Drow of the Underdark

I was wondering if this was worth getting. There don't seem to be too many reviews of it online, so I was wondering if any of the EnWorlders on here had it and could tell me if it was any good. I'm particularily wondering about the PrC's and alternate class features.

Probably not a lot of reviews because it just came out this last week. I picked up a copy yesterday, but I haven't had time to read it.

Hi,

I have it too. It's very nicely produced with some good art (particularly Francis Tsai's) and quite a bit of stuff on Erelhei-Cinlu. I guess because it's a core D&D book, the religion section talks about Lolth and has a sidebar on the Elder Elemental Eye, but nothing on the other drow gods which I think must have originated in the Forgotten Realms.

Need to read more really......


Richard

RichGreen said:

the other drow gods which I think must have originated in the Forgotten Realms.

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Some of the drow gods (like Vhaeraun, Ghaunadaur, and Eilistraee) originated in the 2e FR accessory Drow of the Underdark, but Kiaransalee and Zinzerena originated in the generic 2e book Monster Mythology. So some of them are originally FR, some aren't. I did love the additional mythology the authors of the new book created for Zinzerena.

I was disappointed they put so much emphasis on Lolth, giving almost no information on gods worshiping other demon lords or dark gods (and going so far as to claim, contrary to all previous interpretations, that the drow didn't consider any being other than Lolth to be truly divine). Lolth-worshiping drow are the standard by which all others are measured, of course, but they're also something of a cliche. Drow who revere Graz'zt, Orcus, Malcanthet, or Baphomet would be an interesting change.

Something that I think would have been really cool is the idea of drow worshiping the Elder Evils described in Lords of Madness. Holashner or Y'Chak would be far more interesting and appropriate than Tharizdun.

This is all just my personal preference, of course, and shouldn't be interpreted as a judgment on the quality of the book.

I've got to agree with everything you've said, rip. There should have been a bit more variability in drow worship. I haven't had a chance for a detailed read yet, but on first pass, it looks like the Erelhei Cinlu chapter is based on Fred Weining's Dragon article (which is good!). However, despite the fact that the Vault and Erelhei Cinlu are solid Greyhawk (as well as the whole idea of Lolth as primary god, Eclavdra, all the houses, etc), I can find not one single mention of the word "Greyhawk" in the entire 'hawkocentric book. I'd be really curious to hear from Mouseferatu exactly what his instructions were on the matter from WotC.

And it seems like the time is ripe for me to start working on the "Underdark" section of my website! I always meant to get around to that one of these days. When I do, I'll post links.

Denis, aka "Maldin" (who has been to Erelhei Cinlu!)
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com

Maldin said:

I'd be really curious to hear from Mouseferatu exactly what his instructions were on the matter from WotC.

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Well, I didn't work on the Erelhei-Cinlu chapter, so I won't be of much help there. I wrote Chapter One (culture and society), and a few of the feats/alternate class features.

As for instructions? There weren't a lot of those; we had a lot of free reign to design the book as we saw fit (subject to approval from above, of course). It was mandated from on high that we focus on Lolth as the primary drow religion, treating the other gods more as demigods or the equivalents of "saints." I know some people object, but honestly, I'm okay with that. Because drow culture is so completely focused on Lolth, and because the society couldn't exist without Lolth's direct interference, it makes sense to me to focus on her.

Beyond that, my mandates when designing their society were twofold: I had to make them at least somewhat compatible with what came before, but I was also told that I didn't need to restrict myself to what came before. (This was particularly true of R.A. Salvatore's material, which--while the best known drow material--is Forgotten Realms-specific, and therefore not binding, or always even appropriate, for a core book.) I tried to mix the best and most interesting of what already existed with some cool new angles, and some new insight into the culture and how it functions. (I also tried to explain some of the age-old cliches, like why do most drow dress like rejects from a Frederick's of Hollywood catalog? ) I leave it up to you to decide if I succeeded at all, but that's basically the point from which I started.

At least in my section, I certainly could have mentioned Greyhawk-specific places/individuals. It's just that, with the exception of some details of the religion/creation myths, it never came up.

Its a great book and definitely worth buying. In fact, it inspired me to make a half-drow rogue for a game I'm in. There's a nifty half-drow feat (for half-elves) in the back of the book that gives them access to drow spell-like abilities, so I basically made a rogue that uses magic to fight in darkness.

Great job Ari!

Anything good for a full-blooded drow wizard?

Mouseferatu said:

Well, I didn't work on the Erelhei-Cinlu chapter, so I won't be of much help there. .

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Who did?

I'm quite pleased that my "Summon Rodent-of-the-Dark" spell worked so quickly!! Thanks for the quick answers.

I must say that, overall, the book seems quite good... and useful (which is saying alot, since my campaign is still firmly 2E!). Well done, Ari!! Along with the two Fiendish Codex books (which also had alot of edition-independent information), its only the third 3.x book I've found interesting enough to buy in well over 4 years. As I said, I haven't done a detailed read-through yet, but I did notice your Babes-of-Lolth explanation and found it quite believable. As I read through it, I'll likely have more comments and/or questions. Especially now that I know which section is yours.

Denis, aka "Maldin"
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com