RPing the "hate" between Elves and Dwarves vs Half Orcs

[Darksider_war]

My suggestion is this: think about WHAT YOUR OWN CHARACTER would do. If everyone were to act accordingly to what's written on the manuals, then everyone would be basically a replica of an old dusty tome.

Is your elf/dwarf open-minded by nature or not? Is it good aligned? If yes to both, then by all means, try to give half-orcs who try to behave a chance.

Is he closed-minded, far more cautious, or does he have a personal grudge against orcs and orc-bloods? Then by all means, have him despise their ilk.

Just remember to give room to roleplay, and base your character's ideas on each individual half orc's behavior.

My cleric of Corellon just loathes everything orcish or orc-related, I do not even remember the last time she actually showed some open-mindedness (or worse, friendship!) towards an orc or an orc blood despite her alignment being Chaotic Good, as much as I don't remember her patron ever showing displeasure for her apparent loathing of orcs and half-orcs. Still, she could potentially help a half-orc doing a good deed should the need arise.

On the other hand, half-orcs are 9 times out of 10 the result of a male orc forcing himself on an unwitting woman, so she tries to be a bit more tolerant and lenient on them (that is, doesn't show open hostility unless poked and could even help one out if he demonstrates her of being honorable).

Remember, racial bigotry and racism is an entirely canon element in Forgotten Realms setting. But "living and letting live" is a prerogative of a Good Character. Loathe half-orcs as much as you want, but avoid giving them trouble unless they are asking for it.

Digression:

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In a sourcebook there is a good quote on elven view

It basically says orcs do not deserve the emotion of hate for they are merely pestilence. Genocide is not to be committed to not stoop to their or the drows' level. They don't mind keeping population in check though. Also that doesn't mean welcoming attitude.

Link me the source please. As far as I remember, it says that elves generally reserve their hatred only for their dark cousins, whilst orcs (and only of the full blooded variety) are simply seen as pests and rodents to be eradicated.

Speaking of which, elves generally have no qualms about killing orcish cubs or drow children. It is socially acceptable and no one of the Seldarine does really care (Shevarash actually encourages elves to kill as many drows as possible, save for eilistreeans, but most of his worshipers seem unaware of this detail and just keep killing every drow they see).

This does not by any way mean that they will derive pleasure in it, nor that they will boast about it, nor that they will try to exterminate every single orc in Faerun .

Simply put, each one they kill is an elf-slayer who has just been robbed of the opportunity of reaching adulthood and killing other elves. Racial preservation first and foremost.

[TheKai]

I'd like to thank everyone who took their time to give advice and offer their experience/points of view, both here and via PM. It's really helping me. Thank you again

[AlwaysSummer Day]

My dwarves are willing to -tolerate- half orcs, however they consistently refer to the half orc as an "it" not a living being. Insults will be used in place of anything that can be construed as compliments or acceptance and if the "halfblood" steps out of line it could quite quickly escalate to pvp.

Fullblood orcs are another story. A shield dwarf should naturally want to kill them on sight since shield dwarves have been fighting orcs to the death for millennia. A single orc finding its way within 10 miles of a clanhold could easily result in the dwarves going out and killing every single orc, goblin, and giant within 50 miles just to make sure they are safe from attack. RP wise I have often threatened to kill grey orcs with my dwarf characters and to my surprise this has invariably led to 10-20 adventurers including paladins and elves threatening to kill my dwarf if he didn't leave.

Orcs should be thought of as similar to a tiger is in real life. 99.999% of people wouldn't want to let one anywhere near them because 99.999% of the time it would maul you and eat your children. Sure there might be a dozen that were razed in captivity and probably won't maul the people who raised it. . . probably. . . The difference is the tiger is doing this because it is an animal, an orc does this because it is evil and acting with malicious intent. There are no Lawful Good orc gods.

[Considerate_]

Please bear in mind, that there's members of the Flaming Fist who are Half-orcs, so portraying your character as having an exceedingly aggressive attitude to them, how does this translate to your characters reaction at meeting half-orcs that are members of the authorities?

Because if you're not willing to stay with a group that tolerates them, then at least have some explanation ready why you're willing to stay in a city where they're in a position of authority

Really good discussion going on here, I'm enjoying the read!

[Atlas]

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[Baboonicorn]

If you're playing a wood or wild elf who's lived in their isolated community in the forest/moors for centuries, then half-orcs are likely to be considered horrible monsters just like full orcs. Then again, humans are probably not much better.

A sun elf is liable to view them as lesser beings, humans made more inferior by orc blood in their veins. Depending on the sun elf's alignment, this can manifest as disdain all the way to open hatred.

Dwarves and moon elves tend to be more worldly on the whole, so they would be more able to determine that a half-orc is also half-human, and know that the only constant about humans is that no two of them are alike. With this in mind, though, I tended to RP that my elf/dwarf characters could never fully trust a half-orc, even a Flaming Fist mercenary or paladin of the Radiant Heart, in case the orc side of their heritage one day manifests itself and the respectable half-orc degenerates back to the savage monster that sired/birthed him/her.

(Note: one of the issues specific to the server is that the NWN2 half-orcs look very orcish. Atlas has posted pictures of half orcs in the past who have picked up more features from the human parent and as such appear more noble or handsome/beautiful to human eyes. It's not too far fetched to assume that such half-orcs exist in the Realms.)