Are we sick of the Drow yet?

[hong]

I think nearly anything can be made new, exciting, and interesting again if you apply a little bit of imagination to it.

If I can develop my initial ideas a little bit, I may well end up using dark elves in my upcoming campaign - but they won't be drow.

I like the idea of a cruel, dangerous society of scheming longlived bastards, but reading this thread gave me an idea; if I place them in my world, they will probably live in a single metropolis carved in a spiral pattern out of the side of a tall, frozen mountain peak.

Been reading the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, Chris?

 

[VirgilCaine]

I was running a game and my players were laughing at the stats of the Drow in the MM and after hearing how bad ass they were they kept laughing. These guys were fairly new and didn't read a lot of novels and such so I threw a party of Drow, CR1 critters mind you, at them when they were 5th level. They had their ASSES handed to them. All but the Cleric died and he only succeeded after I reminded him he had a light spell. Now they bow to the drow, especially my drow. My critters are nasty buggers anyway...

Jason

So, how'd you do it?

 

[Imperialus]

I had a player play a Drow once. He lasted one session, it basically went like this.

As you pass through the gate of the city one of the guards notices a black skinned white haired elf. A shout goes up and you find yourself surrounded by a ring of steel.

Drow player: "I'm good! I have turned my back on the evil ways of my people and wish to live together in harmo..."

Guard: "Yeah right" *stab hack maim* The guard who killed him ended up turning his head into the local lord for a substancial bounty at which point it had gentle repose cast on it and was displayed on the front gate for all to see untill the spell wore off.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

I had a player play a Drow once. He lasted one session, it basically went like this.

As you pass through the gate of the city one of the guards notices a black skinned white haired elf. A shout goes up and you find yourself surrounded by a ring of steel.

Drow player: "I'm good! I have turned my back on the evil ways of my people and wish to live together in harmo..."

Guard: "Yeah right" *stab hack maim* The guard who killed him ended up turning his head into the local lord for a substancial bounty at which point it had gentle repose cast on it and was displayed on the front gate for all to see untill the spell wore off.

If you didn't want a drow in the game why did you let him waste time making the character in the first place?

Passive aggressive, object lesson DMing isn't very productive, or very fun for players.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I voted 1, but only because it's the "I'm not sick of them at all" option.

Then again, Drizzt isn't that bad, it's the hordes of people who copy that character that are bad (but, on the other hand, all the characters that only differ in name from Merlin, Gandalf, Aragorn, whatever, aren't any better)

It's more the type of gamers who love drow I'd say. The same type who always wanted to play a good vampire, a heroic paladin half-demon, a werewolf (as soon as they can change shape at will)...

I have to add that I'm not one of those who say "I want to play a drow, but I want to play a LG Drow Paladin of Tyr". Evil drow are a world of fun - and of course, they are only usable in a campaign where all the players are evil (or at least non-good).

And there's another good concept that is often forgotten: The CN drow. Purely chaotic. Not one of those black-skinned paladins like Drizzt, no homicidal maniac. He may show cruelty from time to time, but he won't kill children for kicks. Have him fight for people's freedom (chaotic alignment is associated with freedom), but with every kill, he loudly declares that he kills for Vhaeraun, the Dark Liberator. People are far too concerned with good versus evil. Law and chaos make good adversaries, too.

 

[langolas]

They were cool back in the day of G3 and the Fiend Folio.

But haven't we had enough now?

Edit: SHARE the reason for your drow loathing/love/ambivalence/apathy!!!

I like the concept of the drow, I just hate how every Drow character seems to come across as a Drizt knock off. Escapes the underdark, fights for good, is moody and stays away from everyone.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Would the people who despise drow be so openly against a drow cleric/sworddancer of Eilistraee?

Yes! I think Eilistraee is a stupid concept, and if I ever run FR she will be the first deity to die!

Or a Neutral drow Vhaerunite Rogue,looking out for number one?

As long as he's an NPC... and not a Vhaerunite, but an atheist like any other drow male.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I once loved drow, in fact I like the drow of Greyhawk, but the FR over-exposure has turned me against them. I want them to be still mysterious, still below the earth, and in my Greyhawk campaign don't worship their own gigantic pantheon, but venerate demon princes and lords. Lolth, in my Greyhawk campaign, is still only a demon-queen.

That said, I far prefer the shadow elves of Mystara's to drow. They "seem" evil, but they are willing to play the game of realpolitik with good nations. They have a far more alien aspect to them than drow do.


Regards,
Eric Anondson

 

[Knightfall]

There are no drow IMC. The role of the evil elves is more than aptly filled by High Elves. People who call themselves the "High whatever" just reek of arrogant villainy.

Like Gez, there are no drow IMC. Well, sort of...

The closest thing to 'true' drow I have in my homebrew, World of Kulan, are the Nevae from Mystic Eye Games Bluffside campaign book.

The nevae came to be in the ancient past when a civilization of drow, from another world, tried to invade the Underearth of Kulan, but were beaten back/slaughtered by a coalition of evil Underearth races. Those that escaped into the depths of the Underearth were too few in number to survive on their own and were soon hunted down by the gray dwarves and the morlocks (from Bastards & Bloodlines by Green Ronin).

However, a few hundred drow escaped to the surface where they met a society of high elves that were willing to accept them. Eventually the two societies merged to the point where the drow ceased to exist as a 'true' race. Now the nevae live amongst the high elves, but often choose the wandering lifestyle.

Nevae that mate with high elves, or each other, produce nevae young. Nevae cannot breed with other elven races.

The nevae are restricted to one region on one continent on my world, near where I've placed Bluffside.

Cheers!

KF72

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Been reading the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, Chris?

Never even heard of it.