Drow

Drow

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Graceful and deadly,at home in the depths of darkness

Racial Traits

Average Height: 5’4”–6’
Average Weight: 130–170 lb.
Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Darkvision
Languages: Common, Elven
Skill Bonuses: +2 Intimidate, +2 Stealth
Fey Origin: Your ancestors were native to the Feywild, so you are considered a fey creature for the purpose of effects that relate to creature origin.
Trance: Rather than sleep, drow enter a meditative state known as trance. You need to spend 4 hours in this state to gain the same benefits other races gain from taking a 6-hour extended rest. While in a trance, you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal.
Lolthtouched: Once per encounter, you can use either the cloud of darkness power or the darkfire power.

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Drow are a decadent race of dark elves whose beauty and sophistication fail to mask hearts all too often stained in evil. The vast majority of dark elves base their behavior and attitudes on the worship of the chaotic evil goddess Lolth, also known as the Spider Queen. Drow society is organized into houses. The heads of the most powerful houses occupy leadership positions in the various cities of the Underdark, the subterranean realm beneath Faerûn that the dark elves call home.

Play a Drow if you want …
…to be good at skulking, striking quickly, and employing a variety of dirty tactics.
…to play a hero in search of redemption, or one who struggles to rise above the wickedness of his or her people.
…to be a member of a race that favors the ranger, rogue, and warlock classes.

Physical Qualities

Drow stand just shy of human height and have slender, athletic builds. Physically, they resemble eladrin, with wiry builds, pleasing features, and midnight black skin that has a blue cast. Their eyes are fiery red, lavender, or blue. All drow have white hair, which most keep long and decorate with intricate pins and webbing wrought from precious metals. Aside from their tresses and eyebrows, drow have little facial hair, though males sometimes grow long sideburns or tufts of wispy hair on their cheeks and chins. From infancy, a drow child must be cunning. Children can expect no kindness, no warmth, and no compassion. Such expressions engender fatal weakness. Drow are cold parents, instilling self reliance and independence, so that their offspring will become strong enough to survive a bloody adolescence. Ill treatment reinforces their natural inclinations toward evil. In rare cases, the harshness of childhood can have the opposite effect, seeding the youth with a hatred of and disdain for drow society and expectations. Such attitudes often lead young drow to a premature end. In general, dark elves have life spans somewhat longer than those of their surface-dwelling cousins. Drow who manage to avoid dying a violent death can live for well over 200 years, and exceptional members of the race measure their ages in centuries.

Playing a Drow

Most drow are singularly wicked. They are cruel in their dealings with others and treacherous among themselves. In the pursuit of power, status, and Lolth’s favor, drow houses compete with each other to amass wealth and enslave weaker races. The fickle whims of Lolth’s priestesses demand absolute obedience, driving the race to further evil. Though most drow are villains firmly in the thrall of the Spider Queen, not all suffer so. Some drow escape the Underdark to find new lives on the surface, while a few reject the dominance of Lolth’s priestesses and form mercenary companies or trade consortiums of their own. These, however, are the exceptions. The Spider Queen’s church makes bloody examples of any it names enemies of its goddess. Few drow indeed dare to rebel against Lolth’s priestesses. Drow are born into darkness. Their society is violent and capricious, a world where life is worthless and only power has any meaning. Even drow who escape the clutches of this sinister culture find themselves scarred by the lessons they learned in their youth. Drow understand the value of alliances and enjoy congenial companionship, but they regard any such arrangements as temporary and learn at an early age to distrust love and camaraderie. Such relationships can hide betrayal. Therefore, dark elves are ever watchful for treachery, expecting the worst in those they meet. Drow are never surprised when the knife appears, and they consequently find it hard to form lasting friendships. From birth, drow are taught that they are superior to all other races—those who lack the strength to defend themselves deserve to be used as the drow see fit. Drow therefore can be arrogant and condescendcondescending until shown reason to respect their associates. Some free drow find these ingrained bigotries hard to overcome. Each drow who escapes the Underdark must come to terms with what he or she has been taught and what he or she sees in the world around. Those who succeed can lead more or less normal lives, while those who fail must endure a miserable existence, trapped between two worlds and finding no haven in either.

Drow Characteristics: Arrogant, cold, haunted, pragmatic, rebellious, ruthless, skeptical, sophisticated, urbane

Male Names: Adinimys, Baridl, Belgos, Bhintel, Drisdhaun, Elkantar, Haelirin, Houndaer, Kelnozz, Malaggar, Nalklyr, Orkallael, Pelloth, Phaeqel, Quarfein, Ryltar, Ulvein, Vorgyrn, Xulgos, Zebith
Female Names: Akneth, Alauniira, Briesril, Chali, Charinida, Diviir, Drisiml, Faeremma, Fillith, Ilivarra, Myrymma, Pellanistra, Quewaun, Shivra, Viergar, Waeren, Xune, Yasesril, Zaketrin, Zarra

Racial Feats

Drow have a number of feats all their own, as well as access to those tied to their origin.

Heroic Tier Feats

These feats are available to any shadar-kai character who meets the prerequisites.

Clutch of Darkness
Prerequisite: Drow
Benefit: Your cloud of darkness power becomes a burst 2 instead of a burst 1. Your darkfire power becomes ranged 15 instead of ranged 10.

Drow Fighting Style
Prerequisite: Drow, Dex 15
Benefit: When holding a light blade in one hand and a hand crossbow in the other, you do not provoke opportunity attacks when making attacks using your hand crossbow.

Drow Heretic
Prerequisite: Drow
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls against creatures with the spider keyword

Instinctive Darkness
Prerequisite: Drow, Cloud of Darkness racial power
Benefit: You can use your cloud of darkness racial power as an immediate reaction when you are the target of a melee or close attack

Lolth's Meat
Prerequisite: Drow
Benefit:Whenever you reduce an enemy to 0 hit points or fewer, you gain a +1 feat bonus to attack rolls until the end of your next turn

Ruthless Hunter
Prerequisite: Drow
Benefit: When you wield a hand crossbow, its weapon damage die increases to 1d8, and it becomes a high crit weapon.

Shadowslip
Prerequisite: Drow, Cloud of Darkness racial power
Benefit: When you use your cloud of darkness racial power, you can shift 2 squares as a free action

Shield of Shadows
Prerequisite: Drow
Benefit:// You gain a +2 bonus to your Reflex defense while within the effect of your cloud of darkness power.

Paragon Tier Feats

These feats are available to any Drow character of 11th level or higher who meets the prerequisites.

Flickering Shroud
Prerequisites: 11th level, Drow, Darkfire racial power
Benefit: When you use your darkfire racial power, you can alter its effects to grant the target a +2 bonus to AC and Reflex saving throws until the end of your next turn

Highborn Drow
Prerequisites: 11th level, Drow
Benefit: You gain a +2 feat bonus to Arcana checks. In addition, whenever you use your Lolthtouched racial feature, you can use the cloud of darkness, darkfire, or webs of darkness power.

Master of Fire and Darkness
Prerequisites: 11th level, Drow
Benefit: Your Lolthtouched racial trait normally lets you use either cloud of darkness or darkfire as an encounter power. Now cloud of darkness and darkfire are two separate encounter powers. You can use each power once per encounter.

Merciless Killer
Prerequisites: 11th level, Drow
Benefit: When a bloodied foe grants combat advantage to you, you gain a +5 bonus to the damage roll.

Shadowborn
Prerequisites: 11th level, Drow
Benefit: Whenever you start an encounter in an area of darkness or dim illumination, you gain a +2 bonus to your initiative check and, until the second round of combat, a +1 feat bonus to damage rolls against any creature you have combat advantage against.

Venomous Heritage
Prerequisites: 11th level, Drow
Benefit: You gain resist 5 poison and a +2 feat bonus to saving throws against poison effects.

Paragon Tier Racial Powers

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Epic Tier Feats

These feats are available to any Drow character of 21st level or higher who meets the prerequisites.

Paragon Paths

The following paragon paths play on Drow tradition and culture.

Drow Wanderer

“This darkness is my home; you should not have come here.”
Prerequisites: Drow, Trained in Dungeoneering
The Underdark is a terror to most surface folk. Flesheating fungi carpet the walls, bizarre monstrosities lurk in the dark, and whole civilizations of evil flourish in the sunless depths. To you, this is home. You know the twisting tunnels of the Underdark intimately. Every bend in every cavern and every corner in every dungeon is your ally, allowing you to creep close to your foe. You are the hunter in the dark, and you strike from the shadows before your foe ever senses danger. You have little use for the rest of your kind. While you test your skill in the wilds of the dark, other Drow wallow in decadence and cruelty in their cities. You’ve honed the magical abilities of your heritage with long practice, and now the power that flows through your blood is far greater than theirs. You walk the darkness free, while they remain ensorcelled in Lolth’s slavish snares. Life is a journey. You live to see what wonders and heart-pounding adventures await you just out of sight. The darkness is an unforgiving mistress, but you know her all too well. No one can stop you.

Drow Wanderer Path Features
Ambusher Action (11th level): Whenever you spend an action point to take an extra action to attack, you gain a +2 bonus to your attack roll if your target is unaware of you.
Stone Sense (11th level): When underground, you gain a +2 bonus to Initiative checks and to Dungeoneering and Perception checks.
Firemotes (16th level): You gain a +5 bonus to damage rolls against targets currently affected by your darkfire power.

Drow Wanderer Powers

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Epic Destiny

The following epic destiny is the ultimate fate for which many Drow aspire:

Redeemed Drow

You have ever struggled to rise above the darkness clouding your heart, but now you have the chance to prove to the world that you are different from all the rest.
Prerequisites: 21st-level, Drow
No matter the deeds done, no matter the life lived, none of your mortal actions change the fact that you are drow—a dark elf and a living symbol of mortal corruption and vice—and throughout the rest of your days, you must bear the burden of the understanding that nothing you do can ever lift the stain that darkens your heart. The only escape from the curse is to truly transcend the mortal coil and become something more—to leave behind the shell of flesh and bone so your true light can shine and reveal to all the purity of your purpose. To this end, you commit yourself to become more than drow and deny the Spider Queen her hold over you for all time. Becoming a redeemed drow represents a drow’s ultimate repudiation of the Spider Queen. With this complete and total denial, you escape the webs of her influence and attain a higher state of existence. You name Lolth as your enemy and commit your life to fighting her machinations and ploys, in the hopes of showing the world and the gods that you have succeeded in breaking your ties where others have failed. Your successes earn you the attention of Corellon (and possibly others), who aids you in your crusade against your former kin by imbuing you with a greater sense of purpose to impel you to daring acts and astonishing deeds. As your mission nears completion, Lolth throws the full weight of her legions against you, and through the storm of demons, spiders, driders, and drow, you must s stand fast before the blooming doubts and misgivings that threaten to cloud your vision. In the end, Corellon blesses you with the greatest gift you could ask for: a second chance at life without the filthy caress of the horrific Spider Queen.
Second Chance
The road to redemption varies with the drow, but many achieve the rewards sought by following the path outlined below. This said, there are many paths to redemption and finding this coveted prize might take you in unexpected directions.

True Redmption:
Upon completing your final quest, you were plucked from the mortal world and escorted by Corellon’s chosen servants to make your final journey to his dominion in the Astral Sea. There, standing before the great and mighty god, your mortal deeds are weighed and judged, your accomplishments celebrated, and your failings considered. In the end, the god lifts the curse from you. For a moment, you see yourself as you were originally formed, before the betrayal—before the fall—and all falls dark. In a blink of an eye, you awaken once more, your soul contained in a new infant body. As you take in your surroundings, your memories of the past fade as you take in the long, rich life that lies before you.

Redeemed Drow Features
Sacred Duty (21st level): Whenever you make an attack that reduces a creature with the demon or spider keyword to 0 or fewer hit points, you can spend a healing surge as a free action.
Lift her Touch (24th level): You can expend your Lolthtouched racial power to recharge a previously expended encounter power.
Burden of Redemption (30th level): The first time you are reduced to 0 or fewer hit points each day, you regain a number of hit points equal to your surge value and gain resist 10 all damage until the end of the encounter.

Redeemed Drow Power

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