# Character Creation Challenge 2025: Day 03 - Dawn of the Orcs - Hylek, Honorary Wizard Ex Mortis tags: #articles/CharacterCreationChallenge/2025 #game/rpg/dawn-of-the-orcs > [!quote] [[Character Creation Challenge 2025]] > > ![[Character Creation Challenge Image.png]] ## Game of Choice I've set myself a bit of a strange challenge for this *Character Creation Challenge 2025*, and that's to actually go through my collection in reverse chronological order and create characters from whatever games I have picked up in the last year. Whatever the last 31 was. Here we are on day three and I've already put myself in a bit of a bind because the next game is **[[Dawn of the Orcs]]**. It's a great title and frankly it's a pretty awesome game design, but it is a very rules light, minimalist mechanics, solo almost-journaling game. ![[Dawn of the Orcs (cover).jpg|400]] There's not much in the way of character creation going on in it. Instead, there is actually evolutionary gameplay across the entire game because, as the title implies, the whole idea is that you are a member of a council of wizards and sages who create a new race, the orcs, to protect your home nation. War is hell, and biological/technological/magical artificial life creation is the best thing you can come up with. Fair enough, I'm on board. In a real sense, the entire game is about creating the orcs as their *own* character in aggregate. All that said, it's still a bit linear because each chapter has a relatively set structure, even though the emergent fiction is entirely unset. What we're going to do is actually play through the first few chapters and get it down to give you a bit of a taste of how the game goes on. It's going to be a little different than the usual Character Creation Challenge entry, but I think it's going to be worthwhile. ## Acts of Creation The name of this section is shockingly appropriate because this is exactly what we are going to engage in: acts of creation. ### Chapter 1: Skies of Smoke and Flame As an example of what the interior of this game looks like at its peak, I'm just going to grab the two-page spread of the beginning of Chapter One, which also serves to introduce what's going on. Sure, it's a little bit like cheating in the sense that I am not rephrasing and repackaging it for you, but I think it's worth showing you the really gorgeous art which, in contrast to the mechanics, is a visual throwback to a lot of old school RPG [Erol Otus](https://baymerch.com/collections/erol-otus?srsltid=AfmBOoq7ZkR3w02fVBSVlhUqlD5a7W28gatnIzaCmKkK9uJXK3kJZwbr) style stuff. I think it's beautiful, but I'm a sucker for line work. ![[Dawn of the Orcs - Chapter 1.webp]] You see what I mean, what we have here is a mix of *sorcery and science* which speaks directly to me.  We also have the situational setup in which we inhabit a country which has been at peace for a thousand years and doesn't really want to get involved in even its self-defense while it's being invaded by a much more violent and aggressive neighbor. So what can you do other than create a species of warrior-soldiers called orcs to defend the homeland? Nothing, that's all you can do. #### Who are you? Every game has a chronicler, which is going to be me because I am the only player, and every player has a sage who themselves possess a descriptor, an expertise, and a title. Yes, you can make up all of these things from whole cloth, but there is a convenient table which allows you to roll them randomly, so that's what I'm going to do. I will, however, come up with the *name* myself because I should at least do some of the heavy lifting. - **Name:** Hylek - **Descriptor:** Honorary - **Expertise:** Wizard - **Title:** Ex Mortis *(The die rolls were [10, 10, 8] for those playing along at home.)* Hylek isn't *really* a sage. Oh, he's certainly been invited to join the *Council of Sages*, but that's only because he's been around for 10,000 years. Not that he's been alive for 10,000 years, he's just been around for 10,000 years. Lichdom is agreeing with him, but he never really agreed with the rest of the world and was perfectly happy to live in his necromantic wizard's tower, tinkering with all sorts of horrific flesh-crafting nightmare sorcery, while generally leaving the surrounding populace alone. What little there was, but that was before the Styrovites invaded Lannia and suddenly there was a need for a 10,000 year old lich with a penchant for creating undead armies. #### Motivation, Disagreements, and Betrayal Every sage also has a secret motivation. Technically, I'm not supposed to tell it to anyone or even write it down, but since that would make it extremely boring and really disrupt the flow of this article, I'm going to tell you. We'll keep it just between you and I. I could pick any motivation, but there is a random table, so we'll let the dice decide. - **Motivation:** Prove my field of study is the most valuable. You know I'm starting to get a real egomaniacal vibe off of this guy and I'm *liking* it. He just wants to prove that necromancy is the most valuable magic in the entire council, and he's probably at least partially driven by a bit of a grudge from being excluded from the cool kids table for 10,000 years. In his favor is the fact that *he might very well be right*. The text is clear that the Council of Sages are going to make a lot of decisions and there will probably be arguments between them. This is mainly direction for multiplayer games where there are a number of sages, each with their own secret motivation and personal interests. It's basically giving you *permission* to argue, which some people really need. I don't hang out with any of those people, but they do exist, so I am reliably informed. If the council can't come to a decision in *"a reasonable amount of time,"* put it to a vote and whoever is narrator for that chapter breaks ties. Simple, effective, efficient, and really plays to the story. Speaking of playing to the story, it's also clearly set out that each sage can secretly betray the council once per game. If the council wants to do something in regards to the orcs that particular sage doesn't want, they can just choose it and say that's the way it happens. Frankly, I love the fact that this is clearly in the text, because it provides you with a single-use trump card that you can use at some point during the game. Awesome because with multiple people at the table sometimes you just want to force your will on them and that's okay because it's that kind of group. It's not going to be particularly useful right now unless I decide to argue with myself, but I like the fact that it's in front of everybody. That's the end of Chapter One where we have essentially assembled the Council of Sages and figured out who we are. Technically, this would be the end of character creation, but you're not getting off that easy. ![[Dawn of the Orcs - Hylek Ex Mortis.webp]] *(Look, after 10,000 years, you either develop a really good skincare routine or you don't. No one lives for 10,000 years — or is undead for 10,000 years — without deciding they want to look a little bit more attractive than a withered old skeletal husk. Have a little pride.)* ### Chapter 2: The Creation Here is where the game part of the game actually kicks in. We get to figure out what the traits are that we start creating the orcs with. The council has gathered and trying to decide how to make them. Maybe how to control them. We as players start assigning some numbers. By default, the orcs start with: - **Numbers:** 0 - **Loyalty:** 0 - **Brute:** 0 - **Clever:** 0 They are about the same size as the average Lannian. Now we have to choose how they are created. Is it just made from sorcery and raw materials? Is it made by converting Lannians into orcs via some occult ritual? If only some Lannians can be turned into orcs, they get different stats. As a necromancer, I have a certain preference that orcs are going to be constructed in much the same way as the lieutenants for my undead armies are put together. Corpses are harvested for their parts and carefully pieced together by undead seamstresses, which I already have the services of. This does, of course, require that we have a ready supply of the dead, but given the recent state of war, that isn't any kind of problem at all. Effectively, anyone can go to the corpsegrinders. How does this affect the stats? Well, since any Lannian can be turned into an orc through a "Ritual," that gives them **+1 Loyalty**. Now we get a second choice. Are the orcs bound in supernatural obedience to an object or to a person, or is there no built-in mechanism for controlling them? Since there's only one necromancer on the council, you know it makes sense to me that these undead abominations should respond to my necromantic command. They are going to be bound in supernatural loyalty to Hylek. That gives us an additional **+2 Loyalty** for a total of +3. This chapter also introduces us to the idea that every chapter after this will involve a great battle and the council will have choices on how to improve the orcs, referred to as a warp. There won't be the time or resources to do all of the ones that are on offer, which leads to the inevitable debate. There are also shifts that can be made, but they can only be done once per chapter and each is the reverse of another. Effectively, there are a lot of ways to mutate the orcs in response to events, which is exactly what we want. And that's the end of Chapter Two with the establishment of the orcs and how they are made and some baseline figuring of their stats. ![[Dawn of the Orcs - Hyleks Orcs.webp]] ### Chapter 3: The Slaughter at Shrike Forest *Having assembled the Council of Sages and the first ranks of the orcs, we have the first battle in which they are committed and overwhelming Styrovite invasion has come across into the Shrike Forest.* *The best we can hope for is to attack at night given our lack of numbers. Surprise and sheer unrelenting shock may be our only advantages.* In order to figure out what happened, we have to pick two scores to serve as a stratagem. The twist is that you can never use those two scores together again. The game is afoot in a very literal sense. In order to resolve the outcome, we need to roll 1d6 plus the total of our stratagem, which must be greater than or equal to 5 Clearly, **Loyalty** has to be one of the elements that we key off of here because our choices are pretty dire otherwise, *unless* we are willing to take the loss in exchange for not straining for resources we don't have. I would hate to leave us on a cliffhanger with a loss, but I think the smart move here would be to choose **Numbers** and **Clever**. That means that our total is zero for the whole stratagem, but it also means that we don't necessarily drive things in a direction we don't want by too many early successes. That's right, I'm a long-term strategic thinker. How does that turn out for us? > 1d6 = [6] Holy crap, I was *not* expecting that, quite frankly. The orcs ambush the Styrovites deep in the Shrike Forest, despite their much smaller numbers. The sheer bloody-minded aggressiveness and mindless hunger for destruction of the orcs drive the Styrovite soldiers from the front lines. The corpsegrinders will have plenty of material to work with, and none of it Lannian after this battle. As a result of actually winning, we get to choose three warps for the orcs. There's a list right here in the book, but in the interest of keeping you hooked I'm just going pick the ones I think are appropriate, and since there's no one else on the council available to argue with me, that's what's going to happen. - **The orcs have natural weapons. +1 Brute.** Because they are assembled in the corpsegrinder factories and stitched together. Hylek makes a small change such that a long bone spur extends from the forearm of each. A soldier may drop their weapon, but the orcs will never go about unarmed. - **Orcs are hard to kill. +1 Numbers.** While he's tinkering with the recipe, Hylek makes orcs of sterner stuff. - **Orcs can march without tiring and survive off scraps that would make a Lannian sick. +1 Numbers.** Once you tune the flesh to no longer rot on the bone after creation, the orcs have a much better and more survivable lifespan. Sure, they need to eat things, but that's why we have Styrovites. That brings us up to a total of **+3 Loyalty**, **+2 Numbers**, **+1 Brute**. We also get to pick one of four shifts, which can very much change the underlying nature of orcs, and really need to be carefully selected. We could do any or all of them, but each of them only once in this chapter. Looking at the list I feel like there are a couple of obvious choices. And since two of them always oppose one another and would simply cancel each other out, it's an easy choice for me. - **Make the orcs larger.** They go up the size scale by one step, get **+1 Brute**, and **-1 Numbers**. - **Indoctrinate the orcs.** **+1 Loyalty**, **-1 Clever**. Hylek teaches the orcs that he is their unliving god and deserves their worship, such that they begin to have regular ritual gatherings to venerate him. Thanks to his ego, the prayers are only a little annoying. Now we're at **+4 Loyalty**, **+1 Numbers**, **+2 Brute**, **-1 Clever**. Since **Loyalty** hit +4 this chapter, we have to create one new custom the orcs have begun that sets them apart from Lannians. I've already indoctrinated them to worship him, so that would be redundant. Ah, yes. I have it. - **The orcs have begun raiding and emptying graveyards to bring corpse parts to the seamstresses as sacrifices in an extension of the worship of Hylek.** Needless to say, the council is suppressing knowledge of this behavior as it might make the public uncomfortable and reduce morale. And that completes Chapter Three. How could this possibly go wrong? ![[Dawn of the Orcs - Hylek in Shrike Forest.webp]] ## Exunt It's a measure of how much I really like this game that I am hesitant to commit it and wrap this article up here. The book has *eight chapters* before the end and at some point I really should play out the remaining five. Perhaps another day. There's also another five chapters as a bonus, which look like they would be a lot of fun. As you can imagine, playing this game with multiple people could really be ridiculously mad. So many excuses to have in character arguments with actual repercussions within the game and the option for betrayal. How could you not love that? The truth is, you have to. I hope you have enjoyed this slight departure from the usual format. I suspect that looking ahead at the list you're going to see this happen a few more times this month. This is what happens when you buy a lot of solo RPGs; that's okay, they deserve as much attention during Character Creation Challenge as any other. Let me know how you feel about solo journaling games with ridiculously minimalist mechanics. Is it not enough framework for you? Do you feel like you could really get into this? How does it work for you?