D&D 5E Drow "Sunlight Sensitivity" workarounds?

[Inchoroi]

Actually, there is a way around it without having to houserule things.

Firstly, take 3 levels of Warlock. Gets you a 2nd level spell slot, learn Darkness, and at 2nd level, learn the Devil's Sight invocation. You'll be able to pop off Darkness twice a short rest (and once a day from Racial ability at level 5, iirc), and not be bothered by the effect at all. And, if you're a melee character, take Pact of the Blade, to boot (or not; pact of the tome is awesome, too). You'll also have Eldritch Blast, one of the best cantrips out there.

 

[ccooke]

So the drow have agents on the surface, and thus they will have to have solved this problem. Here's a useful possibility that's a bit drowish:

Drow ointment of darkness.
Applied to the eyes, it alleviates all the effects of light sickness entirely for 60 minutes. It's a standard preparation, can be bought from Drow traders for the price of an Uncommon potion. On the surface, it's Rare. Quite hard to find, but not impossible.
It also gives you Darkvision 30' if you didn't already have it and makes you feel really alert - you have advantage in Wisdom(Perception) checks for the first minute.

One jar lasts for five uses.

It has a couple of side effects, though. For instance, if you use it twice in one day the duration falls to 55 minutes. In fact, the duration drops by five minutes for every dose you take after the first. Cumulative; for every two days you take no more than one dose, the duration extends by 5 minutes to a maximum of 60. Then there's the slight addictive qualities. If you ever go 24 hours without taking a dose, you need to make a Constitution saving throw with DC 5 plus the number of doses you have used in the previous week, or suffer withdrawal symptoms which manifest as a level of Exhaustion. The saving throw is repeated every day you do not use the ointment, potentially adding more levels of Exhaustion. If you use a dose of the ointment while suffering from withdrawal, the Exhaustion levels are removed at a rate of one every round.

 

[AmerginLiath]

I think of the "direct sunlight" thing as meaning "are you in shade/indoors or are you out in the open?" not "are there some clouds?" I'm actually technically on the albino spectrum, suffering (as do many of my family) from ocular albinism a.k.a the real-world version of Drow Sunlight Sensitivity (plus burning to a fine crisp even when it's partly cloudy or winter out, being a pale Irish-American guy to boot).

A Drow's eyes would be likely adjusted to absorb maximal light by, like mine, not having pigmentation on the back of the retina. As such, any outdoor daytime condition would be practically blinding to them. The pseudo-medieval conditions of indoor life in a D&D world – lit by candle, fire, or soft spell-light – would be dim enough for them (just as those in my family with this condition can handle rooms with low-wattage lights with no problem), and they'd have a benefit at absorbing light at night or underground.

While much of a Drow's abilities and nature are due to magic or such, that sunlight sensitivity really strikes me as environmental & racial. Drizz't could overcome it via the power of being a Mary Sue, but I think that DMs need to really consider the world-building issues around such things. What next – is a halfling, tired of being Small and deprived of large weapons, going to allowed to become Medium-sized?

 

[rjfTrebor]

I think of the "direct sunlight" thing as meaning "are you in shade/indoors or are you out in the open?" not "are there some clouds?" I'm actually technically on the albino spectrum, suffering (as do many of my family) from ocular albinism a.k.a the real-world version of Drow Sunlight Sensitivity (plus burning to a fine crisp even when it's partly cloudy or winter out, being a pale Irish-American guy to boot).

A Drow's eyes would be likely adjusted to absorb maximal light by, like mine, not having pigmentation on the back of the retina. As such, any outdoor daytime condition would be practically blinding to them. The pseudo-medieval conditions of indoor life in a D&D world – lit by candle, fire, or soft spell-light – would be dim enough for them (just as those in my family with this condition can handle rooms with low-wattage lights with no problem), and they'd have a benefit at absorbing light at night or underground.

While much of a Drow's abilities and nature are due to magic or such, that sunlight sensitivity really strikes me as environmental & racial. Drizz't could overcome it via the power of being a Mary Sue, but I think that DMs need to really consider the world-building issues around such things. What next – is a halfling, tired of being Small and deprived of large weapons, going to allowed to become Medium-sized?

sorry, i think drow are magical creatures, not albinos. i don't really thing the two things are relatable.

 

[Lackhand]

Thanks for the interesting conversation, guys; sorry I haven't been around.

It feels like there are a few schools of thought here around the "sunlight sensitivity" issue:

• I allow drow but their sunlight sensitivity is ontological; only way to remove it involves changing the nature of the character
• I don't allow drow in my campaign so it's not an issue
• Nothing wrong with a very expensive permanent magical item fixing it
• Nothing wrong with a consumable magical item/drug fixing it
• Just let them wear goggles/take a feat/tool proficiency!

My player isn't being cheesy; he asked if his character could be drow, and the next phase of my campaign is going to feature them heavily, so it made a lot of sense to have one in the party. Remember too, he isn't whining about the penalties; I'm looking for a way to give him an "out" that leaves him beholden to a drug habit, half-mad on fumes, or otherwise create a more interesting story than the goggles thing.

But it really seems to me like the goggles should work, even though they're cheap and boring.

For those who push for an expensive, rare, magical solution: why don't smoked-glass goggles work in your campaign?
Here are some reasons I can think of, please add more; I'm not really gripped by any of them.

• Drow eyes are sensitive specifically to sunlight's radiation, not merely bright light as bright as sunlight. No matter how attenuated, their eyes have difficulty seeing anything illuminated by direct/coherently reflected sunlight. This includes the moon itself, but not objects lit by the moon.
• It's not a vision thing, it's an exposure thing; drow are allergic to bright light and tear up/their sight blurs; wearing bulky total coverage suits will prevent this but that's an armor with which they are not proficient.
• Nobody in the campaign world has enough skill to create optics-level glass or slotted wooden masks.
• DM fiat. Getting this sort of goggle is as obtrusive as inventing the printing press or gunpowder (or whatever), and you can't do it in the interest of keeping the game going.

What else?

 

[Hand of Evil]

1) Wilderness - some forest are dark, not what you would call bright sunlight.
2) They play the race, you take the bad with the good.
3) Magic item - got to think drow (at least high levels ones) would have items to move around during daylight.

 

[Falling Icicle]

There was a spell in the FR setting called cloak of dark power that protected drow from sunlight. Here's my 5e conversion of the spell, in case you're interested:

Cloak of Dark Power
1st-level abjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Components: V, S
Range: Touch
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
A willing creature you touch is shrouded by a dusky haze for the duration. The haze doesn't interfere with vision, but the target and anything it wears or carries is protected from sunlight, even under the open, daytime sky of the surface world. The target suffers no penalties from sunlight sensitivity and has advantage on saving throws against spells and effects that produce light or deal radiant damage.

 

[Kobold Stew]

[*]Just let them wear goggles/take a feat/tool proficiency!

I think you are eliding an awful lot in pairing these two together -- they are not at all the same thing.

Goggles are a (comparatively trivial) in-world solution to the problem.
Feats are an (expensive) mechanical solution to the problem, and serve as a balancing mechanism.

If I had argued for either of these, I'd be distressed to see them paired. I side, however, with the feat solution -- by removing the only significant penalty for the player in choosing the race, you are actively punishing your other players (in my opinion). There should be some consequences and balancing mechanisms to the decision to play any race.

I'm looking for a way to give him an "out" that leaves him beholden to a drug habit, half-mad on fumes, or otherwise create a more interesting story than the goggles thing.

The ideas from [MENTION=6695890]ccooke[/MENTION] in post 32 are relevant here, but potentially campaign-shifting, as an addict seeking a rare magical item will likely be disappointed quickly.

 

[was]

Given that drow favor herbalism and poison usage, I'd suggest an alchemical concoction. It might have some negative drawbacks, such as negating all darkvision. Make the herbs rare, or expensive, and maybe addictive.

 

[Lackhand]

...
Feats are an (expensive) mechanical solution to the problem, and serve as a balancing mechanism.

If I had argued for either of these, I'd be distressed to see them paired. I side, however, with the feat solution -- by removing the only significant penalty for the player in choosing the race, you are actively punishing your other players (in my opinion). There should be some consequences and balancing mechanisms to the decision to play any race.

Granted I went a bit far lumping all of the mundane solutions together (gear/gear with in-world training cost/enormous training cost in rare level-based resources), am I to read this as "Goggles don't work by GM fiat"? That's fine and it's a way out of my conundrum, but I find it unsatisfying.

[MENTION=6695890]ccooke[/MENTION]'s idea: helpful, but a similar "shape" to offering a drug like Villein from the OP. I don't object and very much like this take on the idea, but I still am looking for a justification to nix goggles beyond fiat.

It won't ruin my game to have this character running around with an unfair extra 60' of darkvision. The whole problem is that they don't go out at night enough; the rest of the party lacking his nocturnal vision leaves it pretty limiting. He's not going to dethrone anyone as scout. In a dungeon, corners will get in the way 95% of the time, and the other 5% the party will find out about the other end of the corridor early.

That just leaves the spellcasting; he's already a sorceror so the marginal utility of the spells, especially those spells, is pretty limited.

My question, as ever, is not "Drow or not?" or "Goggles or not?"; I guess what I'm trying to ask is "in-game, why not goggles?"