I found this comment about the Drow over on the WotC website and found it interesting to hear, after all those debates we used to see about the frequency of Drow PCs. I have no idea how old this article is, so please don't flame me about how "everyone" knows about this already.
The link is: right here.
R.A. Salvatore's Thoughts on the Drow: Past, Present, and Future
The beauty of the drow is that they're supposed to remain mysterious. They've got a veil of mystery over them that makes them beautiful and ultimately deadly. They're supposed to be among the primary antagonists in the various D&D worlds. When an adventuring party sees a dark elf, they're supposed to be afraid. They're supposed to be looking over their shoulders or squinting nervously at every shadow. That's how we play the dark elves in our D&D game here.
This will sound strange, I know, but I'm almost a bit saddened by the success of Drizzt. He was the "different" drow, but because of his popularity, others are emulating him more and more. Why does that make me sad? I fear for the integrity of the evil drow race as antagonist. I fear that gamers will adventure into the depths and see a dark elf and ask, "Does he have purple eyes?" instead of cowering in fear. I know that this lifting of the veil of mystery is a logical evolution of the race in a game that becomes more and more detailed, but I can't help but feel that something was lost in the process. Elves like the drow are as common as the typical surface elf in games like EverQuest now.
As a consultant on War of the Spider Queen books, I feel that my role in the series is that of an editor of tone. I try to make sure that the dark elves do not simply become like everyone else, only with different physical features. Drow have to think differently all the time. And even though Wizards of the Coast is doing a series about the drow culture and gods, we have to try to keep that veil of mystery as tightly drawn as possible.
The link is: right here.
R.A. Salvatore's Thoughts on the Drow: Past, Present, and Future
The beauty of the drow is that they're supposed to remain mysterious. They've got a veil of mystery over them that makes them beautiful and ultimately deadly. They're supposed to be among the primary antagonists in the various D&D worlds. When an adventuring party sees a dark elf, they're supposed to be afraid. They're supposed to be looking over their shoulders or squinting nervously at every shadow. That's how we play the dark elves in our D&D game here.
This will sound strange, I know, but I'm almost a bit saddened by the success of Drizzt. He was the "different" drow, but because of his popularity, others are emulating him more and more. Why does that make me sad? I fear for the integrity of the evil drow race as antagonist. I fear that gamers will adventure into the depths and see a dark elf and ask, "Does he have purple eyes?" instead of cowering in fear. I know that this lifting of the veil of mystery is a logical evolution of the race in a game that becomes more and more detailed, but I can't help but feel that something was lost in the process. Elves like the drow are as common as the typical surface elf in games like EverQuest now.
As a consultant on War of the Spider Queen books, I feel that my role in the series is that of an editor of tone. I try to make sure that the dark elves do not simply become like everyone else, only with different physical features. Drow have to think differently all the time. And even though Wizards of the Coast is doing a series about the drow culture and gods, we have to try to keep that veil of mystery as tightly drawn as possible.