D&D 5E Latest D&D Errata: Drow, Alignment, & More

Sage Advice is a series of articles in which Jeremy Crawford, one of the D&D Studio’s game design architects, talks about the design of the game’s rules and answers questions about them.

Book Updates | Sage Advice | Dungeons & Dragons

This Sage Advice provides updates and errata for a number of books, as well as answers to rules questions.

dnd.wizards.com

D&D books occasionally receive corrections and other updates to their rules and story. This Sage Advice installment presents updates to several books. I then answer a handful of rules questions, focusing on queries related to Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons and Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos.

Official errata has been published for the following books:

• Curse of Strahd
• Dungeon Master’s Guide
• Player’s Handbook
• Storm King’s Thunder
• Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
• Tales from the Yawning Portal
• Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
• Tomb of Annihilation
• Volo’s Guide to Monsters

Here's some of the highlights.

• Alignment is removed from the Racial Traits section of races.
• Drow have undergone lore changes which reflect the different types of drow. The 'darkness of the drow' sidebar which portrays them as only evil has been removed.
• Storm King's Thunder alters references to 'Savage Frontier' and 'barbarians'; Curse of Strahd alters references to the Vistani.
• The controversial Silvery Barbs spell has been clarified.

As a drow, you are infused with the magic of the Underdark, an underground realm of wonders and horrors rarely seen on the surface above. You are at home in shadows and, thanks to your innate magic, learn to con- jure forth both light and darkness. Your kin tend to have stark white hair and grayish skin of many hues.

The cult of the god Lolth, Queen of Spiders, has cor- rupted some of the oldest drow cities, especially in the worlds of Oerth and Toril. Eberron, Krynn, and other realms have escaped the cult’s influence—for now. Wherever the cult lurks, drow heroes stand on the front lines in the war against it, seeking to sunder Lolth’s web.

 

[CleverNickName]

@Snarf Zagyg , we might disagree on pizza toppings, but we are bothers in arms against bards.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That hardly applies to a "significant portion of potential players" as it was claimed in the post I responded to.

Let’s agree that nonwhite players do not currently form a huge percentage of the market.

However small that percentage is, though, it is a truth that they are disproportionally going to have stories about the effects of of genocides, slavery, Jim Crow, and other past and current racial injustices in their family/friend history, and some of it is quite recent. Some, in the form of institutionalized prejudices, is ongoing.

So perhaps, treating such subjects with more care and empathy is not so bad a thing.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Vile miscreant, I hath ordered my repast with peppers green
and olives like the most starless of nights!
Come in, and let thou makest recompense most heartily upon my being.

 

[HammerMan]

I wasn't trying to be interesting or entertaining, I was replying to something I disagreed with on a public forum.

okay, we both disagree. but I respect what you said next

I didn't think I could convince them differently, you rarely change a person's belief's in an internet argument. But his isn't a private conversation, this is something anyone, anywhere in the world can read and on that basis alone I was not going to let that point of view go unchallenged. For every person that replies to a thread, there's many more that read it.

I too have gone into 'attack mode' because of letting things go unchallanged. So well met, we have gotten both points out, and others can see it. Good gaming.

 

[Zardnaar]

Can I introduce you to Dhampiir's?

To 1990's and mechanically weak/obscure.

Not edgelord enough few decades to late. Maximum emo points in the 90's though.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I wasn't trying to be interesting or entertaining, I was replying to something I disagreed with on a public forum.

I didn't think I could convince them differently, you rarely change a person's belief's in an internet argument. But his isn't a private conversation, this is something anyone, anywhere in the world can read and on that basis alone I was not going to let that point of view go unchallenged. For every person that replies to a thread, there's many more that read it.

It has now run its course, and I certainly didn't mean any offense, but I'm not sorry for taking a stand in something I believe in.

I'm also not sure where the name calling thing is coming from, I don't think I referred to them by any namecalling at any point, nor was I going to. If I was interested in sitting here and calling people bad things then those posts would have been a lot shorter and simpler to write.

As I said, you were both on the borderline of name-calling, neither had yet crossed it, but I could see you both about to tip over.

As for the silent witnesses, I think both of your got your cogent points out extremely early in the discussion and the repetition wasn't doing either side any favours, so I'd say anyone who comes along is probably going to be less convinced seeing the whole shouting match than if you'd both just stated clear positions. YMMV.

Not edgelord enough few decades to late. Maximum emo points in the 90's though.

Dhampirs are still cool! < weeps >

 

[Zardnaar]

As I said, you were both on the borderline of name-calling, neither had yet crossed it, but I could see you both about to tip over.

As for the silent witnesses, I think both of your got your cogent points out extremely early in the discussion and the repetition wasn't doing either side any favours, so I'd say anyone who comes along is probably going to be less convinced seeing the whole shouting match than if you'd both just stated clear positions. YMMV.

Dhampirs are still cool! < weeps >

They've been out edgelorded by Tieflings though.

Vampire blooded vs demonic RIP.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

They've been out edgelorded by Tieflings though.

Vampire blooded vs demonic RIP.

I dunno man, as discussed Tieflings don't seem to attract edgelords. I've seen loads of Tieflings in play, and the main people they seem to attract are jokers and talkers.

Edgelords want stuff that is butch/macho (even if they then Goth it up), and Tieflings ain't that. I've seen more edgelords playing Minotaurs and the like than Tieflings.

 

[CleverNickName]

From what I can tell, an 'edgelord' character build is almost always:

Race: Rogue
Subrace: Rogue
Class: Rogue
Subclass: Rogue
Background: Rogue
Alignment: Rogue
Starting equipment: rogue armor, rogue shield, rogue sword, roguebow with 20 rogues, lockpicks.

 

[Zardnaar]

I dunno man, as discussed Tieflings don't seem to attract edgelords. I've seen loads of Tieflings in play, and the main people they seem to attract are jokers and talkers.

Edgelords want stuff that is butch/macho (even if they then Goth it up), and Tieflings ain't that. I've seen more edgelords playing Minotaurs and the like than Tieflings.

May not be edgelord enough Minotaurs not pretty enough.

I'll take any edgelord race over Kender though.