Hi all,

I presume this is a bug, as all other Half-elves receive the Skill Versatility Racial Feature, however when using Half-elf (drow) it does not add it.

For the time being I have just added the race Half-elf, please let me know if this is not the case.

Cheers,

Half-elf variants do not receive the Skill Versatility trait. They forgo Skill Versatility for one of the traits related to the elf parentage. In the case of Half-drow, the only option is Drow Magic.

Not to debate RAW or anything, but where does it say that specifically? I haven't seen anything like that in the PHB in either Half-elves or Elves.

Half-elves variants are from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. You can find how the variant Half-elf race works in the following links:

https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/races/half-elf#Half-ElfVariants

https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/scag/races-of-the-realms#HalfElves

Ahh! Righto! Thanks for that!

Read the bits in red - it is RAW that a Half-Elf Drow have skill versatility. In fact, it is RAW that they still get skill versatility, and at DM discretion can they take Drow Magic, after forgoing skill versatility. This issue still persists in D&D Beyond.

Drow Half-Elf

Some half-elves in Faerûn have a racial trait in place of the Skill Versatility trait. If your DM allows it, your half-elf character can forgo Skill Versatility and instead take the elf trait Keen Senses or a trait based on your elf parentage.

Drow Magic

A half-elf of drow descent can forgo Skill Versatility and instead choose the drow’s Drow Magic:

You know the dancing lights cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the faerie fire spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the darkness spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

That's not how I read it at all:  the first paragraph is taken from the top of the Half-Elf Variants section, and applies to all of the variants:  Half-elf variants by definition have a racial trait instead of Skill Versatility.  But (as always) you need the DMs o.k. to use a variant.  You are welcome to play a half-elf with skill versatility whose elven parent was a drow; but mechanically such a character is a (standard) half-elf, not a Variant Half-Elf (Drow).

Note:  This is much clearer in the compendium of the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide than it is in Game Rules>Races>Half-Elves.  The way they combined information from various sourcebooks makes it a bit fuzzier on the Races page.

I´m having the same problem. I did not choose the drow variant for the "Drow magic trait" but for the roleplaying aspect. I still can not choose the skill versatility, so I don´t understand why this tread has been marked as resolved. The issue still persists.

Quote from LightMcPunch >>

I´m having the same problem. I did not choose the drow variant for the "Drow magic trait" but for the roleplaying aspect. I still can not choose the skill versatility, so I don´t understand why this tread has been marked as resolved. The issue still persists.

 Then do as I suggest in the post immediately above yours:  choose Half-Elf for your race, not Variant Half-Elf (Drow).  There’s nothing stopping you from deciding/declaring that the elf half is Drow.

The thread is marked as resolved because the current functioning matches the official rules.  The Variant Half-Elves come from the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide (SCAG), and the rules there are quite clear that Variant Half-Elves do not have skill Versatility; that feature is replaced with a feature more aligned with the particular Half-Elf heritage.  If a player wants Skill Versatility, they choose a regular Half-Elf, and decide/declare what specific type of elf their elven parent was.   

Quote from theobjectivesea >>

Read the bits in red - it is RAW that a Half-Elf Drow have skill versatility. In fact, it is RAW that they still get skill versatility, and at DM discretion can they take Drow Magic, after forgoing skill versatility. This issue still persists in D&D Beyond.

Drow Half-Elf

Some half-elves in Faerûn have a racial trait in place of the Skill Versatility trait. If your DM allows it, your half-elf character can forgo Skill Versatility and instead take the elf trait Keen Senses or a trait based on your elf parentage.

Drow Magic

A half-elf of drow descent can forgo Skill Versatility and instead choose the drow’s Drow Magic:

You know the dancing lights cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the faerie fire spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the darkness spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

 I agree. This is a bug with D&D Beyond. It says that you CAN forgo Skill Versatility, meaning that it's an option that players are supposed to have. Furthermore, it also says "If your DM allows it," meaning that the default is supposed to be that all half-elfs (including Drow half-elfs) take skill versatility, and that this is an optional rule your GM can give you to help customize your character more.

Variant half-elves do not get Skill Versatility.  Half-elves (of whatever elven descent) get EITHER Skill Versatility OR a trait related to their elven parent's race (in this case, Drow Magic).  If they choose Skill Versatility, then they are PHB Half-Elves.  So, a half-elf of Drow descent who chooses Skill Versatility rather than Drow Magic is, for the purposes of game mechanics, a PHB half-elf.

If you believe this is not the case, please explain to me how a half-drow who takes Skill Versatility is mechanically different than a PHB Half-Elf.

Mechanically speaking, it's not different, and you're right about that. What I was stating, and what I think other people were getting at, is that this is a bug in the web page because we're supposed to be able to choose to have a Drow half-elf that is mechanically identical to a PHB half-elf, but narratively different, but when constructing a Drow half-elf it forces you to take that trait. I was constructing a character, and thought the idea of a half-elf seemed really cool, and I liked it as it is, but thought the Drow variant would work better for the story. But if I wanted to do that, I would have to edit the character in the .pdf, and couldn't just use this site. Considering that a major reason why I decided to go through D&D Beyond was because I wouldn't have to do that is a little frustrating.

Now, if it's more trouble than it's worth to fix the bug, that's a business decision to make. It doesn't mean it's not a flaw that you're supposed to do this, but the website doesn't let you.

I’m not convinced it’s a bug.  I think if you want to be a Drow half-elf with skill versatility, the idea has always been—even in SCAG—to just use the PHB half-elf. There’s no subrace section for Drow half-elves in SCAG or any other half elf, aside from the side bar with variant options. I don’t understand what you have to change on your sheet.  I don’t see people asking for separate half wood-elf and half-high elf races with skill versatility.  Instead, the expectation is that the player decides what their elven ancestry is. If it doesn’t affect mechanics, it’s “just” flavor.  Those details go in the various description fields.  It works the same way for half Drow, of half aquatic elves that take skill versatility. 

Clearly for you the distinction is important, but I’m just not seeing it. Can you help me understand your perspective more clearly?