I'd debate the use of the word bullies being applied to Orks. They like to fight but they lack the empathy to be cruel. They don't know (or care to know) how their actions are interpreted by others.

There was an article in White Dwarf about it which I quite enjoyed. I'll look it up when I make it home.

Yeah and not only is true sadism beyond them but getting their feelings hurt, becoming depressed or developing post traumatic stress is beyond them too. An ork's response to getting kicked around by another ork is simply to either acknowledge the aggressor's leadership and superiority or to come back the next day and try to kick his ass.

I quite enjoy this quote from Uthan the Perverse

" The Orks are the pinnacle of creation. For them, the great struggle is won. They have evolved a society which knows no stress or angst. Who are we to judge them? We Eldar who have failed, or the Humans, on the road to ruin in their turn? And why? Because we sought answers to questions that an Ork wouldn't even bother to ask! We see a culture that is strong and despise it as crude. "

I'd debate the use of the word bullies being applied to Orks. They like to fight but they lack the empathy to be cruel. They don't know (or care to know) how their actions are interpreted by others.

True, but the intent mixed with Ork perspective leads to a similar end result - Orks believe in might-makes-right amongst other greenskins (and don't understand why other species don't do likewise), and often don't realise or care that the way one Ork communicates with another is actively harmful to creatures that aren't as tough as them, often leading to fatalities amongst gretchin and snotlings (imagine every conversation was accompanied by a flurry of unarmed attacks; Orks don't notice the blow, but everyone else might). Brutal indifference substitutes for cruelty here, but the outcome is the same - Orks impose their will on weaker creatures through physical force and the threat of force, and take genuine pleasure in witnessing the effects of violence on others (Ork Burna Boyz enjoy seeing people "do the burny dance" when set alight, for example).

I'd debate the use of the word bullies being applied to Orks. They like to fight but they lack the empathy to be cruel. They don't know (or care to know) how their actions are interpreted by others.

Which is why the Rak'Gol were invented!

This might be a little off topic, but what are the long term effects of Orks being isolated from other Orks? Their entire kultur and all their strengths build upon the presence of other Orks through the power of the Waaagh!, so what happens when a specimen is removed from that environment? It seems to me like it might have psychic and behavioral consequences.

I expect this is what the talents 'Lissen Ta Me, Cos I'z Da Biggest,' 'Da Nekst Best Fing' and 'Annuva Power' are supposed to represent. Orks becoming acclimatized to humans and drawing solace from their energy rather than that of the Waaagh!

Not all Orks have the mental flexibility to do so which is why not all Orks make suitable Freebooters.

Does this acclimatization result in Orks becoming more sedate and " 'uman" in their ways? Could an Ork that has been around humans for decades potentially turn into the "gruff, no-nonsense, Proud Warrior Race Guy " that N0-1_H3r3 said they weren't?

This would depend on your GM but my vote would be no. An Ork’s raison d'être is fighting and in order for an Ork to want to hang around humans for an extended period of time then there must be plenty of fighting on offer.

In my mind Orks exist in a semi-permanent state of conflict. Freebooters have learned to delay fighting and work co-operatively with other species in order to have bigger fights that are more fun later. Even if an Ork was left completely alone for decades on a planet with nothing worth fighting their reproduction system would provide Orks to fight eventually. The need for aggression and violence is simply hard coded into their DNA. Depending on what origin story you follow (and what has or hasn’t been retconned) Orks were supposed to be a warrior race but not because they were imbued with pride, honor or duty but because they were designed to find it fun. Given that their motivation is to have fun rather than being a great warrior (even if they have fun by being a warrior) I can’t see them ever becoming more ‘umie in outlook without things like brain surgery or misfiring cybernetics.

That isn't to say that such a thing couldn't happen just that I can't see it ever being a natural process.

I can actually see a Rogue Trader who hates Orks a lot using a xenologist to get an understanding of Orks and then take a twisted pleasure in perverting an Ork's essence, stripping away what makes them Orky and leaving them with just enough understanding to realize it has been done.

Perhaps Orks killed their parents, wiped out some significant holdings and they did it all without having the decency to have a grudge or a reason. No good, honest human hatred involved.

So using his influence he kidnaps the warboss responsible and has him cybernetically altered to be his personal valet. Dresses him in a tuxedo and makes him speak like on old english butler.

Given the fact the Rogue Trader is cruel he still uses the Ork in battle by clicking a button that returns his free-will and Orkishness. The Ork gets sporadic fighting but always with the knowledge that he'll have to go back to being the servile green butler when that button gets pushed.

Somewhat on topic: How fast do Runtz spawn? The talent description says: " Should any of the Ork’s Runts die due to battle or simple mistreatment (more than a few Gretchin have died due to being accidentally sat on by their masters, or from injuries suffered when kicked a little too hard), a new one will take its place, at the next opportunity the GM deems appropriate (such as the next time you’re on a planet’s surface for more than a few hours). "

If gretchins pop out of an Orks footsteps after a few hours, we'd all bee knee deep in Waaghs all the time. This sounds a little drastic, compared to what the wikis say about the "orkification" process where spores first develop squigs to spread more spores, then snotlings, then grots and gretchins.

Any thoughts?

I'd imagine based on the fact that ork spores are described as growing underground that they might have trouble spawning more greekskins on a star-ship without access to the lower decks or specialized hydroponics components.

Somewhat on topic: How fast do Runtz spawn? The talent description says: " Should any of the Ork’s Runts die due to battle or simple mistreatment (more than a few Gretchin have died due to being accidentally sat on by their masters, or from injuries suffered when kicked a little too hard), a new one will take its place, at the next opportunity the GM deems appropriate (such as the next time you’re on a planet’s surface for more than a few hours). "

If gretchins pop out of an Orks footsteps after a few hours, we'd all bee knee deep in Waaghs all the time. This sounds a little drastic, compared to what the wikis say about the "orkification" process where spores first develop squigs to spread more spores, then snotlings, then grots and gretchins.

Any thoughts?

I believe the thoughts behind it was the XP the player spent on the talent. If it took years for a Gretchin to emerge from spores cultivating themselves, then it wouldn't be as fun. Of course, it takes a whole month of travel on a ship to get from one system to another, so you could have the Gretchin show up during that down time. This is more plausible than several hours on a random planet, unless there were Orks already present on said planet.

In my mind the runtz appearing after a few hours on planet is a game balance thing. Created so that xp spent on the advance wouldn't be wasted until the runtz have time to regrow normally. Given that hydroponics are one of the primary means of feeding a ships crew and that the air on a space ship is recycled I can imagine that a few spores make it thorugh the filtration and end up in the hydroponics and then a few of the growing orkoids get missed by the servitors assigned to work the hydroponics so I have no problem with Orks getting their runtz back on ship unless someone takes specific precautions to prevent such a thing happening.

If you want to go RAW then it is possible to say that Ork spores drift through space and a few will be present in numbers too small to alter the ecosystem on most planets that can support life. When an Ork visits these planets the Ork's presence stimulates these spores and in a burst of activity runtzs are spawned.