Drow Apprentice

The Dark Elves are well known for their artisanship and the worth of their handiworks, and you have been trained in that ancient tradition. For years you labored under a drow master of the craft, enduring long hours and dismissive treatment in order to gain the fine skills you possess today. As an apprentice you were also required to sell the goods being crafted so you learned some skills in haggling 

You are most likely a drow, but not necessarily, discuss with your GM to make sure another race fits the campaign. The Drow are known for their vast knowledge of poisons, unique texts, alchemy, adamantine smithing and stone works. Below are a list of unique knowledge that drow civilizations have, read through them and fit your tool options to one type of trade.

Drow Poisons. Distilled from spider venom and the flora of the Underdark, poison can be found in abundance among the drow, and it plays an important part in their culture and politics. Drow mages concoct a viscid toxin that leaves enemies unconscious. Drow warriors coat their blades and crossbow bolts with this venom, looking forward to the interrogation and torture that follows combat.

Drow Magic Knowledge. Just as the drow have adapted to underground life, so too has their magic. In addition to using that magic to carve their cities from stone, they empower their weapons, create dangerous new magic items, and summon demons from the Abyss. Drow spellcasters are supremely arrogant and never hesitate to use their magic in the most abhorrent ways. They also have knowledge of unique magic that is typically unknown to the rest of the world. Typically a drow calligrapher uses these skills to write intricate arcane formulas that make it difficult for those mages unfamiliar with this craft to copy and learn. Drow spells and scrolls require double the time to copy for those mages who aren't proficient in calligraphy.

Arms and Armor. Drow craft weapons made of adamantine, a dark and supernaturally hard metal. Drow artisans adorn their weapons and armor with web-like filigree and spider motifs, and mages sometimes imbue items with magic to enhance their effectiveness. However, such magic fades when exposed to sunlight, so that magical drow weapons and armor rarely retain their enhancement bonuses and magical properties when brought to the surface.

Underdark Cities. The dark elves build fantastic cities in enormous caverns where food and water are abundant. Their ability to sculpt stone rivals that of the greatest dwarf artisans, yet their structures retain a decidedly elven aesthetic. Though appearing delicate, drow settlements are structurally sound and remarkably resilient. The drow like to hollow out enormous stalagmites and stalactites, creating populated spires that rise from the floors and ceilings.

A drow city is a sprawling metropolis enclosed by high walls. Non-drow visitors must conduct their business outside the walls under watchful eyes. The drow raise and keep giant spiders to help protect their cities against intruders, even as they drape those cities in beautiful webbing, creating a gossamer snare to catch flying enemies that would otherwise soar over the walls.

Drow Alchemy and Fermentation. Drow alchemists often find their skills carry over well into fermentation, and they often blend alchemy into their fermentation. This is more often found in some wines and mostly spirits, and ales are usually not blended with the alchemy. While most elves are known for their high quality wines, the drow have expanded into spirits and ales as well. Their wines are extremely rare and valuable outside of the underdark due to their unique flavor and bioluminescent glow. The wines are fermented from a subterranean glowing grape that requires no sunlight to grow, and it is rumored that the vines are actually carnivorous. Drow ales are made from various fungi and subterranean flowers, and are an acquired taste to most who are not familiar with their unique flavor profile. Drow spirits are made from a variety of plants and fungi similar to the ales, however the brandy distilled from the bioluminescent wines are another highly sought after commodity all across the world. All drow taught in fermentation and brewing are taught how to make all types of these beverages, and often don't have a favorite. However those drow only trained in alchemy usually only make alchemy imbued spirits and don't produce wines or ales often.

Skill Proficiencies: Deception, Persuasion

Tool Proficiencies: Two types of artisan’s tools

Languages: Undercommon or one other of your choice if you already speak Undercommon

Equipment: A set of artisan’s tools with which you are proficient, a maker’s mark chisel used to mark your handiwork with the symbol of the clan of crafters you learned your skill from, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a pouch containing 5 gp and a gem worth 10 gp

Suggested Characteristics

Use the tables for the guild artisan background below as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a clan crafter. (For instance, consider the words “guild” and “clan” to be interchangeable.)

Your bond is almost certainly related to the master or the clan that taught you, or else to the work that you produce. Your ideal might have to do with maintaining the high quality of your work or preserving the dwarven traditions of craftsmanship.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I'm full of witty aphorisms and have a proverb for every occasion.
2	I believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right. I can’t help it—I’m a perfectionist.
3	I’m a snob who looks down on those who can’t appreciate fine art.
4	I always want to know how things work and what makes people tick.
5	I’m rude to people who lack my commitment to hard work and fair play.
6	I like to talk at length about my profession, and at length with other skilled scholars and crafters about theirs.
7	I don’t part with my money easily and will haggle tirelessly to get the best deal possible.
8	I often seek out those who have knowledge of crafts and texts, and enjoy to trade information.

d6	Ideal
1	Aspiration: I work hard to be the best there is at my craft. (Any)
2	Community. It is the duty of all civilized people to strengthen the bonds of community and the security of civilization. (Lawful)
3	Generosity. My talents were given to me so that I could use them to benefit the world. (Good)
4	Freedom. Everyone should be free to pursue his or her own livelihood. (Chaotic)
5	Greed. I’m only in it for the money. (Evil)
6	People. I’m committed to the people I care about, not to ideals. (Neutral)

d6	Bond
1	The workshop where I learned my trade is the most important place in the world to me.
2	I created a great work for someone, and then found them unworthy to receive it. I’m still looking for someone worthy.
3	I owe my guild a great debt for forging me into the person I am today.
4	I pursue wealth to secure someone’s love.
5	One day I will return to my guild and prove that I am the greatest artisan of them all.
6	I will get revenge on the evil forces that destroyed my place of business and ruined my livelihood.

d6	Flaw
1	I'm never satisfied with what I have― I always want more.
2	I’ll do anything to get my hands on something rare or priceless.
3	I’m quick to assume that someone is trying to cheat me.
4	No one must ever learn that I once stole money from guild coffers.
5	I would kill to acquire a noble title.
6	I’m horribly jealous of anyone who can outshine my handiwork. Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by rivals.