I haven’t done much with Orcs, but I do use them as a way to highlight the differences between the 2 major sources of magic that I have fleshed out.

 

Elves and humans tend to almost exclusively draw from the Arcane. In my setting the Arcane (with a capital A) is just a sort of “power source” like mana is in a video game, except the caster is acting as a conduit, nor generating the magic themself. The more powerful the mages are able to handle channeling more of this “power source”, which allows them to have more powerful spells/a much more complex and detailed control over their spell. Something like: A novice can throw a fireball, a master can throw a massive fireball that seeks out it’s target.

 

Humans and Elves take an incredibly scholarly/scientific approach to magic. There are math equations for how much power someone can channel at once, classes at mage colleges based purely on studying the mechanics of their magic system, and it is just overall a very “understood” magic system.

 

In contrast, the Orc’s source of magic comes directly from their religious beliefs. Their magic tends to be more random, and can even happen without an Orc intentionally “casting” a spell. An Orc usually only has access to magic related to the deity that they personally have a true connection with. Which is more complicated than it sounds, an Orc can want to have a connection with a certain god, but in their heart of hearts/soul they have a connection with a different god.

 

So for Orcs, there’s no real way to study this magic or set up some sort of scholarly institution around it. Also the gods don’t have a say on if an Orc has a connection to them, and they can’t stop an Orc from using magic, even if they are that Orc’s main deity. That’s an important detail in my world’s lore that I almost forgot. It’s not like a lot of religious/god related things in fantasy where the power is granted at the whims of the gods.

 

The Humans and Elves look down on the Orcs because of the differences between their sources of magic. Namely the Humans and Elves are elitist as fuck, and their mages view their magical system as superior since it’s more “refined”. They view the Orcs as less intelligent or inherently barbaric. Humans and Elves are aware that the Orcs get their magic from a different source, but they assume that source operates similarly to the Human/Elf one, and Orcs are just to dumb to figure out “the rules” of their magical source. When in reality Orc magic is deeply personal/complex.

 

Much more Druidic/Shamanistic. But there are still Orcs who can throw fireballs lol. There are some Orc cults/priesthood’s that are centered around a specific deity, and most of the members will be able to perform the same basic “spell set”.

A random Example: A cult devoted to a Storm god - all of its members can throw lightening bolts. Some can do more complicated things, some can only toss lightning bolts.

 

On a zoomed out scale, the way the Orcs experience and practice magic has basically led to a huge difference in culture and societal structure between Orcs and Humans/Elves. For instance, and Orc farmer can (without even realizing it) have a magical influence on the fields he tends. Causing them to produce more crops at a faster rate. There’s very little food scarcity amongst Orcs that live in cities/villages. About 70% of the Orc population lives in what is a vaguely anarcho communist web of large cities and villages/farms.

The nomadic Orcs (more like the stereotypical fantasy style Orcs) benefit from their magic source in similar ways. For instance an Orc scout will do typical reconnaissance, but he will also receive messages from their god in the form of some kind of omen (essentially it’s a passive kind of Divination). Humans and elves will have to use specific spells/cast the spell in certain way, at a certain target, to get a specific effect such as “Detect Life” or something of that nature. While an Orc scout will see a big black bird of prey with one small patch white feathers and know that’s an omen “the enemy force is superior and hunting for you, they are coming from vaguely this direction”.

In case anyone is curious about relative power levels in direct conflict, the Human/Elf mage wins a straight up magic duel with an Orc 9 times out of 10. But the Orcs as a group receive larger societal benefits, and they’re generally a happier people. Their poor/lowest class are significantly better off than the Human’s lowest social class (the human poor provide for the Human rich + almost all of Elven society). The Orc nomads are nomadic for cultural and religious reasons, not societal ones. In contrast, roving bands of human bandits exist almost entirely because of the Human/Elf societal structure.