So I noticed that from setting to setting definitions of orcs, ogres and trolls can change quite a lot and differences between them get quite blurry
So, if you had to make setting that includes them all (and plus goblins and hobgoblins) how would you do it? How would you differentiate them from each other?
Or you could name a setting that does it the best in your opinion.
>>44194013
I like warhams
Orcs are man sized green things
Trolls are tall ass dumb monsters
Goblins are puny green things
Hob Goblins are slightly larger puny green things that backstab like crazy
Ogres are giant fat human look a likes
>>44194013
>So, if you had to make setting that includes them all (and plus goblins and hobgoblins) how would you do it? How would you differentiate them from each other?
In my setting:
>Orcs
A touch larger than your average human, skin color varies in shades from greens and browns
Faces resemble a mash up of a gorilla and a Gamorrean Guard, but they are not p'orcs.
Extremely violent culture.
>Ogres
Larger than people, a 9 foot tall ogre is not uncommon, covered in hair, proportioned differently from humans.
Savage, brutish cannibals, not unlike giant, carnivorous cavemen.
Intelligence and kindness are rare traits.
>Trolls
Two classes of trolls:
There are grey and brown skinned giant, stupid trolls that regenerate all damage and turn to stone in sunlight.
There are also grey and green skinned human sized trolls that regenerate all damage aside from burns and are not affected by sunlight.
>Goblins
Goblins are small, green humorously destructive creatures with large ears.
In fact, there are no goblins, just gremlins from the movie, Gremlins.
>Hobgoblins
If you need them, they would be a larger breed of goblins that are nearly as large as smaller humans.
I don't use them myself.
>>44194013
Orc - Green skin, tusks, 6'6 feet tall, 400lbs. Turko-Mongol boar riders that wield the most powerful bows in the world and carry massive scimitars that function more like axes than actual swords. They worship the Great Thunderous Boar God of the Steppe, that they believe created them with the sole purpose of conquering the world. Despite being extremely warlike, they are very tolerant. Those that they conquer are often allowed to keep their religion, culture, etc. Those that defy them are usually enslaved or wiped out, their buildings defaced and their lands settled by Orcish colonists. Their own culture is fairly weak and they are prone to adopting the culture, language, and sometimes even religion of those they have subjugated. This tends to anger the hardcore traditionalists back east to the point that civil war ensues. Because of this, Orcish empires tend to last little more than a 100-200 years.
Ogres - Cousins of the orcs and possible ancestors. Towering mountains of muscle. 15 feet tall, several thousand pounds heavy. Tusks, bumpy horn-like forehead ridges. Reddish-brown skin. Once created one of the most prosperous and advanced civilizations of antiquity. Their ancient empires stretched far to the west, making contact with elves and dwarves. They overreached and attempted to conquer the west, but were driven back. As they attempted to recover, the orcs came howling down from the northern steppe and absolutely demolished them. The few ogres that remain live in their heavily fortified city-states or far-flung western outposts. More than a few live as barbaric nomads and can sometimes be found integrated into orcish hordes. Sometimes, a particularly powerful and cunning ogre will even rise to the top of an orcish horde and claim the mantle of khan for himself.
I've already done that. Orcs are a naturally evolved species (mostly the same as real life evolution). Ogres are a subspecies of giants, another natural creature. Trolls are formerly fey creatures who changed over generations outside the feywild. Goblins and hogoblins were created by a fey witch.
>>44194013
My rule of thumb is that trolls aren't as fat as ogres and they can only be killed by fire (or magic in some cases)
>>44194455
Goblins - Easily the most diverse and adaptable race alive. They are tiny and weak, but what they lack in brawn they make up for in cunning and sheer numbers. Their origin is unknown, but Elven scholars speculate they are a possible relative to the orcs and ogres. Goblins can thrive anywhere in any environment. They require very little food and when food is scarce they will feed on their own dead. They have large heads in proportion to their body, but they are not clumsy creatures. They are agile and if they are underestimated they will find a way to kill you. They often work as mercenaries and sometimes even merchants. The goblins are famous for their numerous assaults on Dwarven holds back in ancient times. Before they "modernized," goblin tribes were raiders who struck dread in the hearts of elf and dwarf alike.
Hobgoblins - Hobgoblins are the noble breed of goblins. Larger, smarter, tougher, stronger. Very rarely will you find a goblin tribe not lead by a hobgoblin and his small group of warriors. Hobgoblins express an extreme diversity in size. Some hobgoblins have been known to reach ogre size. The reason for this is unknown, but the goblins believe it is because the hobgoblins are directly descended from their gods.
>>44194498
>>44194561
>mfw fae trolls
>>44194013
>How would you differentiate them from each other?
I wouldn't. Well, not for a lot of them. I actually fold Dwarves and Dark Elves into the same mass, though Ogres and Trolls might be different.
Just like humans, there's a certain variation in appearance and culture among them. You can expect there to be differences between people who perform different social roles even within a singular culture. I kind of just treat them all as different groups of non-degenerate Morlocks.
>>44194664
Forgot pic
>>44194680
Jesus christ, that's the wrong pic, I'm just gonna stop posting now
>>44194603
Trolls - The ancient enemy of the Dwarves. One of the Deep Races, (along with Dwarves and a few other folk) the trolls were the ancient kings of the deep world. As large as boulders with hides as tough as stone, there were few who could stand up to the might of an angry troll. Even so, the early Dwarven clans battered away at their foes with picks and hammers and found them to be particularly effective. Constant battle with the warlike and innovative dwarf clans lead to the downfall of the ancient troll kingdoms. They were driven to the surface by the dwarves, who pursued them relentlessly. The trolls were scattered, fleeing in every direction. Naturally, they sought other mountains, hills, caves, etc. Slowly, they were able to regain a glimmer of their former glory. Elves, orcs, goblins, and the myriad races of the world had no experience in fighting the stone-like trolls. After a few hundred years, there were a few troll petty kingdoms scattered about the world. Mostly consisting of orcs, goblins, etc. with a ruling class of 3-5 trolls. Though many of them have now fallen, one can still find a few troll-realms in the remote wilderness.
>>44194680
>the ass was fat
>>44194680
>>44194741
Not so fast, bub. You can't just post that without giving a source.
>>44194780
Chin Dere
Same species, different roles in their hive-like society
>>44194013
At risk of reversing the meme, have you tried playing D&D?
Ogres are huge fat semi-sentient blobs of muscle with clubs, generally living alone, or in family centric units, or as part of another faction's army.
Orcs are tribally organized oversized goblins, more reliant on brawn than brains.
Trolls are nasty semi-sentient hooked nosed green things that regenerate unless you "burn it with fire", with social arrangements similar to the ogres.
I mean, aside from a few specialist campaigns, that's been the definition, and the lines pretty clear.
I think, in D&D, Orcs and Goblins are the only place where you've really see the line evolve and sharpen over time. I mean, going back to the days of D&D Basic/Expert and Blue Book, it used to be orcs were smaller than humans, and a lot like the goblins with pig noses and tusks, only tougher and less devious. At some point D&D twisted them into a more honor-capable warrior race - probably R.A. Salvatore being influenced by the Elder Scrolls and WoW.
Now, when you hop from world to world, outside of D&D, yeah, at that point the terms become almost interchangeable. I mean, hell, Ogre, Troll, Orc, and Goblin show up as synonyms in any terminology search.
>>44194013
>Orcs
I haven't found a niche to stick them in, so there are none. Dire humans occupy that spot.
>Ogres
Two-legged land sharks. Blubbery apex predators who feel no pain and fear nothing. God's middle finger to everything else alive.
>Goblins
Tiny, nasty fairies that will always fuck you over if they can
>Trolls
Scandinavian, baby. Gigantic, big-nosed, hairy things that do magic and hate anything related to religion. If you build a church they will throw rocks at it until you leave.
As for the setting that does it the best, that would be Warhammer Fantasy, inventors of the green orc. And green is best.
>>44194013
Orcs are about the size of a human, maybe smaller, and have green or grey skin. They are muscular and hirsute. Both their men and their women have tusks, though the mens' are larger. Omnivorous.
Ogres stand significantly taller than any human, and are much bulkier; this bulk would be enough with only muscle but most ogres add a thick layer of fat. Their skin varies along the human range but is noticeably thicker. Their teeth are all sharp and they eat only meat, and they are known for cannibalism.
Trolls are much bigger and stronger than humans, but they are tall and skinny for their size, standing nearly three times a man's height. Their skin is rough and like leather or stone. They have claws and fangs, and are mainly scavengers but will take a fresh meal when they can get one. The sun burns their eyes so they shun it, coming out at night.
In my setting orcs are tall, six feet roughly, with pink skin and fat. Based roughly off this image. They're stronger than the average human but incredibly cowardly, often misleading their own people to war and running before any major losses. Orcs are known for living in harsh environments with little food or water, as such they are the only race that stores excess water in theirnosesand pack on calories. Orcs are the most adaptable race and can go weeks without food.
Ogres are 9-10 foot tall brutes that resemble long armed humans. They are not very intelligent and barely grasp right and wrong. They are heavy lifters in human society, doing the work slaves and golems cannot. And in times of war they are valuable assets. More than one Ogre has been known to bite off a feeding hand.
Trolls are nocturnal creatures standing about 5-6 feet tall and with blue, blue-green skin that come out at night to waylay travelers and kidnap children. Trolls have regeneration and turn to stone in sunlight reverting only at night. Painful process of regenerating stony skin and having it turn to stone again.
Goblins are small fat creatures with no discernible neck. They tend to be small but are effective immortal and will never stop growing. Some infamous Goblin matrons have dwarfed even hill giants. Despite their greed and gluttony all Goblins seem to lose their selfishness in favor of keeping the matron (or patron) well fed. It's said so many Goblins fight for the Orcs because they are keeping a powerful matron prisoner.
Hobgoblins are the wizard-made magic super soldiers, as strong and stronger than Orcs, Hobgoblins lack the characteristic cowardice. Hobgoblins replenish their numbers quickly and follow orders to the letter of the law. After the Wizard Wars most Hobgoblins find themselves out of work, living as mercenaries and slavers. Hobgoblins are excellent grapplers and climbers, with strong upper bodies and powerful arms, but can be easily knocked over.
>>44194013
Master Sword's Lanethan's universe had a different take on them:
Orcs: Standing at least a head taller and wider, to as much as thrice as large as a man, the various Orkat tribes have various skin colorization ranging from green, to bronze, to black, to icy blue. Warrior like, with degrees of savagery ranging from nearly feral, to tribal bandits, to the palace dwelling Shadahar, the Orcs are as varied as the God of Chaos that created them, seeing them as a suitable replacement for his previous creation, the race of man, who had disappointed him for so long.
Goblins: Goblins are offshoots of one of the many races created during the War of Fate that served as skirmishers for one or more of the forgotten dead gods that lost that war. Other tales suggest they were once a peaceful race of mercantile traders, rendered violent and nearly feral by a curse brought upon them when they offended the goddess of the Triad. Regardless, now they are vicious and ferocious creatures, the size of large children, that reproduce by mitosis when they reach the end of their life cycle. Larger, elder goblins, who are nearing the apex of this biological crisis, are referred to as Hobgoblins, and usually form tribal heads. In the Age of Blood, Goblins were often harnessed as shock droops by the Orcs, but in this age, are just as likely to be at war with them as anyone else, and what alliances remain are fragile.
Trolls: Descended from a race of giants who served as laborers of the gods before the War of Fate, trolls stand as tall as a building, are slow, and nearly as dimwitted. Normally docile, they instinctively seek leadership and are eager to please, but as most of the Enlightened races shun them, they tend to find masters among the Orcs, usually serving as bulwarks and laborers, with some of the more gifted among them serving as smithies forging dreadfully oversized weaponry.
...
>>44199047
...
Ogres: In the Age of Blood, Lor Malgoriand made many magical modifications to the Orcs the God of Chaos had granted him. One of these experimental efforts was a hybridization of Orc and Goblin that resulted in a creature, generally too violent and bloodthirsty to be of much use, save when its endless rage was carefully directed by the arcane will of himself or his generals. Nonetheless, these beasts were often released to break through the front lines of armies in shockingly bloody offenses. Larger than goblins, though more slender than orcs, these lanky, lightning fast beasts begin and end their short lives in an endless fury. In this age, few among the Orcs can still control them, though they still breed them, and make the attempt. Most, however, escape into the wilds, living as untamable beasts, attacking anything they encounter.
>>44194013
I would make them all the same species. Their differences being the result of some power artificially breeding them in like dogs with all the health and behavioral problems that come with it. Maybe the original orc was similar in size to humans. In this case, I would probably stick with the goblins being small, then orcs, then ogres, then trolls.
Another possibility could be that they're still all the same, but the names are just either what various groups called themselves or different groups of humans called them. In that case the differences would be more cultural than physical.
>>44197559
>Dire humans
[Desire to know more intensifies]
>>44194013
I've basically only established trolls for my headworld, but if I were to make a setting with all of them,
>Orcs are usually a little shorter than a human, but way stockier and all muscle. Nomads, mostly, ambush hunters and goatherds or the setting's equivalent. Spiritualists.
>Ogres are the biguns, usually around 15' but get up to 20'. Solitary, territorial, and sneaky as fuck somehow. Spend most of their time patrolling their territory or resting--walk an hour, nap an hour. Will eat anything, but actively pursue prey if it's bigger than a dog. Not big runners, but their stride can catch them up to almost anything in a short burst.
>Two kinds of trolls, cave and mountain. Cave trolls are taller than humans, but wiry. Helps them get through narrow passages. Mountain trolls are about the same height, like 8-10', but fatter and hairy. Roam around in familial groups, and mostly just forage.
>Goblins are maybe 15" tall and 10 lbs at most, and most of that weight is their big, stupid head. They don't really have a culture, they're just assholes. Imagine if squirrels were thrice the size and spent all their time throwing twigs at you and screaming.
>Hobgoblins are sorta like cuckoos. Like twice a goblin's size, but somehow the goblins still raise them. Usually they'll find their own range as adults, but sometimes they stick around with their goblin family and become a ringleader. Then they're really annoying--stealing shiny shit from nearby settlements, playing pranks, eating crops.
