Some drow are not 100% evil and they can probably be very charming to the opposite sex if they have a high CHA. Also on Faerun there’s a whole nation of half-drow (Dambrath).
As written in the module that detailed their homeland in Greyhawk (D3: Vault of the Drow) there is a tiny minority that are not degenerate nor Evil and in fact hate the society that they are forced to live in. The likelihood is higher among half-castes (one surface Elf parent) and outcasts (Half-Elf Drow). They will even help you overthrow Lolth (and maybe even travel with your party to kick Lolth's teeth in on her home plane in The Abyss).
Isn't Penelope talking about Fearun, not Greyhawk?
Yes, but I'm also pointing out that in the very series where the Drow are fleshed out, there existed a tiny minority that weren't evil.....
There have been multiple threads on this, where the experienced players with decades of game time, are shouted out by those that have played D&D a scant few years. Of course the Drow are an evil race. Of course any Drow that deviates from the norm will STILL encounter suspicion, prejudice, or outright homicidal actions. Any surface dwelling sentient settlement that has had contact with Drow raiding parties would automatically KOS a Drow. To play one means that the entire campaign must be turned upside down from decades of lore. Now, that was done with stuff like Eberron. But as I have stated before, the entire Eberron planet is incompatible with much classic D&D with its handling or species relations, magic, and magical technology, let alone classes like the Artificer.
Athas, Krynn and Mystara either have no Drow or Drow that are very different from the ones in Greyhawk or the FR. Species relations are different in each setting, certainly including Dragonlance. Mystara's Savage Coast had black powder weapons, with Mystara being the default setting for '80s and '90s Basic rules D&D. Dark Sun's take on magic isn't remotely comparable to those of other settings. Spelljammer and Planescape were massive departures from all existing settings at the time as well. What is "classic D&D" exactly?
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It's Drizzt's daughter, problem solved. Seriously, I've never even read any D&D books and I came up with that in 7 seconds.
Errrgh. Definitely not. Actually, her backstory says she doesn't know who her parents are, but considering who her mother probably is, doubtful. (Her mother is PROBABLY one of the worst members of Likawa's cult of birth. PROBABLY. She isn't sure and never becomes sure.)
I mean I made a Half-Elf - Half-Orc whos parents were leaders in a bloody war. The mother was an orc War Cheiftan and the Father and Elven Knight. They were on opposing sides in the conflict until they went head to head in a duel. It ended up that they had a kid. IK REALLY WEIRD. But they were in love. And when the Orcs and Elves found out they were furious. One of the Elven Kings slew his Mother. His father then went and assassinated the Elven Lord and committed suicide soon after to avoid getting caught. This left my character and his sister orphaned in a world where everyone hated them, they belonged to no race as the Elves and Orcs now despised of there dead parents unaware that they birthed twins.
Heh, IDK but I find things like this often help with stuff like ur problem. Some kinda scandalous upbringing. Bit Cliche' tho with the orphan stuff but I like it.
It's Drizzt's daughter, problem solved. Seriously, I've never even read any D&D books and I came up with that in 7 seconds.
Errrgh. Definitely not. Actually, her backstory says she doesn't know who her parents are, but considering who her mother probably is, doubtful. (Her mother is PROBABLY one of the worst members of Likawa's cult of birth. PROBABLY. She isn't sure and never becomes sure.)
There's one half-drow in OOTA, but she uses the Spy stat block with this added: "The orphaned daughter of a Drow merchant and a human slave,
Shinzi was adopted by Dalfred and is one of his many spies.
She has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet, as well as the Fey Ancestry and Innate Spellcastlng features of a Drow. However. she doesn't have the Sunlight Sensitivity feature." OOTA pg 197
Also from OOTA (pg 190) :
STATISTICAL MODIFICATIONS for DROW NPCS When using the generic stat blocks in appendix B of the Monster Manual to represent Drow NPCs. assume that the Drow are neutral evil and speak Elvish and Undercommon. Also give these NPCS the following additional features.
Fey Ancestry. The Drow has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put the drow to sleep.
Innate Spellcasting. The Drow's innate spellcasting ability is charisma (spell save DC equal to 10 + the Drow‘s Charisma modifier). The Drow can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: dancing lights 1 /day each: darkness faerie fire, levitate (self only) Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the Drow has disadvantage on attack rolls as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
For creating a Half-Drow NPC, I would follow the above, but remove Sunlight Sensitivity.
Edit: I can't remember if the above spoiler is a spoiler but there it is.
So a half drow in 5e has the good features of a drow but not the bad one (Sunlight Sensitivity). Good to know. I read OOTA but I guess I forgot about this character.
One of my friends is thinking about bringing in a half drow NPC as his PC’s half sister (they share a human father). Her name is Ilmae, which I think is a cool name and sounds really drowish. I’ll show him this thread and ask him what he thinks.
So a half drow in 5e has the good features of a drow but not the bad one (Sunlight Sensitivity). Good to know. I read OOTA but I guess I forgot about this character.
One of my friends is thinking about bringing in a half drow NPC as his PC’s half sister (they share a human father). Her name is Ilmae, which I think is a cool name and sounds really drowish. I’ll show him this thread and ask him what he thinks.
By default, half-drow PCs don't have any statistical difference from standard half-elves. As a variant rule they can select the Drow Magic trait in place of Skill Versatility. So no, they don't get the good features of being a drow without the bad one. That was just some one-off NPC.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
By default, half-drow PCs don't have any statistical difference from standard half-elves. As a variant rule they can select the Drow Magic trait in place of Skill Versatility. So no, they don't get the good features of being a drow without the bad one. That was just some one-off NPC.
Likawa was born into a fringe cult with slightly heretical beliefs, based in a castle sunk just below the surface nearby a human city. It's a home-brew setting.
That’s pretty much my characters parents. Human (Imperial) father and drow mother. They met and fell in love and cause such a relationship was taboo for them they went into hiding in some tiny farming town and had twins. The mother taught the twins some of the history and culture of the drow as they grew up but in all senses they lived a very human life.
There's one half-drow in OOTA, but she uses the Spy stat block with this added: "The orphaned daughter of a Drow merchant and a human slave,
Shinzi was adopted by Dalfred and is one of his many spies.
She has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet, as well as the Fey Ancestry and Innate Spellcastlng features of a Drow. However. she doesn't have the Sunlight Sensitivity feature." OOTA pg 197
Also from OOTA (pg 190) :
STATISTICAL MODIFICATIONS for DROW NPCS When using the generic stat blocks in appendix B of the Monster Manual to represent Drow NPCs. assume that the Drow are neutral evil and speak Elvish and Undercommon. Also give these NPCS the following additional features.
Fey Ancestry. The Drow has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put the drow to sleep.
Innate Spellcasting. The Drow's innate spellcasting ability is charisma (spell save DC equal to 10 + the Drow‘s Charisma modifier). The Drow can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: dancing lights 1 /day each: darkness faerie fire, levitate (self only) Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the Drow has disadvantage on attack rolls as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
For creating a Half-Drow NPC, I would follow the above, but remove Sunlight Sensitivity.
Edit: I can't remember if the above spoiler is a spoiler but there it is.
I keep 5e sunlight sensitivity for PC's; half- or otherwise, as IMHO it is already sunlight sensitivity lite, but use "real" sunlight sensitivity for everyone else; i.e. the old school kind.
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Thank you for your time and please have a very pleasant day.
I'm playing a half elf drow in my current campaign. Her human mother with a small group of other escaped the underdark. Her mum was the only one known to successful get away. Her mother was found by a kindhearted human gentleman noble who lived on the outskirts of candlekeep and decided to take her in. Eventually the two sired two more children. My character apon finding out at the age of 14 she had latent magic gifts was sent to strixhaven for tutoring. After two years at strixhaven she was asked to leave because she was In too many fights due to her constant being bullied for being a drow. At 16, She left strixhaven not saying anything to her parents. She's at 2 lvls of fighter and 2 lvls of abberent mind sorcerer. I'm going to take her to 4 lvls in fighter for eldrich knight the rest in sorcerer. She's a dex based fighter.
I'm playing a half elf drow in my current campaign. Her human mother with a small group of other escaped the underdark. Her mum was the only one known to successful get away. Her mother was found by a kindhearted human gentleman noble who lived on the outskirts of candlekeep and decided to take her in. Eventually the two sired two more children. My character apon finding out at the age of 14 she had latent magic gifts was sent to strixhaven for tutoring. After two years at strixhaven she was asked to leave because she was In too many fights due to her constant being bullied for being a drow. At 16, She left strixhaven not saying anything to her parents. She's at 2 lvls of fighter and 2 lvls of abberent mind sorcerer. I'm going to take her to 4 lvls in fighter for eldrich knight the rest in sorcerer. She's a dex based fighter.
Take her to 5 levels of fighter for the second attack as well as the Eldritch knight and ASI. By taking them past L3 fighter you’ve already killed L9 spells, L5F/L15 S gives you the two attacks of a fighter and L8 spells as a sorceror ( or rather —a L8 spell).
Drow weren't born evil in the older lore as well. Susprina Arkhenneld was a pupil of Eliminster, you know good ole CG Elimn, and she was a worshipper of Eilistraee. Elistraee has been around since 1991 and represents the good drow. A hot chaotic good drow goddess who danced in the moonlight. There are volumes of lore on her and her worshippers.
The problem is how D&D 5E has chosen to present the lore to new players, making a number of assertions about content, without actually presenting all of it. Most players today who only read the recent output from the current 5E team, would believe that wow adding in new subraces of drow is ground breaking and now there can be good Drow. Well there always have been good drow, they have been in a number of modules and they decided to tear apart quite a bit of an ongoing story line to create some new non-evil drow race.
Just do some reading on Elistrae and make your Drow one her worshippers. You'll be happier, have a coherent story line for the character and even get some bad guys going after said drow in the first place and some friends to help as well. A good read on the porch after work is Ed Greenwoods "The Drow of Underdark". It will take a few hours and you'll have a better understanding of the drow and Elistrae and how to do your character in the first place good.
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Athas, Krynn and Mystara either have no Drow or Drow that are very different from the ones in Greyhawk or the FR. Species relations are different in each setting, certainly including Dragonlance. Mystara's Savage Coast had black powder weapons, with Mystara being the default setting for '80s and '90s Basic rules D&D. Dark Sun's take on magic isn't remotely comparable to those of other settings. Spelljammer and Planescape were massive departures from all existing settings at the time as well. What is "classic D&D" exactly?
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Errrgh. Definitely not. Actually, her backstory says she doesn't know who her parents are, but considering who her mother probably is, doubtful. (Her mother is PROBABLY one of the worst members of Likawa's cult of birth. PROBABLY. She isn't sure and never becomes sure.)
I mean I made a Half-Elf - Half-Orc whos parents were leaders in a bloody war. The mother was an orc War Cheiftan and the Father and Elven Knight. They were on opposing sides in the conflict until they went head to head in a duel. It ended up that they had a kid. IK REALLY WEIRD. But they were in love. And when the Orcs and Elves found out they were furious. One of the Elven Kings slew his Mother. His father then went and assassinated the Elven Lord and committed suicide soon after to avoid getting caught. This left my character and his sister orphaned in a world where everyone hated them, they belonged to no race as the Elves and Orcs now despised of there dead parents unaware that they birthed twins.
Heh, IDK but I find things like this often help with stuff like ur problem. Some kinda scandalous upbringing. Bit Cliche' tho with the orphan stuff but I like it.
What’s Likawa’s cult of birth?
slight off topic, but does anyone know of any official half-drow NPC's in 5e with declared stat blocks?
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
There's one half-drow in OOTA, but she uses the Spy stat block with this added: "The orphaned daughter of a Drow merchant and a human slave,
Shinzi was adopted by Dalfred and is one of his many spies.
She has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet, as well as the Fey Ancestry and Innate Spellcastlng features of a Drow. However. she doesn't have the Sunlight Sensitivity feature." OOTA pg 197
Also from OOTA (pg 190) :
STATISTICAL MODIFICATIONS for DROW NPCS
When using the generic stat blocks in appendix B of the Monster Manual to represent Drow NPCs. assume that the Drow are neutral evil and speak Elvish and Undercommon. Also give these NPCS the following additional features.
Fey Ancestry. The Drow has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put the drow to sleep.
Innate Spellcasting. The Drow's innate spellcasting ability is charisma (spell save DC equal to 10 + the Drow‘s Charisma modifier). The Drow can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: dancing lights
1 /day each: darkness faerie fire, levitate (self only)
Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the Drow has disadvantage on attack rolls as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
For creating a Half-Drow NPC, I would follow the above, but remove Sunlight Sensitivity.
Edit: I can't remember if the above spoiler is a spoiler but there it is.
So a half drow in 5e has the good features of a drow but not the bad one (Sunlight Sensitivity). Good to know. I read OOTA but I guess I forgot about this character.
One of my friends is thinking about bringing in a half drow NPC as his PC’s half sister (they share a human father). Her name is Ilmae, which I think is a cool name and sounds really drowish. I’ll show him this thread and ask him what he thinks.
By default, half-drow PCs don't have any statistical difference from standard half-elves. As a variant rule they can select the Drow Magic trait in place of Skill Versatility. So no, they don't get the good features of being a drow without the bad one. That was just some one-off NPC.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
@6thLyranGuard thank you
I’m reading Descent Into Avernus rn. Really cool adventure.
Drow Magic kind of is the good feature of Drow.
It is, but Skill Versatility is a very good feature itself.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
thanks!
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
Likawa was born into a fringe cult with slightly heretical beliefs, based in a castle sunk just below the surface nearby a human city. It's a home-brew setting.
Okay. Thanks.
That’s pretty much my characters parents. Human (Imperial) father and drow mother. They met and fell in love and cause such a relationship was taboo for them they went into hiding in some tiny farming town and had twins. The mother taught the twins some of the history and culture of the drow as they grew up but in all senses they lived a very human life.
I keep 5e sunlight sensitivity for PC's; half- or otherwise, as IMHO it is already sunlight sensitivity lite, but use "real" sunlight sensitivity for everyone else; i.e. the old school kind.
Thank you for your time and please have a very pleasant day.
I'm playing a half elf drow in my current campaign. Her human mother with a small group of other escaped the underdark. Her mum was the only one known to successful get away. Her mother was found by a kindhearted human gentleman noble who lived on the outskirts of candlekeep and decided to take her in. Eventually the two sired two more children. My character apon finding out at the age of 14 she had latent magic gifts was sent to strixhaven for tutoring. After two years at strixhaven she was asked to leave because she was In too many fights due to her constant being bullied for being a drow. At 16, She left strixhaven not saying anything to her parents. She's at 2 lvls of fighter and 2 lvls of abberent mind sorcerer. I'm going to take her to 4 lvls in fighter for eldrich knight the rest in sorcerer. She's a dex based fighter.
Take her to 5 levels of fighter for the second attack as well as the Eldritch knight and ASI. By taking them past L3 fighter you’ve already killed L9 spells, L5F/L15 S gives you the two attacks of a fighter and L8 spells as a sorceror ( or rather —a L8 spell).
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Drow weren't born evil in the older lore as well. Susprina Arkhenneld was a pupil of Eliminster, you know good ole CG Elimn, and she was a worshipper of Eilistraee. Elistraee has been around since 1991 and represents the good drow. A hot chaotic good drow goddess who danced in the moonlight. There are volumes of lore on her and her worshippers.
The problem is how D&D 5E has chosen to present the lore to new players, making a number of assertions about content, without actually presenting all of it. Most players today who only read the recent output from the current 5E team, would believe that wow adding in new subraces of drow is ground breaking and now there can be good Drow. Well there always have been good drow, they have been in a number of modules and they decided to tear apart quite a bit of an ongoing story line to create some new non-evil drow race.
Just do some reading on Elistrae and make your Drow one her worshippers. You'll be happier, have a coherent story line for the character and even get some bad guys going after said drow in the first place and some friends to help as well. A good read on the porch after work is Ed Greenwoods "The Drow of Underdark". It will take a few hours and you'll have a better understanding of the drow and Elistrae and how to do your character in the first place good.