# Orcs

###### tags: `orcs`

___
>## Orc Chieftan [3]
>*Medium humanoid (orc), typically chaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 16 (chainmail)
>- **Hit Points** 120 (16d8 + 48)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|18(+4)|16 (+3)|16 (+3)|8 (-1)|10 (+0)|14 (+2)|
>___
>- **Saving throws** Str +7, Con +6
>- **Skills** Survival +2, Intimidation +5
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
>- **Languages** Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 4 (1100 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>***Aggressive.*** As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature that it can see.
>***Second Wind (1/SR).*** As a bonus action, the orc can restore 21 (1d10+16) hit points.
>***Inspire ferocity (recharge 5-6).*** As a bonus action, the orc can command an ally within 60 ft to make a melee weapon attack as reaction.
>
>### Actions
>***Multiattack.*** The orc chieftan makes three attacks.
>***Greataxe.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d12 + 4) slashing damage.
>
>***Javelin.*** Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage.

___
>## Orc [1/2]
>*Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 13 (hide armor)
>- **Hit Points** 15 (2d8 + 6)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|16 (+3)|12 (+1)|16 (+3)|7 (-2)|11 (+0)|10 (+0)|
>___
>- **Skills** Intimidation +2
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
>- **Languages** Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 1/2 (100 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>***Aggressive.*** As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature that it can see.
>
>### Actions
>***Greataxe.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d12 + 3) slashing damage.
>
>***Javelin.*** Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage.

## Orc [1/2]

Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks.

***Gruumsh One-Eye.*** Orcs worship Gruumsh, the mightiest of the orc deities and their creator. The orcs believe that in ancient days, the gods gathered to divide the world among their followers. When Gruumsh claimed the mountains, he learned they had been taken by the dwarves. He laid claim to the forests, but those had been settled by the elves. Each place that Gruumsh wanted had already been claimed. The other gods laughed at Gruumsh, but he responded with a furious bellow. Grasping his mighty spear, he laid waste to the mountains, set the forests aflame, and carved great furrows in the fields. Such was the role of the orcs, he proclaimed, to take and destroy all that the other races would deny them. To this day, the orcs wage an endless war on humans, elves, dwarves, and other folk.

Orcs hold a particular hatred for elves. The elven god Corellon Larethian half-blinded Gruumsh with a well-placed arrow to the orc god's eye. Since then, the orcs have taken particular joy in slaughtering elves. Turning his injury into a baleful gift, Gruumsh grants divine might to any champion who willingly plucks out one of its eyes in his honor.

***Tribes like Plagues.*** Orcs gather in tribes that exert their dominance and satisfy their bloodlust by plundering villages, devouring or driving off roaming herds, and slaying any humanoids that stand against them. After savaging a settlement, orcs pick it clean of wealth and items usable in their own lands. They set the remains of villages and camps ablaze, then retreat whence they came, their bloodlust satisfied.

***Ranging Scavengers.*** Their lust for slaughter demands that orcs dwell always within striking distance of new targets. As such, they seldom settle permanently, instead converting ruins, cavern complexes, and defeated foes' villages into fortified camps and strongholds. Orcs build only for defense, making no innovation or improvement to their lairs beyond mounting the severed body parts of their victims on spiked stockade walls or pikes jutting up from moats and trenches.

When an existing territory is depleted of food, an orc tribe divides into roving bands that scout for choice hunting grounds. When each party returns, it brings back trophies and news of targets ripe for attack, the richest of which is chosen. The tribe then sets out en masse to carve a bloody path to its new territory.

On rare occasions, a tribe's leader chooses to hold onto a particularly defensible lair for decades. The orcs of such a tribe must range far across the countryside to sate their appetites.

***Leadership and Might.*** Orc tribes are mostly patriarchal, flaunting such vivid or grotesque titles as Many-Arrows, Screaming Eye, and Elf Ripper. Occasionally, a powerful war chief unites scattered orc tribes into a single rampaging horde, which runs roughshod over other orc tribes and humanoid settlements from a position of overwhelming strength.

Strength and power are the greatest of orcish virtues, and orcs embrace all manner of mighty creatures in their tribes. Rejecting notions of racial purity, they proudly welcome ogres, trolls, half-orcs, and orogs into their ranks. As well, orcs respect and fear the size and power of evil giants, and often serve them as guards and soldiers.

***Orc Crossbreeds.*** Luthic, the orc goddess of fertility and wife of Gruumsh, demands that orcs procreate often and indiscriminately so that orc hordes swell generation after generation. The orcs' drive to reproduce runs stronger than any other humanoid race, and they readily crossbreed with other races. When an orc procreates with a non-orc humanoid of similar size and stature (such as a human or a dwarf), the resulting child is either an orc or a half-orc. When an orc produces young with an ogre, the child is a half-ogre of intimidating strength and brutish features called an ogrillon.

___
>## Half-Ogre (Ogrillon) [1]
>*Large giant, any chaotic alignment*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 12 (hide armor)
>- **Hit Points** 30 (4d10 + 8)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|17 (+3)|10 (+0)|14 (+2)|7 (-2)|9 (-1)|10 (+0)|
>___
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9
>- **Languages** Common, Giant
>- **Challenge** 1 (200 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>### Actions
>***Battleaxe.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 3) slashing damage, or 14 (2d10 + 3) slashing damage if used with two hands.
>
>***Javelin.*** Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage.

## Half-Ogre (Ogrillon) [1]

When an ogre mates with a human, hobgoblin, bugbear, or orc, the result is always a half-ogre. (Ogres don't mate with dwarves, halflings, or elves. They eat them.) Human mothers rarely survive the birth of a half-ogre offspring.

The half-ogre offspring of an ogre and an orc is also called an ogrillon. An adult half-ogre or ogrillon stands 8 feet tall and weighs 450 pounds on average.

***Ogres.*** Ogres are as lazy of mind as they are strong of body. They live by raiding, scavenging, and killing for food and pleasure. The average adult specimen stands between 9 and 10 feet tall and weighs close to a thousand pounds.

***Furious Tempers.*** Ogres are notorious for their quick tempers, which flare at the smallest perceived offense. Insults and name-calling can rouse an ogre's wrath in an instant-as can stealing from it, bumping, jabbing, or prodding it, laughing, making faces, or simply looking at it the wrong way. When its rage is incited, an ogre lashes out in a frustrated tantrum until it runs out of objects or creatures to smash.

An ogre sleeps in caves, animal dens, or under trees until it finds a cabin or isolated farmhouse, whereupon it kills the inhabitants and lairs there. Whenever it is bored or hungry, an ogre ventures out from its lair, attacking anything that crosses its path. Only after an ogre has depleted an area of food does it move on.

Whenever possible, ogres gang up with other monsters to bully or prey on creatures weaker than themselves. They associate freely with goblinoids, orcs, and trolls, and practically worship giants. In the giants' complex social structure (known as the ordning), ogres rank beneath the lowest giants in status. As a result, an ogre will do nearly anything a giant asks.

***Gruesome Gluttons.*** Ogres eat almost anything, but they especially enjoy the taste of dwarves, halflings, and elves. When they can, they combine dinner with pleasure, chasing scurrying victims around before eating them raw. If enough of its victim remains after the ogre has gorged itself, it might make a loincloth from its quarry's skin and a necklace from its leftover bones. This macabre crafting is the height of ogre culture.

***Greedy Collectors.*** An ogre's eyes glitter with avarice when it sees the possessions of others. Ogres carry rough sacks on their raids, which they fill with fabulous "treasure" taken from their victims. This might include a collection of battered helmets, a moldy wheel of cheese, a rough patch of animal fur fastened like a cloak, or a squealing, mud-spattered pig. Ogres also delight in the gleam of gold and silver, and they will fight one another over small handfuls of coins. Smarter creatures can earn an ogre's trust by offering it gold or a weapon forged for a creature of its size.

***Legendary Stupidity.*** Few ogres can count to ten, even with their fingers in front of them. Most speak only a rudimentary form of Giant and know a smattering of Common words. Ogres believe what they are told and are easy to fool or confuse, but they break things they don't understand. Silver-tongued tricksters who test their talents on these savages typically end up eating their eloquent words-and then being eaten in turn.

***Primitive Wanderers.*** Ogres clothe themselves in animal pelts and uproot trees for use as crude tools and weapons. They create stone-tipped javelins for hunting. When they establish lairs, they settle near the rural edges of civilized lands, taking advantage of poorly protected livestock, undefended larders, and unwary farmers.

***Ogre Gangs.*** Ogres sometimes band together in small, nomadic groups, but they lack a true sense of tribalism. When bands of ogres meet, one might attempt to capture the members of the other group to increase its numbers. However, ogre bands are just as likely to trade members freely, especially if the welcoming band is temporarily flush with food and weapons.
___
>## Orc Claw of Luthic [2]
>*Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 14 (hide armor)
>- **Hit Points** 45 (6d8 + 18)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|14 (+2)|15 (+2)|16 (+3)|10 (+0)|15 (+2)|11 (+0)|
>___
>- **Skills** Intimidation +2, Medicine +4, Survival +4
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
>- **Languages** Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 2 (450 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>***Aggressive.*** As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature that it can see.
>
>***Spellcasting.*** The orc is a 5th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). The orc has the following cleric spells prepared:
>
>Cantrips (at will): guidance, mending, resistance, thaumaturgy
>1st level (4 slots): bane, cure wounds, guiding bolt
>2nd level (3 slots): augury, warding bond
>3rd level (2 slots): bestow curse, create food and water
>
>### Actions
>***Multiattack.*** The orc makes two claw attacks, or four claw attacks if it has fewer than half of its hit points remaining.
>
>***Claw.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) slashing damage.

## Orc Claw of Luthic [2]

To the common folk of the world, an orc is an orc. They know that any one of these savages can tear an ordinary person to pieces, so no further distinction is necessary.

Orcs know better. Different groups of orcs exist within a tribe, the actions of each dictated by the deity they pay homage to. To complement the various kinds of warriors that spill forth to ravage the countryside, each tribe has members that remain deep inside the lair, seldom if ever seeing what lies outside the darkness of their den.

In addition, orcs have special relationships with two creatures that are sometimes found in their company: the aurochs, a great bull that serves as a mount for warriors that revere Bahgtru, and the tanarukk, a demon-orc crossbreed that is so depraved and destructive that even orcs seek to kill it. The aurochs is described in appendix A. The tanarukk is described below.

***Orc Claw of Luthic.*** Luthic is Gruumsh's wife and the paragon of maternity to all orcs. She is the Cave Mother, a fierce dweller in the darkness who raises new broods of orcs to be vicious and strong. Her symbol is the cave bear, and orc females raise such bears alongside orc whelps. Females particularly attracted to Luthic grow long nails and lacquer them, learning to use these claws as weapons much as Luthic uses her own.

Orc females devoted to Luthic are in charge of fortifying and maintaining an orc stronghold. They help to guarantee the survival of the tribe, and most are skilled in the healing arts. The most powerful among Luthic's disciples are the claws of Luthic, which can use the Cave Mother's magic to heal, protect, and curse.

___
>## Orc Eye of Gruumsh [2]
>*Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 16 (ring mail, shield)
>- **Hit Points** 45 (6d8 + 18)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|16 (+3)|12 (+1)|17 (+3)|9 (-1)|13 (+1)|12 (+1)|
>___
>- **Skills** Intimidation +3, Religion +1
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
>- **Languages** Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 2 (450 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>***Aggressive.*** As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature that it can see.
>
>***Gruumsh's Fury.*** The orc deals an extra 4 (1d8) damage when it hits with a weapon attack (included in the attacks).
>
>***Spellcasting.*** The orc is a 3rd-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 11, +3 to hit with spell attacks). The orc has the following cleric spells prepared:
>
>Cantrips (at will): guidance, resistance, thaumaturgy
>1st level (4 slots): bless, command
>2nd level (2 slots): augury, spiritual weapon (spear)
>
>### Actions
>***Spear.*** Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d6 + 3 plus 1d8) piercing damage, or 12 (2d8 + 3) piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack.

## Orc Eye of Gruumsh [2]

When an orc slays an elf in Gruumsh's name and offers the corpse of its foe as a sacrifice to the god of slaughter, an aspect of the god might appear. This aspect demands an additional sacrifice: one of the orc's eyes, symbolizing the loss Gruumsh suffered at the hands of his greatest enemy, Corellon Larethian.

If the orc plucks out one of its eyes, Gruumsh might grant the orc spellcasting ability and special favor, along with the right to call itself an Eye of Gruumsh. When not using their auguries to advise their war chiefs, these savage devotees of the god of slaughter hurl themselves into battle, their weapons stained with blood.

***Orcs.*** Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks.

***Gruumsh One-Eye.*** Orcs worship Gruumsh, the mightiest of the orc deities and their creator. The orcs believe that in ancient days, the gods gathered to divide the world among their followers. When Gruumsh claimed the mountains, he learned they had been taken by the dwarves. He laid claim to the forests, but those had been settled by the elves. Each place that Gruumsh wanted had already been claimed. The other gods laughed at Gruumsh, but he responded with a furious bellow. Grasping his mighty spear, he laid waste to the mountains, set the forests aflame, and carved great furrows in the fields. Such was the role of the orcs, he proclaimed, to take and destroy all that the other races would deny them. To this day, the orcs wage an endless war on humans, elves, dwarves, and other folk.

Orcs hold a particular hatred for elves. The elven god Corellon Larethian half-blinded Gruumsh with a well-placed arrow to the orc god's eye. Since then, the orcs have taken particular joy in slaughtering elves. Turning his injury into a baleful gift, Gruumsh grants divine might to any champion who willingly plucks out one of its eyes in his honor.

***Tribes like Plagues.*** Orcs gather in tribes that exert their dominance and satisfy their bloodlust by plundering villages, devouring or driving off roaming herds, and slaying any humanoids that stand against them. After savaging a settlement, orcs pick it clean of wealth and items usable in their own lands. They set the remains of villages and camps ablaze, then retreat whence they came, their bloodlust satisfied.

When an existing territory is depleted of food, an orc tribe divides into roving bands that scout for choice hunting grounds. When each party returns, it brings back trophies and news of targets ripe for attack, the richest of which is chosen. The tribe then sets out en masse to carve a bloody path to its new territory.

On rare occasions, a tribe's leader chooses to hold onto a particularly defensible lair for decades. The orcs of such a tribe must range far across the countryside to sate their appetites.

Strength and power are the greatest of orcish virtues, and orcs embrace all manner of mighty creatures in their tribes. Rejecting notions of racial purity, they proudly welcome ogres, trolls, half-orcs, and orogs into their ranks. As well, orcs respect and fear the size and power of evil giants, and often serve them as guards and soldiers.

***Ranging Scavengers.*** Their lust for slaughter demands that orcs dwell always within striking distance of new targets. As such, they seldom settle permanently, instead converting ruins, cavern complexes, and defeated foes' villages into fortified camps and strongholds. Orcs build only for defense, making no innovation or improvement to their lairs beyond mounting the severed body parts of their victims on spiked stockade walls or pikes jutting up from moats and trenches.

***Leadership and Might.*** Orc tribes are mostly patriarchal, flaunting such vivid or grotesque titles as Many-Arrows, Screaming Eye, and Elf Ripper. Occasionally, a powerful war chief unites scattered orc tribes into a single rampaging horde, which runs roughshod over other orc tribes and humanoid settlements from a position of overwhelming strength.

***Orc Crossbreeds.*** Luthic, the orc goddess of fertility and wife of Gruumsh, demands that orcs procreate often and indiscriminately so that orc hordes swell generation after generation. The orcs' drive to reproduce runs stronger than any other humanoid race, and they readily crossbreed with other races. When an orc procreates with a non-orc humanoid of similar size and stature (such as a human or a dwarf), the resulting child is either an orc or a half-orc. When an orc produces young with an ogre, the child is a half-ogre of intimidating strength and brutish features called an ogrillon.

___
>## Orc Hand of Yurtrus [2]
>*Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 12 (hide armor)
>- **Hit Points** 30 (4d8 + 12)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|12 (+1)|11 (+0)|16 (+3)|11 (+0)|14 (+2)|9 (-1)|
>___
>- **Skills** Arcana +2, Intimidation +1, Medicine +4, Religion +2
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
>- **Languages** understands Common and Orc but can't speak
>- **Challenge** 2 (450 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>***Aggressive.*** As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature that it can see.
>
>***Spellcasting.*** The orc is a 4th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). It requires no verbal components to cast its spells. The orc has the following cleric spells prepared:
>
>Cantrips (at will): guidance, mending, resistance, thaumaturgy
>1st level (4 slots): bane, detect magic, inflict wounds, protection from evil and good
>2nd level (3 slots): blindness/deafness, silence
>
>### Actions
>***Touch of the White Hand.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d8) necrotic damage.

## Orc Hand of Yurtrus [2]

To the common folk of the world, an orc is an orc. They know that any one of these savages can tear an ordinary person to pieces, so no further distinction is necessary.

Orcs know better. Different groups of orcs exist within a tribe, the actions of each dictated by the deity they pay homage to. To complement the various kinds of warriors that spill forth to ravage the countryside, each tribe has members that remain deep inside the lair, seldom if ever seeing what lies outside the darkness of their den.

In addition, orcs have special relationships with two creatures that are sometimes found in their company: the aurochs, a great bull that serves as a mount for warriors that revere Bahgtru, and the tanarukk, a demon-orc crossbreed that is so depraved and destructive that even orcs seek to kill it. The aurochs is described in appendix A. The tanarukk is described below.

***Orc Hand of Yurtrus.*** Yurtrus is the orc god of death and disease. He is a horrifying abomination covered in rot and infection, except for his perfect, smooth white hands.

Orc priests that oversee the line between life and death are known by the others in the tribe as hands of Yurtrus. They dwell on the fringes of an orc lair, usually communing with other orcs through the auspices of those who follow Luthic. The hands of Yurtrus wear pale gloves made of the bleached skin of other humanoids (preferably elves), symbolizing their connection with Yurtrus, and are sometimes called "white hands" as a result.

Every orc knows that the hands of Yurtrus are the tribe's gateway to the ancestors. Orcs who die having served the tribe well go on to rituals meant to send them to Gruumsh's realm.

As befits followers of a god who doesn't speak, hands of Yurtrus remove their tongues to emulate their deity, for a reason similar to why an eye of Gruumsh puts out one of its eyes.

___
>## Orc Nurtured One of Yurtrus [2]
>*Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 9
>- **Hit Points** 30 (4d8 + 12)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|15 (+2)|8 (-1)|16 (+3)|7 (-2)|11 (+0)|7 (-2)|
>___
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
>- **Languages** Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 1/2 (100 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>***Aggressive.*** As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature that it can see.
>
>***Corrupted Carrier.*** When the orc is reduced to 0 hit points, it explodes, and any creature within 10 feet of it must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 14 (4d6) poison damage and becomes poisoned. On a success, the creature takes half as much damage and isn't poisoned. A creature poisoned by this effect can repeat the save at the end of each of its turn, ending the effect on itself on a success. While poisoned by this effect, a creature can't regain hit points.
>
>***Nurtured One of Yurtrus.*** The orc has advantage on saving throws against poison and disease.
>
>### Actions
>***Claws.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) slashing damage plus 2 (1d4) necrotic damage.
>
>***Corrupted Vengeance.*** The orc reduces itself to 0 hit points, triggering its Corrupted Carrier trait.

## Orc Nurtured One of Yurtrus [2]

To the common folk of the world, an orc is an orc. They know that any one of these savages can tear an ordinary person to pieces, so no further distinction is necessary.

Orcs know better. Different groups of orcs exist within a tribe, the actions of each dictated by the deity they pay homage to. To complement the various kinds of warriors that spill forth to ravage the countryside, each tribe has members that remain deep inside the lair, seldom if ever seeing what lies outside the darkness of their den.

In addition, orcs have special relationships with two creatures that are sometimes found in their company: the aurochs, a great bull that serves as a mount for warriors that revere Bahgtru, and the tanarukk, a demon-orc crossbreed that is so depraved and destructive that even orcs seek to kill it. The aurochs is described in appendix A. The tanarukk is described below.

***Orc Nurtured One of Yurtrus.*** When plague strikes a tribe, the hands of Yurtrus isolate the sick. The priests then minister to those who can be saved but not healed. The hands cultivate the sickness of these nurtured ones, turning them into instruments of defense and weapons of war. When orcs go to battle, a band of nurtured ones might charge in first-to give themselves up while softening up the enemy by spreading Yurtrus's vile blessing in its ranks.

___
>## Orog [2]
>*Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 18 (plate armor)
>- **Hit Points** 42 (5d8 + 20)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|18 (+4)|12 (+1)|18 (+4)|12 (+1)|11 (+0)|12 (+1)|
>___
>- **Skills** Intimidation +5, Survival +2
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
>- **Languages** Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 2 (450 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>***Aggressive.*** As a bonus action, the orog can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature that it can see.
>
>### Actions
>***Multiattack.*** The orog makes two greataxe attacks.
>
>***Greataxe.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d12 + 4) slashing damage.
>
>***Javelin.*** Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage.

## Orog [2]

Orogs are orcs blessed with a surprisingly keen intellect that ordinary orcs believe is a gift from the orc goddess Luthic. Like Luthic, orogs prefer to live underground, although the scarcity of food often brings them to the surface to hunt. Orcs respect an orog's strength and cunning, and a lone orog might command an orc war band.

***Stronger and Smarter.*** An orog uses its strength to bully other orcs and its intelligence to surprise enemies on the battlefield. Many an overconfident elf, human, or dwarf commander has watched a "simple" orc warlord execute a clever maneuver to outflank and destroy an opposing force, not realizing the orc is an orog.

When encountered in great numbers, orogs form their own detachments within much larger orc hordes, and they are always at the forefront of any attack, relying on their superior strength and tactical insight to overcome anything that stands in their way.

Few orc tribes actively seek out orogs to bolster their ranks. The orogs' superiority makes them ideal leaders, and thus deadly rivals to orc war chiefs, who must be wary of orog treachery.

***Detached Killers.*** Wanting nothing more than to hack their enemies to pieces, orogs are a terrifying presence on the battlefield. They form no attachments, even to their parents and siblings, and have no concept of love or dedication. They worship the orc pantheon of gods-Gruumsh and Luthic foremost-because they believe that the gods have strength beyond reason, and physical might is all they respect.

***Servants of Darkness.*** Mistrusted by orcs, some orogs form independent mercenary war bands that sell themselves to the highest bidder. As long as they are rewarded, orog mercenaries gladly serve as elite warriors and shock troops for evil wizards, depraved giants, and other villains.

***Orcs.*** Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks.

***Gruumsh One-Eye.*** Orcs worship Gruumsh, the mightiest of the orc deities and their creator. The orcs believe that in ancient days, the gods gathered to divide the world among their followers. When Gruumsh claimed the mountains, he learned they had been taken by the dwarves. He laid claim to the forests, but those had been settled by the elves. Each place that Gruumsh wanted had already been claimed. The other gods laughed at Gruumsh, but he responded with a furious bellow. Grasping his mighty spear, he laid waste to the mountains, set the forests aflame, and carved great furrows in the fields. Such was the role of the orcs, he proclaimed, to take and destroy all that the other races would deny them. To this day, the orcs wage an endless war on humans, elves, dwarves, and other folk.

Orcs hold a particular hatred for elves. The elven god Corellon Larethian half-blinded Gruumsh with a well-placed arrow to the orc god's eye. Since then, the orcs have taken particular joy in slaughtering elves. Turning his injury into a baleful gift, Gruumsh grants divine might to any champion who willingly plucks out one of its eyes in his honor.

***Tribes like Plagues.*** Orcs gather in tribes that exert their dominance and satisfy their bloodlust by plundering villages, devouring or driving off roaming herds, and slaying any humanoids that stand against them. After savaging a settlement, orcs pick it clean of wealth and items usable in their own lands. They set the remains of villages and camps ablaze, then retreat whence they came, their bloodlust satisfied.

When an existing territory is depleted of food, an orc tribe divides into roving bands that scout for choice hunting grounds. When each party returns, it brings back trophies and news of targets ripe for attack, the richest of which is chosen. The tribe then sets out en masse to carve a bloody path to its new territory.

On rare occasions, a tribe's leader chooses to hold onto a particularly defensible lair for decades. The orcs of such a tribe must range far across the countryside to sate their appetites.

Strength and power are the greatest of orcish virtues, and orcs embrace all manner of mighty creatures in their tribes. Rejecting notions of racial purity, they proudly welcome ogres, trolls, half-orcs, and orogs into their ranks. As well, orcs respect and fear the size and power of evil giants, and often serve them as guards and soldiers.

***Ranging Scavengers.*** Their lust for slaughter demands that orcs dwell always within striking distance of new targets. As such, they seldom settle permanently, instead converting ruins, cavern complexes, and defeated foes' villages into fortified camps and strongholds. Orcs build only for defense, making no innovation or improvement to their lairs beyond mounting the severed body parts of their victims on spiked stockade walls or pikes jutting up from moats and trenches.

***Leadership and Might.*** Orc tribes are mostly patriarchal, flaunting such vivid or grotesque titles as Many-Arrows, Screaming Eye, and Elf Ripper. Occasionally, a powerful war chief unites scattered orc tribes into a single rampaging horde, which runs roughshod over other orc tribes and humanoid settlements from a position of overwhelming strength.

***Orc Crossbreeds.*** Luthic, the orc goddess of fertility and wife of Gruumsh, demands that orcs procreate often and indiscriminately so that orc hordes swell generation after generation. The orcs' drive to reproduce runs stronger than any other humanoid race, and they readily crossbreed with other races. When an orc procreates with a non-orc humanoid of similar size and stature (such as a human or a dwarf), the resulting child is either an orc or a half-orc. When an orc produces young with an ogre, the child is a half-ogre of intimidating strength and brutish features called an ogrillon.

___
>## Orc Red Fang of Shargaas [3]
>*Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 15 (studded leather)
>- **Hit Points** 52 (8d8 + 16)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|11 (+0)|16 (+3)|15 (+2)|9 (-1)|11 (+0)|9 (-1)|
>___
>- **Skills** Intimidation +1, Perception +2, Stealth +5
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
>- **Languages** Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 3 (700 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>***Cunning Action.*** On each of its turns, the orc can use a bonus action to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
>
>***Hand of Shargaas.*** The orc deals 2 extra dice of damage when it hits a target with a weapon attack (included in its attacks).
>
>***Shargaas's Sight.*** Magical darkness doesn't impede the orc's darkvision.
>
>***Slayer.*** In the first round of a combat, the orc has advantage on attack rolls against any creature that hasn't taken a turn yet. If the orc hits a creature that round who was surprised, the hit is automatically a critical hit.
>
>### Actions
>***Multiattack.*** The orc makes two scimitar or dart attacks.
>
>***Scimitar.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (3d6 + 3) slashing damage.
>
>***Dart.*** Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (3d4 + 3) piercing damage.
>
>***Veil of Shargaas (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest).*** The orc casts darkness without any components. Wisdom is its spellcasting ability.

## Orc Red Fang of Shargaas [3]

To the common folk of the world, an orc is an orc. They know that any one of these savages can tear an ordinary person to pieces, so no further distinction is necessary.

Orcs know better. Different groups of orcs exist within a tribe, the actions of each dictated by the deity they pay homage to. To complement the various kinds of warriors that spill forth to ravage the countryside, each tribe has members that remain deep inside the lair, seldom if ever seeing what lies outside the darkness of their den.

In addition, orcs have special relationships with two creatures that are sometimes found in their company: the aurochs, a great bull that serves as a mount for warriors that revere Bahgtru, and the tanarukk, a demon-orc crossbreed that is so depraved and destructive that even orcs seek to kill it. The aurochs is described in appendix A. The tanarukk is described below.

***Orc Red Fang of Shargaas.*** Shargaas is the orc deity of deep darkness and sneakiness, a murderous god who hates anything that lives that isn't an orc. Orcs consider Shargaas to be a divinity suited to pariahs and weaklings, all of them unfit for true roles in tribal life. These outsiders live in the most remote, deepest parts of the tribe's domain.

The elite among Shargaas's followers are the assassins and thieves that follow the cult of the Red Fang. They perform assassinations, stealthy raids, and other covert operations on the tribe's behalf. They rely on a mix of intense training and magic granted to them by Shargaas.

Most Red Fang enclaves keep and nurture giant bats, creatures that are sacred to Shargaas. Red Fangs ride these bats into battle or on secret raids and assassination missions into enemy territory.

___
>## Orc War Chief [4]
>*Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 16 (chain mail)
>- **Hit Points** 93 (11d8 + 44)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|18 (+4)|12 (+1)|18 (+4)|11 (+0)|11 (+0)|16 (+3)|
>___
>- **Saving Throws** Str +6, Con +6, Wis +2
>- **Skills** Intimidation +5
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
>- **Languages** Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 4 (1,100 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>***Aggressive.*** As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature that it can see.
>
>***Gruumsh's Fury.*** The orc deals an extra 4 (1d8) damage when it hits with a weapon attack (included in the attacks).
>
>### Actions
>***Multiattack.*** The orc makes two attacks with its greataxe or its spear.
>
>***Greataxe.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (1d12 + 4 plus 1d8) slashing damage.
>
>***Spear.*** Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (1d6 + 4 plus 1d8) piercing damage, or 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack.
>
>***Battle Cry (1/Day).*** Each creature of the war chief's choice that is within 30 feet of it, can hear it, and not already affected by Battle Cry gain advantage on attack rolls until the start of the war chief's next turn. The war chief can then make one attack as a bonus action.

## Orc War Chief [4]

The war chief of an orc tribe is its strongest and most cunning member. The reign of a war chief lasts only as long as it commands the fear and respect of other tribe members, whose bloodlust must be regularly satisfied lest the chief appear weak. Scions of Slaughter. Gruumsh bestows special blessings upon war chiefs who prove themselves in battle time and again, imbuing them with slivers of his savagery. A war chief so blessed finds that his weapons cut deeper into his enemies, allowing him to inflict more carnage.

King Obould Many-Arrows

King Obould of the Many-Arrows tribe is a legend among the orc war chiefs of the Forgotten Realms, and he is the most famous orc chief in the history of the D&D game.

Smarter and more intuitive than most of his kind, Obould slew his chieftain to take control of his tribe. Skilled in the arts of war and renowned for his violent temper, Obould proved himself a fierce opponent in battle time and again. Over the years, he subsumed other orc tribes into his own, until he commanded a horde of thousands.

Obould leveraged his strength and influence to carve out a kingdom for himself in the Spine of the World, a mountain range overlooking numerous dwarven, human, and elven strongholds.

After years of bloody conflict with his more civilized neighbors, Obould did the unthinkable and brokered a peace treaty with his enemies. This treaty confused many of the orcs under Obould's command. It was either a clever ploy by Obould to buy time while he strengthened his army for a final, decisive sweep across the Savage Frontier, or it was a troubling sign that Obould had forsaken the ways of Gruumsh and needed to be destroyed.

***Orcs.*** Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks.

***Gruumsh One-Eye.*** Orcs worship Gruumsh, the mightiest of the orc deities and their creator. The orcs believe that in ancient days, the gods gathered to divide the world among their followers. When Gruumsh claimed the mountains, he learned they had been taken by the dwarves. He laid claim to the forests, but those had been settled by the elves. Each place that Gruumsh wanted had already been claimed. The other gods laughed at Gruumsh, but he responded with a furious bellow. Grasping his mighty spear, he laid waste to the mountains, set the forests aflame, and carved great furrows in the fields. Such was the role of the orcs, he proclaimed, to take and destroy all that the other races would deny them. To this day, the orcs wage an endless war on humans, elves, dwarves, and other folk.

Orcs hold a particular hatred for elves. The elven god Corellon Larethian half-blinded Gruumsh with a well-placed arrow to the orc god's eye. Since then, the orcs have taken particular joy in slaughtering elves. Turning his injury into a baleful gift, Gruumsh grants divine might to any champion who willingly plucks out one of its eyes in his honor.

***Tribes like Plagues.*** Orcs gather in tribes that exert their dominance and satisfy their bloodlust by plundering villages, devouring or driving off roaming herds, and slaying any humanoids that stand against them. After savaging a settlement, orcs pick it clean of wealth and items usable in their own lands. They set the remains of villages and camps ablaze, then retreat whence they came, their bloodlust satisfied.

When an existing territory is depleted of food, an orc tribe divides into roving bands that scout for choice hunting grounds. When each party returns, it brings back trophies and news of targets ripe for attack, the richest of which is chosen. The tribe then sets out en masse to carve a bloody path to its new territory.

On rare occasions, a tribe's leader chooses to hold onto a particularly defensible lair for decades. The orcs of such a tribe must range far across the countryside to sate their appetites.

Strength and power are the greatest of orcish virtues, and orcs embrace all manner of mighty creatures in their tribes. Rejecting notions of racial purity, they proudly welcome ogres, trolls, half-orcs, and orogs into their ranks. As well, orcs respect and fear the size and power of evil giants, and often serve them as guards and soldiers.

***Ranging Scavengers.*** Their lust for slaughter demands that orcs dwell always within striking distance of new targets. As such, they seldom settle permanently, instead converting ruins, cavern complexes, and defeated foes' villages into fortified camps and strongholds. Orcs build only for defense, making no innovation or improvement to their lairs beyond mounting the severed body parts of their victims on spiked stockade walls or pikes jutting up from moats and trenches.

***Leadership and Might.*** Orc tribes are mostly patriarchal, flaunting such vivid or grotesque titles as Many-Arrows, Screaming Eye, and Elf Ripper. Occasionally, a powerful war chief unites scattered orc tribes into a single rampaging horde, which runs roughshod over other orc tribes and humanoid settlements from a position of overwhelming strength.

***Orc Crossbreeds.*** Luthic, the orc goddess of fertility and wife of Gruumsh, demands that orcs procreate often and indiscriminately so that orc hordes swell generation after generation. The orcs' drive to reproduce runs stronger than any other humanoid race, and they readily crossbreed with other races. When an orc procreates with a non-orc humanoid of similar size and stature (such as a human or a dwarf), the resulting child is either an orc or a half-orc. When an orc produces young with an ogre, the child is a half-ogre of intimidating strength and brutish features called an ogrillon.

___
>## Ziraj the Hunter [8]
>*Medium humanoid (half-orc), lawful evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 17 (+2 leather armor)
>- **Hit Points** 153 (18d8 + 72)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|18 (+4)|18 (+4)|18 (+4)|11 (+0)|14 (+2)|15 (+2)|
>___
>- **Saving Throws** Wis +5, Cha +5
>- **Skills** Athletics +7, Intimidation +5, Stealth +7, Survival +5
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
>- **Languages** Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 8 (3,900 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +3
>___
>***Spellcasting.*** Ziraj is a 10th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Charisma. He has the following paladin spells prepared:
>
>1st level (4 slots): command, protection from evil and good, thunderous smite
>2nd level (3 slots): branding smite, find steed
>3rd level (2 slots): blinding smite, dispel magic
>
>### Actions
>***Multiattack.*** Ziraj makes three attacks with his glaive or with his oversized longbow.
>
>***Glaive.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage.
>
>***Oversized Longbow.*** Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage.
>
>***Dreadful Aspect (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest).*** Ziraj exudes magical menace. Each enemy within 30 feet of him must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute of Ziraj. If a frightened enemy ends its turn more than 30 feet away from Ziraj, the enemy can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success.

## Ziraj the Hunter [8]

Ziraj is a half-orc hunter who wields an oversized bow that shoots correspondingly large arrows. He is the Master of Assassination for the Black Network. If Ziraj sets out to kill someone, it's because one of his friends (Davil, Istrid, Skeemo, or Tashlyn) asked him to. The characters might become Ziraj's prey, or Ziraj might come to their aid to eliminate a common enemy. He's the strong, silent type.

The City Watch has received reports of a figure who haunts the rooftops of Waterdeep-a hulking shadow that glares from its perch, rains down death in the form of long black arrows, and slinks off without so much as a whisper. Where he comes from-if he even has a home-remains a mystery, as does the question of where he might show up next.

***Treasure.*** Ziraj wears +2 leather armor and carries an oversized longbow. This unique weapon can be used only by a Medium or larger creature that has a Strength of 18 or higher. The bow shoots oversized arrows that deal piercing damage equal to 2d6 + the wielder's Strength modifier. Its range is the same as an ordinary longbow.

***The Doom Raiders.*** The Doom Raiders were five unscrupulous adventurers who liked to plunder lich lairs (called "dooms" by some). They gave up adventuring to join the Black Network and came to Waterdeep three years ago with plans to establish a Zhentarim foothold in the city. In that time, they have forged alliances with various nobles and guilds and run afoul of others, all the while fending off Harper spies.

___
>## Orc Blade of Ilneval[4]
>*Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 18 (chain mail, shield)
>- **Hit Points** 60 (8d8 + 24)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|17 (+3)|11 (+0)|17 (+3)|10 (+0)|12 (+1)|14 (+2)|
>___
>- **Saving Throws** Wis +3
>- **Skills** Insight +3, Intimidation +4, Perception +3
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
>- **Languages** Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 4 (1,100 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>***Aggressive.*** As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature that it can see.
>
>***Foe Smiter of Ilneval.*** The orc deals an extra die of damage when it hits with a longsword attack (included in the attack).
>
>### Actions
>***Multiattack.*** The orc makes two melee attacks with its longsword or two ranged attacks with its javelins. If Ilneval's Command is available to use, the orc can use it after these attacks.
>
>***Longsword.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 3) slashing damage, or 14 (2d10 + 3) slashing damage when used with two hands.
>
>***Javelin.*** Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage.
>
>***Ilneval's Command (Recharges 4–6).*** Up to three allied orcs within 120 feet of this orc that can hear it can use their reactions to each make one weapon attack.

## Orc Blade of Ilneval [4]

To the common folk of the world, an orc is an orc. They know that any one of these savages can tear an ordinary person to pieces, so no further distinction is necessary.

Orcs know better. Different groups of orcs exist within a tribe, the actions of each dictated by the deity they pay homage to. To complement the various kinds of warriors that spill forth to ravage the countryside, each tribe has members that remain deep inside the lair, seldom if ever seeing what lies outside the darkness of their den.

In addition, orcs have special relationships with two creatures that are sometimes found in their company: the aurochs, a great bull that serves as a mount for warriors that revere Bahgtru, and the tanarukk, a demon-orc crossbreed that is so depraved and destructive that even orcs seek to kill it. The aurochs is described in appendix A. The tanarukk is described below.

***Orc Blade of Ilneval.*** Ilneval is Gruumsh's battle captain, a devious strategist who directs Gruumsh's soldiers with boldness. Among orcs, warriors that venerate Ilneval emulate their deity. Such orcs learn to command their fellows in ways that are unpredictable but help to ensure victory.

The wisest among these leaders gain Ilneval's favor and rise to become known as blades, tactical experts who advise their chief in matters of war. Blades lead from the front, wading into combat fearlessly while barking orders at lesser soldiers. A blade knows how to use orcish ferocity to best advantage, and helps the ordinary warriors to work together against their adversaries.
___
>## Hrabbaz [5]
>*Medium humanoid (half-orc), lawful evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 12
>- **Hit Points** 112 (15d8 + 45)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|20 (+5)|15 (+2)|17 (+3)|10 (+0)|14 (+2)|12 (+1)|
>___
>- **Saving Throws** Str +8, Con +6
>- **Skills** Athletics +8, Intimidation +4, Perception +5
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
>- **Languages** Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 5 (1,800 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +3
>___
>***Extra Damage.*** As long as Hrabbaz has more than half his hit points left he deals an extra 3 (1d6) damage on all hits.
>
>***Indomitable (2/Day).*** Hrabbaz can reroll a saving throw that he fails. He must use the new roll.
>
>***Relentless Endurance (Recharges after a Long Rest).*** When Hrabbaz is reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, he drops to 1 hit point instead.
>
>### Actions
>***Multiattack.*** Hrabbaz makes three attacks with his morningstar.
>
>***Morningstar.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) piercing damage.

## Hrabbaz [5]

Hrabbaz is a muscle-bound half-orc with a cleft palate who serves the lord and lady of House Gralhund as a bodyguard. He is well mannered and dresses impeccably-a disarming appearance that belies a murderous heart. Though he has great respect for Lady Yalah Gralhund, he is less fond of her moody husband, and wouldn't be sad to see Orond knocked down a peg or two.
___
>## Tanarukk [5]
>*Medium fiend (demon, orc), chaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 14 (natural armor)
>- **Hit Points** 95 (10d8 + 50)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|18 (+4)|13 (+1)|20 (+5)|9 (-1)|9 (-1)|9 (-1)|
>___
>- **Skills** Intimidation +2, Perception +2
>- **Damage Resistances** fire, poison
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
>- **Languages** Abyssal, Common, Orc
>- **Challenge** 5 (1,800 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +3
>___
>***Aggressive.*** As a bonus action, the tanarukk can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature that it can see.
>
>***Magic Resistance.*** The tanarukk has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
>
>### Actions
>***Multiattack.*** The tanarukk makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its greatsword.
>
>***Bite.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage.
>
>***Greatsword.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
>
>### Reactions
>***Unbridled Fury.*** In response to being hit by a melee attack, the tanarukk can make one melee weapon attack with advantage against the attacker.

## Tanarukk [5]

To the common folk of the world, an orc is an orc. They know that any one of these savages can tear an ordinary person to pieces, so no further distinction is necessary.

Orcs know better. Different groups of orcs exist within a tribe, the actions of each dictated by the deity they pay homage to. To complement the various kinds of warriors that spill forth to ravage the countryside, each tribe has members that remain deep inside the lair, seldom if ever seeing what lies outside the darkness of their den.

In addition, orcs have special relationships with two creatures that are sometimes found in their company: the aurochs, a great bull that serves as a mount for warriors that revere Bahgtru, and the tanarukk, a demon-orc crossbreed that is so depraved and destructive that even orcs seek to kill it. The aurochs is described in appendix A. The tanarukk is described below.

***Tanarukk.*** When demonic corruption taints a tribe's leadership, orcs might turn to abyssal magic to make tanarukks. Evil humans who control orcs also use such power to bolster their followers' strength.

The demon lord Baphomet gladly shares the secret of creating tanarukks with those who entreat him for power. The process corrupts an unborn orc of the tribe, transforming it at birth into a creature much more savage than an orc.

Although tanarukks are fearsome fighters, they are a threat to their allies off the battlefield. Within the tribe's lair, a tanarukk is destructive and volatile, and best kept imprisoned. Sooner or later, a free tanarukk rampages through the tribe, attempting to take over by force. Most such coups fail, but at great cost to the tribe. If a tanarukk does seize the leadership of a tribe, reckless war is the course it inevitably chooses.

If a tanarukk manages to breed, its blood taints numerous subsequent generations, so its female descendants randomly produce tanarukks. Rather than risk raising a natural-born tanarukk, most tribes slay such abominations.

___
>## Tanarukk [5]
>*Medium fiend (demon), Typicallychaotic evil*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 14 (natural armor)
>- **Hit Points** 95 (10d8 + 50)
>- **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|18 (+4)|13 (+1)|20 (+5)|9 (-1)|9 (-1)|9 (-1)|
>___
>- **Skills** Intimidation +2, Perception +2
>- **Damage Resistances** fire, poison
>- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
>- **Languages** Abyssal, Common, plus any one language
>- **Challenge** 5 (1,800 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +3
>___
>***Magic Resistance.*** The tanarukk has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
>
>### Actions
>***Multiattack.*** The tanarukk makes one Bite attack and one Greatsword attack.
>
>***Bite.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage.
>
>***Greatsword.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
>
>### Bonus Actions
>***Aggressive.*** The tanarukk moves up to its speed toward an enemy that it can see.
>
>### Reactions
>***Unbridled Fury.*** In response to being hit by a melee attack, the tanarukk can make one Bite or Greatsword attack with advantage against the attacker.

## Tanarukk [5]

*I believe spite can be an excellent motivator. But unchecked fury? That rarely leads to anything more than a big mess.*— Tasha

When demonic influence corrupts the leadership of a people or an organization, the leaders might embrace abyssal magic to make tanarukks, using these ferocious warriors to bolster their followers' strength.

The demon lord Baphomet gladly shares the secret of creating tanarukks with those who entreat him for power; the cult of Gruumsh has also mastered a ritual for this purpose, and bestows it on those deemed worthy. Whatever process is used corrupts the subject, transforming them into a vicious Fiend.

Although tanarukks are valued as fearsome fighters, they are a threat to their allies off the battlefield. When not in combat, a tanarukk is destructive and volatile and is usually kept imprisoned by its allies. If unrestrained, a free tanarukk embarks on a rampage, attempting to take over by force. Most such coups fail but are costly nonetheless. If a tanarukk does seize the leadership of a group, reckless raiding or even war is the course they inevitably choose.___
>## Aurochs
>*Large beast, unaligned*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 11 (natural armor)
>- **Hit Points** 38 (4d10 + 16)
>- **Speed** 50 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|20 (+5)|10 (+0)|19 (+4)|2 (-4)|12 (+1)|5 (-3)|
>___
>- **Senses** passive Perception 11
>- **Languages** —
>- **Challenge** 2 (450 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>***Charge.*** If the aurochs moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a gore attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
>
>### Actions
>***Gore.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage.

## Aurochs

Bahgtru, son of Gruumsh and Luthic, is the orc deity of unbridled strength. Legend says Bahgtru needed a mount as fierce as him for making war, so he sought a mighty aurochs, subjugated the creature with his bare hands, and hauled it to Nishrek, Gruumsh's realm. Bahgtru named the beast Kazaht, or "Bull" in Orc. On Kazaht's bare back, Bahgtru charges into battle, ramming into an enemy host and leaping over the aurochs's horns to land in the midst of his foes.

Orcs that revere Bahgtru might tend a stable of war bulls that carry them into combat. Trained to be fierce mounts from a young age, aurochs are sacred symbols of Bahgtru. No orc will eat such creatures, which are treated as honored warriors when they perish.

___
>## Aurochs
>*Large beast (cattle), unaligned*
>___
>- **Armor Class** 11 (natural armor)
>- **Hit Points** 38 (4d10 + 16)
>- **Speed** 50 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|20 (+5)|10 (+0)|19 (+4)|2 (-4)|12 (+1)|5 (-3)|
>___
>- **Senses** passive Perception 11
>- **Languages** —
>- **Challenge** 2 (450 XP)
>- **Proficiency Bonus** +2
>___
>### Actions
>***Gore.*** Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage. If the aurochs moved at least 20 feet straight toward the target immediately before the hit, the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone if it is a creature.

## Aurochs

An aurochs is a large, fierce bovine with jutting horns. In many lands, herds of aurochs roam free, while elsewhere orcs and humans train them from an early age to carry riders into combat.

# Cattle
Many kinds of cattle roam the multiverse, some of them domesticated and others feral. In many cultures, cattle are almost like family to the folk who tend to them.