What do Drow look like?

[Yaarel]

What do Drow look like?

Choose all of the physical appearances of the Drow that you feel are possible in settings that you want to use.

 

[Yaarel]

If I could modify the poll, I would add the following options:

VARIATION: Drow appearances can vary by setting (Eberron, Forgotten Realms, Nerath, etc.)
VARIATION: Drow appearances can vary by region (underdark, surface, arctic, tropic, etc.)
VARIATION: Drow appearances never vary (use Monster Manual description only, etc.)

EYE COLOR: yellowish-orangish (amber), orangish (brown), reddish-orangish (fiery), or reddish (crimson)
EYE COLOR: reddish-purplish (pink, magenta), purplish (lavender, amethyst), bluish-purplish, or bluish
EYE COLOR: bluish-greenish (aqua), greenish (emerald), yellowish-greenish (leaf, hazel), or yellowish
EYE COLOR: intense color - brilliant (such as vermilion)
EYE COLOR: subtle color - dusky (such as shadow ruddy brown, grayish copper, or dusty light flesh)
EYE COLOR: blackish (black or very dark)
EYE COLOR: whitish (white or very light)

EYE GLOW: glowing in the dark
EYE GLOW: hidden in the dark

SKIN COLOR: yellowish-orangish (gold), orangish (bronze, brown), reddish-orangish (copper), or reddish
SKIN COLOR: reddish-purplish (magenta), purplish, bluish-purplish (indigo), or bluish
SKIN COLOR: bluish-greenish (cyan), greenish, yellowish-greenish (leaf), or yellowish
SKIN COLOR: blackish (black or very dark)
SKIN COLOR: whitish (white or very light)



SIZE: females and males are the same height, on average

PHYSIQUE: slim, athletically fit, and sexy
PHYSIQUE: bony, gaunt, and alien
PHYSIQUE: human-like

(Likely, these three Physique options represent a normal bell-curve distribution, with most Drow appearing slim, fit and sexy, but ranging from relatively robust like an average human, to gaunt and alien)

PHYSIQUE: stocky, curvacious

FACIAL HAIR, MALE: full beard

 

[GX.Sigma]

It always bugged me that the Drow are described as having skin the color and texture of polished obsidian, but in the art they're always grey or purple. I don't care which one they choose, as long as they choose one!

 

[The Human Target]

It always bugged me that the Drow are described as having skin the color and texture of polished obsidian, but in the art they're always grey or purple. I don't care which one they choose, as long as they choose one!

Solid black is really hard to do in print.

 

[GX.Sigma]

Solid black is really hard to do in print.

 

[The Human Target]

Are either of those solid black?

 

[Lanefan]

Another series of options to throw in if a similar poll is ever done again:

USUAL PHYSIQUE (keeping in mind there will be variance between individuals)
- very thin and bony, almost starved-looking (thinner than elves)
- slender but not starved (much like elves)
- much like humans, some flesh on the bones but not overweight
- heavy-set and-or curvaceous (sort of like tall dark hobbits)
- very solid and heavy, or fat (similar to dwarves)

An option missing from current poll: there is no choice for "females and males average about the same height", which would have got my vote.

Lan-"but do they taste good with ketchup?"-efan

 

[Yaarel]

Your votes are helping the Drow take shape.

So far...

The essential features of the Drow are:
• Skin is pure black or dark color
• Hair is pure white or pale color
• Ears are pointed but subtle
• Males have no facial hair
• Height is about 5 feet tall on average
• And females are taller than males on average



The shape of the hands and feet seems variable. This is possibly a bell-curve distribution corresponding to physique, with most Drow being slim, fit and sexy but with extremes ranging from human-like robustness to very slim, gaunt, and alien:
• Fingers and toes tend to be long and delicate
• Fingers and toes can be human-like

The luster of the skin seems variable:
• Skin may be matte, soft, and dull, thus blending into the darkness
• Skin may be glossy and polished, thus gleaming like black glass near lightsources

The shape of the eyes seems variable:
• About half of the Drow have eyes that tend toward human-like with iris and pupil
• Eyes may be a solid color with a large iris-sized pupil, adapting to the dark
• Eyes may be a solid color without iris or pupil, exhibiting an otherworldly trait



Optional features may represent setting or regional variants:
• Eye color is purplish, bluish, or greenish
• Eye color is reddish, orangish, or yellowish
• Eye color is pure white or pale color
• Hair color is gray or silvery

Optional features may represent individual variants:
• Eye color is pure black or dark color
• Height reaches about 6 feet tall
• Male grows sideburns
• Pale color hair may have a bluish, purplish, or greenish hue, sometimes the same hue as the eye color



Your votes matter.

 

[Yaarel]

@Lanefan . I updated the poll modifications. ‘Gaunt’ should cover the ‘starving’ look.



DROW SKIN

Here is a picture of obsidian (volcanic black glass). I suspect digital 3D images can accurately depict what a Drow looks like, who appears as if a statue made out of glossy black glass.




Note, here the warm highlights are a grayish red-purple (magenta).

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

For gender size differences, I figured that varies by setting. In FR, the females tend to be larger, but the physically strongest one, Uthegental, is male. (Most male drow are basically "skirmishers", so being really strong isn't favored.)