#11: N'Orks

In thinking about humanoids, I wanted to create a core humanoid race that did something unusual… something that would mix up and add interest to encounters with these foes. In thinking about the humanoid as fundamental fighter, it seemed that the god of the underworld (Beal, their creator) would want a fighting force that was pretty resilient. He’d want them to keep on fighting. Serial immortality seemed like a good way to go, with progressively higher levels of toughness along the chain of progression. It felt like a random element to this would make play more interesting… here’s how it works:

- N’Orks are degenerate, 3’ tall goblinoid creatures of low intellect. They exist only to fight; if foes are not present, they will turn on each other eventually. When you kill a N’Ork, there is a 1 in 6 chance it arises at the end of the round, reborn as an Ubern’orker.
- Ubern’orkers are the next up the food chain. They are thinkers and planners, able to lead N’Ork armies, and able to keep lesser N’Orks under their thumb. Multiple Ubern’orkers will work together rather than resorting to in-fighting. When you kill an Ubern’orker, there is a 1 in 6 chance it arises at the end of the round as a N’Ork Ubermonger.
- N’Ork Ubermongers are the highest form of N’Ork, but also the least intelligent. These are the Incredible Hulks of the N’Ork world… these are the ‘true forms’ of N’Orks… the other two forms are avatars they send out into the world in their stead.

Basically, statistically it comes down to this… if you fight 6 N’Orks, odds are that one of them will be reborn as an Ubern’ork. If you fight 36 N’Orks, odds are that 6 of those will reincarnate immediately as Ubern’orks, and 1 of those will reincarnate immediately as a N’Ork Ubermonger. However, there is a chance (albeit a slim one) that a fight with a solitary N’Ork escalates to a battle with a N’Ork Ubermonger. In terms of play, the drama of the fight continues after death; “congratulations on killing the two N’Orks this round… now let’s see if they stay dead…”

It seems appropriate to give Ubern’orkers leadership, and to give N’Ork Ubermongers rage… so here we are:

N’Ork (15 CPs)
Fighting +4; Might +2; Stamina +2 (Armor); Focus +1; Intuition +2
Wields spiked club +3 (dealing +5 damage); wears hide armor +3.

Ubern’orker (30 CPs)
Fighting +6; Might +4; Stamina +3 (Armor); Focus +2; Intuition +2; Leadership +2
Wields spiked morning star +5 (dealing +9 damage); wears reinforced hide armor +4

N’Ork Ubermonger (60 CPs)
Fighting +7 (Bonus Attack); Might +6 (Strike); Stamina +6; Focus +3; Invulnerability; Intuition +3; Rage +4
Wades into combat swinging two fists; fists distribute fighting +8 between them, dealing +12 damage unarmed each; soaks +6 from physical and +3 from energy attacks