So there's no CR3 Drow then...

[Scratched_back]

Right, so I've been running my own game for about three months now, D&D 3.5, and I've been nervous as hell. First game I've even DM'd, although I've been a player for about six years now, you DM's really do get the rough end of it don't you? I find myself waking in half-fevered convulsions wondering what the HELL I'm gonna write for the session that's crept up oh so stealthily on me for the next night. Did I generate that treasure I owe them? Does that stuff I wrote for this week already really cut the mustard? Did I draw the map already or did I push it to one side when I realised it was 4am and work was in four hours? Oh the turmoil...

Anyway, all of my players have been playing for about the same length of time as me, so they're all level-headed players, and I try to run quite a mature game. So far they're standing at third level after defending a village from a goblin rampage, and venturing an ancient Elven dungeon (all in a day's work m'lord).

Here's my problem, all my players are MAD on drow and are wanting to play something revolving around them, or at least heavily featuring them... ace, I love drow, but at third level? I can find nothing!

If any of you guys can put forward adventures involving drow either already written for low levels, or that I can tailor down without ruining, I would be eternally greatful.

 

[RangerWickett]

It's easy. Drow get their spidery little fingers into everything. You take whatever adventure you want that has some sort of bad guys doing something bad, and change the person in charge to be a dark elf. Or maybe a pair, both just moderate level, strong enough to be dangerous, but not undefeatable for a 3rd level party.

A 3rd level party can take on a CR 7 encounter with great challenge, but a fair chance of success. So have a 5th level drow cleric and a 3rd level drow fighter bodyguard. And of course, have them just be the agents of somebody much worse.

The fighter might be both a warrior and the book-keeper, with all the finances of their raiding operation tabulated and written in dark Elvish, with regular notes saying things like, "Taranost's cut - 11%." So they know someone was in charge of the bad guys, and they might run into him or her in future adventures.

 

[RangerWickett]

Oh, and don't get nervous about running a game. The goal is to have fun, and as long as you let the players try to be cool or heroic (without giving them free reign to win with ease), you'll have a fun time. Don't worry about micromanaging what treasure they should get. Just figure out what sounds good, and if the party starts seeming weaker or stronger than you think they oughta be at their level, it's not hard to fix things later on by giving out more or less treasure.

Some sample Dark Elves that aren't too powerful. Remember, Dark Elves have to be cool bad asses, so make sure they've got nifty tricks that make them seem exotic and dangerous.

Quillathe Nailo: Dark Elf female Fighter 3. CR 4. Medium humanoid (elf); HD 3d10+3; hp 30; Init +3; Spd 20 ft.; AC 18 (+5 masterwork breastplate, +3 Dex); Atk +7 melee (1d6+1 masterwork rapier), or +7 melee touch attack (trip attempt +1 or disarm attempt +13, masterwork whip); SQ Spell Resistance 14, darkvision 120, +2 to Will saves against spells and spell-like abilities, light blindness, 1/day faerie fire, darkness, and dancing lights; AL NE; SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +0; Str 12, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 8, Cha 12.

Skills, Feats, and Languages: Hide (cc) +8, Intimidate +7, Jump +4, Move Silently (cc) +3; Combat Expertise, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (whip), Improved Disarm, Weapon Finesse; Undercommon, Dark Elf, Orc, Common.

Equipment: Dark Elvish Cloak of Elvenkind +5 (disintegrates when exposed to sunlight).

Quillathe prefers to fight by getting 10 ft. from her opponent, then either tripping or disarming her foe with her whip (whichever seems easiest). She'll then step in and attack with her rapier. She doesn't use the whip to deal damage, and nor does she use both the whip and the rapier at the same time.


Alisru Denna: Dark Elf female Cleric 5. CR 6. Medium humanoid (elf); HD 5d8; hp 26; Init +1; Spd 20 ft.; AC 21 (+8 masterwork fullplate, +2 masterwork large metal shield, +1 Dex); Atk +3 melee (1d8-1 masterwork mace); SQ Spell Resistance 16, darkvision 120, +2 to Will saves against spells and spell-like abilities, light blindness, 1/day faerie fire, darkness, and dancing lights, domains: fire and travel; AL CE; SV Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +7; Str 8, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 16, Cha 14.

Skills, Feats, and Languages: Concentration +9, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (religion) +10, Spellcraft +10; ; Undercommon, Dark Elf, Orc, Elf.

Equipment: Wand of Cure Light Wounds, scroll of insect plague, potion of invisibility.

Spells Prepared: 5 5 5 4
1st - Burning Hands, Command, Entropic Shield, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith
2nd - Bear's Endurance, Hold Person x2, Produce Flame, Shield Other
3rd - Dispel Magic, Fly, Summon Monster III x2

Alisru never strays far from her bodyguard Quillathe, and she typically has many disposable allies defending her. When she learns that her guards are under attack, she quickly casts fly on herself, then shield other and bear's endurance on Quillathe, then she drinks a potion of invisibility before heading into combat. In combat, she uses her wand to heal herself if injured (typically because of the shield other spell), or summons an insect plague or monster.

With this set up, Quillathe gains +6 hit points, and gets a +1 bonus to AC and saves. Quillathe and Alisru have to stay within 35 ft., or else the shield other spell ends.

 

[Liquidsabre]

An easy tack to take on this one is to simply make a Drow villain working in the shadows ,manipulating events. That's classic Drow! And once your players discover that a Drow villain is behind the action they should love it even more. The great part is as they delve deeper (perhaps lierally heh) into the story/plot they will fight human or orc minions/puppets and various other would-be Drow allies, they gain levels. After another 2 levels or so they finally catch up with said Villain (plot-wise and CR-wise lol) and have it out in a great climatic battle with the Villain's 1 or 2 other Drow allies. A few of them possibly perishing in the process, yikes.

Basically a wonderful intro into the Drow for your players if you play up the uber-shadowy mystery part of the sneaky Drow, followed on the heels by manipulated attacking minions!

Best of luck!