Drow

Of the various elven subraces, none are more notorious than the drow. The drow were cursed into their present appearance by the good elven deities for following the goddess Lolth down the path to evil and corruption. Also called dark elves, the drow have black skin that resembles polished obsidian and stark white or pale yellow hair. They commonly have blood-red eyes, although pale eyes (so pale as to be often mistaken for white) in shades of pale lilac, silver, pink, and blue are not unknown. They also tend to be smaller and thinner than most elves. Most drow on the surface are evil and worship Vhaeraun, but some outcasts and renegades have a more neutral attitude, and there are even groups of good drow who worship Eilistraee or other deities not of the traditional drow pantheon. Though divided by endless feuds and schisms, the drow are united in one terrible desire: they seethe with a hatred for the surface elves. They burn with hatred for the Seldarine(the elven pantheon) and their coddled children, and want nothing more than to return to the surface and bring to the elves there suffering a thousand times greater than that which the drow have been forced to endure over the millennia. Drow have the life expectancy, age categories, and height and weight characteristics defined for elves in Tables 6–4, 6–5, and 6–6 of the Player’s Handbook.
Drow are, on the whole, sadistic, destructive, and treacherous. They view themselves as the rightful heirs to the whole world and still remember the perceived injustice of their exile to the Underdark. They hate other races and either wish to make war upon them or view those others with contempt and tolerate them only as necessary for trade or temporary military alliances. Even among their own kind, drow are cruel and suspicious. There is little room for love and friendship in drow society. They may value alliances with other family members or acquaintances, but no drow truly trusts another. Drow forge alliances only when they are more powerful than an “ally,” possess blackmail-worthy knowledge, or have a common enemy that overrides their mutual hatred. Even then, they keep their eyes and ears primed for the slightest hint of treachery. The motto for the drow may well be, “Do unto others first so they cannot do unto you.”
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. A fair number of drow have come to value their position in the Underdark and now think of themselves as true natives of their dark realm. They have little desire to return to the surface and would rather rule in the depths than struggle to regain a realm they no longer hold any interest in ruling. Even more rare are those few drow who have atoned for their evil ways and think of their fellows as monsters that need to be stopped. These drow are either surface dwellers who are struggling to become accepted into new societies, or fugitives dwelling in out-of-the-way caverns deep underground. The priesthood of Eilistraee is desperately trying to convert as many drow as possible to their good cause.

Civilization and Culture

Beauty Ideals

All drow are beautiful as one of the main criteria of a good mate is beauty.

Gender Ideals

Women are supposed to be powerful, faithful to Lolth and devious. Men are valued (if we can speak of value here) for their skills: skill of arms, beauty, command of magic, etc.

Courtship Ideals

Courtship and love don't take a large place in your typical drow society.

Relationship Ideals

In the matriarchal city-states, the females decide everything in a relationship. The male does not even have a say in when it begins or ends (if it ends, he's lucky if it doesn't end with his death). Males are only seen as ways to pass on favorable skills to the progeny.

Average Technological Level

Drows appreciate anything that helps them take out enemies stealthily and have developed a potent sleep poison. Drow also have a fondness for magical armor and weapons.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Drow, Undercommon, Elven. Drow have also developed Drow Sign Language in order to communicate silently.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

The main Drow goddess Lolth is a spider with a drow upperbody. Because of this, spiders are venerated in all Lolth-worshipping areas. It means death (or worse) to kill a spider. Drow falling out of favor with Lolth are either sacrificed, killed or are turned into Driders, monsters with a spider body but a Drow chest and head. There is no limit to how many daughters a drow can have but the number of sons is limited to two: any son thereafter is sacrificed to Lolth. However, due to internal strife in the house, it is not uncommon for the second son to kill the first thus being thirdborn is always a danger. This practice is only kept up with in the Lolth-dominated matriarchal city-states, other drow gods and goddesses do not require this.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

The drow do not interact well with the various other sentient races. At best, the drow think of other races as merely laughable or contemptible. They hold low opinions even of their erstwhile allies. Against most other races, the only way the drow know to react is with hatred and outright war. They have built up powerful city-states based on the notion that the path to power lies in the subjugation of lesser races and the eradication of those who pose a threat to their homes. Prisoners captured in drow raids and battles are usually brought back to the cities to serve out the remainder of their lives as slaves. Orcs, hobgoblins, ogres, and other savage humanoids are common slaves. Most drow households have two to three such slaves for every drow in the house. The breeding and selling of slaves is a thriving business in drow cities, because these hapless thralls perform all menial and unskilled labor in a drow city. The true focus of drow hatred, though, is reserved for the surface elves. They act quickly and cruelly to seize any chance to bring pain, suffering, and death to other elves they encounter. Even the few evil surface elves are seen as enemies. Drow sometimes enter into truces with other races or individuals if doing so helps them to realize their sinister goals, but these truces are by their nature temporary affairs. It’s only a matter of time until the drow turn on their allies.

RPG Datasheet

The dark elves are renowned for their skill as clerics, fighters, rogues, and wizards. While many drow are naturally gifted enough to excel in almost any career to which they turn their attention, their society has long rewarded skill at arms, divine power (primarily in the hands of female clerics of Lolth), and arcane might (primarily in the hands of male wizards). Likewise, all drow have a deep-seated admiration for stealth, guile, and the unexpected blade in the dark. Dark elves are well-suited to make good bards, but few follow this path; the bard’s exuberance does not fit well in drow society. Drow rangers are valuable, too, serving as scouts who can roam the tunnels of the Underdark, seeking out threats to the great cities of the dark elves.
These traits are in addition to the high elf traits, except where noted.

+2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma.

Darkvision out to 120 feet. This trait replaces the high elf’s low-light vision.

Spell resistance equal to 11 + class levels.

+2 racial bonus on Will saves against spells and spell-like abilities.

Spell-like abilities: Drow can use the following spell-like abilities once per day: dancing lights, darkness, faerie fire. Caster level equals the drow’s class levels.

Weapon Proficiency: A drow is automatically proficient with the hand crossbow, the rapier, and the short sword. This trait replaces the high elf’s weapon proficiency.

Automatic Languages: Common, Elven, Undercommon. Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Aquan, Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Gnome, Goblin. This trait replaces the high elf’s automatic and bonus languages.

Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds drow for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.

Favored Class: Centuries of tradition and social pressure have resulted in a schism between male and female drow in regards to their favored class. Female drow are favored by society as clerics, because the Spider Queen favors clerics of her own gender. As a result, a female drow’s favored class is cleric. There is no similar favoritism for male drow, who have the standard elven favored class of wizard.

Prestige Classes: The most common prestige class among the drow is without a doubt the assassin. Many drow cities have prestigious and infamous academies that train prospective youths in various philosophies of death, and these assassin’s guilds have produced some of the deadliest and most successful killers in the Underdark. Blackguards are also common among the drow, as are other divine prestige classes such as the divine champion, divine disciple, and divine seeker. Any drow who wishes to thrive within drow culture does well to tie himself or herself to Lolth’s faith.

Level adjustment +1

Genetic Ancestor(s)