Good for her. She's taken her first step along the path of Light, and away from the Munchkin side. But beware, because that path to power is easy, and is always a temptation to the unwary.
;)
While I agree with the sentiment, keep in mind that it's very much in character for a drow to try to find a way around their sunlight sensitivity.
Of course they would. But it's better if they find in-game solutions(which also means making sure the rest of the party isn't overly inconvenienced by being forced to work at night or something similar), rather than try and convince the DM to rewrite the rules because they don't want to deal with the consequences of their own character choice. Now, if the Dungeon Master WANTS to create a world where the downsides of playing a Drow aren't as severe, that's totally up to them. But the core of my stance is if your first action after making a choice when building your character is to ask the DM to homebrew a way around the consequences of that choice, you probably should've chosen something else.
Good for her. She's taken her first step along the path of Light, and away from the Munchkin side. But beware, because that path to power is easy, and is always a temptation to the unwary.
;)
While I agree with the sentiment, keep in mind that it's very much in character for a drow to try to find a way around their sunlight sensitivity.
Of course they would. But it's better if they find in-game solutions(which also means making sure the rest of the party isn't overly inconvenienced by being forced to work at night or something similar), rather than try and convince the DM to rewrite the rules because they don't want to deal with the consequences of their own character choice. Now, if the Dungeon Master WANTS to create a world where the downsides of playing a Drow aren't as severe, that's totally up to them. But the core of my stance is if your first action after making a choice when building your character is to ask the DM to homebrew a way around the consequences of that choice, you probably should've chosen something else.
Totally agree. It's like the player that picks a goblin, then wants the DM to make it totally normal for a goblin to be walking around Waterdeep and expect NPCs to treat them no differently than a human. Gotta take the bad with the good if you really want to play that particular race. (Could say the same about Kenku wanting to talk, Dwarf wanting 30ft base speed, etc)
Totally agree. It's like the player that picks a goblin, then wants the DM to make it totally normal for a goblin to be walking around Waterdeep and expect NPCs to treat them no differently than a human. Gotta take the bad with the good if you really want to play that particular race. (Could say the same about Kenku wanting to talk, Dwarf wanting 30ft base speed, etc)
Dwarves can get 30 ft base speed, assuming feats are active and XGTE ones are on the table. Squat Nimbleness. If you didn't know that, you didn't know Squat (Nimbleness). Dad jokes aside, getting a feat is clearly not the same as a homebrew (unless it's the free nonhuman variant variety).
Edit: Truncate quotes and:
I should have clarified that using an ASI on a feat is not the same as just getting it for free.
If I had a drow player that wanted to burn a feat to offset the sensitivity I would be all for it. I'd homebrew a feat that got rid of it plus another benefit or two. But getting rid of the sensitivity for free would be a no.
The easy solution to sunlight sensitivity is to just not use abilities that care -- spells with saves don't care if you're at a disadvantage on attack rolls (the penalty to perception is rarely relevant, things that are in direct sunlight are rarely hidden to start with).
If I had a drow player that wanted to burn a feat to offset the sensitivity I would be all for it. I'd homebrew a feat that got rid of it plus another benefit or two. But getting rid of the sensitivity for free would be a no.
If I were to homebrew a feat that eliminated the Sunlight Sensitivity, one thing I would definitely tack on is knocking their Superior Darkvision down to no more than standard 60' Darkvision. If they're adapting to working unimpeded in sunlight, I think it's fair that they lose their advantage in the dark.
Easiest fix is to eliminate the sensitivity and reduce darkvision from 120' to 60'. This particular drow had to spend time above ground and although it now it is better in the sun, it loses it's keen darkvision compared to other drow.
I prefer this method myself, especially since I find it a fair justification that if a drow was raised, as well perhaps born, above ground they would only have gained regular darkvision and no sunlight sensitivity. Plus, you could even say your character was from an above community of drow who are worshipers of Eilistraee, if Forgotten Realms, which adds another layer to the character and be really fun to play with. (I honestly wish more people would use Eilistraee)
In the Tasha’s cauldron of everything there’s the custom lineage stat block. You can use that and you’re a drow but with a totally different stat block. When I was building my character I wanted to play a gloom stalker ranger multiclassed with an assassin rogue. Really awesome concept. Being an assassin who when in darkness is INVISIBLE and being a drow would fuel that concept and make it amazing. But I’m the kind of player who wants there characters to be powerful so I looked for a way to be a drow with out the major disadvantage of sunlight sensitivity. And I found the custom lineage. I also get a feat so I’ll be able to get sharpshooter right of the bat. Anyway if that sounds like something you’d like to do definitely try it out
Short version, if you take Custom Lineage you don't qualify for racial feats. If you choose an actual race but use some one or more of the "Customizing Your Origin" options to swap stat bonuses, proficiencies etc. then you still qualify for racial feats.
Personally, this is the way I wanted it. If you want to be a "more Elfy Elf", you have to choose to actually be an Elf, not some custom creation that resembles an Elf. If they had meant for you to qualify as an existing race for purposes like this, they would have required you to declare that race during character creation specifically to avoid the possibility of you qualifying for EVERY racial feat, which I think we can all agree would be silly.
Short version, if you take Custom Lineage you don't qualify for racial feats. If you choose an actual race but use some one or more of the "Customizing Your Origin" options to swap stat bonuses, proficiencies etc. then you still qualify for racial feats.
Personally, this is the way I wanted it. If you want to be a "more Elfy Elf", you have to choose to actually be an Elf, not some custom creation that resembles an Elf. If they had meant for you to qualify as an existing race for purposes like this, they would have required you to declare that race during character creation specifically to avoid the possibility of you qualifying for EVERY racial feat, which I think we can all agree would be silly.
Could still qualify for Squat Nimbleness, though, since it only requires that you be a small race and you can choose to be a small sized custom lineage character. Outside of that, I think that it's fair. There are very few racial feats that are powerful enough to grab anyway. I think the big thing is that you can't start with Elven Accuracy at level 1 by saying, "I'm an elf".
I'm also not sold on the custom lineage package. It offers fine options, but it seems very generic and doesn't add much to the depth of the character. I'm certain that's so that people can get some generically good options and be whatever they want to be that isn't offered as is (My name is Barff. I'm a Mog, half man, half dog... I'm my own best friend...) and it's a great option for them. It just doesn't suit my needs the majority of the time, even with the opportunity to start with an 18 in a stat without rolling for it by putting a 15 on the same stat that I put the +2 racial on and choosing a half feat to get a +1 on the same stat. Granted, I also have lots of exploring left to do with character possibilities and still consider not changing the racial stat bonuses to suit the class on occasion.
I personally love the idea of playing a d row character. They're dark, cool, and offer lots of great flavor. Sadly, sunlight sensitivity is a big drawback for the would-be d row players around the world. I've researched this topic quite a bit and one thing that I've seen a lot of people suggest that you could ignore sunlight sensitivity if you sacrifice your drow's superior darkvision and use the normal elf darkvision instead.
One of the most famed characters in D&D, Drizzt Do'Urden the drow ranger, was said to have adapted to conditions on the surface world, including sunlight sensitivity.
"His vision was once accustomed to the pitch-blackness of the Underdark. However, many years after Drizzt first ventured onto the surface, his eyes adapted to the bright light of the world above. When using his infravision, the images, if held for a prolonged period of time, caused headaches and other symptoms of strain." (Forgotten Realms Wiki)
So, if your friend really wants to play a drow without the drawback of sunlight sensitivity, I would propose this idea of "sunlight adaptation" to your DM.
In the FR there are the Crinti, Drow who have lived on the surface for generations. the variant no longer has the sensitivity and the balancing aspect is no no longer have the innnate spells
Recently in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything there is a fighting style named "Blind fighting" available for rangers, Paladins and Fighters.
It gives you 10 ft of blindsight and combining it with wearing a cloak you could argue to overcome sunlight sensitivity because you technically aren't in direct sunlight and you can rely on blindsight instead of normal sight to sense enemies at 10 ft of you.
This should work if you want to play in melee combat or with Crossbow expert.
Additionally Rogues get blindsense at 14th lvl since the PHB and you could try to make a similar argument.
"Starting at 14th level, if you are able to hear, you are aware of the location of any hidden or invisible creature within 10 feet of you."
Considering that the Duergar and Kobold are getting their Sunlight Sensitivity removed in the upcoming Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse book (according to the latest leaks), I think the writing is on the wall that Drow will not have Sunlight Sensitivity come “the next evolution of D&D” in 2024. Of course, that’s still two years from now…
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Thing is, the drow character probably wouldn't know about them. So the DM is going to drag that happening out,
Of course they would. But it's better if they find in-game solutions(which also means making sure the rest of the party isn't overly inconvenienced by being forced to work at night or something similar), rather than try and convince the DM to rewrite the rules because they don't want to deal with the consequences of their own character choice. Now, if the Dungeon Master WANTS to create a world where the downsides of playing a Drow aren't as severe, that's totally up to them. But the core of my stance is if your first action after making a choice when building your character is to ask the DM to homebrew a way around the consequences of that choice, you probably should've chosen something else.
Totally agree. It's like the player that picks a goblin, then wants the DM to make it totally normal for a goblin to be walking around Waterdeep and expect NPCs to treat them no differently than a human. Gotta take the bad with the good if you really want to play that particular race. (Could say the same about Kenku wanting to talk, Dwarf wanting 30ft base speed, etc)
Dwarves can get 30 ft base speed, assuming feats are active and XGTE ones are on the table. Squat Nimbleness. If you didn't know that, you didn't know Squat (Nimbleness). Dad jokes aside, getting a feat is clearly not the same as a homebrew (unless it's the free nonhuman variant variety).
Edit: Truncate quotes and:
I should have clarified that using an ASI on a feat is not the same as just getting it for free.
If I had a drow player that wanted to burn a feat to offset the sensitivity I would be all for it. I'd homebrew a feat that got rid of it plus another benefit or two. But getting rid of the sensitivity for free would be a no.
The easy solution to sunlight sensitivity is to just not use abilities that care -- spells with saves don't care if you're at a disadvantage on attack rolls (the penalty to perception is rarely relevant, things that are in direct sunlight are rarely hidden to start with).
To quote Matt Colville: “They call it Dungeons & Dragons, not Daylight & Dragons.” Sometimes you gotta just go with it.
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If I were to homebrew a feat that eliminated the Sunlight Sensitivity, one thing I would definitely tack on is knocking their Superior Darkvision down to no more than standard 60' Darkvision. If they're adapting to working unimpeded in sunlight, I think it's fair that they lose their advantage in the dark.
I prefer this method myself, especially since I find it a fair justification that if a drow was raised, as well perhaps born, above ground they would only have gained regular darkvision and no sunlight sensitivity. Plus, you could even say your character was from an above community of drow who are worshipers of Eilistraee, if Forgotten Realms, which adds another layer to the character and be really fun to play with. (I honestly wish more people would use Eilistraee)
In the Tasha’s cauldron of everything there’s the custom lineage stat block. You can use that and you’re a drow but with a totally different stat block. When I was building my character I wanted to play a gloom stalker ranger multiclassed with an assassin rogue. Really awesome concept. Being an assassin who when in darkness is INVISIBLE and being a drow would fuel that concept and make it amazing. But I’m the kind of player who wants there characters to be powerful so I looked for a way to be a drow with out the major disadvantage of sunlight sensitivity. And I found the custom lineage. I also get a feat so I’ll be able to get sharpshooter right of the bat.
Anyway if that sounds like something you’d like to do definitely try it out
Certainly with a custom lineage you can "call yourself" a drow, but you won't be a real drow ;-)
Ooh race gatekeeping should make this thread extra spicy.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I would just point out the other recent thread about Custom Lineage :-)
Yeah I saw that but sharpshooter has no racial requirements so for me at least I’m fine.
Jeremy Crawford tweeted earlier this month to clarify the issue of racial feats and Custom Lineage - https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/1367309850707849216
Short version, if you take Custom Lineage you don't qualify for racial feats. If you choose an actual race but use some one or more of the "Customizing Your Origin" options to swap stat bonuses, proficiencies etc. then you still qualify for racial feats.
Personally, this is the way I wanted it. If you want to be a "more Elfy Elf", you have to choose to actually be an Elf, not some custom creation that resembles an Elf. If they had meant for you to qualify as an existing race for purposes like this, they would have required you to declare that race during character creation specifically to avoid the possibility of you qualifying for EVERY racial feat, which I think we can all agree would be silly.
Could still qualify for Squat Nimbleness, though, since it only requires that you be a small race and you can choose to be a small sized custom lineage character. Outside of that, I think that it's fair. There are very few racial feats that are powerful enough to grab anyway. I think the big thing is that you can't start with Elven Accuracy at level 1 by saying, "I'm an elf".
I'm also not sold on the custom lineage package. It offers fine options, but it seems very generic and doesn't add much to the depth of the character. I'm certain that's so that people can get some generically good options and be whatever they want to be that isn't offered as is (My name is Barff. I'm a Mog, half man, half dog... I'm my own best friend...) and it's a great option for them. It just doesn't suit my needs the majority of the time, even with the opportunity to start with an 18 in a stat without rolling for it by putting a 15 on the same stat that I put the +2 racial on and choosing a half feat to get a +1 on the same stat. Granted, I also have lots of exploring left to do with character possibilities and still consider not changing the racial stat bonuses to suit the class on occasion.
I personally love the idea of playing a d row character. They're dark, cool, and offer lots of great flavor. Sadly, sunlight sensitivity is a big drawback for the would-be d row players around the world. I've researched this topic quite a bit and one thing that I've seen a lot of people suggest that you could ignore sunlight sensitivity if you sacrifice your drow's superior darkvision and use the normal elf darkvision instead.
One of the most famed characters in D&D, Drizzt Do'Urden the drow ranger, was said to have adapted to conditions on the surface world, including sunlight sensitivity.
"His vision was once accustomed to the pitch-blackness of the Underdark. However, many years after Drizzt first ventured onto the surface, his eyes adapted to the bright light of the world above. When using his infravision, the images, if held for a prolonged period of time, caused headaches and other symptoms of strain." (Forgotten Realms Wiki)
So, if your friend really wants to play a drow without the drawback of sunlight sensitivity, I would propose this idea of "sunlight adaptation" to your DM.
In the FR there are the Crinti, Drow who have lived on the surface for generations. the variant no longer has the sensitivity and the balancing aspect is no no longer have the innnate spells
Recently in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything there is a fighting style named "Blind fighting" available for rangers, Paladins and Fighters.
It gives you 10 ft of blindsight and combining it with wearing a cloak you could argue to overcome sunlight sensitivity because you technically aren't in direct sunlight and you can rely on blindsight instead of normal sight to sense enemies at 10 ft of you.
This should work if you want to play in melee combat or with Crossbow expert.
Additionally Rogues get blindsense at 14th lvl since the PHB and you could try to make a similar argument.
"Starting at 14th level, if you are able to hear, you are aware of the location of any hidden or invisible creature within 10 feet of you."
Considering that the Duergar and Kobold are getting their Sunlight Sensitivity removed in the upcoming Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse book (according to the latest leaks), I think the writing is on the wall that Drow will not have Sunlight Sensitivity come “the next evolution of D&D” in 2024. Of course, that’s still two years from now…