Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Gamehole Con Live Tweeting Perkins Panel
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Patrick McGill" data-source="post: 6434029" data-attributes="member: 6749334"><p>I will say that I share Imaro's opinions on the Drow issue. Especially when you understand where they've come from creatively.</p><p></p><p>I am a huge fan of Robert E. Howard, and Sword and Sorcery from that era. One unfortunate aspect of that era's pulp fantasy, however, was the use of race as a way to label things as not good. Howard did this a lot, with plenty of black skinned people being shown as being everything from near ape-like savages to vile sorcerers of necrotic aspect. I absolutely think the drow stem from this, because their culture and bronze-early iron age thematic feel are exactly like what came from those sorts of Sword and Sorcery stories. Perhaps not purposefully on Gygax's part, but the similarities are way too much to not even consider, especially since these are the very stories that he drew his inspiration for D&D from.</p><p></p><p>On the other hand, despite their origin (benign or not), the simple fact is the idea of a dark skinned race being evil through and through is problematic with me in general; even worse that such a race is a matriarchy!</p><p></p><p>Now the full disclosure: I love the idea of the Forgotten Realms drow, I love their culture and themes and how original they feel next to generic fantasy. I know women who love the drow for their female dominated society. My wish is that the drow be rewritten to be more realistic as a society. Controlled by an evil cult, but not evil because they're born, but slaves to Lolth under a heavy burden. The dynamics of a morally gray take on the drow question would make for far more interesting stories, dispel the awkwardness of skin colored morality, and provide more opportunities for players to play them as a race and not have to come up with some crazy reason why they're not totally evil through and through. Detailing out more of drow culture, especially those cults and temples that weren't dedicated to Lloth, would make them far more 3 dimensional.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Patrick McGill, post: 6434029, member: 6749334"] I will say that I share Imaro's opinions on the Drow issue. Especially when you understand where they've come from creatively. I am a huge fan of Robert E. Howard, and Sword and Sorcery from that era. One unfortunate aspect of that era's pulp fantasy, however, was the use of race as a way to label things as not good. Howard did this a lot, with plenty of black skinned people being shown as being everything from near ape-like savages to vile sorcerers of necrotic aspect. I absolutely think the drow stem from this, because their culture and bronze-early iron age thematic feel are exactly like what came from those sorts of Sword and Sorcery stories. Perhaps not purposefully on Gygax's part, but the similarities are way too much to not even consider, especially since these are the very stories that he drew his inspiration for D&D from. On the other hand, despite their origin (benign or not), the simple fact is the idea of a dark skinned race being evil through and through is problematic with me in general; even worse that such a race is a matriarchy! Now the full disclosure: I love the idea of the Forgotten Realms drow, I love their culture and themes and how original they feel next to generic fantasy. I know women who love the drow for their female dominated society. My wish is that the drow be rewritten to be more realistic as a society. Controlled by an evil cult, but not evil because they're born, but slaves to Lolth under a heavy burden. The dynamics of a morally gray take on the drow question would make for far more interesting stories, dispel the awkwardness of skin colored morality, and provide more opportunities for players to play them as a race and not have to come up with some crazy reason why they're not totally evil through and through. Detailing out more of drow culture, especially those cults and temples that weren't dedicated to Lloth, would make them far more 3 dimensional. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Gamehole Con Live Tweeting Perkins Panel
Top