Half-orc portraits?

BelgarathMTH

Hi, I was thinking about eventually doing a run as a half-orc. I was going to go ahead and roll some half-orc characters for fun, when I noticed that the male half-orc portrait that used to be in the character creation screen is no longer there - you only get Dorn's portrait, and I don't want that one, because I might use him in my party.

I know how to access the dropbox, but there are hundreds of portraits in there with no way to do a search.

Can anyone point me to some good half-orc portraits for BG:EE?

Thanks.

EDIT: Well, I opened up a folder at random on the dropbox and got lucky. I found these:



I think these are the ones that BG:EE removed from the originals. I'd still be interested in more in this same style.

Kamigoroshi

Are you looking for warrior, cleric or thief half-orc portraits? And what gender? I try to keep my half-orc dropbox folder updated as much as possible, mostly because half-orcs are my favourites. Still, there are probably countless more gorgeous fantasy orc pictures out there which I haven't found yet. It's an never ceasing odyssey I tell ya.

BelgarathMTH

@Kamigoroshi, wow, thanks, man! That's a treasure trove of half-orcness. I'm looking for male half-orcs who manage to have enough human blood to still be somewhat attractive by human standards. The character I have in mind is one I will identify with, because I have somewhat orcish features in real life - upturned nose, roundish face, heavy body type, extremely tall (6'4").

I'm also really bookish and intellectual, which surprises people, because they instantly tend to assume I'm dumb because of my big, oafish look and clumsy manner. In D&D games, I love to play against type, so I'm thinking fighter-cleric for my half-orc character with really high wisdom and surprisingly high charisma. Sort of like the Beast from X-men, I guess.

So far, this one is my favorite - I downloaded it as soon as I saw it:

Deucetipher

My personal choice


Also, take a look at this thread, might find something you like.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/14671/a-good-half-orc-portrait-for-my-neutral-evil-berserker

DetroitRedWings25

It is a damn shame half orc portraits are so frequently over looked, especially the female variants seeing as their my favorite race to play.

Wonderboy2402

Wow, nice selection! I was going to play a half orc next play through. You made getting a portrait much easier!
I made some more here.

BelgarathMTH

I notice that there are a few schools of thought on artistic representations of our beloved half-orcs:

1)Half-orcs are mostly orc. They are barely sentient and monstrous. They have deep green skin, fangs, an unquenchable appetite for violence, and they are less human than the Hulk. They are barely a single step above monstrous.

2)Half-orcs are noble savages, just as their misunderstood and maligned orcish race. They are like the Hulk. They are capable of great kindness if treated with compassion, but if abused, their frightening temper and strength will usually get the best of them.

3)Half-orcs and orcs are an honorable warrior race, like the Klingons from Star Trek. They might have Hulkish green skin, but they might also have dark skin like Michael Dorn/Worf/Dorn (hmm, I just saw a connection here), or even pale, hairy skin like Vikings if they have enough human blood.

While being called "half" orcs, there are actually many variations of human blood to orc blood, from 1/4, 1/8, right down to having a single orc ancestor as a great-great-great grandfather (or mother). They are victims of racism from the human (or orcish) society in which they must find their place. A frequently heard taunt in childhood is the infamous cry of "halfbreed!"

Some orcish males are actually quite attractive to human females, as a "Beauty and the Beast" fantasy realization, and some orcish females are actually quite attractive to human males, as an exotic alien female fantasy realization, similarly to the green-skinned Orion slave girls of Star Trek, or as stronger, dominating "mistress" types, for example, the Mord-Sith from "Legend of the Seeker", or the legend of the Amazon, or even Xena or Wonder Woman.

All "half-orcs" share in common that they have what most humans would consider "super-strength" and "super-constitution". They have a much harder time than humans gaining the education they need to become "intellectual" and "wise", because they are held back from birth as victims of human racism. They are presumed by their mere appearance to be "stupid", "foolish", "violent", and any number of negative attributes, purely by virtue of their frightening, large, and "piggish" or "beastial" appearance, or their known ancestry.

A lucky few "half-orcs" have just enough orc blood to gain the benefits of strength, speed, and toughness, while still having enough human blood to pass for moderately attractive humans. Even these lucky few, however, will usually be huge, hairy, and have a pronounced underbite with a prominently upturned, "piggish" nose, making even them subject to being victims of bullying and prejudice because they are different from the human "norm".

I like numbers 2) and 3) in my half-orc art and lore. I would say that the majority of half-orc art I see fits number 1), though, and that totally turns me off, so I am always delighted to find the rare half-orc art that fits my 2) and 3).

ScytheKnight

@balgarathmth that's the problem I had with getting a portrait for my NG half-orc beserker for The Black Pits... most of them seems to be either blatantly evil, blatantly barbarians or blatantly stupid/monstrous.

BelgarathMTH

@ScytheKnight, check out @Kamigoroshi 's dropbox folder, as linked above. While he has a lot of the type 1) monstrous archetypes, he also has a lot of artwork that represents 2) and 3).

I think that the photo I posted above is my ideal type 3) male "half-orc", and I found that pic in @Kamigoroshi's folder.

CMN

Taken from NWN

ScytheKnight

@belgarathmth aye, he also had the one I settled on for my character. And that one is indeed awesome for a half-orc fighter/cleric... although personally, I'd be tempted to play a pure cleric if you want to break the mold. Half-Orc announcing themselves a fighter/cleric? No-one's going to be surprised... but a Half-Orc announcing themselves a Priest of Lathander? Now that's something different!

BelgarathMTH

@CMN, that's a good photo. I think it could represent either type 2) or type 3). I'm reposting it here, because it seems that your image link isn't quite working right (trying to be helpful).

BelgarathMTH

@ScytheKnight, hmm, I was thinking about that. I rolled a fighter-cleric earlier, and I was indeed thinking about taking a pure cleric.

What I don't like is not getting the extra APR and weapon proficiencies at higher levels if I take the cleric kit. What I would like about the cleric kit is the kit abilities (I'd be Lathander), plus the undead-turning and the extra spell level.

Decisions, decisions! Isn't this game great? I just really hate to waste all that super-strength (19) on a single APR for the whole game! And, I'm thinking ahead to BG2:EE, of course!

BelgarathMTH

@Sylvus_Moonbow, oooooh! That second one is perfect for me! Is there a link where I could get it already done up in BG:EE portrait sizes?

EDIT: Although, actually, I might use him to replace Dorn's default portrait, for a little half-orc on half-orc love. LOL. He looks absolutely *delicious*. Totally my type of guy. I'd even try to make my neutral good vs. his chaotic evil work, if he looked like *that*!

ScytheKnight

@belgarathmth well if I where doing that type of character I doubt I'd max the physical stats, max Wis and Cha and reasonably high Int (12+) or so. A half orc who has developed mind rather than muscle.

BelgarathMTH

@ScytheKnight, that is indeed the perfect idea to match what I am in real life. I just have a really, really hard time not taking those two racial 19's! LOL.

When I was rolling earlier, I spent about 20 minutes trying to get a 90. The best I could get right then was 88. I took STR 19, DEX 17, CON 19, INT 9, WIS 16, CHA 6. That minus two to reaction really hurt, as it was against my roleplaying idea. But it sure would be a strong character.

Decisions, decisions. Take an advantage here, take a disadvantage there. That's what makes D&D the most awesome thing ever.

ScytheKnight

@belgarathmth Well if you want to take advantage of the race could do a 19 Con i suppose... but personally would go with 'higher then normal' Str and Con then you might find in a pure cleric.

Not sure where this abandonment of powergaming has come from... even my half-elf Bounty Hunter with pleeenty of points to spare only has two max stats in Dex and Cha and only a slightly low Wis (9) and good Int. Con is reasonably good and Str is.. OK. Guess just trying to milk out more then just "RAGH I arz child of Bhaal! I arz UBER!"

BelgarathMTH

@ScytheKnight, like I said, I'm thinking ahead to BG2:EE. I like to play no- or minimal- reload, and I know that the difficulty is going to get crazy hard later on, even if I keep the slider on Normal, which I don't - I use Core.

Not min-maxing would be perfectly fine for BG1. (Although I forever worry about the final battle - I'm terrible at it. I usually get my butt kicked no matter what I do - Semaj's tattoo of petrification plus death spell, Angelo's arrows of detonation, oh my - the only way I ever made it "easy" was by spamming the Wand of Monster Summoning, and you can't even do that in BG:EE).

In BG2, I know what's coming, and it's even worse than Sarevok, Inc. So, I forever wring my hands in agony right from the character creation screen in BG1.

Deucetipher

@belgarathmth

I liked your long post, conceptualizing half-orcs. Personally, in my own conception, half-orcs are basically human, with significant physical departures. More specifically, they are no more likely to be brutish, honorable or noble (to paraphrase your categories) than their counterparts in humanity.

If pressed, I would acknowledge a tendency to stoicism or anger, though this would purely be a result of cultural influences, not biology. So, a half-orc raised in a positive home environment would be no more likely prone to anger or violence than a human child raised in the same circumstances. Conversely, raised among the Uthgardt barbarians, one would fit neatly into your category 3.

kansasbarbarian

I too, see the HalfOrcs as an honorable class. Hated by both sides they strive to be better than both.
But then again there is Mulahey.Lol. Great pics btw.

kansasbarbarian

I would love to have a HalfOrc/HalfDwarf character.

KidCarnival

Neverwinter Nights had this half-orc sorcerer/berzerker NPC.

BelgarathMTH

@KidCarnival, ah, yes, Xanos the sorcerer. I've never used him, as I was always playing an arcane caster myself when I played Shadows of Undrentide, but I thought the idea of a half-orc sorcerer with a big ego was brilliantly against type.

You get some dialogues with him even if he's not in your party, and I thought his eastern european accent was hilarious. He sounded almost like a male version of Jaheira.

Millardkillmoore

@belgarathmth

I always loved Xanos's personality...unfortunately he was a Sorcerer/Barbarian with 13 STR, 12 CON, and 14 CHA.

BelgarathMTH

@Millardkillmoore, I guess the idea was to have him think he was the greatest arcance caster ever, but really not. It's a great idea for a roleplaying character, although nobody that powergames would want those stats.

Never having used him, I don't know, but if you instruct him to concentrate on his sorcery, maybe he ups that charisma at level ups? You don't get higher than fifth or maybe sixth level spells by the end of SoU anyway, because it end-levels out at 13 or 14.

I can't remember if Xanos is in HotU - Is he is in that bar to be used for ACT I? He'd definitely need higher charisma then. I've never paid any attention to whether he was there in HotU, because I usually take Tomi Undergallows and Red Tiger to start.

DetroitRedWings25

Heres one im currently using for a my barbarian, I take no credit for making it i got it from deviant art and cropped/resized it, I thought it was pretty good though i wish it had more sizeable tusks, i also found the art style to look similar to the pre excisting portraits which is a huge plus in my book.

DetroitRedWings25

sorry the old attachment doesnt show unless you click it, due to it being a .bmp i assume, still dont know why its so small... but if you click it youll see full size. The above comment is properly sized for the large portrait in baldurs gate, the picture attached to this post is the original image used, if you click it it will show it in full size and you can get a better look at it.

BelgarathMTH

@Sylvus_Moonbow, awesome portraits! I have downloaded and installed them. They look like real people rather than cartoons, which adds a touch of realism and immersion to the game.

KidCarnival

@belgarathmth - I loved the concept behind the character; going against all stereotypes of half-orcs by using the opposite stereotype of a snobbish arcane caster. That is the kind of NPC I take along no matter how effective. I know I did pick him and he was quite useful (to my thief), but it's been so long, I have no memory how he did on higher levels. He wasn't in Hordes of the Underdark, sadly.

BelgarathMTH

@KidCarnival, that's what I was thinking. I usually take Red Tiger, but it's been so long, I couldn't remember if there was another half-orc in that inn. Apparently not.

Still, Xanos, Dorna, and Deekin are all three superlative roleplaying npc's. I wish Dorna and Xanos had made the cut for HotU. Deekin was kind of a no-brainer - he's such a delightful little guy, he even got to be in NWN2. LOL.

KidCarnival

@belgarathmth I did install NVN a while ago, but haven't gotten around to start a game. I don't think I ever took Dorna along (being a thief myself) and only had the drow assassin for a very short time (same reason). As entertaining as Deekin was, I really wish they had put some more of the previous NPCs in HotU. Having only Deekin, the drow (Nytarra sp?) and the emo tiefling didn't feel balanced, most notably the lack of a divine caster and a dedicated archer as options.