What I Would Do With the Drow

[jhkimrpg]

This is another post following up on the previous post, "Regarding the Drow..." which looked at their background and racial connotations. In comments on that post, eyebeams wrote:
What you have to ask yourself is whether or not your suggestion, if followed back in the 70s, would have been followed in such a way as to create anything as compelling, and if

Comments

What I did with the drow

[anonymous]

In my D&D campaign, I had to figure out how to interpret the drow. I was not trying to confront racial stereotypes, but just how to make them a plausible culture while keeping most of the features players would be familiar with. As the PCs were entering the drow lands, I gave them a sheet of tourist facts about the drow. By the way, in my campaign, drow live above ground in dense forests (cf Mirkwood) and were adapted for living in permanent shadow. At some points, I inconsistently described them as having mottled black and white skin (i.e., tiger-stripe camauflage) rather than the pure black skin of the text, but I don't think it really stuck. They have the elven ``one-with nature'' shtick, but interpret nature as ``survival of the fittest''.

Here was what I gave out (paraphrased):
1. Drow call themselves elves or true elves, as opposed to the degenerate or decadent elves that deal with humans. ``Drow'' is a racial slur other elves use.
2. Their matriarchal society is organized into clans. Leaders are female spell-casters. Leaders stay inside clan centers (hollow trees and caves with elaborate tunnel complexes). Workers and males go outside to forage, trade, and make war. Clans are named after craft secrets, and will go to any lengths to protect these secrets.
3. Lolth, goddess of fortune, is their main deity. (Usual form). Spiders are holy, and it is very bad luck to kill or annoy one.
4. Physical perfection is required for high status, for both males and females.
5. Males form bachelor gangs until accepted into a clan.
6. Priestesses of Lolth enforce contracts between clans.
7. Many clans keep wood gnomes as slaves.
8. Some of the clans are allied with (the main bad guy organization). Others are on the verge of declaring war on the organization because of its disrespect for local customs.
9. Female leaders are (sorceror, rogue, or cleric equivalents). Bard is OK
for females, but not for leaders. Male adventurers are (rangers druids rogues, bards).

The party got involved with clan politics, and ended up helping a priestess
meet the ``Test of Lolth'', getting boons and curses from Lolth herself in the process. They left loaded down with trade goods and Lolth souvenirs.

Russell