alternative to drow in Giants/Vault of the Drow series

[Eremite]

The idea of the derro uniting the giants as part of their Uniting War might be interesting. I also like the idea of adding the Book of Iron Might to the duergar.

The orogs from Races of Faerun might also be a good fit; you have to like intelligent orcs! I also think kuo-toa would be great: why should they just be cannon-fodder on the way to the Vault of the Drow?

Final thought: aboleth. Perhaps you could base the campaign on the aboleth's plans from the Night Below boxed set?

(snip) [As an aside, does anyone else find it almost impossible to find anything on the redesigned Monte Cook website? Both Google and their own search engine were not helpful in finding these old articles?]

I've given up on his website unless a link is posted on the front page of ENWorld. It's gone from one of my favourites for browsing to the point where I no longer even have the links in IE's Favourites. Edit: I still, however, buy everything that Malhavoc releases!

 

[dagger]

Changing out the orcs with Tanarukk's from FR would be cool.

 

[grodog]

Instead of ditching the drow, I would change the drow to make them interesting again. I've run several campaigns in which veteral players have been toasted because the drow were a "known quantity" but unbeknownst to them, my co-DM and I signficantly altered them.

We used the Lolth-/spider-worshipping drow as merely one set of extended clans of drow. Other drow vaults centered around those who worshipped Graz'zt, or Ygorl, or Orcus, Nyarlathotep, or whatever, and each vault of related families had different class limitations, stat averages, weaknesses, gender-dynamics, animal helpers, etc. Sick of your drow being defeated by standard continual light spells? Simple, make some drow who aren't susceptible to light attacks. Sick of high-level drow females always being clerics of Lolth? Make some of them wizard/rogues who craft nasty traps for fun and profit. Sick of spiders and wands of viscid blobs? Use the drow who created beholders, who ride them into battle, and who fashion wands from the eyestalks of slain battle spheres.

Etc.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

grodog - wow!

I'm starting a new campaign Sunday with mostly new players. I plan to run classic 1e mods updated to 3.5....and, suddenly, I'm thinking that beholder-riding drow will be making an appearence. Yikes.

 

[Eremite]

Instead of ditching the drow, I would change the drow to make them interesting again. (snip)

Green Ronin's Plot & Poison has some good ideas that make the drow interesting again. There's a good review on this site by Psion that gives some insight into the book's contents.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Instead of ditching the drow, I would change the drow to make them interesting again.

Honestly, this is the opinion I like the most. The Drow are sleek and sexy and make great villains for the game. It sounds like what you really want is to make the race more mysterious. You could make them a hybrid form of Drow elf or establish a 'whatever you think you know is wrong' feel.

 

[Campbell]

The article on Ebberon's Umbragen drow-variant that appeared in this month's Dragon may be helpful.

 

[cmanos]

underutilized

OK, I read this as undeuterized.....just the chemist in me reading before my morning coffee has kicked in.

Githyanki, Slaad, Tieflings are all good ideas


Chagmat? I remember them!!!

 

[Evilhalfling]

Thanks for the Derro link I am using them as a primary villian in my current game,
they PCs know there are evil white dwarves who use magic, nearby but havent met them yet and I had forgotten about the old Hook-Faluchards. Ill go update my encounters for next session.

I they dont seem like they would work as well cause they are in the MM and your players may have read them how bout Neogi?

 

[diaglo]

I they dont seem like they would work as well cause they are in the MM and your players may have read them how bout Neogi?

are those the monsters they ran wild with in the Spelljammer setting?