Half Orc or Dwarf
kansasbarbarian
Member Posts: 206
After playing exclusively as half orc as my default race due to the 19 str 18 dex 19 con and loving the paperdoll of the half orc fighter I am on the brink of switching all my admiration to the Dwarf.
I got over the revulsion of my sprite being so small. And its all because of the saving bonus. After reading @Grum adventures of his Dwarven Defender I rolled one up and did a full playthrough. And like him I solo'd Drizzt and Sarevok. And after weighing the pros and cons of extra damage versus better saving throws I think better saves win out.
Anyways convince me to jump ship from Half Orc to Dwarf.
I got over the revulsion of my sprite being so small. And its all because of the saving bonus. After reading @Grum adventures of his Dwarven Defender I rolled one up and did a full playthrough. And like him I solo'd Drizzt and Sarevok. And after weighing the pros and cons of extra damage versus better saving throws I think better saves win out.
Anyways convince me to jump ship from Half Orc to Dwarf.
8
Comments
Keep at it. The half-orc gets +1 str and +1 dex. Neither matter too much in the long run, as a good dwarf still ends up with Str20 Dex18 Con21 as compared to a half-orc's Str21 Dex19 Con21. The saving throws of a dwarf go so much further than the small stat bonuses (+1 AC vs missile attacks? The strength gives what? +1 damage?) Compare that to shorty saves which will literally save your life. The further you go in the saga the better the dwarf is.
Plus the dwarf gets to be a dwarven defender. Damage resistance and even better saves.
Finally? The beard. You can't forget the beard.
Fighter/Illusionists and shorty saving throws.
Plus, turnips.
In fact through all my playthroughs I honestly think in the end Korgan is who does 99% of the work for most of my party.
There's nothing like being the only one in your party who can stand up to a normally badass enemy and withstand damage that would kill anyone else, and stay alive to give it right back. THAT is the definition of tanking, and its why dwarves are the best race.
Percentile strength scores are for wusses!
Ten out of ten Dorns agree, a half of an Orc is worth three or four dwarves!
19 Strength 19 Strength 19 Strength 19 strength...
Smash you six chapters before you ever see tome shorty!
When me get tome 20 strength looks boss and matches constitution!
You too short to listen to!
19 strength smash shank in Candlekeep!
In the second game, it will become 20str vs 21str - and then the Half-Orc regains and advantage of one measly THAC0 - which doesn't matter that much by then, you'll both be hitting every time anyway. The dex will rise to 19 and 20, respectively, but again, the AC bonus will remain the same - it won't go up until dex 21 which only Elves can achieve.
In the mean time, Dwarfs get big bonuses to saving throws which will matter throughout the entire series. They have access to the Dwarven Defender which blows an Orc Barbie out of the water with ease. And finally, their looks are so cool and their personalities just scream fantasy. Orcs are just ugly.
Orcs are noob bait because of their stats. I fell into the orc trap myself. Took me a while to really appreciate the racial superiority of our Dwarven overlords.
* Half-Orcs can be Cleric/Thiefs and Dwarfs cannot. Whoopy-doo. Gnomes are only a thousand times better at that multiclass combination anyway. Tiax rules all.
Half Orcs can be cleric/thieves with crazy strength for more successful wild back stabs. Quarter staff, two handed weapon style, 19 strength and a critical hit feels pretty cool.
I still prefer Gnomes though. Anything a dwarf can do a gnome can do better
Half-Orcs get an extra point of Wisdom but after the three tomes, a Gnome will have 20 wisdom and that's just plenty. It's not even close! Gnomes smash Half-Orcs when it comes to Cleric/Thief!
As for Gnomes doing anything better than Dwarves...there is no better Cleric/Fighter multiclass than a Dwarf. Dwarfs also make much better fighter/tanks because of the Dwarven Defender class. In both cases, the 19 con is advantage Dwarf.
In my opinion, the main draw of the Gnome is it's multiclassing options. Being able to combine an illusionist with another class is what makes Gnomes so good. The 19 INT is nice but it doesn't matter because of the INT tome and anything over 19int is worthless.
Need I say any more to convince you?
Case closed! Yay!
More seriously (kind of), I do agree with you, but are you implying that dwarves aren't sexy?
Don't blame the Dwarfs if you are a dud. It's not their fault you were shat on by nature. Just take solace in the fact that your race serves a very important purpose - making the Dwarfs look so damn good! Haha!
Courtesy of Oglaf