orcs, gruumsh and orcus

in the past, i have stated that i regard gruumsh, in 4e, as a primordial rather than as a god because his manner and mentality seemed better suited for a primordial.

lately, i have been thinking about orcs and have devised some changes that are to my liking. for several reasons, i think that orcs should worship orcus instead of gruumsh.

admitedly, one of those reasons is the mere similarity in the names: orcs and orcus. simple--perhaps silly--but true. i see the name orcs as meaning "deriving from orcus". for me, it fits.

another reason for orcs worshipping orcus is to better differentiate orcs from the other, common "savage" races: gnolls, minotaurs and, perhaps, the goblinoids (the list could go on--e.g., kobolds, etc.--but i will stop with these).

i say perhaps goblinoids because although many players group goblinoids with those other races, i see gobliniods as rather different from the others. they are an evil race, not chaotic evil. they generally worship gods-principally bane--whereas gnolls (yeenoghu) , minotaurs (baphomet) and (as i see it) orcs (was gruumsh, now orcus) generally worship worship demons.

by changing the orcs' patron from gruumsh to orcus, orcs now can be closely associated with the undead. orc shamans would be practitioners of necromancy. undead would be as prevalent among orcs as hyenas are among gnolls, and mazes are among minotaurs.

i can see orcs leading low level undead, such as zombies and skeletons; associating with ghouls and wights; and following higher level undead, such as arcanians, vampires, mummy lords, and liches. i can also see orcs associating with nonorc cultists of orcus.

i think that this association with the undead will make orcs appreciably different from the other common savage races, even at low levels of gaming.

so, you might be wondering, "what about gruumsh?" imo, other than serving as the patron of orcs, gruumsh is unimportant to 4e. he acts more like a demon lord than like any of the other gods, and there are plenty of demon lords already. so, maybe that is gruumsh's skull planted at the end of orcus' wand.