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Drow & A Human Cult Patterned On Drow; Drow of the Underdark Book Rocks!
Tweet Topic Started: Jun 30 2007, 08:53 PM (163 Views)
suffer4love Jun 30 2007, 08:53 PM Post #1
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I just bought the most amazing D&D book, Drow of the Underdark. I was at my neighborhood Barnes & Noble (booksellers) and they just expanded their Roleplaying line... and there was lots of stuff I had never seen before.

They had the Book of Vile Darkness. I was quite surprised to see that it was neither vile nor dark, but actually a pretty tame tome of fairly ordinary additions to the game... I perused it for about half an hour, then moved on.

Then I found Fiendish Codex 1, or maybe it was a Call of Cthulu sourcebook, I couldn't tell which. Oh yeah, it was definitely a Fiendish Codex, and it was pretty cool, but nothing I hadn't seen before.

Then I found Drow of the Underdark. Wow.

I've never really been into Drow... I'm not really a fan of non-human races in general, honestly. I picked it up mostly to see what Kismet thought was so cool about them....

For the first time ever, I bought a full priced, New, D&D3 sourcebook. I spent over an hour reading it in the store, when I knew I had to buy it. This book is beautiful, the reading is fascinating, stories and ideas flow freely... you want to grab it and run a game or write a book or something.

I don't know if anybody else here is interested in Drow stuff, but if so, I cannot recommend this book more highly. Definitely, Style and Substance ratings of 5 out of 5!!!!

I've actually started putting together a game world for me and my lady (we're hoping to be reunited before the end of the year), and the world I've been working on... based on earlier ideas I had, actually... doesn't have any non-human races in it (Elves, Dwarves, etc). But now, after reading this book, I really want to put something like this in my world! So I have to decide if I want to go ahead and intergrate elves (and therefore dark elves also) into the world, or just go in a different direction....

I was thinking that I could just use the information presented for a Cult of the Spider Goddess that splintered off from the main human group some thousand years ago and moved underground....

Instead of Lolth, I could name the Goddess "Lilith." Other than the names of the Goddess and other such details (for example, they'd be human and probably pale complected since they've lived underground so long), everything else in the book could be left completely intact. I'd need a new name for them, but it wouldn't need to actually be a "race" or "species" name... just whatever they call themselves as a people should be fine.

Borrowing from some of the great science-fiction, I'll assume that, for reasons I haven't read or made up yet, these humans hate the "Overworlders" for some slight, real or imagined. They intend to kill or dominate the Overworlders and rule the planet, in the name of Lilith, the Spider Goddess.

Drow are some scary, freaky people. They ride giant spiders as mounts...? Man, that is just too crazy! I would definitely carry that over to my Cult! Do the Spiders they ride as mounts jump? Because I definitely want mine to jump! That would just be FUBAR, man. Imagine being your typical Knight in Shining Armor on horseback when suddenly... WHUMP... a dude on the back of a giant spider has just flown through the air, landed on you, and crunched you like a crab leg! And they are doing the same to all of your buddies! These people could control your city in less than a week!

Anyway, now I'm just thinking out loud, but this a helluva book, no doubt about it. Those of you who haven't seen it, really should. It's freakin' awesome, and to me I thought it was darker than the BoVD... and it's just loaded with great stuff.
In death's eyes sorrow lingered once, seeing her life torn apart
The shackles fell to see her free to walk the earth
In her eyes life is present still, through the day I watch her sleeping
I hold her close forever more
(Bella Morte)
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kismetrose Jul 1 2007, 03:41 AM Post #2
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I just bought the most amazing D&D book, Drow of the Underdark.

Thanks for telling us what you thought of the book. I tend to at least take a look at most things Drow and I own some of it, like the 2nd ed Menzoberranzan boxed set and the 2nd ed Drow of the Underdark by Ed Greenwood, but I admit that I am generally picky about what I use. Some of what I've seen of recent publications hasn't been to my taste - namely, City of the Spider Queen and the Underdark FR book. (Oh, the hopes I had for the Underdark book! But it's late, so I won't go there.) I've only taken a brief look at Drow of the Underdark, too brief to know if I wanted it, and too soon after it was published to find it on sale. I am curious to see what it covers, and to see how it compares to the 2nd edition materials.
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They had the Book of Vile Darkness. I was quite surprised to see that it was neither vile nor dark, but actually a pretty tame tome of fairly ordinary additions to the game... I perused it for about half an hour, then moved on.

That reminds me, I really need to redo my review for the BOVD. I really used to review books too soon after getting them. I do not use most of the book, generally speaking - if my players ever get close enough to a demon prince for his stats to be an issue, they might as well just cash it in. There are some good ideas at work in it, like the sacrifice system, and some useful spells and such. But the very black and white, simplistic basis of the book is a problem and it leads to very cliched things, like most of their sample villains. I also think that it would have been a more interesting and useful book if it had been written, at least in part, for those wanting to run successful evil campaigns. But WotC really does not want to go there.
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I've never really been into Drow... I'm not really a fan of non-human races in general, honestly. I picked it up mostly to see what Kismet thought was so cool about them....

I don't know about anyone else, but I find that I am able to envision the Drow fairly well, at least for my own purposes. I take what I've read, cull what I don't like, and I'm able to conjure them in my mind pretty easily. But I think that the Drow have a lot to offer a lot of D&D players, which is why they have been so popular.
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Instead of Lolth, I could name the Goddess "Lilith."

Since Lolth is a multi-dimensional deity and has worshippers on more than one plane/planet, it would make sense that she is worshipped under different names.
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Borrowing from some of the great science-fiction, I'll assume that, for reasons I haven't read or made up yet, these humans hate the "Overworlders" for some slight, real or imagined.

Why not make it really messy, and make the slight real and imagined - perhaps blown out of all proportion, but based in historical conflict?
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They ride giant spiders as mounts...? Man, that is just too crazy! I would definitely carry that over to my Cult! Do the Spiders they ride as mounts jump? Because I definitely want mine to jump!

They can jump if you want them to. Just remember to figure that into the CR.
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Imagine being your typical Knight in Shining Armor on horseback when suddenly... WHUMP... a dude on the back of a giant spider has just flown through the air, landed on you, and crunched you like a crab leg! And they are doing the same to all of your buddies! These people could control your city in less than a week!

I don't know if you'll keep this in your game, but the Drow are known for several things other than their deadliness in personal combat. First, they're known as a slave-keeping race; for every Drow in a city, there are X amount of slaves. These slaves can be used as cannon fodder as well as labor, so getting into hand-to-hand combat with Drow is not always easy. The Drow are also known for their magical prowess, in both arcane and divine fields. Simply put, a Drow fighter is scary, yes - but a Drow cleric or wizard will probably be much more frightening at higher levels. All of the most terrible things you can think of to do with magic, the Drow will do, and they'll enjoy it. On top of that, the Drow are known for summoning demonic creatures, plentifully during great battles, but also during peacetime. They've even bred with some to make Draegoloths.

Anyway, I hope that you have fun using them. They'll be new to you, so the things that seem like cliches to other gamers might not bother you. And it sounds like you're going to personalize them a bit in order to fit your setting.
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suffer4love Jul 1 2007, 06:42 PM Post #3
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Thanks for replying, Kismet.

Kismet
 
Thanks for telling us what you thought of the book.  I tend to at least take a look at most things Drow and I own some of it... ...I am curious to see what it covers, and to see how it compares to the 2nd edition materials.

I am certain that my opinions of Drow materials will be quite different from yours, lol! It is quite likely that the "shock effect" of the material to me won't shock you as much, as you are more used to it. As pointed out by my comments of the BoVD, I tend to think of D&D stuff as watered down compared to the way that I think about stuff... so when something by WotC has a little more guts to it, like DotU, I'm impressed. To me, it looked very much like something I would see by White Wolf... high praise! By comparison, BoVD looked just like anything else by WotC (to me).

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That reminds me, I really need to redo my review for the BOVD...  ...But WotC really does not want to go there.

Even though I only perused the BoVD for about half an hour, our opinions agree on this subject. Your opinions are (obviously) more well-formed, but what you said in your quote pretty much detailed my first impression of the material.

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I don't know about anyone else, but I find that I am able to envision the Drow fairly well, at least for my own purposes.  I take what I've read, cull what I don't like, and I'm able to conjure them in my mind pretty easily.  But I think that the Drow have a lot to offer a lot of D&D players, which is why they have been so popular.

Ya don't say! lol. I definitely plan on going back to your site that details your ideas with Drow to give me some more ideas for my Spider Queen Cult. When it comes to Drow, yeah, you da man! Er, in a manner of speaking.... :D

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Since Lolth is a multi-dimensional deity and has worshippers on more than one plane/planet, it would make sense that she is worshipped under different names.

Absolutely brilliant! If I decide to go with my current game world idea, but later want to go with a more "standard" game world, I can use that as a "tie" between the worlds. Characters could cross over, and the stories could tie together. (Ooh, and someone could come up with a plot that could destroy the multiverse... again, mind you! lol).

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Why not make it really messy, and make the slight real and imagined - perhaps blown out of all proportion, but based in historical conflict?

Great idea. I'm waiting to see what DotU gives as the Drow reason for hating the Overworlders, and see if I can just use that directly... there's no point messing with perfection, after all, and if what's in the book will work, might as well use it.

I assume you already know... care to nutshell it? Also, do you have any ideas or suggestions of a real and imagined slight?

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They can jump if you want them to.  Just remember to figure that into the CR.

On a side note, I doubt I'll use D&D for my game world... the game world I'm actually using is less standard fantasy and more S&S with a little "Sword and Planet" thrown in. For those that are unfamiliar with Sword and Planet, Wikipedia has an absolutely perfect definition....
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A tough but chivalrous male protagonist, from Earth of a period not too distant from our own, finds himself transported to a distant world. The transportation may [take any of many forms] but should not [be] either easy or common. The Earthman thus finds himself the sole representative of his own race on an alien planet. This planet is at a pre-modern, even barbaric stage of civilization. There is no obligation for the physical properties or biology of the alien planet to follow any scientific understanding of the potential conditions of habitable worlds; in general, the conditions will be earth-like, but with variations such as a different-colored sun or different numbers of moons. A lower gravity may be invoked to explain such things as large flying animals or people, or the superhuman strength of the hero, but will otherwise be ignored.

Not long after discovering his predicament, the Earthman finds himself caught in a struggle between two or more factions, nations, or species. He sides, of course, with the nation with the prettiest woman, who will sometimes turn out to be a princess. Before he can set about seriously courting her, however, she is kidnapped by a fiendish villain or villains. The Earthman, taking up his sword (the local weapon of choice, which he has a talent with), sets out on a quest to recover the woman and wallop the kidnappers. On the way, he crosses wild and inhospitable terrain, confronts savage animals and monsters, discovers lost civilizations ruled by cruel tyrants or wicked priests, and will repeatedly engage in swashbuckling sword-fights, be imprisoned, daringly escape and rescue other prisoners, and kill any men or beasts who stand in his way. At the end of the story he will defeat the villain and free the captive princess, only to find another crisis emerging that will require all his wit and muscle, but will not be resolved until the next thrilling novel in the adventures of...! A Sword and planet series never finds a final resolution, but continues until either the author or the publishers tire of it.

Actually, my game world is a thematic rip-off of the Darkover Series of books, even though when I first started creating it, I thought I was creating something new and different. Sigh.

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I don't know if you'll keep this in your game, but the Drow are known for several things other than their deadliness in personal combat...  ...They've even bred with some to make Draegoloths.

Actually, the Knight in Armor thingy I wrote was just a picture in my mind. I don't have Knights in Armor in my game world. As I really see them, I prefer their evil be for more subtle than attacking on giant jumping spiders. By using normal Humans in my own world, the cultists can integrate with normal society and be more insidious... nobody will even know they are dealing with cultists, as they are slowly making moves to take over the world.

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Anyway, I hope that you have fun using them.  They'll be new to you, so the things that seem like cliches to other gamers might not bother you.  And it sounds like you're going to personalize them a bit in order to fit your setting.

As I'm sure you've noticed from reading other posts of mine, I'm a proud Hack when it comes to writing and gaming. I love the old cliches and the old formulaic tales and stories. I always say "if it was good enough of George Lucas, it's good enough for me." Not only do I write formulaic stuff, but it's my favorite to read and watch, also. That's why so much of my reading is older stuff... back then the old stuff was still new, so it's more "pure." They don't write stories like that anymore, because everyone thinks they are too "formulaic" and "cliched."
In death's eyes sorrow lingered once, seeing her life torn apart
The shackles fell to see her free to walk the earth
In her eyes life is present still, through the day I watch her sleeping
I hold her close forever more
(Bella Morte)
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