I am attempting to determine a suitable patron deity for my half-orc character, Naalnish, but, so far, I am having difficulty selecting one that is an appropriate representation of the abilities, personality, and beliefs that Naalnish maintains. He exhibits some traditional orc beliefs in that he values strength and regards it, above most other things, as a sign of worthiness. I would not place him as a follower of Bahgtru, however, because Naalnish is certainly no fool. He possesses fair intelligence for his kind, and he realizes that great cunning is also essential to victory in battle. Ilneval espouses such beliefs, but there is an aspect of Naalnish which would not be represented by the Horde Leader.

When I formed the concept of Naalnish, I had envisioned him as being two things: a fierce warrior and a cunning hunter. Naalnish will eventually be gaining levels of ranger in order to expand the abilities of that second aspect. I have now come to realize, however, that there are no appropriate wilderness deities for orcs. I had briefly considered Shargaas, due to his dominion in the Underdark, but his emphasis of sneakiness over direct confrontation does not seem suitable for Naalnish. Luthic was also a possibility, because of her association with caves, but I do not see Naalnish worshipping a female deity. The misogynistic qualities of orc society are too deeply ingrained within him.

Anyways, I am thinking with my fingers at this point in my post, so I just want to ask for any opinions or suggestions from other players that have encountered Naalnish. I would appreciate your input. If only there was an orc deity that presided over the domains of growling, snorting, and over-emoting...

Half Orcs, though half orc, are also half human. Often shunned by both communities they can turn to any God really, among any of the human or orc pantheon. Malar sounds like it would fit quite well with the description you gave. For more information on half-orcs, I've placed the link below.

https://efupw.com/efu1-forum/topic/34/344/half-orcs/index.html

I was thinking Malar, but he comes across as too brutal to for this character. I think that Invaler or something like that The great horde leader would be a better bet.

leave him without a deity. my charctor Thrang...thinks worshipping a god is a waste of time that could have been used making money. Waukeem sounds a good god to her but she doesn't want to promote trade. she just wants gold and such. She also believes if you cannot live through the pain. you don't deserve to live. so she is a mixture of self strength and the cunning thief. also she continually makes enemies because who she is. ((a bitchin elf with attitude)). so i wouldn't know where to place your half orc. browse through the minor deity sections.

A Patron deity is not the same to a cleric than to basically anyone else.

Clerics should attempt to follow the dogma as guidelines to their conducts and how they should influence others.

Anyone else can follow the dogma loosely, if not at all -of course, a unhappy patron god might just not come pick you up in the fugue.

And yes, I'm leaving paladins, rangers and druids out of this, they aren't worth discussing :roll:

agreed

Nobody should ever really have a character who is entirely faithless. Almost every event in the history of the FR has had a god involved in it somehow. It's common knowledge of what happens after death. The faithless quite literally get stuffed into a crack in a wall and left there until their consciousness fades away entirely - hundreds of years after their death.

So it's extremely unwise to go without a patron.

Submitted for your approval, because I can't actually answer your question, and just felt the need to chastise thomas_not_very_wise_at_all_is_he_? for silliness.

One of the whole points of Forgotten Realms is how intertwined the actions of man and God are. Seem's a waste not to play along :p

As my Paladin i informed Atheists they'd stay suspended, frozen for eternity until they become a wall. Their answer?

"Meh."

Damn annoying.

leave him without a deity. my charctor Thrang...thinks worshipping a god is a waste of time that could have been used making money.

That is bad advice. Both IC'ly and OOC'ly characters should have something in their deity fields.

Without getting too far off topic, the only characters who I can really see being without faith in a living deity are monks of the Long Death (who hold a philosophical reverence for death itself without attaching themselves to a specific god - I've seen this done very well in a realistic way for the setting) and monks of the Old Order, who seem to want to return a long-dead deity to life (I could be skewing that horribly, though).

My advice on your orc is to look around and listen to what the PC faithful have to say. While the gods that seem to be followed more commonly (Lathander, Bane, Tyr, Talona, Helm, etc.) may not be the deities who happen to be best suited for your character's personality, it is likely that you'll have more fun adapting him in some way or another to the preachings of a PC cleric and getting involved in a faith that already has a player base.

I suggest having him bump into Ten-Irons or maybe Gideon if you're looking for someone who follows a god that may sort of fit him.

Also understand that the dogma of a god or the characteristics of the god do not have to be exemplified in your character. Make your character, his personality, his outlook on life, etc, and then think about which dogma is closest. If you are not a cleric you do not have to pay real close attention to the adherance to the dogma.

Thus a hunter, who is TN and is a trapper may have Malar as a patron diety becasue of his profession, and his love of the hunt. He may also believe that strength in life is very important, and not to run from problems in life. Other than that he is a fair man, who is generally nice though somewhat of a loner.

trutyh is. my Thrang has something of a vendetta against gods.((note this is her story and i ain't gonna type it all out))

the best advice here would be to just worship the entirity of the orc pantheon.. offering quick prayers to each of the differing gods as each situation was warrented....when in battle to Gruumsh... when needing a cunning plan to work: Ilneaval.. need to sneak past that watchman.: offer Shargaras a quick prayer.. need to get healthy after an encounter with rats.. send a quick word to Luthic..

the options are endless and as you can see allows for a freer form of worshiop without having a big "null" in the diety field..just use "Orc Pantheon" or something

If he worships any Deity from the Orcish pantheon, it would probably be Gruumsh. Few know off other Orcish deities, and fewer still have the cojones that openly worship any deity but Gruumsh.

And as an addendum, non-Priests never call Gruumsh Gruumsh. To do so is an act dire enough to be killed for by his divine servants. Non-Priests refer to Gruumsh as the One-Eyed God, and whatever other petnames he has.

yep, but please recall that-

Seek unceasing war against your enemies, and kill or enslave those that oppose you

and

considers no non-orc his ally. He particularly hates the elven and dwarven deities.

Grummsh is a hard dogma. unceasing war could be interpret as plotting behind their back I suppose leaving you some flexibility.