D&D 5E New Drow cultures coming in Starlight Enclave, the Lorendrow and the Aevendrow

[Marandahir]

Yeah, for example, the Alfar need to be good at both Bard (feminine mind magic) and Paladin (masculine protective magic), correctly with Charisma as primary, but then the secondary ability needs fluidity. Other mages like Wisdom Druid (berserkr shapeshifting, jotnar elementalism) are also prominent. Intelligence is important too, as logical thinkers and planners, as well as eloquent speakers.

As animists, actually personifying shamanic magic, any Alfar character gains the [Psionic] tag for their classes, for innate spellcasting without material components. Except they do speak or sing to help focus their thoughts. Depending on what the future Psion class looks like, it could be perfect for various aspects of the Alfar.

The point is, Tashas allows focus on the narrative tropes, without getting undermined by inappropriate mechanics.

Incidentally, I havent created a mechanic for it, but it is on mind. The reason for speaking and singing is to help to NOT cast spells. Viking magic is psionic mind magic. It is a trope that people often cast spells accidentally without realizing it, because their mind was wondering. I have done "accidental spells" narratively, in situations that made sense with narrative consequences and challenges. But it would be cool to have a mechanic that was simple, fun, and not too disruptive.

That's a pretty cool way of approaching it.

I DO think that some sort of guidelines of suggested ability scores for the more classic of lineages is important, though. Sure, for something like Dhampir or Hexblood or Reborn where your dominant lineage features are not directly related to your parentage and ancestry, then sure, no need to provide ability score guidance. But saying that in general, Elves are dextrous and dwarves are have high constitutions is helpful guidance for a new player.

I'm happy that Tasha's broke open the bottle of ability score swapping (though I think it needs refining; Mountain Dwarves and Half-Elves were designed around additional ability score bonuses and fewer other lineage features); I just want to make sure that we don't sacrifice ease of entry in the name of adding dials to the game.

There should always be a "basic" suggested option so that people can just plug and play. This should offer no mechanical benefits (like 3e favoured classes did) over other choices, just a way to jump in and play with the archetype without having to think too hard about the permutations of said archetypes. And then in a home campaign story bible you can create alternate base assumptions and hand them to your players at Session 0.

 

[Yaarel]

That's a pretty cool way of approaching it.

I DO think that some sort of guidelines of suggested ability scores for the more classic of lineages is important, though. Sure, for something like Dhampir or Hexblood or Reborn where your dominant lineage features are not directly related to your parentage and ancestry, then sure, no need to provide ability score guidance. But saying that in general, Elves are dextrous and dwarves are have high constitutions is helpful guidance for a new player.

I'm happy that Tasha's broke open the bottle of ability score swapping (though I think it needs refining; Mountain Dwarves and Half-Elves were designed around additional ability score bonuses and fewer other lineage features); I just want to make sure that we don't sacrifice ease of entry in the name of adding dials to the game.

There should always be a "basic" suggested option so that people can just plug and play. This should offer no mechanical benefits (like 3e favoured classes did) over other choices, just a way to jump in and play with the archetype without having to think too hard about the permutations of said archetypes. And then in a home campaign story bible you can create alternate base assumptions and hand them to your players at Session 0.

I agree.

For example, for the Alfar, for many reasons, the primary "+2" ability, is unambiguously Charisma. This correlates in important ways with the overall themes and tropes of what the Alfar concept is.

Even so, there needs to exceptions for various individuals and to express special tropes.

And players must have flexibility to make a character concept their own.

 

[Azzy]

At the high end, the Gray Elf has a higher Intelligence than the Drow, so where Gray has Int 19 and Drow has Int 18, both cap at level 14 as a single class Magic User.

Likewise both cap at 20 as the highest possible ever. Neither are unlimited.

So, both drow and grey elves are the best magic-users among the demihumans.

Both Drow and Gray are strictly inferior to a Human Magic User.

All demihumans were "strictly inferior" to humans in most classes by your reckoning. Thus, comparing them to other demihumans is the better measure of their proficiency. Moreover, 12th and 14th level are high level in actual 1e play. Heck, Mordenkainen is statted as a 12th-level magic-user in 1e.

The higher level Elves are dependent on artificially increasing their Intelligence, possibly with less access to the means to do so.

Moreover, the UA leveling leniencies are optional and only for exceptional individuals, and dont apply the Uda culture generally, who are normally mediocre Magic Users.

Sans UA, NPC male drown can be up to 12th level as a magic-user per the 1e FF.

It is incongruous to call out the Drow as powerful Magic Users, when they are not especially so, when they are no better than an other Elf, and when they are strictly inferior to a Human Magic User.

Or not. Given that they are only equaled by grey elves with a higher INT and that demihumans cannot reach the same levels as humans in most classes (so it's a moot point).

 

[Zardnaar]

Level limits mostly don't matter. How does a 1E Drow compete with human level 1-10?

One thing I did like about AD&D very few races if any got an intelligence buff. In the PHB only Gnomes iirc.

AD&D last time Gnomes were useful.

 

[Doug McCrae]

The problem is that some idiot decided back in '84 or so to include them as an official PC option in '85s Unearthed Arcana book.
And it's all been downhill since, culminating in the current crap & badly named sub-groups of a sub-group....

If it hadn’t happened in 84, it would have happened some other year. It’s inevitable that people would want to try playing as the races that were traditionally presented as monstrous, and it’s equally inevitable that options for doing so would eventually be published. Such is life.

Players controlling monsters as their 'playing pieces' is older than D&D. The fantasy supplement for the wargame Chainmail (1971), an important influence on D&D, presents a battle between good (Law) and evil (Chaos) with each side controlled by a player. The forces of Chaos include balrogs, dragons, and orcs.

This continued on into Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor campaign, which began in 1971. Playing at the World (2012) Jon Peterson:

In Blackmoor, as it was played in the Twin Cities, most of the Baddies were nominally under the control of players; the orcs in the dungeon beneath Castle Blackmoor, for example, were answerable to Fred Funk (King Fred I of the Orcs)​

Dungeons & Dragons (1974) Book I Men & Magic:

There is no reason that players cannot be allowed to play as virtually anything, provided they begin relatively weak and work up to the top, i.e., a player wishing to be a Balrog would have to begin as let us say, a "young" one and progress upwards in the usual manner, steps being predetermined by the campaign referee.​

Mike Mornard played a balrog in Gary Gygax’s Greyhawk campaign.

Gary Gygax considered the possibility of drow PCs at least as early as 1979. From the Sorcerer’s Scroll, Dragon #31:

The roles the various drow are designed to play in the series [D1-3] are commensurate with those of prospective player characters. In fact, the race could be used for player characters, providing that appropriate penalties were levied when a drow or half-drow was in the daylight world.​

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Well now we have our first true taste of the Aevendrow and they are very interesting, although I still have no idea who the Paladin and Priestess worship.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Minor spoilers below


Well now we have our first true taste of the Aevendrow and they are very interesting, along with a new Artic Orc culture, although I still have no idea who the Paladin and Priestess worship.

Also its confirmed the Lorendrow are in Chult, which means Dinosaurs.

 

[Azzy]

Well now we have our first true taste of the Aevendrow and they are very interesting, although I still have no idea who the Paladin and Priestess worship.

Where?

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Where?

In the new book Starlight Enclave, its out now, at least on Kindle. There is an Aevendrow Paladin and an Aevendrow Priestess as major character, but they never name their Goddess (if its even the same deity), but the Priestess is the Light Domain. Oh and apparently Lolth has every Domain now, or at least Trickery, War, Knowledge, and a few more ;D

 

[Azzy]

In the new book Starlight Enclave, its out now, at least on Kindle. There is an Aevendrow Paladin and an Aevendrow Priestess as major character, but they never name their Goddess (if its even the same deity), but the Priestess is the Light Domain. Oh and apparently Lolth has every Domain now, or at least Trickery, War, Knowledge, and a few more ;D

Interesting.