D&D 5E Playing a Drow

[Sunseeker]

Reflavor "Drow" to "dark elf" and suddenly the burden of the race is a lot lighter on the game.

But really, stay out of bright sunlight and you're good. If you're in a heavy dungeon crawling game, you'll be awesome. If you're in a more sandboxy world-exploring game, I'd probably pass.

 

[GainVanquish]

I know it's new to you, but it's old news a lot of other players/GM. A "drizzt wannabe" will make a lot of people shudder.

Which book did you read btw? There are some other cool character concept in those books



excellent point. If you can understand what it is that you want from this character - it may not be strictly necessary to be a drow.

Think it was the first in the series

Homeland. I liked the character Zac and even Masoj

The point about the character I enjoyed was his internal struggle with the Drow way of life and his hatred of Lolth

 

[Ancalagon]

Have you read Crystal Shard yet?

As far as hatred of his heritage, that doesn't have to be drow specific - a half-orc can have just as strong feelings.

 

[GainVanquish]

Have you read Crystal Shard yet?

As far as hatred of his heritage, that doesn't have to be drow specific - a half-orc can have just as strong feelings.

Not as yet. This was my first. Needless to say i shall read on. Would the Half-Orc have the same consequence of that of a Drow by dishonouring/disobeying his/hers family. I dont have much knowledge of their race or lore

 

[Ancalagon]

The orc's family structure is much more chaotic, as they tend to live in nomadic tribes vs large underground cities. Consequences/punishment will probably lack subtlety - beatings, leading all the way up to exile.

 

[Ancalagon]

Oh, Homeland (and the entire Dark Elf Trilogy) is the first Drizzt story in chronological order, but it was actually published after Crystal Shard (and the Icewind Dale trilogy). I recommend reading both trilogies.

 

[Irennan]

Hi Oracles of D&D

Starting a new campaign shortly that haven't had to much detail of the setting. I really want to make a Drow Character. Have you had much experience? What if the campaign is not in the underdark? How should I deal with the light issues?

Thanks

As other people have said, the consequences of being a drow heavily depend on the setting. In the Realms, according to the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, a drow generally still is reason of alarm (as of the 1490s DR), but exposure to the race (many drow have settled in the surface in that setting, or turned away from Lolth, with time) and to the fact that not all dark elves worship Lolth, has made them more accepted and not ''kill on sight''. It of course depends on the region of the Forgotten Realms: some may be more tolerant, others way less (for example, in regions like Dambrath drow are fairly common).

If you're playing FR, you should also know that Lolth isn't the only drow deity, and that her two children--Eilistraee and Vhaeraun--fight to free the drow from her tyranny, so you might want to take them into account.

 

[GreenTengu]

As other people have said, the consequences of being a drow heavily depend on the setting. In the Realms, according to the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, a drow generally still is reason of alarm (as of the 1490s DR), but exposure to the race (many drow have settled in the surface in that setting, or turned away from Lolth, with time) and to the fact that not all dark elves worship Lolth, has made them more accepted and not ''kill on sight''. It of course depends on the region of the Forgotten Realms: some may be more tolerant, others way less (for example, in regions like Dambrath drow are fairly common).

If you're playing FR, you should also know that Lolth isn't the only drow deity, and that her two children--Eilistraee and Vhaeraun--fight to free the drow from her tyranny, so you might want to take them into account.

Yeah, I mentioned the really lame contrivances that the designers made in order to make playing Drow easier and utterly ruining what they were really about.

Can you imagine Gruumsh having a son whose goal was to lead his people towards living in harmony with all the people of the world and turning them into pacifist farmers?

Or Maglubiyet having a daughter who as all about freeing the goblin peoples and leading them towards a peaceful existence of urban construction and scientific discovery?

But, no.... out of the 128 different subraces of elves, precisely 1 is evil aligned and they have to go and ruin that because you cannot possibly have an attractive race that is actually evil by default. Not without ruining it.

Anyone using those options is not playing a Drow. They are just playing a dark skinned elf. And if you just want to play a dark skinned elf, then play a Wood Elf and just note that you come from a dark skinned tribe of them. Don't claim you are playing a Drow and gut it of all meaning by removing every feature that makes it at all different from a standard high elf.

 

[Irennan]

Yeah, I mentioned the really lame contrivances that the designers made in order to make playing Drow easier and utterly ruining what they were really about.

Can you imagine Gruumsh having a son whose goal was to lead his people towards living in harmony with all the people of the world and turning them into pacifist farmers?

Or Maglubiyet having a daughter who as all about freeing the goblin peoples and leading them towards a peaceful existence of urban construction and scientific discovery?

But, no.... out of the 128 different subraces of elves, precisely 1 is evil aligned and they have to go and ruin that because you cannot possibly have an attractive race that is actually evil by default. Not without ruining it.

Anyone using those options is not playing a Drow. They are just playing a dark skinned elf. And if you just want
to play a dark skinned elf, then play a Wood Elf and just note that you come from a dark skinned tribe of them. Don't claim you are playing a Drow and gut it of all meaning by removing every feature that makes it at all different from a standard high elf.

Eilistraee and Vhaeraun actually fit very well in the Realms. If you read the wiki pages, you'll find out that they haven't been just ''tacked on'', as they are fully part of the history of the elves and the drow in the setting, which is far different from that in GH (and is far more nuanced than it is there--the ''drow vs elves'' matter is definitely not black and white in the Realms). They are children of Lolth and Corellon (when Lolth was a dark elven deity of fate named Araushnee, before her banishment), and they wandered among the dark elves of Toril before Lolth's worship was even practiced there (it was a chain of events, that ironically heavily involved the elves, that drew Lolth's attention to Toril and made her prominent). Both Eilistraee and Vhaeraun have a well defined role and place in the Realms, they actually have a deep relationship with the drow, and are iconic to the realmsian version of this race.

''But they have been added to make Drizzt clones''... well, first off their concept and goals are far different from Drizzt (Vhaeraun is even evil aligned), secondly they have been part of Ed Greenwood's vision of the drow in his world even before TSR asked him to introduce new drow deities. Followers of Eilistraee and Vhaeraun are also known to not just be, as you put it, elves in disguise--even the followers of the Dark Maiden are nuanced, as while they try to respect the teachings of their goddess, they are still very much ''drow'', and many are proud of what they are (and Eilistraee also stands for freedom of expression and choice, she doesn't want to impose a change to the drow: she wants them to be at peace with other races, sure, but she actually helps them to find their own path in life, instead of being forced into a mold by Lolth). Besides, think about it: to my knowledge, the first time that the *realmsian* drow were explored as a race/culture was with ''The Drow of the Underdark'' in 2e, which already included the whole drow pantheon.

Also, in FR it doesn't make sense for the drow to be entirely evil, specifically because of their history. They can normally choose, and it is very far fetched for an intelligent race with free choice to be all the same, and wholly accept the really crappy life that Lolth imposes them. In short, drow aren't the same in all settings. Eilistraee and Vhaeraun don't exist in GH, for example, and Lolth doesn't exist in Eberron. It's the reason why multiple settings exist.

On a side note, FR has a group of orcs, called Ondonti, that are worshipers of Eldath, and are actually pacifist farmers.

 

[Waterbizkit]

The best advice in this thread thus far has been to discuss this ahead of time with your DM and possibly even consider doing so with the other players as well. Don't let naysayers in this thread or elsewhere dissuade you from playing the character you want to. The point of this game to to have fun with those you play with so your feelings and those of the people you'll be playing with are the only opinions that matter.

I've played my fair share of Drow over the years, none of them nice characters however, and DM'd plenty as well. As others have said how much impact the choice to play a Drow will actually make will come down to you and your DM, anything else said on the matter is purely anecdotal. I certainly have no problem letting my players play Drow, but as this thread shows it may be an issue at some tables. So sit down with your DM, discuss why you want to play the character, hash out some details and see where the conversation takes you.