An Ogre's legs are stout and tireless – the better to carry his lumpy frame. His teeth are broad and flat, like the tusks of a beast. His body hair is lank and greasy. Although it is common for an Ogre to be as bald as a boulder, it is rare indeed that one can be found without facial hair. Presumably, this hair was cultivated to trap morsels of food that try to escape the Ogre's mouth while being shovelled in by his great, grasping hands.

Only a fool would mistake an Ogre's sheer bulk for fat, for though he is well insulated against the elements, underneath this tissue lies an extensive lattice-work of muscle. His skin is as tough as a cured-leather breastplate and twice as thick. Such is his resilience that even impaling an Ogre upon a lance is no defence against getting your head smashed by his counterstrike. Ultimately, however, the most notable feature of the Ogre is his gut.

The gut of the common Ogre is of utmost importance to its owner for social, spiritual, and physical reasons. An Ogre with a large gut is seen as wealthy and strong, for he has obviously eaten well to achieve such impressive girth. The Ogre religion revolves around eating, and the gluttonous Butchers believe that they can commune with their primitive God through this simple act. Meanwhile, the protective purpose of the Ogre gut cannot be ignored. An Ogre's vital organs are situated far lower than a man's. These organs are protected by a thick interlocking skein of musculature, and can grind and crack with terrific force to allow the Ogre to digest almost anything he cares to toss into his cavernous maw. Thus, the common Ogre leaves nothing to chance when it comes to his beloved and vital abdomen, and he protects his innards further with a large circular "gut-plate." This item is usually made of metal, beaten into shape or even cast in a mold, and it will commonly depict an icon important to the owner's parent tribe. The gut-plate is secured around the Ogre's waist by a heavy belt that is often used to store the Ogre's eating tools and weapons.

Aside from the gut-plate and a pair of functional-but-filthy breeches, it is unusual for a common Ogre to wear much in the way of clothing. Although richer Ogres may purchase or cobble together some sort of armour, most Ogres leave their torsos bare and adorn themselves with crude tattoos and warpaint when they go to war. They wear iron-shod shoes that come in handy when kicking things to death. When travelling into the snowy peaks of the mountains, they will wear the pelts of the animals that prowled the slopes. Every Ogre owns a club, normally used for knocking out prey so that it can be dragged back to the cave without losing much blood. These clubs are crudely fashioned with bindings, spikes, and studs, and the craftsmanship of the club an Ogre wields is an indication of his status – an Ogre wielding a simple log is generally seen as desperate or extremely poor. An Ogre trusts his club and will eat it only in the direst of circumstances.

Ogres have been described by scholars as mentally "thick as two short planks." They have also been described as having enough intelligence to nail the planks together and beat the observer to a bloody pulp. There is some truth to this observation. Although the race is unable to create anything of lasting worth, they do have a knack for cobbling together crude weaponry out of whatever is at hand. They even have ramshackle machineries of war that they take, trade, or earn from other races. That said, the Mountains of Mourn are so inhospitable that nothing that makes its way into the Ogre kingdoms is wasted – if an object is not immediately edible, it will invariably find another role within a few hours of its discovery.

Ogres have an insatiable appetite for destruction as well as for food, and – even in times of relative peace – they will hunt and kill the vicious cave-beasts that dwell in the mountains. They also war constantly among themselves. Ogres are well known for their tendency to travel, and can be found across the four corners of the world fighting in small mercenary groups that leave comparatively little evidence of their passing. In comparison, a full migration of Ogres can be devastating, stripping all life from the lands as they devour entire populations in a matter of days. It may take decades before the desolation left in their wake begins to recover. Fortunately, full-scale Ogre migrations are rare.

Ogres, being completely illiterate, rely on crude cave paintings and a tradition of storytelling (or just plain old boasting) to convey the folk tales and legends of their civilisation. One of their earliest myths concerns Old Stoneguts, an Ogre who caught and ate the sun one evening. However, due to the heartburn it was causing him, he threw it back up the very next morning. Ogres place great stock in feats of strength, and the mythology of the Ogre kingdoms is continually fuelled by the Herculean (and often extremely exaggerated) tasks undertaken by its inhabitants.

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