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View Full Version : Lore and Order (Forgotten Realms drow)



Khaelo
2015-07-27, 02:45 PM
First, a confession: I'm not a fan of the Forgotten Realms setting. But Adventure League plays in the Realms, so that's where I play.

For the next storyline season (involving demons & the Underdark), I have an idea for a vengence paladin drow, folk hero. She fled her settlement after participating in a rebellion that failed. She's now training herself to strike back at the offending nobles / House. She's determined that the next rebellion will not fail.

The problem is, my source of information on drow society is the Legend of Drizzt trilogy. It's mostly concerned with drow nobles and their civil wars. How do the lower orders live? What is life like as a drow commoner? Is the above backstory even possible?

ETA: The character isn't a Drizzt clone, btw. If anything, she's my reaction to the more annoying aspects of those books. She likes the Underdark, she likes her community, she's just not going to put up with noble abuse any more. Alignment wise, she's [something] Neutral. Figuring out the background lore will help me figure out the [something]. :smallsmile:

Envyus
2015-07-27, 05:32 PM
First, a confession: I'm not a fan of the Forgotten Realms setting. But Adventure League plays in the Realms, so that's where I play.

For the next storyline season (involving demons & the Underdark), I have an idea for a vengence paladin drow, folk hero. She fled her settlement after participating in a rebellion that failed. She's now training herself to strike back at the offending nobles / House. She's determined that the next rebellion will not fail.

The problem is, my source of information on drow society is the Legend of Drizzt trilogy. It's mostly concerned with drow nobles and their civil wars. How do the lower orders live? What is life like as a drow commoner? Is the above backstory even possible?

ETA: The character isn't a Drizzt clone, btw. If anything, she's my reaction to the more annoying aspects of those books. She likes the Underdark, she likes her community, she's just not going to put up with noble abuse any more. Alignment wise, she's [something] Neutral. Figuring out the background lore will help me figure out the [something]. :smallsmile:

Drow commoners want to become Drow Nobles or gain power. It's a bizarre system. Most Drow commoners serve as soldiers for noble houses. As most Drow find themselves not needing to do too much labor. (They have tons of slaves after all.) More skilled commoners take the role as servants to the Nobles. Notable Commoners that are skilled can be adopted into Noble houses. And eventually become Nobles themselves.

Here this is a good entry on the life of the Drow http://drowcampaign.roleplaynexus.com/drowsociety.html

Ninja_Prawn
2015-07-28, 04:32 AM
Alignment wise, she's [something] Neutral. Figuring out the background lore will help me figure out the [something]. :smallsmile:

Is she fed up with all nobles, or just the current ones specifically? If the former: chaotic neutral, if the latter: true neutral. It might be tricky playing a chaotic paladin, but that might make it more interesting.

As for a commoner becoming a self-taught paladin... I reckon that if anyone can do it, a drow female can.

This has all the makings of a very complex and rewarding character!

Khaelo
2015-08-04, 06:31 PM
A belated thank you for both replies. The Drow Society article was enlightening. It also mentioned a Drow of the Underdark sourcebook, which is much easier than gleaning information from novels. There are two on dndclassics, and the 2e one is cheaper -- elves are timeless, right? :smallsmile:


Is she fed up with all nobles, or just the current ones specifically? If the former: chaotic neutral, if the latter: true neutral. It might be tricky playing a chaotic paladin, but that might make it more interesting.

As for a commoner becoming a self-taught paladin... I reckon that if anyone can do it, a drow female can.

This has all the makings of a very complex and rewarding character!
Her vendetta would center on the particular nobles. The complicating factor is Lolth. Since the House clerics are all powered by Lolth, how likely is the character to consider the goddess guilty by association and reject the state religion? I'm leaning towards ditching Lolth and going Chaotic Neutral. The paladin vows aren't from an external authority. They're something the character swears to herself, a natural extension of her goals. I don't know how that interacts with Chaotic.

This is only my third official character ever (playing less than a year). At least she will have motivation and a connection to the setting, which is more than I can say about her predecessors. :smalltongue:

Fighting_Ferret
2015-08-05, 09:56 AM
I think you may have a good case for a worshipper of Eilistraee (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilistraee#Dungeons_.26_Dragons_5th_edition_.28201 4.29). She is a Drow goddess but is aligned to actually bring the drow people back from the domination of Lloth to peace. I'm not sure how well an Oath of Vengeance Paladin would work, but it gives you a good solid Forgotten Realms tie-in to a deity that has good reason and lore to be a non-standard drow.

Millface
2015-08-05, 10:23 AM
First, a confession: I'm not a fan of the Forgotten Realms setting. But Adventure League plays in the Realms, so that's where I play.

For the next storyline season (involving demons & the Underdark), I have an idea for a vengence paladin drow, folk hero. She fled her settlement after participating in a rebellion that failed. She's now training herself to strike back at the offending nobles / House. She's determined that the next rebellion will not fail.

The problem is, my source of information on drow society is the Legend of Drizzt trilogy. It's mostly concerned with drow nobles and their civil wars. How do the lower orders live? What is life like as a drow commoner? Is the above backstory even possible?

ETA: The character isn't a Drizzt clone, btw. If anything, she's my reaction to the more annoying aspects of those books. She likes the Underdark, she likes her community, she's just not going to put up with noble abuse any more. Alignment wise, she's [something] Neutral. Figuring out the background lore will help me figure out the [something]. :smallsmile:

Having read every book in the Realms that includes Drow in any capacity I can say with some measure of authority that being a male drow commoner would SUCK, so it's good that you're female.

It goes like this. Matron Baenre > High Priestess of Arach Tinilith > The Ruling Council > Gromph > High Priestesses of the ruling houses > Female Nobles > All Other Priestesses > Weapons Masters and Male Nobles > All Other Females > All Other Males > Non-Drow.

to be a commoner suggests that you're not related to any of the noble lines, but you are part of the house, as a female you will never be above the "All other Priestesses" category unless you show exceptional promise and a lesser house adopts you.

The instances up there where males supersede females is not because that's how the society deems it, rather it's because those males have enough personal power that pulling the female card to cow them will more than likely just get you killed. Females > Males, but nobody wants to **** with Gromph, and I mean NOBODY.

To further answer your question... the life of a commoner, male or female, is a constant struggle to survive in a world where you're not worth the crap on a noble's boot. Drow society is a constant clawing for greater position, that extends to the lower rungs, the only difference is that you start at the bottom and anyone can kill you for basically no reason and no one will notice or care. You have no protection, you can trust no one, you must be completely self reliant and to survive in this way you must be exceptional as an individual.

Khaelo
2015-08-05, 01:38 PM
I think you may have a good case for a worshipper of Eilistraee (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilistraee#Dungeons_.26_Dragons_5th_edition_.28201 4.29). She is a Drow goddess but is aligned to actually bring the drow people back from the domination of Lloth to peace. I'm not sure how well an Oath of Vengeance Paladin would work, but it gives you a good solid Forgotten Realms tie-in to a deity that has good reason and lore to be a non-standard drow.
Yeah, I was just reading about her in the Drow of the Underdark book. Would a commoner know anything about her? It seems that introduction to Eilistraee is something the character would have to earn and grapple with, rather than being a worshipper right out of the gate. The Vengeance thing would be a problem. Maybe once she's fulfilled her Oath? (Not that that's going to happen in Adventure League.) What happens to a Vengeance Paladin's powers if/when the Vengeance is done?

In any case, this has all been very helpful. My original concept was a peasant of sorts, but it's clear that a common foot soldier is a better origin, one of the anonymous hordes that are dying all over the place in the novels. That means I should look at Soldier rather than Folk Hero as the background. Both features have issues: Rustic Hospitality is un-drow-like, but Military Rank won't work for a known (failed) rebel. Both would likely get my character killed or shipped back to the noble House for worse-than-killed. Maybe the Rustic Hospitality only works with Eilistraee worshippers. Maybe it's simply useless, like my current hermit character's Discovery. :smallsmile:

Fighting_Ferret
2015-08-05, 01:44 PM
Vhaeraun (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vhaeraun) may be a bit more to your liking then...

Daishain
2015-08-05, 01:49 PM
That means I should look at Soldier rather than Folk Hero as the background. Both features have issues: Rustic Hospitality is un-drow-like, but Military Rank won't work for a known (failed) rebel. Both would likely get my character killed or shipped back to the noble House for worse-than-killed. Maybe the Rustic Hospitality only works with Eilistraee worshippers. Maybe it's simply useless, like my current hermit character's Discovery. :smallsmile:
I'd actually suggest not using any of the default backgrounds, especially in a case like yours. Making a custom one is a default option that players are encouraged to make use of. Those that are there are examples for inspiration, or options for the hurried, not the only things you can choose.

Irennan
2015-08-07, 08:57 AM
Yeah, I was just reading about her in the Drow of the Underdark book. Would a commoner know anything about her? It seems that introduction to Eilistraee is something the character would have to earn and grapple with, rather than being a worshipper right out of the gate. The Vengeance thing would be a problem. Maybe once she's fulfilled her Oath? (Not that that's going to happen in Adventure League.) What happens to a Vengeance Paladin's powers if/when the Vengeance is done?

In any case, this has all been very helpful. My original concept was a peasant of sorts, but it's clear that a common foot soldier is a better origin, one of the anonymous hordes that are dying all over the place in the novels. That means I should look at Soldier rather than Folk Hero as the background. Both features have issues: Rustic Hospitality is un-drow-like, but Military Rank won't work for a known (failed) rebel. Both would likely get my character killed or shipped back to the noble House for worse-than-killed. Maybe the Rustic Hospitality only works with Eilistraee worshippers. Maybe it's simply useless, like my current hermit character's Discovery. :smallsmile:

It could be that your character has heard or somehow knows about Eilistraee, as both the goddess and her church actively try to bring their kin away from Lolth.

Followers of Eilistraee tend to lead missions underground, trying to spot any drow who might need their help, is unsatisfied with their current life and might be brought to choose a different kind of life: Eilistraeen activities (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Church_of_Eilistraee#Activities)

Eilistraee herself is a mother-goddess to the drow. She doesn't act openly, but she aids them in practical ways (providing them light, a comforting presence in dark times, help in finding food or, at times, scaring away eventual aggressors). She also calls to every drow, through daydreams, visions or emtions, showing them the life that they were denied. At some point every drow comes to feel Eilistraee and many long for the kind of life that she wants to build for them. Not many choose to actually embrace this new hope, though (there's more here: Eilistraee's work (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Eilistraee#Activities) ).

Vengeance could be a problem, but you could reflavor your paladin as a Darksong Knight (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Darksong_Knight), who dedicate their effort to hunting Lolth's servants.

Also, both Eilistraee and her brother Vhaeraun are alive in 5e, so there's no problem in using them. However, such info has been delivered through a novel and Ed Greenwood's word, and the two gods are not listed in the PHB, so Idk if AL will let you use them. Noentheless, if you like the idea, you should give it a shot IMHO. Perhaps the new Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide will have an Eilistraeen and a Vhaerunite background.