I've been working on my Drow campaign for more than a year now, and it is almost ready to launch.
I want to show off the player races and ask for your opinions.
The major drow houses are each represented as a different Drow subrace, with each house having some more small families and organizations under it who share it's racial attributes. We are using the most current DND Next packet, but there are references to skills (which will be in the game, official or house ruled).
This being a very story driven game, I tried to give everyone something cool to use outside of combat, distinct them from one another, and allow for good roleplaying moments. I stayed clear from lots of canon so that I could make a game more suited for my players' playstyle, and that included giving up Darkvision (so that sneaking up on someone in the dark could be a real threat in the campaign), ditching 'Levitate' and 'Darkness' to make the city feel more martial and to make high walls a real obstacle when faced.
So, without any further ado, I give you the Houses of Thelorian:
Klayren Thas:
Fire: Can produce light and heat, can set fire to flammable materials.
Earth: Has 10 HP and 13 AC.
Water: Can squeeze through cracks and crawl across walls and ceilings.
Air: Can manipulate heavier objects (up to 10 kg).
{At the campaign's beginning, the house of Klayren Thas, one of the four major houses, falls in a war against the others called "The Spire War". Klayren Thas was the house of the mages, and in the course of the war caused itself to burn with untamed magic that still flows through the ruined streets. It's part of the city of Thelorian is now a wasteland filled with mutants and madmen, the great Crystal Tower now overgrown and ever reaching the heat and life of the rest of the city. Those with Klayren Thas origin can still be found in the city, although they will do good to hide it as arcane magic is still feared and hated after all the damage it's caused. They have arcane magic flowing through their bodies and tend to have carmine-colored eyes}.
Derithian:
Loriath:
Areos:
Melenan:
Old blood (Kentaz, Tartaros):
House Tartaros assimilated better in the drow society, converting their religion to the worship of Lolth but retaining much of their ancient, "barbarian" culture present underneath everyday life- the belief in the Thousand Gods of Darkness. Some rare drow from house Tartaros are born with a special kind of blindness; Said to be "kissed by darkness", these drow cannot see light but can perceive heat instead. They are the only ones able to shape Shadowsteel, a rare metal that absorbs light}.
Theleborian: (Variation of Areos)
Demon/Devil born:
Deal with the devil: three times in a lifetime the drow can contact his devil ancestors, summoning them and striking up a deal. In the first two deals the DM will decide about the price, but in the third the price will be the characters' soul.
Weak Telepathy: May infuse an item or a creature touched with a short message or a vision. When infusing an object, the thought will transfer to the next creature who touches it in the next hour.
{Some drow in the city are descendent from fiends of the Lower Planes. It is known to happen, if rare. The children of demons tend to be chaotic and disruptive, and Demonborn drow have an uncanny ability to get into other's heads. Devils adore hierarchy, and will often stay in touch with their offspring and will set them up for use as pawns in greater schemes, offering deals and temptations. All fiendish drow have something weird about them, sometimes jagged teeth, long tongues, sharp fingernails, etc.}.
So, what do you guys think? I have tons of material written about the city of Thelorian (more than forty pages in Hebrew, which is a far more abbreviated language then English), but this is the crunchiest, most rules-centered thing I've written so far for the campaign...
I want to show off the player races and ask for your opinions.
The major drow houses are each represented as a different Drow subrace, with each house having some more small families and organizations under it who share it's racial attributes. We are using the most current DND Next packet, but there are references to skills (which will be in the game, official or house ruled).
This being a very story driven game, I tried to give everyone something cool to use outside of combat, distinct them from one another, and allow for good roleplaying moments. I stayed clear from lots of canon so that I could make a game more suited for my players' playstyle, and that included giving up Darkvision (so that sneaking up on someone in the dark could be a real threat in the campaign), ditching 'Levitate' and 'Darkness' to make the city feel more martial and to make high walls a real obstacle when faced.
So, without any further ado, I give you the Houses of Thelorian:
Klayren Thas:
- +1 to dexterity and charisma/ intelligence.
- 120ft low light vision
- Proficiency with the hand crossbow, rapier and short sword.
- +2 to listen and spot
- Light blindness
- Elemental Companion- You have a small ethereal familiar . Summoning it requires the use of Concentration, and causes it to cease being ethereal. Commanding it to perform any action requires an action. You and the elemental companion share a simple telepathic link based on images. The elemental has 10 AC and 1 HP. Any extra damage taken after it is slain is transferred to you, and you cannot summon the companion until you take a long rest. The companion can hover up to 6 feet above ground at a speed of 10 ft. It cannot manipulate objects heavier than 1 kg.
Fire: Can produce light and heat, can set fire to flammable materials.
Earth: Has 10 HP and 13 AC.
Water: Can squeeze through cracks and crawl across walls and ceilings.
Air: Can manipulate heavier objects (up to 10 kg).
{At the campaign's beginning, the house of Klayren Thas, one of the four major houses, falls in a war against the others called "The Spire War". Klayren Thas was the house of the mages, and in the course of the war caused itself to burn with untamed magic that still flows through the ruined streets. It's part of the city of Thelorian is now a wasteland filled with mutants and madmen, the great Crystal Tower now overgrown and ever reaching the heat and life of the rest of the city. Those with Klayren Thas origin can still be found in the city, although they will do good to hide it as arcane magic is still feared and hated after all the damage it's caused. They have arcane magic flowing through their bodies and tend to have carmine-colored eyes}.
Derithian:
- +1 to dexterity and charisma/ constitution
- 120ft low light vision
- Proficiency with the hand crossbow, rapier and short sword.
- +2 to listen and spot
- Light blindness
- Advantage on saves vs. fear
- Heroic- When first bloodied in an encounter, get an immediate free action. Can be used only to make a single weapon attack, cast a Cantrip, use an item, move or make a saving throw.
Loriath:
- +1 to intelligence and dexterity/ wisdom .
- 120ft low light vision
- Proficiency with the hand crossbow, rapier and short sword.
- +2 to listen and spot
- Light blindness
- Extra language or Lore
- +1d4 to Initiative
Areos:
- +1 to dexterity and charisma/ intelligence.
- 120ft low light vision
- Proficiency with the hand crossbow, rapier and short sword.
- +2 to listen and spot
- Light blindness
- Bonus craft / art / performance
- Trance- You need only 4 hours for a long rest, and are considered awake for purposes of surprise (you are fully aware of your surroundings). While in a trance, you may concentrate on a single specific action and get +1d6 to the check upon waking, or just conserve power and receive +2 to a single physical check of your choice or to a save to resist enchantment.
Melenan:
- +1 to constitution and dexterity, -1 to charisma
- 120ft low light vision
- +2 to swim, listen and endurance checks
- No weapon proficiency.
- Unarmed proficiency.
- Light blindness
- Illiterate- Don't know how to read or write.
- Tremorsense: the drow can detect movement and the location of creatures in a 10 ft. radius of him. If the elf chooses to fully concentrate on the ability he can add 10 ft. to the radius for every minute of concentration (up to 50 ft).This ability works only on solid rock surface (not bricks). While in water, the radius is multiplied by three. For this ability to work the drow must be touching the rock surface with his bare feet or hands.
Old blood (Kentaz, Tartaros):
- +1 to Strength and Intelligence
- 120ft low light vision
- Proficiency with spear and net.
- +2 to listen and spot
- Light blindness
- Advantage vs. poison (Kentaz only)
- Child of Darkness (Tartaros only)- Can hide while only mildly obscured (light smoke, dim light, rain. etc.)
- +5 ft. to speed
House Tartaros assimilated better in the drow society, converting their religion to the worship of Lolth but retaining much of their ancient, "barbarian" culture present underneath everyday life- the belief in the Thousand Gods of Darkness. Some rare drow from house Tartaros are born with a special kind of blindness; Said to be "kissed by darkness", these drow cannot see light but can perceive heat instead. They are the only ones able to shape Shadowsteel, a rare metal that absorbs light}.
Theleborian: (Variation of Areos)
- +1 to dexterity and charisma
- 120ft low light vision
- Proficiency with the hand crossbow, rapier and short sword.
- +2 to listen and spot
- Light blindness
- +1 to dexterity and charisma/ wisdom.
- Trance -need only 4 hours for long rest, may concentrate on a single specific action and get +1d6 to the check upon waking, or just conserve power and receive +2 to a single physical check of their choice or to a check to resist enchantment.
- Druidcraft- As the Cantrip, not more than once every hour.
Demon/Devil born:
- +1 to dexterity and charisma/ intelligence
- 120ft low light vision
- Proficiency with the hand crossbow, rapier and short sword.
- Light blindness
- Fire resistance
- Radiance vulnerability
- Weak Telepathy / Deal with the devil + Fiend's Fire
Deal with the devil: three times in a lifetime the drow can contact his devil ancestors, summoning them and striking up a deal. In the first two deals the DM will decide about the price, but in the third the price will be the characters' soul.
Weak Telepathy: May infuse an item or a creature touched with a short message or a vision. When infusing an object, the thought will transfer to the next creature who touches it in the next hour.
{Some drow in the city are descendent from fiends of the Lower Planes. It is known to happen, if rare. The children of demons tend to be chaotic and disruptive, and Demonborn drow have an uncanny ability to get into other's heads. Devils adore hierarchy, and will often stay in touch with their offspring and will set them up for use as pawns in greater schemes, offering deals and temptations. All fiendish drow have something weird about them, sometimes jagged teeth, long tongues, sharp fingernails, etc.}.
So, what do you guys think? I have tons of material written about the city of Thelorian (more than forty pages in Hebrew, which is a far more abbreviated language then English), but this is the crunchiest, most rules-centered thing I've written so far for the campaign...
