Drow
Players Handbook
Drow
Drow elves are a race of pale skinned subterranean elves who are bound to live in the shadowy depths of The Underdark by a curse dating back to their ancestors; a group of ancient elves who sought to delve to the heart of The Underdark to dispel the primordial evil residing within. They failed and, as a result, the Drow have since adapted to their environment, becoming silent scavengers and apex ambush hunters of the twisting labyrinth tunnels. Years of imprisonment has made the Drow race envious of surface dwellers and they are cold towards those they don't know. The life of a Drow Elf is harsh and unforgiving, they deal with the monsters spawned by the twisted magic residing in the depths of The Underdark daily but luckily they have found their own salvation in the shrouding darkness of their patron deity; Erebos - the god of darkness and spiders. The Drow society is split into two types of people based on their beliefs; those who wish to remain behind their subterranean city walls and those zealous fanatics who worship Erebos and beseech him for his darkness to shield them as they scavenge the Underdark's caverns.
ability score increase:
Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Charisma score increases by 1.
age:
Centuries of living in the Underdark has muddled the innate magical potential which grants their cousin races long-lived lives and as a result Drow Elves can live to the age of about 300 years old before perishing, they still mature at the same rate as humans.
Size:
Medium
speed:
30ft
Languages:
You can speak, read, and write Common, Undercommon and Elven.
race features:
- Darkvision. Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
- Superior Darkvision. Your darkvision has a range of 120 feet, instead of 60.
- Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.
- Trance. Elves do not sleep. Instead they meditate deeply, remaining semi-conscious, for 4 hours a day. The Common word for this meditation is "trance." While meditating, you dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive after years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit a human would from 8 hours of sleep.
- Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.
- Drow Magic. You know the Dancing Lights cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Faerie Fire spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the Darkness spell onceand regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
- Drow Weapon Training. You have proficiency with rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.
Shorter than their elven cousins on the surface, Drow Elves have black or grey skin with stark white hair and violet or white eyes. They prefer to dress in tight leathers stained black to help them move stealthily through the Underdark and they like to adorn their clothing with spider-like imagery as a nod to their patron deity Erebos.
Civilization and Culture
History
King Luin's Descent
In the last age an elven king of the now ancient civilisation by the name of Luin led a battalion of five hundred elves deep into The Underdark to discover the source of its primal evil. They explored deep through the twisting tunnels, fighting all manner of creatures that the underdark sent forward to destroy them, but found no definitive source of the Underdark’s denizens. The king was brought to madness and on his deathbed made a vow that would seal the fate of the descendants of the five hundred; They and their descendants were to remain until light was brought to the heart of The Underdark. The army was from that point on cursed to remain in The Underdark and so cursing their mad king, began to build up a safe haven from which they could begin their impossible mission; to bring light to the deepest darkness in the world. The settlement was named Luin and exists to this day as the only drow city deep in the heart of the upperdark, the highest and least dangerous region of The Underdark, housing what is left of the descendants of those original five hundred elves. Over the years the darkness, danger and shadowy magic of The Underdark turned the elves who sought to live there into something else. Every generation born was more adapted to the subterranean environment and less adapted to the surface, their skin turned pale, they grew shorter in height, their hair turned white and their eyes gained a heightened ability to see in the dark.Religion
Drow Elves worship the primordial deity of darkness known as Erebos. They beseech the god of darkness and spiders to grant them safe passage on their scavenging through the underdark and if they stumble upon a dangerous enemy, they pray for darkness to conceal their first blow in an attempt to eliminate their enemy quickly. The more zealous Drow elves perform rituals using the blood of monsters to appease Erebos, in turn the darkness god shows favour to those who sacrifice more dangerous monsters, bestowing dark blessings upon zealots who’s sacrifices please him. However, the god of darkness watches his followers carefully for any sign of weakness. Those that incur the darkness god’s wrath are driven mad, first by inane ramblings and heightened paranoia, and then by fully fledged madness where they run screaming into the tunnels of the underdark with abandon having lost their minds entirely.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Geographic Distribution
Comments