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- Who Is Orcus?
- What Is The History Of Orcus?
- How Powerful Is Orcus?
- Are Orcus And Vecna Enemies?
When thinking of the Undead in Dungeons & Dragons, most people will naturally assign Vecna the role of leader of those hordes, but he isn't the only undead emperor in the D&D back catalogue. Orcus is often forgotten, but no less intimidating than Vecna.
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PostsVariety is the spice of life, and also your D&D games. If Vecna is growing stale but your players still love cutting through undead hordes, you need an alternative and Orcus is just the figure to drop onto the table. Read below to learn what you need to know about The Blood Lord.
Who Is Orcus?
Orcus 4th Edition via Wizards of the Coast.Orcus is a Demon Prince in Dungeons & Dragons, a rank reserved for the most powerful and influential of demonkind. He rules over the undead hordes from the Abyss, the chaotic hellscape that demons originate from.
Standing as tall as 20 feet, with red skin, bestial features, and wings, he seems at first to be the image of the typical demon, but his form is a mixture of living and necrotic flesh. Even the air around him is filled with the stench of death and rot.
Orcus has an impressive list of titles. He is known as Lord of the Undead, Prince of the Undead, Prince of Undeath, Blood Lord, Lord of Spectres, Master of Vampires, The Shadow That Was, and The Goat-Horned Demon.
He is also known as Tenebrous, although that is an alternative name rather than a title.
Obsessed with himself and consumed by ennui, Orcus hates all things and doesn't even care for his own followers or worshipers or hold any affection for the undead. They are simply useful in his machinations.
Standing apart from most other Demons, Orcus is considered a brilliant strategist and master planner. His plots are typically held back by his own sloth and gluttony, two vices that Orcus indulges in with great proclivity.
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Posts 1More than anything else, Orcus believes in and seeks stagnation. He would see all worlds across the multiverse fall to stillness and death, every creature turned to undeath and under his complete control.
What Is The History Of Orcus?
Orcus 3rd Edition via Wizards of the Coast.Orcus was not always a demon lord, once living as a mortal. Not a great deal is known about his life, but it is believed that he was some form of evil spellcaster or a priest to a forgotten dark god.
What we do know is that when he died, his soul was sent to Pazunia, the first layer of the Abyss, presumably as punishment for his sins in life. As is typical for mortals sent to the Abyss, he didn't keep his human form and was instead transformed into a larva.
In the Hells in D&D, a soul is transformed into a low form of life, like a larva, and obtains a new form by advancing through the demonic ranks. The change in the body is a mark of the station and a strong incentive to advance.
Orcus was able to advance through the ranks, gaining a new body each time, until eventually he became a Balor. A Balor is a huge demon that closely resembles the Balrog from Lord of the Rings, and a high-ranking figure in the Abyss.
Crowned the Prince of Undead, Orcus became ruler of the realm of Thanatos, also known as the Belly of Death. Keen to increase his power and influence Orcus set become the Prince of Demons and dethroning Demogorgon as his goal.
There is a completely alternative origin story for Orcus, and it isn't clear which canon Wizards of the Coast intend to maintain as they move forward with newer editions of the game.
In the alternate story, Orcus was a primordial figure who was older than the Abyss. Along with other primordials, Orcus threw down the then Prince of Demons, Obox-ob, claiming demonic power for themselves.
Orcus has feuded regularly with figures like Demogorgon, Graz'zt, Kiaransalee, and others from the D&D mythology. Orcus has been both victorious and defeated at different points, but his role as Lord of the Undead means he can never truly be killed.
How Powerful Is Orcus?
Orcus 4th Edition via Wizards of the Coast.Orcus is the Demon Lord with dominion over undeath, able to transform the living or dead alike into lifeless minions under his control. Whether zombie or devourer, skeleton or ghost, Orcus could create and command them.
As one of the most powerful figures in the Hells, Orcus can never be harmed by non-magical means. He's also so resistant to magic that he's practically immune to it — you can't even magically influence or control him.
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PostsConfronting Orcus is almost a certain death sentence, or more accurately, an undeath sentence. Along with the ability to create hordes of undead, even extremely powerful undead, he fights personally with a berserker fury, wielding powerful artifacts like the Wand of Orcus or the Orcusword.
Mechanically in 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, Orcus is one of the heaviest hitters you can throw at your players. With a Challenge Rating of 26, he should be used only as the final boss of a campaign, or a quick way to a TPK.
Orcus has the full suite of abilities. Melee, spellcasting, legendary resistance, legendary actions, hit points numbering in the hundreds - be very careful when planning out a combat involving Orcus. Defeating him is a herculean feat.
Are Orcus And Vecna Enemies?
Vecna's Ritual Of Remaking by Kieran YannerAs two figures with seemingly ultimate power over undeath, it's natural to wonder if they are rivals or even enemies, with many assuming that Vecna seeks to usurp the titles Orcus holds. The answer may be a surprise to most.
The 5th Edition Dungeon Masters Guide confirms that not only Vecna and Orcus aren't enemies (not even rivals), but that they have a connection going all the way back to when Vecna was still a living human.
Orcus was almost like a patron to Vecna, offering him knowledge of the nature of the undead. Orcus is even said to have supplied Vecna with the ritual he would use to become a Lich, a form of undeath associated with Vecna more than any other figure.
A Lich is a powerful type of Undead in Dungeons & Dragons, a spellcaster who has transformed themselves through dark magic. They are extremely powerful and store their soul outside of their body in an object called phylactery, so they can never truly be killed.
Orcus is said to be able to destroy the phylactery of any Lich at will, no matter where it might be hidden and stored.
Orcus even oversaw the actions of one of Vecna's most dedicated followers, Acererak. Acererak even chose to worship Orcus for a time, further highlighting that there is no animosity between Vecna, or his followers, and Orcus.
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