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<blockquote data-quote="Dire Bare" data-source="post: 8281118" data-attributes="member: 18182">Confused [USER=6779196]@Charlaquin[/USER]. Subraces are cultures. We are getting two new subraces, we are getting two new drow cultures. We are not getting subraces instead of cultures, as they are one and the same. Granted, the language and structure of D&amp;D races is problematic, but adding these two new drow cultures pushes us forward, not backwards.You keep replying with &quot;Yes, #notalldrow&quot; . . . which is dismissive of [USER=7030526]@Henadic Theologian[/USER]'s point . . . but we're not just talking Drizzt and a small handful of other drow, the &quot;good drow&quot;. Menzoberranzan drow culture, the udadrow, is still problematic, but has been gaining depth and nuance for decades. The &quot;War of the Spider Queen&quot; novel series did a good job of telling the stories of not-evil (and not-good) drow struggling to survive in a broken society. I would certainly love if WotC tried to bring this more front-and-center for 5th Edition and make it more explicitly obvious, but there has been work done on this front.You're right that these two new groups shift the &quot;evil&quot; from race/species to culture, which is still problematic, but an improvement (IMO). Well, an improvement depending on how well it's done, we'll see. I think the addition of these new drow cultures sounds fun and interesting, and helps broaden the drow race. It's not perfect, but it's a good start.There are already various drow enclaves scattered throughout the Realms who are not &quot;Lolthsworn&quot; . . . but are still depicted as sinister and evil, just a different flavor of sinister and evil. These two new cultures broaden that a bit.Do udadrow, lorendrow, and aevendrow roll off the tongue well? I'm not feeling it with the names so far, but it's not a dealbreaker for me. Do these new drow cultures fix all of the problems with the drow race in D&amp;D? Nope. Do they have to fix all of the problems to be an interesting and worthy addition to the lore? Nope (IMO). Can we have a more nuanced Menzo drow culture AND some new hidden drow cultures out there in the Realms? Sure! That's what I'd like to see!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dire Bare, post: 8281118, member: 18182"] Confused [USER=6779196]@Charlaquin[/USER]. Subraces are cultures. We are getting two new subraces, we are getting two new drow cultures. We are not getting subraces instead of cultures, as they are one and the same. Granted, the language and structure of D&D races is problematic, but adding these two new drow cultures pushes us forward, not backwards. You keep replying with "Yes, [I]#notalldrow[/I]" . . . which is dismissive of [USER=7030526]@Henadic Theologian[/USER]'s point . . . but we're not just talking Drizzt and a small handful of other drow, the "good drow". Menzoberranzan drow culture, the udadrow, is still problematic, but has been gaining depth and nuance for decades. The "War of the Spider Queen" novel series did a good job of telling the stories of not-evil (and not-good) drow struggling to survive in a broken society. I would certainly love if WotC tried to bring this more front-and-center for 5th Edition and make it more explicitly obvious, but there has been work done on this front. You're right that these two new groups shift the "evil" from race/species to culture, which is still problematic, but an improvement (IMO). Well, an improvement depending on how well it's done, we'll see. I think the addition of these new drow cultures sounds fun and interesting, and helps broaden the drow race. It's not perfect, but it's a good start. There are already various drow enclaves scattered throughout the Realms who are not "Lolthsworn" . . . but are still depicted as sinister and evil, just a different flavor of sinister and evil. These two new cultures broaden that a bit. Do udadrow, lorendrow, and aevendrow roll off the tongue well? I'm not feeling it with the names so far, but it's not a dealbreaker for me. Do these new drow cultures fix all of the problems with the drow race in D&D? Nope. Do they have to fix all of the problems to be an interesting and worthy addition to the lore? Nope (IMO). Can we have a more nuanced Menzo drow culture AND some new hidden drow cultures out there in the Realms? Sure! That's what I'd like to see! [/QUOTE]

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