Enough is enough: Let's do something about Driizzt do'Urden

[steeldragons]

This is true...but at least the people here, who might actually use it, would see it/him/her.

If we were serious about trying to "sell"/disseminate the character to hundreds of thousands of readers...I'm sure there's enough talent around here to get a story or two published...someplace.

And if not...so what? Was just a thought for a fun collaborative exercise.

But...it's getting late in my corner of the world...so you guys hash out whatever you want (or don't).

 

[Oryan77]

Can we call him J.R.R. Token? (Been wanting to do that myself...)

Can he have an old Dwarf Cleric sidekick by the name of Bud the Wiser? That's always been my favorite name.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In the same campaign as my Drizzt predecessor, I also ran other PCs, including his younger bro- Ftr/Ass (heh)- sent to track him down & kill him, but who eventually became his ally, and a diminutive female Drow Ftr/MU/Th.

I'm proposing her as a possible Drizzt replacement...to atmleast start the ball rolling:

She was a 2WF, emphasizing speed over all else: Boots of Speed, 2 Katars of Speed, Haste, light armor- a few times per day, she could get up to 14 attacks in a single round. Besides Haste, her spells were about anti-spellcaster tactics, like that spell energy-absorbing spell that the caster could then use to power her own arcane attacks.

In 3.X with it's stacking rules, I'd see her as a BttlSorc/Spellthief, still a 2WF with paired Boots &.Katars of Speed; still using Haste.

Add Expeditious Retreat to her list.

Beyond the spell thievery, I'd probably add Spellfire Wielder, since arcane energy judo was a major schtick for her.

Other tweaks could include a dip into Soulknife for remaking her weapons as ShSwds of Speed that can't be disarmed.

 

[steeldragons]

Ok. Cool.

So we have a female, neutral, 2WF and spellcaster.

Good start. I like/think the magic use is more "quintessential" drow...given their innate magical ability.

But do we want to replace the dual-scimitar wielder with a dual-short swords wielder?

 

[Neonchameleon]

"Good drow with two scimitars" is far worse than "Elf with bow" or "Dwarf with axe" for two obvious reasons. The first is "Good drow" - this means he's a renegade from his kind, disliked on sight by all civilised species - and disliked by his own species. You've filled in a lot of detail here. A better equivalent to good drow isn't "Elf" but "Runaway elven princess" or rather than human is "Farmboy, driven off his land by a corrupt noble" - position in society, reason to be no longer where he is and adventuring, dislike for original society.

And then there's the weapons. Neither "Elf with bow" nor "Dwarf with axe" says much more (if indeed any more) than "Human with sword". But two scimitars is a very specific combination - at that point it becomes not just "Human with sword" but "Human with rapier and empty hand". Actually, it's worse. Scimitars are long weapons and balanced to be primary. You need to be ambidextrous to pull that off. "Human with rapier and cloak who is not left handed". It gets even worse. Double scimitars are long and slightly unwieldy and would trip your balance unless you are a real combat wombat. It nails down that our drow is a warrior of some description as his profession. And warrior is about as specific as pirate.

This means that "Good drow with twin scimitars" is almost as specific a character concept as "Farmboy, driven off his land by a corrupt noble who became a pirate and now fights with rapier and empty hand - and is not left handed."

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well, since she's a 2WF, and whose melee tactic revolves around Combat Reflexes (and/or possibly Combat Expertise, or some such)- "death of 1000 cuts"- build in 3.X, she's going to need 2 smallish weapons. We could go exotic, though.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

How about a double-weapon? There's plenty of choices.

Given her general sneakiness...how about a kusarigama?

 

[fireinthedust]

Wait: Daughter of the Drow series. Minor FR character, but also had a series of books. Female, MU/fighter. Ran away from Drizzt's enemy house, Baenre, I believe, took up with a Barbarian on the surface, and the witches of Rashemen.

So it's been done like this, and apparently didn't work.


I think we'd need to redefine the drow before getting to the individual character. Drizzt is a type more than a drow, perhaps, in that he's the bad guy gone good.


Also: an earlier point, I'd like to say that Raistlin is a rip off of Elric of Melnibonay, who is the quintessential jerk-mage. In fact, he's the halfway point between Raistlin and Drizzt, being a swordsman who's a jerk mage, and wields a deadly blade (in his case Stormbringer, the devourerer of souls).

If we're going to make a different drow archetype, we need to find an existing awesome existing character and water it down with D&D-isms.

Therefore I suggest we rip off Charles Dickens and Xena Warrior Princess: Scrooge with boobs.

She also loves vampires, who haunt her nights because of her checkered past as a rogue swindler. Her Tru Luv can be called Edvard. Somehow as a drow she's the only way he can walk in the sunlight. Her power is healing shadows for lonely undead or something.

 

[fireinthedust]

oooo, let's make her left-handed! That can be her thing!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

oooo, let's make her left-handed! That can be her thing!

And either an albino or hyper-pigmented!