What Color Are Drow?

[Henry]

I prefer the color of black velvet. One, nothing in nature to my knowledge has that skin tone, and two, it would make them blend into shadows easily.

Oh, and Drow Elves in D&D did start with Gary Gygax's G3 Module, Hall of the Fire Giant King. They were meant to be the big surprise of the module back in the late 70's - you go fighting all these giants, only to find out that there are a totally unknown race of elves behind it.

Now, Drow elves are as common in fantasy stories as is being blood relatives with your sworn enemy...

 

[Uller]

Creationism vs Evolution.

Why do people talk about "evolving" when it comes to elves? They're _immortal_ for cripes sack! Are very old elves different than ones who were recently born? What...did elves evolve from some little twink fairy monkeys or something?

Seriously...I guess the origin of the races is up to the individual DMs, but most game worlds I've seen, most races were either created by a specific deity or simply always existed. So sure, maybe in your game world, drow evolved from elves and took on their traits to survive in the dark (in which case, it would make since for them to have no pigment in their skin or hair just like most creatures that live in lightless environs). But I think we are talking about the drow of the "standard" D&D worlds here, in which case they were created. They have probably changed little since then (and any changes were probably introduced by some sort of power like a demon, god or other being with an interest in helping/harming the race as a whole).

My vote: Very dark grey. In bright light, they seem to absorb light.

 

[Desdichado]

They're not immortal in the PHB. Why do you say they are?

 

[Uller]

They're not immortal in the PHB. Why do you say they are?

Don't have my PHB with me. How long do they live? 1000 years? Assuming they have low reproduction rates in order to keep their population down, it would be hard to evolve if you've got a new generation being born every 250 years or so...

Besides, it changes my point little. In most D&D worlds, the races (all of them, even the short lived ones) are created and molded by gods. They don't evolve, at least IMO.

 

[Ravellion]

for example: Dalamar from the Dragonlance series

Dark Elf in DL simply means "Exiled Elf" (sort of). Heh, that's very funny to those who have read Dragons of a Vanished Moon!

Not entirely accurate, since they weren't cast out by other elves dut to heinous acts or crimes (such as Dalamar's worship of Nuitari), but still...

Rav

 

[rinesin]

Exactly And I have, damn good book. Dark Elf can mean anything, Drow are a specific subrace with stats and appearances that are described in detail. "Dark" could mean "exiled", "evil", "dark of color", "only wears leighderhosen", whatever. To the original point of the thread, you can paint your Drow any color you want, it's your game. If you want to go with the official rules on them, they have jet black skin. Hope that helps!

Rinesin

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

In my own campaign world, the Drow are extremely pale albinos. They don't look all that different from Grey Elves, who are merely extremely pale of skin... It makes sense since IMC, the drow are an offshoot of the grey elves, and of course because as others have mentioned, elves are so long lived that evolution would be a very slow-acting force indeed.

The secondary reason is that I felt uncomfortable with the whole black-skin=evil thing. I'm not generally a really PC person, but I thought that there was no real reason to stick with the by-the-book description, and I had some reasons to change it. So I did.

It also adds intrigue, since pale skinned drow can pass for grey elves, and cause all kinds of trouble...

 

[dagger]

Re: Re: original.....

Well this is official FR cannon anyway (the Correllion part). If you want Ill find the source for it in my collection.

Actually, like most good stuff in D&D, Drow originated in the Greyhawk setting.

Personally, I like the "Correllon cast them out and changed their skin color" a lot better (we're talking orders of magnitude) than a lame hair dye legend.

 

[The Serge]

After reading this, I think I will change the color of my Drow.

I've always had issues with the strict Western/Dualistic image as it relates to color in D&D and, more importantly, fantasy worlds. Still, I always allowed my Drow Elves to be a pitch black with white or silver eyes and hair. Now, I'm thinking of making them hideously pale -- like ash -- , possibly with strange veins in their shallow skin, with dull red eyes and grey hair.

Good ideas across the board though.

 

[wallshot]

i voted for black b/c that is the accepted FR (which i grew up playing) color for Drow. They have ebony skin, red eyes (which only glow when using infra...um, darkvision) and pale hair.

If (stress on if), this was real world and they had spent millennia underground, then they would be pale. But since its fantasy...