Orxs future?

[hillgiant]

  Are there any plans to develop an Orx future game? After playing Dawn of War 1-4 and not ever getting tired of playing Orks I was wondering if a science fiction version will ever be made? Of course one doesn't want to clone 40K, but the cigar-chomping shootaboy with the carbine that sends hot cases flying is pretty cool, and I gave up on tabletop Warhammer ages ago and Dark Heresy is pretty, but not my cup of gasoline.

[greyorm]

That's an interesting question.

Some background: I originally wrote ORX with three different example settings in mind, including "Orchammer 39k" (obviously a riff on the "Warhammer 40K" universe, because I totally hear you about cigar-chomping shootaboys). I dropped the example settings from the book/development when I realized the game didn't need settings, or rather, there was nothing I could functionally add to the game by including a setting(s) in the book because you could play it with any setting (thus there was much I could lose if people thought: "Oh, this is tied to/only functions for/works best with that setting/genre").

So, would I write something up for playing ORX in a futuristic setting? Here's the thing: you can already do what you're talking about with ORX as-is. Pick your Stats, make up some relevant Descriptors, and make sure everyone is familiar with the Setting and Color from W40K so you all know what the sandbox (so-to-speak) should look like and you're good to go. That's all you need to make it happen.

Thus, to answer your question, if I were to write such a book it would end up being just setting material: pure Color. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, only that the way ORX plays doesn't lend itself to sourcebooks with stat-blocks and descriptions of "how to use the mechanics correctly here" or "necessary changes to make to play your favorite genre", since "chain-gun" is just as good a Descriptor as "battle-axe" and things other than the players' orcs just don't have pre-determined Stats.

More concretely: I might write something like that someday, but I don't have plans on it right now as I'm not seeing how I could make it more than a glorified travel guide that absolutely anyone (you included!) could throw together for play, thus I'm not seeing the point of such a project or how it would add to the game instead of just my pocketbook (ie: the difference between "useful supplement" and "pretty artifact").

From my perspective, anything you or your group creates is going to be far more useful to what you want in your game than what I would come up with, especially given libraries are full of potential settings already (hey, Sherlork Homes? The Bhagavad Orca? To Kill a Mocking Orc? ok, I'll stop now, you get the picture). So I would say "go for it" if you're so inclined and I'd love to see what you put together!

I also realize that probably wasn't an answer you were expecting, but does it make sense?

[hillgiant]

   Thank you for the detailed reply. I wasn't sure what to expect, so I wasn't disappointed.

    To be honest, I don't have the book yet, I am ordering it from Lulu either tomorrow or Wednesday. I had been teetering on whether to buy into another system or Orcx and really, the article on the orc through Tolkien's writing swayed me. Well, that and listening/watching Motorhead for an hour on You Tube. It is good to know that I can tailor they game for any genre. I will start out working on fantasy and go from there in time.

    Are there any fansites/story hours/online games of Orcx?

[hillgiant]

   Minus the "c" on the Orx. Wow, I have been writing and seeing that word so much over the years that I had inserted the "c" during the first cup of coffee. And apparently I don't have enough posts here to edit my reply.

[greyorm]

Let me know what you think after you receive your copy, and certainly feel free to ask questions if you have any.

As to actual play reports, I have only seen the one AP so far (the one I wrote about our game at Forge Midwest which can be found here on the Forge). For finding games on-line or other people to play with, you can always ask on the Indie Netgaming group or through the Play Now! group.

Good luck and have fun!