What are folks thoughts on a good Bloodline for a Drow Sorcerer?
Divine seems out, since Drows are more likely to have Demons in their ancestry. But I guess that could be an interesting family backstory of how that happened.
Draconic seems out since not too many dragons live in the Underdark. Again, a possible interesting family backstory of how it happened (imprisoned metallic,
Storm seems out, since not much weather in the Underdark.
Shadow is a possibility, but I dislike the nerf that the "big" 1st level bloodline boost is 120ft dark vision, which Drow already have. Now if the DM would let me have greater than 120 ft dark vision ...
Wild Magic seems like the default. The Chaos and Demons theme sort of goes together.
Is there UA or other content with a Demonic Bloodline for sorcerers?
Storm power link to the power of elemental air, not the weather. That means the power could link to Djinn or other powerful elemental beings.
Draconic power is from the dragon but it could trace back to ancient times or it could be from your parents or grandparents.
If you read through the sourcebook, you will see the story is fair open and it is not limit by the race at all. Just choose what you want to play and come out with a story for it.
Divine Soul could work given the pretty large Drow Pantheon of gods and there are Deep Dragons with a Flesh Eating Acidic Gas Cloud as a breath weapon which could serve as a Draconic origin. You can also go for the UA for Aberrant Mind (https://media.wizards.com/2019/dnd/downloads/UA-AberrantLurk.pdf) and have them linked to thw Mind Flayers, maybe having a mind flayer tadpole inside them to keep them in line or have their ancestors enslaved by an Aboleth.
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Actually Draconic could fit if your character is a Drow-dragon. (born from a shadow dragon and a drow).
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Born under the watch of something from the furthest corners of the far realms.... It knows all.... it sees all... and it asks: "What is it that you want to see?"... and my answer is... ALL"
Divine seems out, since Drows are more likely to have Demons in their ancestry. But I guess that could be an interesting family backstory of how that happened.
Most Drow are in direct service to Lolth, a goddess. There are other gods the Drow acknowledge. Nothing says your direct parent has to be a god - you could just have a distant ancester be any type of celestial being and the trait passed down finally was able to manifest in you. Or it could be a blessing from Lolth directly.
Draconic seems out since not too many dragons live in the Underdark. Again, a possible interesting family backstory of how it happened (imprisoned metallic,
Shadow Dragons, Black Dragons, Blue Dragons, Red Dragons, White Dragons are all known to make subterranean lairs which can easily be in or near the Underdark (which is a Forgotten Realms specific term for a series of connected underground networks of caves, caverns, ruins, and such). Drow aren't bound to the Underdark - they can leave it or go near to exit, so it can entirely be possible for a drow to encounter a dragon. Metallic dragons are less likely, but could make lairs near to Underdark entrances, like in mountains. Some dragons of most types can even burrow further into the Underdark in search of sparkly treasure. There's absolutely nothing about Underdark or Dragons to suggest it would be difficult for Drow to encounter a dragon at some point.
Storm seems out, since not much weather in the Underdark.
Many Underdark entrances can be along coasts. There are sources of water deep in the Earth, tunnels that lead to air (even Drow need to breathe). Storm Sorcs have power over air, water and lightning. Oh, and while it is false to assume Storm Sorcs are all about "the weather" -- there IS weather underground in real life, so it would not be hard to imagine such things in the Underdark. Underground weather is generally cooler and more consistent, but there's air, moisture and temperature changes - so yes, there's weather. If there wasn't, there wouldn't be life of any kind.
And again, it's not like every drow in existence stays in the Underdark and never leaves. All it takes is for an ancester to go out and meet a nice Djinn or Genasi to get some elemental in the baby and other future descendants to present elemental Storm powers for your Sorc. It's not like they have to be the direct parents or have all family members have the powers.
Shadow is a possibility, but I dislike the nerf that the "big" 1st level bloodline boost is 120ft dark vision, which Drow already have. Now if the DM would let me have greater than 120 ft dark vision ...
Seriously? The most likely Sorc Origin for Drow, after Wild, and you're dismissing it because of one half of one of the starting features? Really?! This hurts my brain. The Underdark has naturally occuring portals to the Shadowfell (where the powers of the Shadow Magic Origin come from) and occur there more than anywhere else. Yes one half of the Eyes of the Dark is 120 ft Darkvision which Drow already have. However, you're ignoring the rest. As a Drow you can cast Darkness once per day but this doesn't mean you know the spell: you wouldn't be able to cast it using spell slots unless you learn it, taking up one of your choices, as part of your class. As a Shadow Sorc, though, you learn it free. And you can cast it with just 2 sorc points. And if you cast with Sorc Points you can see through it - in otherwords you get advantage to your attacks and your enemies get disadvantage against you. That's a big benefit. And that's just one feature. You'll also get other features like Hound of Ill Omen which lets you target an enemy and impose disadvantage to any and all saving throws made against any of your spells AND it will damage them. Imagine pairing it with a Hold Person/Monster spell... You could literally stand there and do nothing while your Hound (or whatever you reflavour it to be) gets free autocrits. You could also take the Mind Sliver cantrip (which will be Official when the next book releases - as confirmed by WotC) so that not only do they have disadvantage against your Hold spell (and the cantrip too!) but they'll also get -1d4 to the attempt as well. This makes them the best at locking down an enemy out of all classes/subclasses in all 5th Edition D&D. And you're saying nope because of 1/2 of ONE feature? That reasoning is... Painful.
You could always just ask the DM to consider that maybe they stack: perhaps it just removes the Sunlight Sensitivity?
===
There's an assumption you are making : Sorcerer Subclasses are Bloodlines.
They're not.
The Subclass term is Origin, not Bloodline. One Subclass is called Draconic Bloodline, and more heavily relies on draconic lineage, but even that also states you can be that subclass from other means.
There are many different ways to be a sorcerer. It can be ancestry. It could be a dark ritual performed on you. It could be because you're conceived or born in an area overlapping another plane of existence such as elemental planes of Water or Air (Storm Sorcery, Feywild (Wild Magic), or Shadowfell (Shadow Magic). Perhaps you or an ancester had a strange encounter in another world and was changed by it (Feywild [Wild Magic], Mechanus [Clockwork Soul]). Perhaps you were blessed by a deity or are a child of prophecy (Divine Soul), maybe you were experimented on and they put a dragon's essence or soul inside you (Draconic Bloodline).
There can be any number of things that can make you a Sorcerer that have nothing to do with your bloodline. Each subclass has a description listing possible, non-bloodline, ways your character could be a Sorc.
All of the subclasses, every single one, are capable and valid for a Drow from the Underdark. Especially Wild Magic and Shadow Magic.
Shadow Magic fits the best out of all of them - in theme, nature and lore. But you can easily consider any of them that you like more if one has mechanics more interesting to you. If you like the mechanics of one but not the theme - talk to your DM about reflavouring it. Like the Chaos of Wild Magic but not the connection to Feywild? Say it's actually the Chaos of the Abyss and its due to demon ancestry. All the stats and numbers are the same, you can just describe it differently lorewise. You can do that with spells too if you want to really go for a theme.
At the end of the day it's more about your preference so we can't really choose for you. Literally any of the subclasses work for Drow so just pick the one you think would be more fun to play.
If you're more interested in demon-summoning, go Warlock or Wizard.
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What are folks thoughts on a good Bloodline for a Drow Sorcerer?
Divine seems out, since Drows are more likely to have Demons in their ancestry. But I guess that could be an interesting family backstory of how that happened.
Draconic seems out since not too many dragons live in the Underdark. Again, a possible interesting family backstory of how it happened (imprisoned metallic,
Storm seems out, since not much weather in the Underdark.
Shadow is a possibility, but I dislike the nerf that the "big" 1st level bloodline boost is 120ft dark vision, which Drow already have. Now if the DM would let me have greater than 120 ft dark vision ...
Wild Magic seems like the default. The Chaos and Demons theme sort of goes together.
Is there UA or other content with a Demonic Bloodline for sorcerers?
I feel you are limiting yourself for no reason.
Storm power link to the power of elemental air, not the weather. That means the power could link to Djinn or other powerful elemental beings.
Draconic power is from the dragon but it could trace back to ancient times or it could be from your parents or grandparents.
If you read through the sourcebook, you will see the story is fair open and it is not limit by the race at all. Just choose what you want to play and come out with a story for it.
Divine Soul could work given the pretty large Drow Pantheon of gods and there are Deep Dragons with a Flesh Eating Acidic Gas Cloud as a breath weapon which could serve as a Draconic origin. You can also go for the UA for Aberrant Mind (https://media.wizards.com/2019/dnd/downloads/UA-AberrantLurk.pdf) and have them linked to thw Mind Flayers, maybe having a mind flayer tadpole inside them to keep them in line or have their ancestors enslaved by an Aboleth.
Actually Draconic could fit if your character is a Drow-dragon. (born from a shadow dragon and a drow).
Born under the watch of something from the furthest corners of the far realms.... It knows all.... it sees all... and it asks: "What is it that you want to see?"... and my answer is... ALL"
Most Drow are in direct service to Lolth, a goddess. There are other gods the Drow acknowledge. Nothing says your direct parent has to be a god - you could just have a distant ancester be any type of celestial being and the trait passed down finally was able to manifest in you. Or it could be a blessing from Lolth directly.
Shadow Dragons, Black Dragons, Blue Dragons, Red Dragons, White Dragons are all known to make subterranean lairs which can easily be in or near the Underdark (which is a Forgotten Realms specific term for a series of connected underground networks of caves, caverns, ruins, and such). Drow aren't bound to the Underdark - they can leave it or go near to exit, so it can entirely be possible for a drow to encounter a dragon. Metallic dragons are less likely, but could make lairs near to Underdark entrances, like in mountains. Some dragons of most types can even burrow further into the Underdark in search of sparkly treasure. There's absolutely nothing about Underdark or Dragons to suggest it would be difficult for Drow to encounter a dragon at some point.
Many Underdark entrances can be along coasts. There are sources of water deep in the Earth, tunnels that lead to air (even Drow need to breathe). Storm Sorcs have power over air, water and lightning. Oh, and while it is false to assume Storm Sorcs are all about "the weather" -- there IS weather underground in real life, so it would not be hard to imagine such things in the Underdark. Underground weather is generally cooler and more consistent, but there's air, moisture and temperature changes - so yes, there's weather. If there wasn't, there wouldn't be life of any kind.
And again, it's not like every drow in existence stays in the Underdark and never leaves. All it takes is for an ancester to go out and meet a nice Djinn or Genasi to get some elemental in the baby and other future descendants to present elemental Storm powers for your Sorc. It's not like they have to be the direct parents or have all family members have the powers.
Seriously? The most likely Sorc Origin for Drow, after Wild, and you're dismissing it because of one half of one of the starting features? Really?! This hurts my brain. The Underdark has naturally occuring portals to the Shadowfell (where the powers of the Shadow Magic Origin come from) and occur there more than anywhere else. Yes one half of the Eyes of the Dark is 120 ft Darkvision which Drow already have. However, you're ignoring the rest. As a Drow you can cast Darkness once per day but this doesn't mean you know the spell: you wouldn't be able to cast it using spell slots unless you learn it, taking up one of your choices, as part of your class. As a Shadow Sorc, though, you learn it free. And you can cast it with just 2 sorc points. And if you cast with Sorc Points you can see through it - in otherwords you get advantage to your attacks and your enemies get disadvantage against you. That's a big benefit. And that's just one feature. You'll also get other features like Hound of Ill Omen which lets you target an enemy and impose disadvantage to any and all saving throws made against any of your spells AND it will damage them. Imagine pairing it with a Hold Person/Monster spell... You could literally stand there and do nothing while your Hound (or whatever you reflavour it to be) gets free autocrits. You could also take the Mind Sliver cantrip (which will be Official when the next book releases - as confirmed by WotC) so that not only do they have disadvantage against your Hold spell (and the cantrip too!) but they'll also get -1d4 to the attempt as well. This makes them the best at locking down an enemy out of all classes/subclasses in all 5th Edition D&D. And you're saying nope because of 1/2 of ONE feature? That reasoning is... Painful.
You could always just ask the DM to consider that maybe they stack: perhaps it just removes the Sunlight Sensitivity?
===
There's an assumption you are making : Sorcerer Subclasses are Bloodlines.
They're not.
The Subclass term is Origin, not Bloodline. One Subclass is called Draconic Bloodline, and more heavily relies on draconic lineage, but even that also states you can be that subclass from other means.
There are many different ways to be a sorcerer. It can be ancestry. It could be a dark ritual performed on you. It could be because you're conceived or born in an area overlapping another plane of existence such as elemental planes of Water or Air (Storm Sorcery, Feywild (Wild Magic), or Shadowfell (Shadow Magic). Perhaps you or an ancester had a strange encounter in another world and was changed by it (Feywild [Wild Magic], Mechanus [Clockwork Soul]). Perhaps you were blessed by a deity or are a child of prophecy (Divine Soul), maybe you were experimented on and they put a dragon's essence or soul inside you (Draconic Bloodline).
There can be any number of things that can make you a Sorcerer that have nothing to do with your bloodline. Each subclass has a description listing possible, non-bloodline, ways your character could be a Sorc.
All of the subclasses, every single one, are capable and valid for a Drow from the Underdark. Especially Wild Magic and Shadow Magic.
Shadow Magic fits the best out of all of them - in theme, nature and lore. But you can easily consider any of them that you like more if one has mechanics more interesting to you. If you like the mechanics of one but not the theme - talk to your DM about reflavouring it. Like the Chaos of Wild Magic but not the connection to Feywild? Say it's actually the Chaos of the Abyss and its due to demon ancestry. All the stats and numbers are the same, you can just describe it differently lorewise. You can do that with spells too if you want to really go for a theme.
At the end of the day it's more about your preference so we can't really choose for you. Literally any of the subclasses work for Drow so just pick the one you think would be more fun to play.
If you're more interested in demon-summoning, go Warlock or Wizard.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.