"Dark" elves, a pseudo-biological explanation.

[LightPhoenix]

I though that like other elves just randomly change into a subrace every few months, so they are just another kind of elf

There's definitely a biological precedent for that. Lots of amphibians can actually switch genders... so switching "races" wouldn't be all that much of a stretch at all.

 

[ruleslawyer]

Since when do dark elves have pitch black skin? I've always thought it was just a dark, slightly-purple grey color.

Since D1-2 at least, where mentions of drow skin color as "obsidian" are frequent. Newer sources have continued that trend; all the drow in the Drizzt books, for instance, have jet-black skin.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Since when do dark elves have pitch black skin? I've always thought it was just a dark, slightly-purple grey color.

Since D1-2 at least, where mentions of drow skin color as "obsidian" are frequent. Newer sources have continued that trend; all the drow in the Drizzt books, for instance, have jet-black skin.

On the other hand, it is harder for artists to depict them in this way. A lot of colored illustrations do, indeed, have the coloration Ranger Wickett describes.

 

[Nightfall]

Just so we're clear. I like Dark Elves so long as they a) Have a Golem God. b) Are LE. c) Enjoy tatoos and sorcery d) Hate spiders.