Orc (Dungeons & Dragons)

Orc
Orcs, as depicted by David C. Sutherland III in the original Monster Manual (1977).
Characteristics
Alignment	Usually Chaotic Evil
Type	Humanoid (See below)
Image	Wizards.com image
Stats	Open Game License stats
Publication history
Based on	Orc

In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, orcs are a primitive race of savage, bestial, barbaric humanoid.

The orc was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the D&D game. The D&D orc is largely based upon the orcs appearing in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.

The orc was one of the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974), where they were described as tribal creatures that live in caves or villages.

The orc appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as a fiercely competitive bully, a tribal creature often living underground.

The mythology and attitudes of the orcs are described in detail in Dragon #62 (June 1982), in Roger E. Moore's article, "The Half-Orc Point of View".

In the article "Hey, Wanna Be a Kobold?" by Joseph Clay in Dragon #141 (January 1989), kobolds, xvarts, goblins, and orcs were presented as player character races along with two new character classes the "Shaman" and the "Witch Doctor".

This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the orc, in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977, 1981, 1983). The orc was featured as a player character race in the gazetteer The Orcs of Thar (1989). Orcs were also later featured in the Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1991), the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991), the Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1994), and the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game set (1999).