More years ago than I would like to state, an interesting conversation took place that asked what the many worlds of Dungeons and Dragons would look like if each of the gods got their wish. Some of the items that came out of that conversation were easy to guess. We know what would happen if Tiamat got her way or Lloth. But an interesting thread emerged from that conversation that has now led to a year-and-a-half campaign. This is a conversation about how some of the most insane conversations around a table can bury themselves in your brain and stick with you long after you get up from the table.

What would happen if Gruumsh were given a world where there were only orcs?

For those of you not accustomed to Gruumsh, I will defer you to the fantastic people over at the Forgotten Realms wiki:

Gruumsh (pronounced: /gruːmʃ/ groomsh or: /grʌmʃ/ grumsh) was the patron god of the orc race and greater god of the orc pantheon. He was named He Who Never Sleeps for he was said to never tire, and symbolized with an ever-open eye to represent the orc belief that he watched over them all, judging the worth of each and every one of their kind. Gruumsh created the orcs and guided their destiny with the aid of his divine subordinates, ruling over orcish mortals and gods alike as their unquestioned patriarch. Long ago he swore that orcs would rule the world, and since then had driven his people to wage endless holy war in the name of his divine wrath.

Lovingly pulled from https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Gruumsh

There are some exciting things that we can pull out here that have lead me to some exciting places and I will try to explain how my mind has warped this information since I was in my 20’s.

Gruumsh, the Patron God of the Orc Race

The first part that we have to talk about here is the fact that as he is declared the god of the Orc species as well as orcish mortals, it could be conceived that there is a world in which many of the other races could exist as well as long as they were connected under the orcish mortal umbrella. This presents some interesting options for species that create subcultures and intersections in common behavior and common beliefs.

He who never sleeps

Interestingly, this should be included here as it is designed to be a god that is always present, always watching in a threatening way. But the other side of this could be a very parental view of things. Ask any new parent how much sleep they get? The reality is the one that never sleeps is just the parent that is always on guard, always looking over and guiding the development of their children. They step in when there is a problem and let them grow and discover the world on their own. But this could also be viewed as the overbearing parent who constantly pushes their will upon the people.

Creator of Orcs

There are two parts of this that I want to break down here; if he is credited with the creation of the Orcs and it is said that he is responsible for their destiny, then it should be understood that the point of doing all of this isn’t to drive them off a cliff, metaphorically speaking. So, based on this thinking, there is a good opportunity for us to envision the guiding parent versus the overbearing one.

If we look at some of the other All-Father figures from other religions, we can get a pretty good clue that not all of them are upstanding or that they are perfect. I think that this is a great template for the understanding that we have about Gruumsh in this context. Looking through the history of the Greek gods I think we can pretty clearly establish that as father figures go, Zeus could be said to be an interesting bar for modeling. But for my particular choice, I would have him more aligned with Odin… but there is a lot of room to play around with here.

His vendetta

The most important part is that we see the key piece here, which I have been sitting on for a long time. He is a war god, but only because the orcs are at war. In the absence of any other races to combat with, I assume that he will ensure peace between all of the orcs (and orcish mortals), so long as they are keeping in line with his expectations for them. One of the main linchpins of the conversation is that his goal is theoretically achievable (assuming that you are willing to bend some of the nature of the world to his will).

But what does a war god do in the absence of conflict?

Swords to Plowshares

In the absence of a battle, where does the god of the orcs now decide to place his time and effort? I guess that it would be directed in the one way that was guaranteed to ensure the race; he goes from protecting the race to feeding them and helping them grow. I would like to say that this is something that I’ve come to on my own, but I know several military veterans who have taken up farming or homesteading as a method of getting to a better place after returning from war. It seems like it could be a transition that makes sense.

A little help from the newer editions

The last part of all this is that, honestly, it feels like the later editions of the game are more friendly to all of the game species (I’m using their terminology. It still feels wrong to me). Because of this, I think it a lot easier for us to accept that this could be a playable world with the orcs of the 5th edition versus, say, the orcs of the first edition, but some exciting things could come out of that type of storytelling as well.

So, over the next couple of posts, I will include more information about this campaign, and I will include some details that hopefully can help players and GMs come up with different ideas that may help spur on some interesting game thoughts and story telling devices.

If you found this interesting, please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts.