Drow question

[fl8m]

ok i was looking up drow in the forgotten realms book and noticed it said "Racial Abilities: Drow have all the elven racial traits listed on page 16 of the players handbook except as follows." etc.. now upon looking on page 16 i found this. "Proficient with either longsword or rapier; proficient with shortbow, lonbow, composite longbow, and composite shortbow. Elves esteem the arts of swordplay and archery, so all evles are familiar with thes weapons.

heh, enough of that..
my question would be does that actually mean all drow can use bows? i thought they used crossbows almost exclusively.
I guess this (as with almost everything) could come down to an "if your dm says so" situation, but i'm wondering if that's really what the developers meant to happen.

 

[Mr Fidgit]

... i'm wondering if that's really what the developers meant to happen.

it could have been an omission...

you're right, though. since no Drow ability supersedes it, they are proficient with elf weapons.

i think the crossbow use is because crossbows would work better in the cramped tunnels of the Underdark since they're so much smaller than, say, a longbow

 

[Valmur_Dwur]

Of course you could think of my Drow in my World of Greyhawk The first test Lolth gets you to do is find hate in your little Elven heart and do some seriously bad things Then you journey from the lighted realms above ground and face tests along the way to the city of the Drow. If you have made your heart hard and your place first Lolth MIGHT change your skin to match the darkness within you. Of course you also might have to first take the dreaded Drider test before you become one of the evil elves but that's just IMC

 

[hammymchamham]

Check out the FR errata. Drow are profecient with Raipers and Scimitars and some types of bows. I don't have my book in front of me, but the FR errata has what weapons Drow automatically get

 

[Mr Fidgit]

you're right hammymchamham, i just went and downloaded it...

"Proficient with either rapier or short sword, proficient with hand crossbow and light crossbow. This replaces the standard elven weapon proficiencies."

so it was an omission!

 

[hammymchamham]

Yep. I'm just glad I have the 2nd printing of FRCS. No need to worry about getting the Errata

 

[fl8m]

thanks, i never even thought to look at the errata