D&D 5E Thoughts on playing Elf in Out of the Abyss [SPOILERS]

[CapnZapp]

3) The drow slavers finished each day telling me I did a good job but there'd "most likely kill me in the morning."

Thanks but I would need more specifics. This doesn't really answer the question.

 

[CapnZapp]

They're being saved as living sacrifices to Lolth. (Or the Elder Elemental Eye, or whatever this particular group of drow worships.)

That the Drow outpost is somehow unusual would be a valid reason.

Being saved for Lolth is a rather weak reason, since there's no real explanation why this particular elf is saved but others are killed on sight, except "is a player character"...

 

[CapnZapp]

For females:
1) The Drow have been having their way with me. I wonder when they will tire and slay me. However, every day I live is a chance to escape.

For Males:
2) I'm not sure how much longer I can hold on, The Drow Priestess' "games" are wearing me down. I've lost track of how many times I've been healed after each ordeal. Why? Why me and not the rest?

Dark, but believable.

However, most players have a hard time accepting being enslaved as it is. Asking them to accept that their character is sexually abused (in #1 at least, not sure about #2 and don't want to know ) is probably off the table in general; something I'd rather the player volunteer in that case (and then not focused on in the actual adventure).

 

[Mouseferatu]

Being saved for Lolth is a rather weak reason, since there's no real explanation why this particular elf is saved but others are killed on sight, except "is a player character"...

Who says it has to be just the PC? Maybe there's a festival of Lolth coming up and all captured elves over the past month/year/whatever are being kept alive for sacrifice. Maybe something's gone wrong and the drow are gathering for a sacrifice to regain Lolth's favor, so the usual "kill on sight" has been temporarily changed. Maybe a powerful priestess has ordered elves captured for a ritual just to make a statement.

It can be a temporary/unique situation without being PC-specific.

 

[CapnZapp]

These are slavers, are they not? Surface elves probably bring a hell of a price in the slave markets of Menzoberranzan. Priestesses of Lolth want them for sacrifice. Others might want them as exotic pets to torture and degrade, or as status symbols.

I'm running with the following perspective:

Utter loathing. Absolute, searing, indomitable hatred. The
drow despise other elves with a passion almost unimaginable
by other (saner?) races. Some drow raids on surface
communities have no other purpose than to slay elves, and
a drow will go out of her way—sometimes even endangering
an ongoing agenda—to harm an elf. Drow rarely take
elf slaves, preferring to kill them on sight or offer them as
sacrifi ces to Lolth, and on the rare occasions they do take an
elf as a slave, it is often for no greater purpose than regular
abuse and torment.

To me, this means that, sure, Drow take surface elves prisoner.

But not anonymous level 1 ones.

I could see the OotA start featuring enslaved surface elves if it were a mid-level adventure. A level 7 or 11 elf would be quite a catch, and definitely something Drow slavers would resist their natural hatred for, something they would rather transport to Menzoberranzan, something too valuable for petty murder.

So while that might work for you, it won't for me. Enslaving level 1 PCs would devalue the Drow's reputation too much: if the first Drow you meet doesn't kill you, then there's not much to that so-called hatred, is there?

Anyway, that's the reason for this thread. Good luck in your game!

 

[Mouseferatu]

To me, this means that, sure, Drow take surface elves prisoner.

But not anonymous level 1 ones.

Sure they do. It may not be common, but if they're looking for elves to sacrifice to Lolth--or just to torment--they're certainly not going to turn up their noses at "easy prey" if it presents itself.

So like I said above, it needn't be just PCs, and there are motivations built into the description of the drow. It may not be something they do often, but they do it often enough to have been mentioned, and the start of OotA seems as good a time as any for them to be preparing rituals.

 

[Tanaka Chris]

It's the Underdark and the Drow, definitely some Dark themes there.
And if you're familiar with the Drow, torture and humiliation is a good motivation to keep a PC alive.

The PC could have a Flaw accordingly, death vow against the person(s) who tortured them. Or some fear aspect instead.
Otherwise, the PC has seen other prisoners being so used and wants to avoid a similar fate.

 

[CapnZapp]

Who says it has to be just the PC? Maybe there's a festival of Lolth coming up and all captured elves over the past month/year/whatever are being kept alive for sacrifice. Maybe something's gone wrong and the drow are gathering for a sacrifice to regain Lolth's favor, so the usual "kill on sight" has been temporarily changed. Maybe a powerful priestess has ordered elves captured for a ritual just to make a statement.

It can be a temporary/unique situation without being PC-specific.

Sure. Not saying this could not work.

But I am saying I would prefer explanations that doesn't need to make any exceptions to "drow kill elves on sight", since I would rather first establish this and only then start making exceptions to it.

So far, I have my own "had time to cut off ears" and the "short as a gnome"/"ugly as sin" ones. I guess I also have the "kept and abused" one, but while it passes my verisimiltude filter, it probably fails the "player fun" filter.

Any more?

Here's one more:
"You're a troup of artists and you were dressed as an Hobgoblin when captured. As long as you don't lose your fake teeth and green body paint you should be safe"

(Chose Hobgoblin because Goblins are too short, Orcs too sturdy)

 

[ExploderWizard]

The Drow are known to take surface-dwellers as slaves.

Sure, a gnome or halfling doesn't do hard physical labour well, but they can be sold as "pets" in Drow cities. Dwarfs and humans have lots of uses. Orcs are perfect: strong enough for the hardest tasks but stupid enough not to plot against his masters (or so the Drow thought).

There's a huge difference between Elfs and other PHB races.

Among the EE races, the only concern I have is with the Aaracokra. By the description they should be all but useless for everything deep underground, so I have a hard time imagining Drow to bother keeping any birdman alive without a particular reason. The rest are unproblematic: they're either exotic (and therefore valuable) or they're Svirfneblin (and therefore a pretty common slave).

You need to look at this from a drow perspective. The drow are an exceptionally cruel race, and merely killing their most hated enemies doesn't provide much entertainment or fun. Likewise, the drow are not stupid. Savvy drow merchants know that quality matters. Slaves are commodities and come in various qualities. To a drow, a human or half orc slave is equal to a cheap consumer product made in Taiwan. They might last for 40 or 50 years IF they are young and strong. To a drow, that is like a cheap toy that breaks after only having it a month or so.

Elves though, are high quality slaves. They live a long life and thus last long enough to be a worthwhile investment. A surface elf is a toy that remains entertaining for centuries. A 5E elven adventurer is a special treat. Like trolls, they can be used for torture practice because they will be back at full strength after a long rest and this can be done to them for hundreds of years.

I would think under such circumstances that drow would highly prize taking surface elves alive, and surface elves, knowing what awaits them, would do anything to die fighting and not get taken alive.

 

[CapnZapp]

You need to look at this from a drow perspective.

I understand it's possible to rationalize the "keep elves alive" behavior - that's not my issue.

My issue is that I don't want to downplay the "rabid hatred against elves" schtick drow are always described having.

Experiencing drow for the first time as a player and them NOT killing off any elves weakens this impression considerably.