ORX: Nasty, Brutish, and Short (2007)

ORX is the role-playing game about...orcs. Oh no, not another game about the most over-used bad-guy in all fantasy! Yep. But this isn't your typical "let's play the bad guys who aren't so bad" or "hey, look, a detailed non-human culture" game. Heck no, this is about getting down, dirty and humorously nasty.

ORX is about tragedy, willpower, inevitability, strength, and the dark comedy of existance. Seriously. You play orcs. Orcs are doomed from the moment they are born. Fated to die. Hated by the gods. On the wrong end of everyone's shit-kickers. Can you stay one step ahead of fate and death, and for how long? Whether you explore it through slapstick humor or gothic drear, these primary ideas are built right into the central mechanics of the system, and and supports a range of styles from dark-and-gritty to light-and-humorous, depending on the group's whim.

ORX comes complete with a bad sense of humor and features an innovative system aimed at making play quick and fun - even while your orcs get beaten, maimed, and squished - while staying true to the idea of what orcs are and how they go about doing things. You can pick it up and start playing in five minutes, yet the game is robust enough to easily handle long-term play...it was designed for it, in fact! This isn't just a "when we're not in the mood to play something else" one-shot comedy game. Many of the finer (and funner) points of the system don't kick in until there has been some long-term play, and a more serious game has its own benefits to offer.