DMs Guide To The Races of Ortho

This was originally a summary how various inhabitants of the Monstrous Manual had changed under the OCA and a relatively tame world like Ortho. I abandoned it so as not to stifle DM creativity, but I’ve started work on it again because so many creatures have been changed that it’s difficult to keep track of sometimes. Now it’s only a list of monsters which we’ve actually worked on or mentioned as being different. I could probably paste in info about the Orthorian monsters we have in the PDF bestiary too.

Its still in the early stages at present. Worth continuing?

Given the rise of the world state and the great Harmonium Empire, Ortho is a rather different world than most. Many of the creatures of the Monster Manual live quite different, or more civilised lives, or are extinct save for a few specimens still at large. The list below is a guide to the major changes for Dungeon Masters:

Aranea
These creatures are part of the ‘Spider Clans’ – heralds and emissaries between the spiders and their humanoid neighbours. Of all the arachnid races, these creatures have the most contact with the humanoids of the OCA, and a comparatively large proportion are members of the Harmonium - to better spy on the rest of us, their detractors claim. Aranea reputation isn’t helped by their obvious skills as infiltrators, information gatherers, spies, and assassins. Despite this the Aranea have served with particular distinction against the followers of Lolth, although their battles are often subtle and unseen.

Beholder

Choker
With the spread of the great metropolises, Chokers moved wholesale into urban areas, where they have become something of an urban myth, where they lurk in small packs. Legends of mysterious stranglers and murderous footpads haunting dark alleys are usually the result of Chokers, some of which make a more or less open living among the underworld. When stealth and darkness will not serve them, they often go about disguised as dwarves.

Devil
Devils are officially part of the ‘Reform List’ – exemplars in need of conversion to the Way of Harmony (read ‘to Arcadian alignment’) but who have dispensation because they have voluntarily joined the cause and pledged to play by the rules even if they don’t (at the moment) believe in them. This delicate piece of philosophical chicanery stems from the dawn of the Alliance of Harmony, when it allowed Romhel to work with the orcs of Motmurk against a common enemy. This acceptance doesn’t apply to just any devil of course, only those who have signed up to the cause.

Devils cannot just walk around on the material world as they do in the Planes. As lawful creatures however, they can be summoned legally on Ortho - providing the wizard or cleric has the appropriate licenses. Some summoners prefer to avoid devils for the sake of the Harmonium’s good name; others (known colloquially as ‘Malconvokers’) delight in using them for Lawful Good aims. Many simply appreciate Baatezu talents and use them when a devil would be more useful than an Archon.

Of course, sometime a cleric doesn’t get a choice in who they summon. Devils can be found serving several of Ortho’s deities, especially Didairdin, Saeduenical, and the Orthorian cult of Hextor. In fact Didairdin had many warrior-devils in his retinue in the old days, and his more benevolent exemplars are comparatively recent interlopers to his hierarchy (which is virtually in civil war some of the time). Other deities have fiendish servants as well. In this case it is the Outsiders’ demeanour not allegiance that marks them as devils; they can be faithful (within the limits of a devil, anyway) servants of both the Harmonium cause and their God; just a ruthless and cruel one. Certainly more than a few Baatezu are only going ‘through the motions’ and paying only lip service to the ideals however, and merely hope to turn the Harmonium to their own purposes instead.

Doppelganger
Doppelgangers are nothing if not adaptive creatures, and are no more tolerated now than they were before the Pax Harmonium. They continue to quietly deceive and defraud their way across Ortho as they’ve always done, keeping a profile that’s even lower than that on other worlds. Its true that the Harmonium is a lot more organised than local law enforcement used to be, but the reliance of procedures and (especially) paperwork for identification has made a actually made a doppelganger’s job a lot easier. The only major change in them is that now most doppelgangers have at least a smattering of skill in the forger’s art.

Dragon
Dragons on Ortho are almost all Lawful, including the traditionally Chaotic Evil Red Dragons. Dragons mostly dwell in the region of Voll called Wyrmspire. They are an enigmatic and mysterious race that prefers manipulation from the sidelines than outright participation in the Pax Harmonium. Bizarrely, many Dragons are involved in Venture Companies and Merchant Cartels, and are amongst the richest citizens in Ortho.

Dwarf

Elf (and half-elf)

Ettercap
These are part of the Spider Clans, although feral ettercaps are occasionally encountered in the wilderness as well (usually a sign that an unknown Spider Clan is in residence nearby). Orthorian ettercaps cannot communicate verbally other than in insectile clicks and whistles, but are very proficient in hand sign and body language (+3 to Bluff checks made to pass on or understand non-verbal information).

Ghoul
The Hex-masters of the Elven Shaars are held responsible for the plague that is the ghoul. The Ghoul Fleet which still plagues Han was their first and most infamous creation, but from their infected claws and teeth this undead plague has spread across Ortho.

In modern times, Ghouls prefer to haunt the massive urban conurbations, lurking in Ortho’s cemeteries, mausoleums, and necropolises where a ready supply of fresh food can be easily obtained. The majority remain scabrous near-beasts, but some of their number have managed to conceal their hideous hunger and maintain a seemingly respectable life. They indulge their cannibal urges only at perverted banquets, complete with lace napkins and silver cutlery. They form ‘Glutton Cults’ and often associated with the Spawn of Ruay and the worshippers of Alzrius.

Hobgoblin

Ortho’s hobgoblins are immigrants, former servants of Alzrius, brought to Ortho by the Abyssal Lord. They betrayed him however and joined the Harmonium, who settled them on the Thaeran continent to help ‘pacify’ the troublesome nation. Organised, civilised, and expansionist, the hobgoblins worship Hextor in a somewhat modified form, less evil but still merciless – similar to the harshest doctrine of Didairdin, although they have so far resisted all efforts to convert them officially to the latter god. Despite this, Hobgoblin society is less evil than once it was; a slow but steady success story for the OCA. Half hobgoblins are also growing common, particularly in the Thaeran Provinces.

Orcs and hobgoblins are notorious for their rivalry. From their first clashes in the war against Alzrius to the present day, there’s no love lost between them.

Gnoll
The majority of Gnolls were annihilated during Prince Rohmel's Crusade. The survivors were mostly children and females. In the end, they were entrusted to Harmonium missionaries and converted to the faith of the Lords of Order. The race has never fully recovered but mostly dwells in Omospondia. They are a primarilly LG race of religious mystics and pacifists who pose no threat to the outside world.

Kobold
Labyrinthine subterranean burrows, reluctance for stand-up fights, and trap-building expertise meant that Ortho’s kobolds were a thorn in the side of the world state for far longer than most other monster races. With typical practicality however, they eventually adapted to the new order; most clans simply gave up fighting the Pax Harmonium one day and started working with it. Kobolds now form a significant minority in Xaric, and are slowly spreading out into other regions as well.

For their size, Kobolds are tough, strong, and industrious. Most of them continue their previous predilection to be miners, but many have also put their natural aptitude for mechanics to good use in other professions, from gunsmithing to running steamhorses, to crewing aerostats (for which their small size makes them even more suited). Kobolds are still regarded as largely uncivilised, maintaining their strong pack structure and traditional dislike of rival groups.

Lich
Most of Ortho’s liches date from the Age of Cabals, when wizards controlled the world both from the throne and from behind it. They were originally divided into alliances based upon moral and ethical belief, but this rapidly degenerated into egotistical competition.

The cabals mostly destroyed one another in age-old wars and rivalries, and the Knights of Harmony eliminated many of those who remained. Nevertheless, liches are notoriously difficult to destroy and surface periodically to trouble honest Orthorians. These days most liches are primarily concerned with staying hidden, although that’s not to say that they don’t have power and agendas to pursue from behind the scenes.

Lizardfolk
Lizardmen are one of the major races of Ortho, found in all its warm climes. They have a largely unfounded reputation for laziness and corruption.

Lycanthrope
Were-creatures are a major race in Ortho’s Ulfrheim Province. Responsible lycanthropes are charged with bringing their wilder cousins into line across Ortho, using the Harmonium’s Bond of the Wolfpack ritual. Lycanthropes are usually treated not as monsters, but as victims of an infectious disease.

Merfolk
Orthorian Mer are heavily armoured in a speckled shell, more reminiscent of lobsters than fish. They are a major race of Ortho and close allies of the Seaborn Exiles of Ulfrheim. So close in fact that occasionally an otherwise human child is born with “the Mother’s Gift” – a set of hard red gills.

Mindflayer
Only a smattering of Illithids exist on Ortho. The majority of them are part of a secret cabal that (secretly) rules North Thaera. Most of the other Illithids around Ortho are exiles from this group or lost planar travelers. The Illithids are masterminds and monsters that are treated as a 'kill on sight' problem for Ortho troopers.

Ogre
The ogre homeland is Mount Oriaguz in Shoryko. Most of Ortho’s ogres have been ‘civilised’ by the Harmonium and live as relatively productive members of society. Ogres are reputed to have a childlike intellect and attention span, and often find themselves limited to manual labour (or crime), but a significant minority also enjoy life in the Harmonium; the military appreciates their strengths and understands their weaknesses – something that Orthorian civilians often fail to do.

Orc

Orcs are a major race of Ortho, based in the Province of Motmurk. Orthorian orcs have always favoured a strong hierarchical warrior culture, with strong traditions of literacy and magic. Formerly worshippers of the Devil Lords of Hell and the original incarnation of Didairdin, they were forced to abandon the former after the Schism, but are still firm champions of Didairdin.

Orcs and hobgoblins are notorious for their rivalry. From their first clashes in the war against Alzrius to the present day, there’s no love lost between them.

Plane-touched

Tieflings are most common in Iathra, site of countless rapes during Alzrius’ tyranny. Thaera also has its share of fiend-touched, often from more willing unions. Officially tieflings receive no stigma (the OCA calls them ‘unfortunates’ but recognises it as not their fault) but the ‘tendencies of their blood’ mean they are watched by more paranoid organisations (especially the church of Saeduenical) and varies from little to the extreme.

Aasimar are occasionally found across Pan Thaera, descendants of unions with Eladrin (and thanks to OCA propaganda they suffer just as much prejudice as tieflings). There are also certain bloodlines of Osmopondia who traditionally consorted with the spirits of the Higher Planes, and still produce occasional aasimar offspring.

Chaonds (see Planewalker.com) are also sometimes encountered in former Thaeran lands, especially among the few remaining scions of the Imperial Line. Such blood (tainted by slaadi or the raw chaos of Limbo) are always watched closely – especially in Southern Thaera itself. Most chaonds are rounded up as dangerous chaotics by the regime and promptly ‘disappear.’ There are persistent rumours of Chaonds of Royal Blood (heirs to the Pan Thaeran Empire) still alive and in hiding.

Rakshasa
These ancient and terrible spirits have ruled the jungles of Hazhkan since time immemorial. They are relatively recent additions to the Great Harmony, but rarely trouble the OCA. Somewhat reclusive, they prefer to rule from their secluded jungle palaces (all Rakshasa consider themselves high nobles), which are famed for their stately luxury and valuable orchid gardens.

Away from interference and the watchful eye of the OCA, Rakshasa are widely reputed to abuse their position: Everything from torturing prisoners to selling souls, to hunting intelligent creatures for sport. In the presence of Harmonium officials however, they are always humble, helpful, and impeccably polite.

Sahuagin

Troglodyte
Troglodytes have been driven out to the far margins of Ortho – the most inaccessible jungles, swamps, and caves – by the scalefolk and their Harmonium allies. Dedicated to the darkest aspects of the Lords of Chaos (especially Chal and Namaneil), and unable to accept the rule of law, they are engaged in a futile war against the whole of the OCA. Thankfully their numbers are relatively small, but they make up for this in their ruthless and savage strategies:

Troll
Trolls - Too stupid to be converted, too savage to be civilised, too dangerous to be ignored. This view and Harmonium fire and sword have driven the trollish race almost to extinction. It’s thought that few survive outside the Isle of Haru, although trolls have proven surprisingly adaptable and it’s not unusual to find strains such as ice trolls, desert trolls, and even sea trolls (scrags) in seemingly inhospitable places.

Vermin