonants-linguistically, ogreborn almost fail to differentiate between vowels.

Ogreborn Racial Traits

• Strength +2, Constitution +2, Intelligence -2, Charisma -4
• Medium Size
• Ogreborn base speed is 30 feet.
• Darkvision: Ogreborn can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and ogreborn can function just fine with no light at all.
• Sense of Direction: Ogreborn receive a +4 bonus to all rolls to determine which direction is north
• Rules Note: Ogreborn are able to use all items listed as usable by orcs and half-orcs. Orcs themselves, however, do not exist on Krynn.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Ogre.
• Bonus Languages: Draconic, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, and Infernal.
• Favored Class: Barbarian. A multiclass ogreborn's barbarian class does not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing (see Experience for Multiclass Characters, page 56 of the Player's Handbook).

Height: 70" + 2d4
Weight: Base is 215 lbs./200 lbs. with a modifier of 4d6 x2.
Age: Starting: 12 + 1d8 years
Middle: 35 years
Old: 47 years
Venerable: 70 years
Maximum: 70 + 3d8 years

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