Are we sick of the Drow yet?

[William Ronald]

Tired of Forgotten Realms style drow, who aren't nearly wicked and depraved enough for my tastes. Even my Forgotten Realms Drow are more like Greyhawk-style drow - much more wicked and efficient. For one thing, they win.

In a campaign that I was in for a long time, there were two drow of particular note. One was an NPC (former PC) drow priestess of the Earth Mother, who was lawful neutral and seemed to embody that ethos. (Lived according to the letter of the law, but if you threatened her, she would be as methodical as a Roman general in eliminating anyone associated with you.) The other, a female neutral cleric was somewhat more benign, but could be vicious to her enemies. (These characters began in the old Unearthed Arcana days of the 1980s.)

An interesting aspect of that campaign was that both of the characters had trading ties to their houses, and would ship surface goods such as food, wood, and manufactured items for trade in ores and other items. This had the result of influencing some drow to become more neutral in their outlook. Mind you, the evil drow were much closer to Eclavdra than the Forgotten Realms drow. A trip to a drow city, even where there were allies, was something the players looked forward to about as much as a root canal.

One possible solution to the issue of the drow is to have them follow more than one diety, and not all of the deities need malignant. Deities of earth, travel, craftsmanship, and wealth might appeal to some drow. (If you are living in solid earth, a deity of earth might be attractive.) The result could be several different communities, so that shooting a drow on sight may no longer be the best option. ("You idiot! We had just started trade negotiations with them!")

 

[Desdichado]

Publish a "Drowonomicon" as fast as you can and you'll make me the happiest little gamer out there!

It's called Plot & Poison by Green Ronin. Check it out!

 

[Arnwyn]

I'm most certainly not sick of them. Since the beginning, I've always used drow very carefully, with great consideration on how they will affect my game. There's still loads of life in them, and they will never see overuse IMC.

(IMO, anyone who's "sick" of them has only themselves, or their crappy DMs, to blame. YMMV.)

 

[Desdichado]

I'm most certainly not sick of them. Since the beginning, I've always used drow very carefully, with great consideration on how they will affect my game. There's still loads of life in them, and they will never see overuse IMC.

(IMO, anyone who's "sick" of them has only themselves, or their crappy DMs, to blame. YMMV.)

Or, quite possibly, crappy game fiction. But I've been lucky enough to avoid most of that.

 

[reddist]

I wasn't TRULY sick of them until just last month. I drove out to McPherson, Kansas to run a one-night game for the 16 yr old son of the surgeon my wife is doing a rotation with (she's in medschool, dontcha know).

Anyhoo, after I agreed to run a game for these teenagers, the kid, sort of the leader for this group, was emailing me wanting to know if he could play a drow ranger who turned his back on the ways of his evil kin and went top-side to get away from it all, then he started asking me about rules re: dual wielding scimitars, and if'd I'd smack him with light sensitivity.

I mean, C'MON! Granted, this kid may have just recently discovered Drizzt and all, but enough is enough.

Still, I figured it as a one-off, he thought it'd be fun to play a drow, so I eventually let him, but not with out some good-natured ribbing. It turned out to be a pretty fun evening. A group of 15-16 yr olds have a very different perspective on what makes a night of D&D "fun," compared to my usual group of 30-something professionals.

-Reddist

 

[Kalendraf]

The key for me has always been moderation. Since my 1e days, I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've used Drow as enemies. Since I seldomly use them, they remain interesting and exotic in those rare instances when I do use them.

If I had parties exploring the underdark on a regular basis, then I would certainly include far more drow. But they just don't make much to be used as antagonists in most of the adventures I do run.

So ignore the hype. Just because everyone seems to push Drow your way doesn't mean you need to use them.

 

[threshel]

I voted kinda. I'm definitely sick of the Lolth-worshipping kind, and have rarely used them in a campaign. I played a couple back in 2E, and had my fill back then. However, since 3E there's been some fairly neat options in FR for non-Lolth drow, and I think any villian is only as good as the DM makes it. Used well, any villain, drow or not, can be great fun. I look at them as any other race in that respect: just a component of the NPC individual that I'm creating.
As PC's, though, I've had my fill. Nothing pleases me more than playing a character that couldn't care less whether the elf in disguise is a drow. I've actually had players suggest that maybe I didn't hear them correctly.
I like playing characters that react to individuals rather than races, and in that respect, it has allowed me to have a little fun with the angsty ones.

J

 

[Khayman]

I can't vote twice against the drow, can I?
Dang fair polls.

 

[kerakus]

Love them Drow...I've changed their "origin" story in my campaign though...Lolth, Laduguer, and other underdark deities were good once...they all volunteered to take their followers to the underdark to protect a deep dark underground secret...ages later, the reasons behind their exile to the underdark have been forgotten and many of the underdark races, like Drow and Duergar, have turned evil and taken their gods with them.

So, as long as you keep them fresh, drow and any other race can still be interesting.

Q

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

I still like the drow, but that's partially because I've used them sparingly in campaigns I've run, encountered them only infrequently in games I've played, and studiously avoided reading the novels which center on them.

I am sick of the drow fever which sprung up around them, because I think many of the ways they were developed diluted their core concept - ie; the depraved supermodels of villainy. It's cool for those that like the changes, but it wasn't my bag, baby.

Some of the concepts I rely upon in my games were written up in the Encylopedia Arcana: Drow Magic book I wrote for Mongoose. Lots of spideryness, depraved ceremonies, a fanatical devotion to the corruption of the weak (other elves), and so on and so forth.

Patrick Y.