D&D 5E How are Drow viewed in the 5E Forgotten Realms?

[Al2O3]

Since they have been made into a PHB race they are no longer on the "shot on sight" level. There are also a bunch of more or less outcasts by now (I guess the drow mercenaries from novels you might have read among them) who have made it more reasonable that you might be given a chance. If you are using the story hook from LMoP I would suggest that you talk to the DM and the Wood Elf player about Gundren Rockseeker or Sildar Hallwinter having checked around and heard that your character seems fine for a drow. So while the first few nights on the road might have been tense, by now all the party should know that they can probably trust you.

Regarding tieflings: they are assumed by some to have a tendency for becoming Devil cultists or generally be up to no good. There is a saying about tieflings that goes "one's a curiosity, two's a conspiracy, three's a curse".

Overall I guess that when they are an obvious part of an adventuring group there is no big difference between how people treat a drow, a tiefling or a half-orc.

 

[Azurewraith]

Just prove your self to be a good drow word will get round. Saying all drow are evil is like saying all Americans are fat all Brits posh and all French cowards. Prove them wrong.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

As stated by a Good Goblin in a Drizzt short story. Drow are more easily accepted then creatures like Goblins, due to their beautiful and exotic appearance, combined with the fact that the majority of surface dwelling humanoids while they may have heard stories have never seen or suffered at the hand of a drow.

Goblinoids meanwhile are a constant threat to surface dwellers and are not considered attractive to most humanoids.

 

[Wyckedemus]

I absolutely loved that story "Dark Mirror". It choked me up big time. It was originally in "Realms of Valor" anthology, and it was also in "The Legend of Drizzt: The Collected Stories" anthology. I highly recommend the Collected Stories, especially the Audible version that is narrated by an all-star cast. Dan Harmon narrated Dark Mirror, and he was great.

 

[I'm A Banana]

So, how can we make this work, whilst still allowing the Wood Elf player to be true to his race? Personally I like the roleplaying side of things but when it comes down to it, I’m happy to bend in-game realism a little to make things work from a game perspective. So if I was the Wood Elf player, I’d have my Wood Elf be at least willing to give the Dark Elf the benefit of the doubt, whilst letting him know that I’d be keeping my eye on him.

However, I know that the Wood Elf player would like to try and remain true to his PC’s character, even if that means that doesn’t completely fit with the group. He doesn’t do this in a problematic way though. For instance, last campaign he had his Rogue PC leave the group as the character had more than enough wealth to live comfortably for the rest of his life (which was the PC’s big motivation). He then rolled up a new Rogue PC to replace the character.

So, for those of you with good Forgotten Realms knowledge, would there be a way for a Wood Elf to work with a Drow? Or are these two sub-races such bitter enemies that there is no way for them to be in the same party?

What sort of information could I give to the player of the Wood Elf to help convince him that this will work from an in-game perspective? The in-character banter between us from the 2 sessions so far has been great (even as we help each other out during combat) and I’d really like to see it continue to develop.

Totally possible. The Wood Elf player just needs to ask himself: "Why do I not want to kill THIS drow at the moment?"

Typically, the existence of bad guys and monsters and your drow being handy to have around in a fight would be enough of an excuse. No trust, no love lost, but a grudging respect, at least.

One way I might go: you already have a "friendly" rivalry about who is the Best Elf. The wood elf could feel that the drow earned his respect by being the "Second Best Elf" - "Next to me, this guy is the Best."

What really matters is what the Wood Elf values, what their motivation is - seeing the drow as something that aids the Wood Elf in getting that rather than something that holds them back can be all that's needed to turn "I won't actively kill him" into "He's all right, I guess."

 

[Tyranthraxus]

REmember Familiarity breeds acceptance. DRow can be accepted but never fully trusted.

Look at their own society. Few Drow have what we would term Friendships. their Matriarchal setup and the fact that their chief Goddess is prone to eugenics amongst her own people means that Friendships in Drow society are ripe for blackmail and subterfuge. One whole Gender is marked as Inferior and the other half is looking for a superior to let down their guard if only for a second.

Now move that Drow upstairs into the light (and then take into account their Sunlight disadvantages). They are already expecting for people to distrust them, for any friend they make to take advantage of them. Then you have centuries of raids by Drow at night on the Surface. Its a combination of things that makes Drow so repulsive to most people, but if you have a group who keep to themselves on the surface and dont scurry back down underground then you may reach the point of acceptance some day.

 

[Irennan]

@Tyranthraxus That's true, but not all drow come from the Underdark. It depends on the PC's background: they might be born in a surface community, or an Eilistraeean/Vhaerunite community, which are wildly different than Lolthite ones. But yes, even for them, their trust is very hard to gain (as it is for them to gain the other's).

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Oh I agree, not all live on the Surface now. Its just even the ones on the surface get the flowback from the nasty ones that live below the ground. Ive had a couple in my games since Ive started to run AL , one was played very humanlike (the player essentially went .. cool.. DROW!) and got treated like crap in Phandelver and the other I dont see much but he is played very haughty and a little crude.