You are a member of one of the noble families of the Underdark. Drow families who jealously guard their privilege and place in the City of Spiders, Drow nobles have a reputation across Faerûn for being almost entirely evil. The teachings of Lolth represent the standard moral code for most of the race. They are overall decadent but manage to hide it under a veneer of sophistication. Drow are arrogant, ambitious, sadistic, treacherous, and hedonistic.
Whether you are a shining example of the reason for this reputation or one who proves the rule by being an exception, people expect things of you when they know your surname and what it means. Your reasons for taking up adventuring likely involve your family in some way: Are you the family rebel, who prefers delving in filthy dungeons to sipping /wine at a ball? Or have you taken up sword or spell on your family's behalf, ensuring that they have someone of renown to see to their legacy?
Work with your DM to come up with an appropriate title and determine how much authority that title carries. A noble title doesn't stand on its own-it's connected to an entire family, and whatever title you hold, you will pass it down to your own children. Not only do you need to determine your noble title, but you should also work with the DM to describe your family and their influence on you.
Is your family old and established, or was your title only recently bestowed? How much influence do they wield, and over what area? What kind of reputation does your family have among the other aristocrats of the region? How do the common people regard them?
What's your position in the family? Are you the heir to the head of the family? Have you already inherited the title? How do you feel about that responsibility? Or are you so far down the line of inheritance that no one cares what you do, as long as you don't embarrass the family? How does the head of your family feel about your adventuring career? Are you in your family's good graces, or shunned by the rest of your family?
Does your family have a coat of arms? An insignia you might wear on a signet ring? Particular colors you wear all the time? An animal you regard as a symbol of your line or even a spiritual member of the family?
These details help establish your family and your title as features of the world of the campaign.
- Skill Proficiencies: Skill Proficiencies: History, Persuasion
- Tool Proficiencies: Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, artisan’s tools or one musical instrument
- Languages: Languages: Two of your choice
- Equipment: Equipment: A set of fine clothes, a signet ring or brooch, a scroll of pedigree and a purse containing 25gp.
While you are in Menzoberranzan or elsewhere in the Underdark your house sees to your everyday needs. Your name and signet are sufficient to cover most of your expenses; the inns, taverns, and festhalls you frequent are glad to record your debt and send an accounting to your family's estate in Menzoberranzan to settle what you owe.
This advantage enables you to live a comfortable lifestyle without having to pay 2 gp a day for it, or reduces the cost of a wealthy or aristocratic lifestyle by that amount. You may not maintain a less affluent lifestyle and use the difference as income – the benefit is a line of credit, not an actual monetary reward.
Suggested Characteristics
Use the tables for the Noble background as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity.
Like other nobles, you were born and raised in a different world from the one that most folk know – one that grants you privilege but also calls you to fulfill a duty befitting your station. Your bond might be associated with your family alone, or it could be concerned with another noble house that sides with or opposes your own. Your ideal depends to some extent on how you view your role in the family, and how you intend to conduct yourself in the world at large as a representative of your house.
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