My longest lived character in 3e was a Drow Sword Dancer. It's basically a F/C with a prestige class that is female only that allows for multiple "dancing swords" fighting along side you. As for a charop choice? It's terrible but she was alot of fun in a Joan of Arc kind of way. She was creating Ellistraes (sp) religion in a setting where all other Drow were evil, fun times.

I too experienced the  scimitar weilding drow requests back in the early 90s. My answer always depended on the setting. Since I ran ravenloft mostly I made clear to the player that he could do it (since a droaw getting sucked into ravenloft makes sense) but that being a drow would create lots of problems for him and the party in terms of native reactions to the character.

I never had any player choose to play a Drow in any of my sessions or campaigns. I do use them for NPCs though, the last time being around 2007 for an Eberron Campaign. I never hitched a wagon to the Drow are evil elves thing, and don't use the Drow specific magic as listed in FF, although I have played them as neutral or hostile.

I like to think of them more as subterranean elves than anything else, and never read the books so am pretty clueless when it comes to "Canon".

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;578994I too experienced the  scimitar weilding drow requests back in the early 90s. My answer always depended on the setting. Since I ran ravenloft mostly I made clear to the player that he could do it (since a droaw getting sucked into ravenloft makes sense) but that being a drow would create lots of problems for him and the party in terms of native reactions to the character.

It's Ravenloft, man.  Even being a High Elf or Gnome is enough to start up a peasant mob in lots of realms.

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.

I got an email response to a local enquiry for players not too long ago.  The first question they had was "Do you allow Drow?"  And my first thought was "Not any more!"  

If a player wants to discuss their non-Drizzt, non-psycho Drow concept before the game, I would probably allow it.  I might go a bit farther and strip out all or almost all of the inherent magical stuff, though.  This applies to any species, not just Drow.  Character classes have enough whiz-bang stuff, and not having the standard 'monster' stuff is a good reason to abandon one's society and set off on adventures.  On a meta-game level, those things are to make monsters challenging for the players, not add additional p0wERz for player character races.

I think that the last time I saw anyone play a drow in any game I had anything to do with, I was 14.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Libertad;578838When 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?

We've had Drow PCs in games...both in a backstabby Underdark campaign and out and about in a world.

No attempt was ever made at a Drizzt clone.

Until I came to this site I had never even heard of Drizzt.... have to admit to not being a fan of shit novels and I stopped reading fantasy altogehter from about 1993 til a few years back when I was given the SoFaI books and discovered Scott Lynch and Joe Abercrombie.

I am sure we had Drow PC in a game though at some point, surely... I ran a all elf game where each PC was from a different elven group. They were created by the PCs then reetrofitted back into the world but I am trying to think if any of them were drow like...

For the folks that have been round here for a while AM used to post quite a lot about his 4e Drow based game where all the PCs were Drow. It sounded like a well constructed game despite its 4e credentials.
If someone wants real detail about how to incorporate Drow, and is stuck for their own ideas, then I reckon contacting AM woudl be a good move.

While there may be jerks that like drow, it's not for power-gamers.

In 3.x, a drow has the following racial adjustments:

- +2 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Chr, -2 Con
- Darkvision 120'
- Light Blindness (blinded for 1 round in sunlight, then dazzled = -1 to attack, spot, search)
- +2 on Listen, Search and Spot checks.
- An elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if she were actively looking for it.
- Weapon Proficiency: A drow is automatically proficient with the hand crossbow, the rapier, and the short sword.
- SR 11 + Class Level
- Immune to sleep
- +2 on Saving Throws versus Enchantments
- +2 on Will Saves against spells or spell-like abilities
- Spell Like Abilities 1/day: dancing lights, darkness, faerie fire
- Automatic Languages: Common, Elven, Undercommon.
+2 Level Adjustment

That means that a 1st level drow anything is treated as a 3rd level character.

Most of what they get is available to any other elf variant (including high elf) with an extra 2 class levels to play with.  But while people think drow are cool, they really aren't particularly POWERFUL.  

The weapon proficiencies they get are all 'free' with one level of rogue.  The bonus to Intelligence and Charisma might be good if you're a Wizard or Sorcerer, but there's already a gray elf (+2 Int) and that's just core - there is basically an elf in every flavor, most of which lack the Level Adjustment.  And while a +2 in your primary casting stat is nice, even combined with the Spell Resistance, it doesn't justify being two levels behind on spell acquisition.  

Take a 5th level anything and compare it against a 3rd level drow of the same class, all else being equal, and you're going to see the higher level character come out on top time and time again.  

So recognize that munchkins don't like drow (not unless they get the LA for free and/or can get rid of the Light Blindness) and that while there are some psychos that like them, most of the people that actually want to play one are doing it for flavor reasons.

They actually like the idea of being from an evil, narcissistic, depraved culture - either in opposition to it or with plans to eventually take power within that society.  

Drow are usually wanted because they make being a 'conflicted' hero or 'anti-hero' pretty easy to do - the kinds of DMs that come down hard on a cleric for using a longbow often give 'evil races' a pass for doing things that they wouldn't allow or expect a dwarf or gnome to do.

Quote from: deadDMwalking;579451While there may be jerks that like drow, it's not for power-gamers.

I think there was no LA in AD&D 2e, and they still got the spell-like abilities in addition to the usual elf perks (immune to sleep, resist charm etc.) which I recall made them a munchkin favorite at some tables I played back in the day.

Of course, there was some overlap between powergaming and attention-whoring at those tables, so that could be it.

Quote from: The Butcher;579472I think there was no LA in AD&D 2e, and they still got the spell-like abilities in addition to the usual elf perks (immune to sleep, resist charm etc.) which I recall made them a munchkin favorite at some tables I played back in the day.

Of course, there was some overlap between powergaming and attention-whoring at those tables, so that could be it.

I remember hearing how 1st Edition's Unearthed Arcana book allowed for the creation of Drow PCs, along with Derro and Half-Ogres.  Several options in the book, including the aforementioned races and the Barbarian and Cavalier classes, and Weapon Specialization, were very powerful choices.

Unearthed Arcana introduced a lot of new rules and clarification, but it was also derided for operating on a higher level of power out of balance with the standard Player's Handbook.

Probably one of several reasons that the idea of Drow PCs get a bad rap.

Quote from: Libertad;579551Probably one of several reasons that the idea of Drow PCs get a bad rap.

I'm pretty sure its 99.8% Drzzt.

RPGPundit

Man, if I was going to swipe a character to ape from Salvatore's shitty books, Drizzt would not be the dark elf of choice. Not when the kooky Jarlaxle is available.

I still remember reading those in high school and rooting for Entreri to finally murder that perfect-beautiful-genius-asshole Drizzt.

The book Servant of the Shard wasn't gawd-awful, mainly because it ignored Captain Super-elf and focused on Jarlaxle and Entreri.

Playing both of them wouldn't likely make you a ton of friends at the table either, but still, less obnoxious by a considerable amount.

Quote from: Libertad;578838Has anybody ever tried playing a Drow PC or had a player request to play a Drow?

thankfully, no.

I've had people who wanted to play Drow, and I have played one (high level Fighter/MU, had a bastard sword and hand crossbows, no Dizzy clone was he.) In general, If they play the character as their own--I allow it (and the setting has Drow.) If its just like X? No. I turn them down. I do know how to say no to players.