Thematic Pathfinder Races – Half-Orc

Trying a new format, based on my last post.

HALF-ORCS

You can read more about the standard Pathfinder half-orc here.

Characteristics: Half-orcs are Medium-sized humanoids that count as both [human] and [orc] subtypes for any effect related to race. They have Speed 30 ft. and Darkvision 60 ft.

Starting languages: Half-orcs begin play speaking Common and Orc. Half-orcs with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Abyssal, Draconic, Giant, Gnoll, and Goblin.

Basic Racial Traits

All half-orcs start at 1^st level with following traits:

Ferocity: once per day, when brought below 0 hit points but not killed, you can fight on for 1 more round as if disabled. At the end of his next turn, unless brought to above 0 hit points, you immediately fall unconscious and starts dying (yup, I didn’t change it… this is the perfect example of the kind of trait I'm looking for).

Brute: you can always reroll a Strength or STR-based Skill Check. Once per day, you can take 20 with a Strength or STR-based Skill Check without increasing the action time.

Born to Violence: if you start a fight, you can roll Initiative twice and pick the best roll (OK, this is one evil racial trait and maybe an underpowered one, must playtest it).

Bonus Racial Traits

Choose Beastheart, One of the Monsters or Orcish Fighting Style as a bonus Racial Talent.

Racial Flaw

Choose one of the Flaws below.

Wrathful: once per day, after being provoked, wounded, humiliated or intoxicated, you can choose to suffer the confused condition for 1 round. If your GM accepts this, you remain confused until things calm down or until either you or an ally spends a full-round action. After the encounter, you regain a daily use of any of your racial traits. (I thought about requiring “a full-round action and a Will save or check”, but it sounded too much.)

Perversions and Monstrosities: once per day, when you fail a Charisma Check or Diplomacy Skill Check in a civilized setting, the NPCs’ attitude toward you can decrease by two steps. You can’t affect those NPCs again for the next 48 hours. If your GM accepts this, you regain a daily use of any of your racial traits.

Bloodied: the first time each day you’re reduced below half your total hit points, you regain a daily use of any of your racial traits. (This one started as an Advanced Racial Trait, but thinking about it, what I really wanted was to motivate a half-orc player to get wounded. I’m still pondering if the trigger here should be “half total hit points” or “one quarter total hit points”.)

Advanced Racial Traits

Every time you gain an Ability Score Increase due to Level Advancement (4^th, 8^th, 12^th, 16^th and 20^th) you can choose instead one of the traits below.

Beastheart: once per day, you can reroll an Acrobatics Skill Check (for jumps only), Concentration Check, Intimidate Skill Check (even against animals and beasts with Int lower than 3) or Survival Check, substituting the Key Ability for Strength (this racial talent represents how a half-orc can summon his bestial instincts and savagery to succeed at certain tasks).

Darkborn: once per day, during one encounter (or about 5 minutes), you operate if the light conditions were decreased by one step. This racial trait doesn’t work on areas of bright light.

Deathblow: once per day, you can deliver an attack of opportunity against an enemy that confirms a critical hit against you. Because both attacks occur simultaneously, you can kill each other. (This started as a variant version of the Driven By Pain racial trait.)

Driven by Pain: once per day, you can negate a critical hit against you (treat it as a normal hit). (This trait is based on the idea that a critical hit just makes a half-orc angrier).

Frenzy: once per day, when subjected to a Compulsion effect or Fear-derived condition, you can choose instead to become confused.

One of the Monsters: once per day, at the start of a non-violent encounter, you can declare that a creature’s initial attitudes toward you (and thus your party) is automatically improved by one step. This racial trait only work on orcs, other savage folks (gnolls, goblinoids, ogres etc.) and maybe monstrous humanoid (like minotaurs).

Orcish Fighting Style: you are proficient with greataxes and falchions and treat any weapon with the word "orc" in its name as a martial weapon.

If you are already proficient with any of the weapons above due to a class feature, you gain a daily reroll to attack rolls, combat maneuver checks or damage rolls with those weapons.

Not Now: once per day, you can postpone the effects of one attack for the beginning of your next turn.

Scent: you gain the Scent ability.

Smash: once per day, you deal full damage with a melee attack. The used weapon gains the broken condition. If it doesn’t make sense for the item to break, after using this racial trait you’re fatigued.

Wild Attack: once per day, after failing a melee attack, you can bite, claw or otherwise unleash your frustration on the same target. This requires a swift action and deals 1d6 of damage, plus your Strength modifier.

This seems more like a "one and half-orc" than a "half-orc".