This is a fun vid tackling Orcs in DND imo and finding a very fun way to square the circle, the same way lore did for Goblins. Lets them be an antagonistic faction but not unsympathetic mindless monsters.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve7l...
the gist for those who don't want to watch the full video is that by creation lore the Orc creator god Gruumsh was tricked when the other gods drew lots to pick the native land for their species and the Elf creator god snatched the forests and wilderness leaving them with nothing...
Gruumsh stabbed the world with his spear to create the caves and caverns to carve out SOME place for his people. This started the rivalry between Gruumsh and the Elven gods that eventually had Gruumsh poisoned and his eye stabbed out. This drove Gruumsh mad with pain and with a curse that...
bleeds down to the Orcs. The Orc curse causes crops to wither under their handling and ore to refuse to smelt. They are barred from farming or smithing forcing them to rely on raiding (or other ways to circumvent the curse). Further putting them in constant war with the hated Elves
Orc clerics perform rituals to try to take some of Gruumsh's pain into their own body to provide solace to their god, and the Orc Blood Rage is orcs channeling the blind rage he's perpetually stuck with. Orcs hope one day they can cure Gruumsh of his agony and madness and break the curse
This puts Orcs fundamentally opposed to other species but not like ontologically evil.
One of the work arounds the curse would be 'diluting' it via interbreeding with humans or other species, which would mean members of community that could farm or smith.
I... don't know if that's any better, to be honest? I mean, we've seen how the "accursed by God" thing has played out via-a-via real-world racism, and it's... not great
they're not cursed by God persay, but their God is cursed and that flows down. and in a world where Magic is in blood and having a Dragon grandpa makes you a sorcerer it isn't out of line in the lore.
if Dwarves are gifted their skill in mining and smithing from their god then a Mr Glass to the Unbreakable situation feels like it could happen.
And there are already other species cursed by gods like the Kenku
