I agree with you. How big would your average tribe be? 300 members perhaps? So 1 out of 300 is intelligent (assuming there were no other members of the tribe with above average intelligence, which I find doubtful). With 1 out of 300 being intelligent, doesn't it stand to reason that my character could be one of the hundreds of thousands of Orcs (out of the millions) that is intelligent? So yes, my character is not a rampaging warrior like the majority of the race (which is arguable in and of itself, I'd say the majority would have to be agrarian workers and hunter-gatherer types for their society to survive at all...but again, I digress), but he IS unique. Is your character exactly the same as the average stereotype? Is every human exactly the same? Is every Elf exactly the same? If so, where is the fun in a role playing game if every Orc is playing the same role as every other Orc? If every Elf is playing the same role as every other Elf? If every human is playing the same role as every other human? I was under the impression Illarion was an RPG with emphasis on RP, not one that downplayed it. As well, there is just as much evidence that Orcs in this game are smart as their is that they are stupid...which gives me the impression they can be either. Same as a human, same as an Elf.Cobolt Goregrinder wrote:The main shaman is NOT the entire Orc tribe.
Did I say that they had developed their ABCs? You are associating intelligence with the standard Western educational view of "If you can read and write, do math and understand basic scientific concepts, that is smart." That is not always what intelligence is.Cobolt Goregrinder wrote:Those stats are for how well the develop to magic, not how well they learned their ABC's.
Orcs aren't intelligent creatures. They're basically neanderthals.
So yes. I'm saying there can't..Wait, no. I'm saying there shouldn't ever be a smart Orc unless we're talking about Orcish Gods or deities. ((Seeing as I don't own this game I can't they there will not be smart Orcs. But that is contradictory to the Orc name unless we're speaking about Gruumsh or Illiven.))
Magic CAN be learned by an Orc, but it only means they have learned MAGIC, not how to be manipulative.
Gruumsh \m/
As well, in a society without writing (or with rudimentary writing, like Illarion's Orcs), they are bound to have a strong oral memory, and their leaders and the more intelligent of their society are bound to have very good speaking skills.
Also, don't even get started with me on Dungeons and Dragons Orcs. Do you know what the maximum Intelligence stat is for a 1st level Orc (of any class)? 14. You know what the average for an Elf is? 10. Grey Elf average is 12. Surprise, surprise, an exceptional Orc in D&D can have a high Intelligence. And, if they are a Wizard or something that requires a high Intelligence, as they progress in levels they can increase it (assuming 3rd edition D&D). If we're talking about 2nd or earlier editions of D&D, then the Orcs had a maximum of 16 I believe, and could raise it with various different optional rulesets that TSR put out.
I've been playing D&D longer than I've been able to cognitively realize that it wasn't real, and I've got stats memorized up the wazoo. RPGs are not about restriction (like "RPGs" such as Diablo), they are about freedom, and creativity. You can choose to be a stereotype. And that's fine. But that's what's great about RPGs, everything is a choice. You can also choose to put that 18 you rolled up into your Intelligence, assign the -4 penalty, and play an Orc with an Intelligence of 14. Got a problem with that? Don't play one. But you can't say, "No, you're character isn't what you say, it's what I say." That would be like you having a young Elf character, and me saying, "Your Elf has to get into rages all the time and can't every be calm!" just because on Moonsilver it says:
"Elves ( except for very young ones ) don't become angry easily. They have time. Time to think, and any problem caused by humans, simply solves itself with time. That's why most elves tend to act calm and friendly, they know that they don't need to get into trouble."
You're basically taking information from the site and saying, "Because it says that they don't have an advanced form of writing, they are dumb." What, you mean like modern day African and Australian tribes? Are they "dumb" just because they don't fit your view of intelligent? And you also say they're dumb because they choose to cause fear in their enemies. Sorry, I guess that means only a complete moron could have been a Roman Legionairre or officer! And, they tend to like things to be said directly, without complications. Ever heard of George Orwell? Wrote 1984 and Animal Farm? He hated when people didn't say things directly, and chose to embellish their sentances with uneccesary words. Was he of "neanderthal" intelligence as well?
Just as I wouldn't deduce that all young Elves must rage all the time, I don't see why you would deduce that all Orcs must be stupid from the statements you chose from Moonsilver.