When somebody mentions playing as a Drow, the first thing that comes to mind is a scimitar-wielding Ranger with a panther companion.

Has anybody ever tried playing a Drow PC or had a player request to play a Drow?  Did you accept, and if so how did you handle it?

Were they interested in playing an evil/traitorous PCs, or a social outcast from Underdark society?  Did most cases end up with a Salvatore clone?

Had someone wanting to play a Drow Paladin Drizzt knock-off once.

The answer is "No", with my only possible exceptions being either (1) a specific campaign circumstance that allows for it logically (as the PCs venture through the Underdark, for instance), OR (2) a specific Underdark-themed campaign.

I'm a big fan of letting people play just about whatever they want to; I often have really weird stuff in my parties, whether it be a cast that looks like it's from Talislanta or just a few one-off freaks.

That being said, most requests for Drow PCs have been varieties of Drizzt clone or backstabbing psychopaths, and I've had little luck with them meshing with the rest of the party. So, despite the fact that I'm generally very permissible (going so far as to make new racial classes in BD&D if someone REALLY wants to be something strange), I'm similarly of a mind to Benoist with Drow, in particular.

In the late 90s, when the Complete Drow handbook came out, I gave it a whirl playing a female drow fighter who worshipped the female good deity (can't recall her name off hand).  I don't recall anything about the adventure, so take it for what it's worth.

It is entirely possible that someone, somewhere actually once played an awesome drow PC. It did not happen at my game table, though; all I get is lame Drizzt wannabes, psychos or fanservice of the lesbian stripper ninja sort.

My first instinct is to just say no. But I'll give the player a chance to persuade me.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;578846In the late 90s, when the Complete Drow handbook came out, I gave it a whirl playing a female drow fighter who worshipped the female good deity (can't recall her name off hand).  I don't recall anything about the adventure, so take it for what it's worth.

Is it Forgotten Realms?  If so, you might be talking about Eilestraee.  I have strong suspicions that the deity was created for good Drow PC concepts.  That, and fanservice.

Just wondering about the previous examples, but were the guys who wanted to play Drizz't clones teenagers?  I ask because Drizz't had a huge teenage fanbase back in the day.

Quote from: The Butcher;578856It is entirely possible that someone, somewhere actually once played an awesome drow PC. It did not happen at my game table, though; all I get is lame Drizzt wannabes, psychos or fanservice of the lesbian stripper ninja sort.

My first instinct is to just say no. But I'll give the player a chance to persuade me.

It's possible, but the stigma of Drizz't clones and lesbian ninjas counts against it.

In my own group, I had a Drow Sorcerer.  He was evil, but he got along well with the party and didn't engage in Stupid Evil shenanigans.  No Drizz't fanboys or PCs serving as wank fantasies.  I must be one of the lucky ones.

I allowed a Drow fighter to join the party as a prisoner during an underdark jaunt that the group went through.  He started off as a normal drow opponent that they'd captured and were forcing to serve as their guide, but one of the players who was dissatisfied with his current character came to me on the side and suggested a good line to keep him in the party, so I gave him the basic stats and let him go ahead and keep him.

The basic idea was that he'd fallen in love on sight with the elven cleric npc (I think I was going through that sort of phase at the time where you agree that elves have that sort of soul attachment thing they do) and decided to drop everything he'd ever known to pursue a relationship with her.  

He wasn't a drizzt clone, just a single weapon/shield light armor mobility fighter, and he made a lot of decisions that were based on being totally in love with the cleric (who, based on the premise, felt the same way about him) and it made for a lot of fun roleplaying with the other 2 elven PC's (one was a Ranger and the other was a Winter (or Steel) Elf Cavalier) as they tried to convince the Cleric that she shouldn't throw in with this evil dark skinned guy.

Eventually he wound up getting stepped on by a frost giant later in the campaign and the player was sad.  He was fun for a bit, though.

Maybe in an underdark type game.

Personally I have nothing against "monsters" as PCs, I'm just really suspicious of the people who want to play monsters as PCs, if that makes any sense.

I played around a bit with people's expectations of Drizz't clones once, with copious help from the GM.

My PC was a Drow Prince, exiled from his homeland to the surface world with nothing but the clothes on his back.  The PCs caught him stealing food from their camp, and since he was utterly, completely harmless, they couldn't bring themselves to execute him on the spot.  He eventually became part of the party in a Dr. Smith kind of way - sarcastic, condescending, and vamping wicked for the camera yet when the chips were down, he had the party's back. He was a Fgh/Sorc with Two-Weapon Fighting and at one point I bought and trained a half-wolf as a wardog just to troll for the Drizz't comparisons.

Eventually the party had levelled up significantly and trusted their token black elf enough that the inevitable "Hey, let's go get Sealbhach's kingdom back for him! Then we'll have a Drow ally in the Underdark!" adventure came up.

Long story short, older sister successfully overthrown, at which point Sealbhach has the whole party clapped in chains while he begins executing loyalists of the old regime.  Once the initial purges are over, he secretly releases them near the surface with a warning never to come back.  After all, he says, it'll take me a century or more to consolidate my power; you and all your kin will be long dead before I'm a threat to your little kingdom.  Take your freedom as a reward for your service and get out.

Quote from: Piestrio;578863Maybe in an underdark type game.

Personally I have nothing against "monsters" as PCs, I'm just really suspicious of the people who want to play monsters as PCs, if that makes any sense.

Your signature's strangely appropriate to the topic!

Quote from: Piestrio;578863Personally I have nothing against "monsters" as PCs, I'm just really suspicious of the people who want to play monsters as PCs, if that makes any sense.

Yeah, this.

There is a certain type of Player who delights in pissing everyone else off at the table during a game and saying that they are only playing to race (like Kender). So I'm not afraid to tell someone "no" and only let certain Players play certain races because they have demonstrated that they won't be a douchebag with the character.

Drow are right there on the borderline.

Quote from: Libertad;578869Your signature's strangely appropriate to the topic!

Heh, it's not that I think they're bad people it's just that every time I've seen it come up its from a desire to be "KEWL" and overly character focused. Two red flags that tell me we probably won't have fun at the same table.

Had two Drow in games I've run ever and played a Drow once on request (I'm a small fan of Salvatore but Drizzt isn't the kind of character I like-see too perfect-). One guy might as well have been a human because he didn't show any of the traits that Drow are supposed to have and cared nothing about any hooks I set up related to his heritage. Second guy was a "good Drow" runaway in the same style as Drizzt except without the rangering dual scimitars. He played so ridiculously the whole game ended up turning into a comedy (which I refer to as "The Lament of Oog the Barbarian").

I was asked to play it once because the GM wanted to inject some "intrigue" into the game so he thought that I'd put an interesting spin on it. However I am not a team by myself and despite my evil little dealings the rest of the team were hopelessly clueless when it came to anything more complicated than "go there kill that".

Quote from: The Butcher;578856It is entirely possible that someone, somewhere actually once played an awesome drow PC. It did not happen at my game table, though; all I get is lame Drizzt wannabes, psychos or fanservice of the lesbian stripper ninja sort.

My first instinct is to just say no. But I'll give the player a chance to persuade me.

The experience at my table was more the lesbian stripper ninja sort.  But assuming you like the player, I suggest giving them a chance.  Worst case, after a few sessions you can explain why it isn't working and develop with the player an 'exit strategy' for their current character.  They might really enjoy it if they're encouraged to turn on the party and get killed.

I have never, in all my years, encountered a drow PC, much less a Drizzt clone. I was playing AD&D2e in the early-to-mid nineties, and it never happened in my group.