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<blockquote data-quote="Storm Raven" data-source="post: 4415357" data-attributes="member: 307">This brings up what I think is the most salient point.You see, originally, drow were a secret.&nbsp; Their unveiling at the end of the giants trilogy (Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, Glacial Rift of the Forst Giant Jarl, and Hall of the Fire Giant King) was, at the time, wholly unexpected. Drow, in the original MM were described as a mere rumor, and weren't even given stats.&nbsp; Throuhg the Giant modules, there were notes from a mysterious &quot;Eclavdra&quot;, and players kept trying to figure out &quot;who is this&quot;, and in the end it is revealed to be this previously almost unknown race.Yes, the drow were unfair - dual wielders with magic resistance, innate spellcasting and magical equipment that was nigh-unusable for PCs. But that was overcome by the fact that their very existence was the big surprise of the series, and that they had a host of odd powers the PCs had to figure out and came from a secret underground twisted fairy world was just a bonus.If the drow had been left as the reveal in Hall and the main antagonists in the follow-up Descent into the Depths and Vault of the Drow (the middle original Underdark adventure focused on the Kuo-Toa), they would be cool. But they didn't stay there. First, everyone copied the &quot;hidden hand&quot; plot that Gygax had used, and inevitably, the &quot;hidden hand&quot; was drow. The number of adventures that had &quot;and then it is revealed that the drow are behind the [orcs][goblins][pirates][space hamsters]&quot; multiplied. It seemed that every other adventure after Hall had drow popping out of the woodwork.Second, the &quot;secret world&quot; aspect of the underdark was coopted by FR, and the drow became the most famous residents there. And then that was spread throughout other game worlds. So, instead of being a secret Greyhawk element that crops up one to surprise players, drow from a hidden underworld began showing up in every campaign, to the point where an &quot;underdark inhabited by drow&quot; became an expected part of campaign settings.Instead of a secret reveal from an unexpected location, drow became expected, dull, bland, and boring.And then Drizzt came along to &quot;subvert&quot; the stereotype. And, like many &quot;subversions&quot; he turned out to be even more dull, bland, and boring than the original. Plus, he was annoyingly angsty and self-righteous. And the books are, at best, only competently written, and not particularly inspired. So, Drizzt is a dull subversion of what developed into a dull race, living in a dull campaign element. With lots of obnoxious fanboys.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Storm Raven, post: 4415357, member: 307"] This brings up what I think is the most salient point. You see, originally, drow were a [i]secret[/i]. Their unveiling at the end of the giants trilogy ([i]Steading of the Hill Giant Chief[/i], [i]Glacial Rift of the Forst Giant Jarl[/i], and [i]Hall of the Fire Giant King[/i]) was, at the time, wholly unexpected. Drow, in the original MM were described as a mere rumor, and weren't even given stats. Throuhg the Giant modules, there were notes from a mysterious "Eclavdra", and players kept trying to figure out "who is this", and in the end it is revealed to be this previously almost unknown race. Yes, the drow were unfair - dual wielders with magic resistance, innate spellcasting and magical equipment that was nigh-unusable for PCs. But that was overcome by the fact that their very existence was the big surprise of the series, and that they had a host of odd powers the PCs had to figure out and came from a secret underground twisted fairy world was just a bonus. If the drow had been left as the reveal in [i]Hall[/i] and the main antagonists in the follow-up [i]Descent into the Depths[/i] and [i]Vault of the Drow[/i] (the middle original Underdark adventure focused on the Kuo-Toa), they would be cool. But they didn't stay there. First, everyone copied the "hidden hand" plot that Gygax had used, and inevitably, the "hidden hand" was drow. The number of adventures that had "and then it is revealed that the drow are behind the [orcs][goblins][pirates][space hamsters]" multiplied. It seemed that every other adventure after [i]Hall[/i] had drow popping out of the woodwork. Second, the "secret world" aspect of the underdark was coopted by FR, and the drow became the most famous residents there. And then that was spread throughout other game worlds. So, instead of being a secret Greyhawk element that crops up one to surprise players, drow from a hidden underworld began showing up in every campaign, to the point where an "underdark inhabited by drow" became an expected part of campaign settings. Instead of a secret reveal from an unexpected location, drow became expected, dull, bland, and boring. And then Drizzt came along to "subvert" the stereotype. And, like many "subversions" he turned out to be even more dull, bland, and boring than the original. Plus, he was annoyingly angsty and self-righteous. And the books are, at best, only competently written, and not particularly inspired. So, Drizzt is a dull subversion of what developed into a dull race, living in a dull campaign element. With lots of obnoxious fanboys. [/QUOTE]

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