Drow: Do's and Don'ts

[ThinkMinty]

Half-orc... cul...ture?

Everyone knows that they're always either disliked elements of human culture or disliked elements of orc culture.

Speaking of which: Half-Elves, except that one setting.

[Zarohk]

Do: Recognize that accidents happen, history is largely a series of mistakes that worked out in the end, and people who go traveling long distances in unfamiliar places (like, say, the surface) can and do get lost.

Don't: Feel confined to only one population of Drow, those Lloth-touched city-dwellers are a bunch of idiots rearranging deck chairs on the Thay's Invincibility.

Do: Be a descendant of a swamp-dwelling group of spider druids, or a bunch of raiders who screwed up their exit strategy and became a pirate crew instead

Still Do: Be Superior to everyone else. You're still an elf, for Tiamat's sake!

Just something to consider: High-level druids have slowed aging (1/10 in 5e) & Drow also have slowed aging, so Drow Druids live for a ridiculously long time. Druids can easily shift back and forth multiple times per day. A colony of Spider Druid drow who live in a swamp and don't get out much may emerge to find that the rest of the world is radically different than they remember last time they went out, to the point where they might only barely speak the same common, have a totally different history, etc.

Or they might know just enough about werewolves / druidism to think that they're spider-people. Dark, spider-like skin (black widows & other dark-colored spiders). Their worship of Lolth may be… not innocent, but species-focused: "She's the spider goddess, we are spiders, like it or not."

[RedMage125]

Only read the first page, glad too see the OP getting lots of positive feedback.

I want to build on this:

Things you can and probably should do:
-Don't be freaked out by spiders and creepy crawlies
-Have some moxie, but don't be a total prick about it
-Familiarity with crossbows, scimitars, and other Drow weapons
-See poison as a tool, nothing more or less
-Respect your mom

Make your character stand out as unique. (It's not just about avoiding cookie cutter "typical backstabbing drow" or "typical CG rebel drow" molds, but yes, avoid those). You could be a drow who's never been to the Underdark. Maybe your parents were the "rebel" type, but you're 1st-generation surface drow whose never even MET a cleric of Lolth before, but has heard stories. Maybe you're a Lawful, honorable type who hated the chaos and misandry of drow culture and decided to leave, but you are still a product of your environment, and view poison and murder as acceptable means to an end, even if that end is ultimately Good/Neutral/Lawful/whatever. If you ARE a fugitive from drow society, perhaps your fear or even hate your mother.

Point is though, you DEFINITELY want to avoid being a character that cannot cooperate with a group. But still be fun and interesting. Make your character someone that other adventurers will be willing to adventure with.

[weckar]

Rise from the ashessss... to haunt these pages once mooooore...

[Anonymouswizard]

Turn Unthread!

Anyway, I'm going to give my opinion on how to correctly do a PC drow: play them as either neutral evil or lawful evil (my favourite is LE, because i like lawful characters). Then play with the site stereotypes, maybe you politic without being a backstabber, maybe you believe that it's actually right and natural for drow nobles to mistreat you, maybe you're a rebel who just wants the world to be better for them.

Oh, and put some clothes on. One of the characters i really want to play is a female 'lower class' drow wizard, sent up to the surface to find some artefact important to her master. While she doesn't see anything inherently wrong with revealing clothing she mainly wears trousers, a tunic or short robe, and a straw hat for practical reasons.