alirght, im going to be running a Dark Heresy game here relativly soon, and i was curious if anyone has home-brewed rules for playing the space orks we all know and love. It would save me time, and i really need just an idea i suppose. any help on this would be fantastic, and thanks ahead of time.

I started work on some a while back, along with other Xenos PC rules (Kroot and Eldar), but haven't gotten around to finishing them yet. They need, amongst other things, a career path or two.

The Green Tide: The Orks
“WAAAAAAGH!”
The Orks have been a threat to the civilisations of other species for as long as anyone can remember, rampaging across the stars seeking only violence and warfare. Orks are an intensely and single-mindedly aggressive species, beings physically and mentally predisposed to not only endure, but thrive in the most brutal forms of conflict imaginable. For the Greenskins, violence is not merely a means to an end, as it is with most species, but rather the goal being sought. And, Orks being Orks, they don’t care where the fight is, just so long as they can get involved.

Ork Appearance
Orks are large, broad humanoid creatures, with rough, thick green flesh and heavy musculature. The average Ork stands approximately as tall as a human, to the top of the back – an Ork’s hunched frame means that the head generally sits level with the shoulders – and weighs roughly 60% more due to thicker bone and muscle. However, the nature of Ork physiology means that a more aggressive, more successful Ork will grow in size, and the largest known examples stand as much as three metres tall and weigh approximately half a tonne.
The Ork body is thick-set and ape-like, with long, thick arms, ended in broad, muscular hands with thick clawed fingers. The head, set in front of and between the bulky shoulders, is solid and bony, with a large protruding jaw, great yellowing tusks, a pair of beady, almost luminescent red eyes and a short, hard forehead. The mouth of an average Ork is still almost large enough to fit an adult human head entirely inside, and the overall appearance of an Ork’s face is one of a savage, largely unintelligent animal.

Ork Nature
Orks live to fight. Those four words define so much about Ork culture and psychology, almost to the point where little else needs to be said.
Orks are physically adapted to thrive in brutal warfare. Their minds are simple, straightforward and possessed of an instinctive cunning that prevents the panic and indecision that can plague the warriors of other species. An Ork craves speed, noise and a good fight above all things.
This is, actually, one of the more curious things about the Orks. Many warrior and predator cultures known in the galaxy take pleasure in the hunt or the kill, and prize the ability to do those things. Orks are alone in their lust for the fight, not the kill. They don’t possess a true notion of victory or loss, because such things are meaningless to a creature whose idea of paradise is an eternity of battle.
Orks are, physiologically, not entirely animal. Instead, they’re actually two creatures – the animal body, and the fungus that saturates their blood and flesh. This fungus gives the Orks many of their most unusual traits. The Ork body, for example, is resilient to an insane degree – wounds that would be instantly and irreversibly fatal to a human being may only incapacitate an Ork for a matter of hours, and even the traumatic experience of having a limb stitched back on (it doesn’t even have to be the Ork’s original limb) will only hinder an Ork for a day or so. Decapitation isn’t immediately fatal, and heads can be re-attached up to half an hour after removal with no lingering side-effects.
Beyond that, is the nature of Ork genetic knowledge. The ability to fight, to speak, and in the cases of the specialist or “Oddboy” castes, knowledge of science, technology, medicine or any of a number of other complex skills, are all hard-wired into an Ork’s genetics, as natural and instinctive as breathing.
Equally unusual is the Ork’s physical response to aggression and injury. When preparing for a leadership challenge, or simply injured in battle, an Ork will gain muscle mass and size. Ork leaders are invariably larger, tougher and stronger than their subordinates, and Orks use size and strength as a gauge of authority and respect. Equally, Orks who have fought for a long time in a single warzone will almost always be larger than those who have not engaged in such large conflicts. This has the additional effect of making long-term wars of attrition against the Orks highly undesirable – not only do the Orks revel in such conflicts, but the Orks themselves become stronger, tougher and deadlier in the process.
Yet, all this focus on warfare does not mean that Orks are fearless. Indeed, while the Ork mind views defeat differently to a human, it still recognises the need to flee from battle. The Orks themselves rationalise this by claiming that running away doesn’t signify defeat, but instead just means that the Orks can come back later and try again.
All-in-all, Orks are consummate fighters: resilient, instinctively skilled, strong and with a mindset that is singular in its focus on getting into a fight.

Ork PCs
Few Orks would ever trust a human – they’re not green, they’re all the same size, and they’re not as tough as Orks. Even when humans have demonstrated a respectable (by Ork standards) degree of resilience, skill and general worth as an adversary, he is still an adversary. An adversary to be treasured and enjoyed, mind, but an adversary nonetheless.
For some, this is not always the case. Some Orks have been known to emulate humans, often copying human ideas like camouflage, stealth and strategy, often by stealing and rebuilding wrecked (and not-so-wrecked) human vehicles, and sometimes even by working as mercenaries. This latter group of Orks are known as Freebootas – Orks who wander the galaxy, so eager and indiscriminate in their lust for a fight that they’ll stand shoulder-to-shoulder with humans, often trading their skills for weapons, ammunition, scrap metal, or anything else an Ork could want.
Ork player characters will be such a breed – eager to fight, and uncaring as to where or against whom. Working with humans may be frustrating for them at times, but if the rewards are good enough and the fights are brutal enough, such an Ork will overlook the difficulties of fighting for pink-skinned “Oomies”.

Ork Skills
All Orks know the basics of their culture, and begin play with the skills Common Lore (Ork), Intimidate and Speak Language (Barg-og-Orky).

Ork Traits
Orks gain the following traits. Record those traits on your character sheet.

Ded ‘Ard
Ork resilience is legendary, and few injuries that kill an Ork will keep it down for long.
Benefit: You have the Unnatural Toughness trait. In addition, you start play with the Die Hard and Iron Jaw talents. Further, when healing wounds naturally, you regain wounds at twice the normal rate – 2 wounds per day when lightly injured, 2 wounds per week when heavily injured, and 2 points of Critical Damage per week if critically injured. Finally, you gain a +20 on all Toughness tests to resist the effects of poisons, diseases, heat, cold, suffocation, drowning or vacuum.

Might Makes Right
Orks consider size and authority to be essentially the same thing, and respect is as much a matter of strength as anything else.
Benefit: When dealing with other greenskins (Orks, Gretchin, Snotlings), you may treat Command as a Strength skill. When dealing with anyone else, you must either rely on your Fellowship, or attempt to Intimidate them instead...

Orky Know-Wots
All Orks possess instinctive knowledge that comes from simply being an Ork.
Benefit: Pick one of the following skills: Drive (Ground Vehicle), Mekaniks, Medicae, Scholastic Lore (Kunnin’), Survival, or Wrangling. That skill is treated as a Basic skill for you.

WAAAGH!
Ork brutality in the press of melee is infamous.
Benefit: You have the Brutal Charge trait and the Furious Assault talent.

Non-Imperial
This character was not raised amongst humans, and knows little about the culture and history of the Imperium. The laws, traditions, religion and superstitions of Mankind are unfamiliar and alien to characters with this trait.
The character suffers a -10 penalty on all Common Lore and Scholastic Lore tests relating to the Imperium of Man.

Speak Not Unto the Alien
This creature is a member of an alien species, viewed with a mixture of fear and loathing by those of other species, and significantly different in form and thought as to make any kind of social interaction a greater challenge.
This creature counts all Fellowship-based tests as being two steps more difficult when dealing with creatures of a species other than its own. Equally, those of other species treat their Fellowship-based tests as being two steps more difficult when dealing with him.

WS: 2d10+30

BS: 2d10+10

S: 2d10+35

T: 2d10+35

Ag: 2d10+15

Int: 2d10+15

Per: 2d10+20

WP: 2d10+20

Fel: 2d10+10

Wounds: 1d5+15

Fate: 1-4=0, 5-10=1

Table 1-3: Build

Roll Description
01-20 Weedy 1.5m/100kg
21-50 Proppa 1.7m/110kg
51-80 Big 2.0m/125kg
81-90 Bigga 2.3kg/140kg
91-00 ‘Uge 2.6m/165kg
*Stronger Orks are bigger, and their size increases as they gain in strength. When determining an Ork’s Strength score, keep note of the 2d10 roll. When rolling for build, add this result to the d100 roll, treating results above 100 as 100. For example, an Ork with a starting Strength of 46 rolled an 11 on 2d10. When determining build, roll d100+11 instead of just a d100. Further, for every five Sound Constitution talents and every Strength or Toughness advance purchased, an Ork character gains 0.1m of height and 5kg of weight. If the Ork’s height ever goes above 2.6m, he gains the Hulking trait.

New Skills, and Additional Rules for Old Skills in Regards to Xenos

Common Lore (Advanced, Investigation)
Intelligence
Skill Group: Eldar, Craftworlds, Exodites, Commorragh, Orks, Kroot
These skills exist primarily to cover the basic knowledge of an alien species and the related culture that would be possessed by a member of that species. These skills are only available to Xenos characters of the relevant species. Any others wanting to know the same things can learn them as Elite Advances at the GM’s discretion, but they will be considered Forbidden Lore skills, not Common Lore.
Eldar: A broad understanding of the major legends and traditions that unify Eldar culture, as well as rudimentary knowledge of the Eldar themselves
Craftworlds: A broad knowledge of the Path system that dominates the Craftworlds and of traditions and laws that are unique to Craftworld life.
Exodites : A basic understanding of the worlds and colonies of the Exodites, their culture, traditions and laws.
Commorragh: A basic understanding of the Dark City of Commorragh, home of the Dark Eldar, and their vicious culture and bloodthirsty traditions.
Orks: Simple knowledge of Greenskin ‘Kultur’, covering their crude size-based caste system, their approach to law, and the basic nature of their Klans, along with a rudimentary understanding of the Greenskins themselves.
Kroot: Basic knowledge of the tribal, mercenary Kroot, covering their culture and inherent traits.

Mekaniks (Advanced)
Willpower
Ork Technology, for the most part, is crude and inefficient, bolted together from scrap and whatever materials were to hand. However, in spite of its crude nature, it functions far more efficiently in the hands of Orks than might otherwise be expected. Much of this is due to a Mekboy’s instinctive understanding of complex scientific and technological principals, but part of it is due to sheer force of will and unwavering belief – Orks believe that their guns should work and that their trucks and wagons should roar along belching smoke, and this belief (in concert with a potent but entirely subconscious form of telekinesis) ensures that, whatever the flaws with the actual machine, Ork-built technology works as expected more often than not.
Orks use Mekaniks in place of Tech-Use, representing their largely instinctive grasp of technology and the self-belief that reinforces it. Mekaniks is used in all the same contexts and for all the same purposes as Tech-Use, but only in regards to repairing and operating Ork technology.

Medicae (Advanced)
Intelligence
The Medicae skill is, as is only fitting, reliant on a working knowledge of anatomy. However, the overwhelming majority of human medicae are unlikely to be familiar with anything other than human anatomy, making the treatment of injuries and diseases afflicting Xenos more difficult. All Medicae tests to treat characters not of the same species as the medicae treat their difficulty as two steps worse than normal due to differences in physiology.
The Xeno-Medic talent group can reduce this penalty.

Scholastic Lore (Advanced, Investigation)
Intelligence
Skill Group: Archaic, Kunnin’, Legend, Occult, Philosophy, Religion, Ways of Khaine
These skills are treated differently for Xenos characters, as described below. These skills may only be purchased by characters other than those of the relevant species as Elite Advances, and only at great cost.
Archaic, Eldar: This covers the myths and legends of the First and Second Eras of the Eldar Empire, from the War in Heaven, up until the golden age – a vast and half-understood period of time that covered uncounted millennia, and may even have been tens of millions of years long.
Kunnin’: skill serves the same basic purpose as Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialis), but covering the tactics, strategies and theories of warfare of the Orks.
Legend, Eldar: This covers the Third Era of the Eldar Empire, also known as the golden age, and encompassing the period when the Eldar dominated the stars, leading up to The Fall.
Legend, Kroot: This covers the intricate oral traditions of the various tribes of Pech, generally in the form of stories and myths passed between Shapers.
Legend, Ork: This covers what little history the Orks themselves bother to record – ancient tales of the “Brain Boyz”, of long-ended Waaaghs and long-dead Warlords. Little of this information is consistent, as the Orks have little interest in the past.
Occult, Eldar: This skill serves the same purpose as Scholastic Lore (Occult) in the rulebook, but covers Eldar mystic traditions, psychic tools and so forth, instead of those known to humanity.
Philosophy, Eldar: This skill serves the same purpose as Scholastic Lore (Philosophy), but covers the philosophies espoused by Eldar thinkers through the long ages of their ancient kind.
Religion, Eldar: This skill covers the mythic cycles of the Eldar Gods and Heroes in considerable depth. This skill overlaps considerably with Scholastic Lore (Archaic, Eldar), as the Gods and Heroes of the Eldar were reputed to have lived during the earliest days of the Eldar.
Religion, Ork: This skill covers the crude Ork religion centred on their two brutal gods, Gork and Mork and how it influences the Orks themselves.
Ways of Khaine: This skill serves the same basic purpose as Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialis), but covering the tactics, strategies and theories of warfare of the Eldar race.

Speak Language (Advanced)
Intelligence
Skill Group: Barg-Og-Orky, Commorraghn Cant, Craftworld Dialect, Exodite Dialect, Krootish, Lam-Eldannar, Tau
These skills cover Xenos languages. These may never be learned by those not of the relevant species except by GM’s approval, and even then, penalties may apply to their use, as noted below.
Barg-Og-Orky: Literally ‘Shout of Orks’, this is the guttural tongue of the Greenskin races. Commonly accompanied by aggressive body language, phlegm, roaring or bellowing, the basic tenets of the language are relatively simple and can be learned by other races to some extent. Non-Greenskins with this skill may not speak the language, but may attempt to understand spoken Barg-Og-Orky and the accompanying glyphs that form the written language of the Orks.
Commorraghn Cant: The harsh and sibilant language spoken in the depths of the Dark City of Commorragh. A debased form of Lam-Eldannar, it distinguishes itself primarily by having a surfeit of additional terms for pain, torture and suffering. Non-Eldar with this skill can speak or understand the language, but must test every time they attempt to do so – the Eldar languages are fluid, complex and nuanced in the extreme, making them tricky for non-Eldar to master.
Craftworld Dialect: Originally a disparate collection of trader’s cants, the dialects of the Craftworlds have developed into divergent languages through generations of isolation. Non-Eldar with this skill can speak or understand the language, but must test every time they attempt to do so – the Eldar languages are fluid, complex and nuanced in the extreme, making them tricky for non-Eldar to master.
Exodite Dialect: Voluntary isolation since before The Fall has resulted in most Exodites speaking an altered form of Lam-Eldannar, evolved to fit the needs of Exodite life and culture. Non-Eldar with this skill can speak or understand the language, but must test every time they attempt to do so – the Eldar languages are fluid, complex and nuanced in the extreme, making them tricky for non-Eldar to master.
Krootish: This language is nigh-impossible for a non-Kroot to speak, consisting of a series of clicks, hoots and cries more akin to bird calls than speech. Non-Kroot with this skill may not speak Krootish, but may attempt to understand it by making a Hard (-20) Speak Language (Krootish) test.
Lam-Eldannar: The language of the Eldar is an ancient one, filled with references to ancient, obscure mythic cycles, similies and metaphors, blended with an almost poetic grammatical structure and requiring immense precision in pronunciation and emphasis. When the keen senses, swift minds and abstract thought processes of the Eldar are considered, this makes perfect sense, especially as many Eldar can further embellish their meaning with psychic or empathic reinforcement and/or body language. However, while this makes the language perfectly suited for the Eldar, it also makes it hugely complicated for non-Eldar to learn or speak them. Non-Eldar with this skill can speak or understand the language, but must test every time they attempt to do so – the Eldar languages are fluid, complex and nuanced in the extreme, making them tricky for non-Eldar to master.
Tau: Included here because the Kroot often speak it as a second language, the Tau language is not commonly heard beyond the fringes of the Tau Empire. Tau is one of the simpler Xenos languages to speak, lacking the complexity of the Eldar languages, or the unpronounceable sounds of Barg-Og-Orky or Krootish. Non-Tau with this skill may speak and understand the Tau language normally under most circumstances, but whenever a Speak Language (Tau) test is called for, non-Tau characters suffer an additional -10 penalty due to unfamiliarity.

Tech-Use (Advanced)
Intelligence
The Tech-Use skill covers what the Imperium knows as conventional, understandable technology. However, Xenos technology isn’t always as easy to deal with, often being based on entirely different principles. Kroot technology, such that it is, interacts with Tech-Use normally – it is sufficiently simple that the differences are minimal, and even Tau-enhanced Kroot devices operate using understandable principles. However, Eldar and Ork technology require a different treatment.
Ork technology is covered by the Mekaniks skill, above. Attempting to use Tech-Use on Ork technology can work, but all such tests have their difficulty increased by one step, as Ork devices don’t always function properly outside of Ork hands.
Eldar technology is completely different. Superficially similar to human technology, Eldar devices are almost universally psychic in nature and operation, and seem almost magical in the way they function, often working in a manner that defies physical laws as humanity understands them. Tech-Use tests on Eldar technology have their difficult increased by three steps, as the core principles that define the technology are significantly unlike those of human technology. Eldar use the psychic ability Gift of Vaul in place of the Tech-Use skill.

New Talents

Basic Weapon Training
Talent Groups: Burna, Fusion, Kroot, Shoota, Shuriken
This talent group functions exactly as in the rulebook. The only change is that additional talents have been added to accommodate Xenos characters.

Exotic Weapon Training
Talent Groups: Eldar Longrifle, Harlequin’s Kiss, Kustom Blasta, Pack Grenade Launcher
This talent group functions exactly as in the rulebook. The only change is that additional talents have been added to accommodate Xenos characters.

Good Reputation
Talent Groups: Aspect Warriors, Bonesingers, Corsairs, Exodites, Harlequins, Haemonculi, Kabalite, Kroot, Mariner, Mekboyz, Ork Boyz, Painboyz, Rangers, Runtherdz, Seers, Speed Freeks, Wych Cults
This talent group functions exactly as in the rulebook. The only change is that additional talents have been added to accommodate Xenos characters.

Heavy Weapon Training
Talent Groups: Kroot, Rokkit, Shoota, Shuriken
This talent group functions exactly as in the rulebook. The only change is that additional talents have been added to accommodate Xenos characters.

Peer
Talent Groups: Aspect Warriors, Bonesingers, Corsairs, Exodites, Harlequins, Haemonculi, Kabalite, Kroot, Mariner, Mekboyz, Ork Boyz, Painboyz, Rangers, Runtherdz, Seers, Speed Freeks, Wych Cults
This talent group functions exactly as in the rulebook. The only change is that additional talents have been added to accommodate Xenos characters.

Pistol Training
Talent Groups: Fusion, Shuriken, Slugga
This talent group functions exactly as in the rulebook. The only change is that additional talents have been added to accommodate Xenos characters.

Xeno Medic
Talent Groups: Eldar, Human, Kroot, Ork
You have familiarised yourself with the physiology of a species not your own, and are now more able to treat their injuries and illnesses. When using the Medicae skill on a creature of a species you have the Xeno Medic talent for, you suffer no additional penalties for the creature being a different species.

thank you, this would be a very nice start, my appreciation

**** good job, love to see your work on the Eldar and Kroot.

Any update on career paths for Orks?

Any paths for Eldar, especially? I've created an Eldar Outcast, but I would really like to use a straight Eldar "Warrior".

Definitely good stuff. I'm playing in a standard inquistor based game now, but since I'm a long time Ork player in 40K, I want to start running a Gorkamorka-style campaign. This will help me get it started.

You know, with this stuff, plus the material found in Creatures Anathema, it would hardly be necessary to create further rules for Orkz within DH's system. Great stuff No One's Here.