Why can't play orc?

[Magic Spazm]

There is half elf and many elf types but then there is half orc and no orc races.

[Boss]

Because orcs are brutal and savage creatures created by Gruumsh for the sole purpose of destroying the elves , and also generally wreck havoc. (Don't ask how half-orcs came to exist)

Also they're not a playable race in the PHB

[Kafik]

Orc is not one of the base game playable races. Duergar, deep gnome and Drow technically aren't but they are described as subraces of the main race and are part of the Underdark. Orc isn't described as a sub rack of half-orc.

[Kamuizin]

I got Op point, in Neverwinter Nights 2 we could play orc race, if i remember it right.

But then, we could also play with Aasimars, planetouched (half-elementals) and yuan-ti pure blood.

[Captain Apollo Diomedes]

Originally posted by Boss:

Because orcs are brutal and savage creatures created by Gruumsh for the sole purpose of destroying the elves , and also generally wreck havoc. (Don't ask how half-orcs came to exist)

Also they're not a playable race in the PHB

That is a very racist thing to say :(

[ppaladin123]

You can play as an Orc in d&d 5e but they didn't add it here. In general they appear to have limited the races/subraces to player's handbook + those that specifically play an important part in the story (Duergar, Deep Gnomes, Githyanki)...heck they didn't even add the Githzerai, who generally come along with the Githyanki or the Genasi (kind of like tieflimgs but for elemental planes/outsiders) who are common/were introduced in the Forgotten Realms setting.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Originally posted by Kfuk:

Orc is not one of the base game playable races. Duergar, deep gnome and Drow technically aren't but they are described as subraces of the main race and are part of the Underdark. Orc isn't described as a sub rack of half-orc.

I think the only reason they got added was because they are in the games plot early you see all of them in act 1 and they are sub races to PHB races, draw are elves, duergar are dwarves, and deep gnomes are gnomes lol
They originally only promised PHB races but my guess is they saw the opportunity to just give us those 3 within that scope with no extra work.

You can tell which ones they didn't work to much with as both half orc and dragonborn only have a few npc appearances, they seem rare in these parts of the game.

[ppaladin123]

Dragonborn are canonically pretty rare in the FR...they were shoe-horned in during the transition to 4th edition through a sort of insane "two different planets merged" storyline that annoyed a lot of long-term fans. In 5e there was "the sundering" which was never really explained very well but that basically reset everything while keeping the timeshift (thus authors had to find ways to make their favorite characters like Elminister and Drizzt and Minsc survive the time jump). the dragonborn you see are basically the small number that didn't go back to their home planet when things reset and they are there so that 5e players that choose dragonborn can still fit in the Forgotten Realms setting (which has become the sort of default setting for the game for better or worse).

[Kamuizin]

Originally posted by ppaladin123:

You can play as an Orc in d&d 5e but they didn't add it here. In general they appear to have limited the races/subraces to player's handbook + those that specifically play an important part in the story (Duergar, Deep Gnomes, Githyanki)...heck they didn't even add the Githzerai, who generally come along with the Githyanki or the Genasi (kind of like tieflimgs but for elemental planes/outsiders) who are common/were introduced in the Forgotten Realms setting.

Isn't the race the same? Githyanki or Githzerai, they're just factions of the same race. Afaik, a Tav Gith that behave like a Githzerai is a Githzerai, no? It's just that there's no content to recgonize this, apparently.

[Kaltossk]

Not sure that there's any player voice types that make much sense for a half-Orc, let alone a full Orc...

[Razzen]

Any lore changes beyond 3.5 is messed up anyway. It seems in 5e they just want all the races to hold hands and dance around a fire while singing kumbaya.