Following some comments made regarding Drow on another thread, I thought it might be a good idea to clear up some common misconceptions regarding that race.

Playing an “evil” guild or even an “evil” character does require a lot of thought and subtlety. The biggest problem I have encountered is that most players have a misconception of what Drow are about and I think most of this stems from the rigidity created in D&D and AD&D. Few bother to read the fiction, and more importantly, READ between the lines to establish what they are actually about.

Firstly, lets get one thing clear. Drow are NOT an inherently “evil” race. They commit many “evil” things and are a particularly nasty, unlikable group, but they are not “evil”. To be “evil” they have to be totally devoid of all emotion and although Drow boast that is the case, it is a myth. Drow are not Daleks!

Secondly, as soon as you attach the word “chaos” to something, the immediate misconception is that this equates to evil. Again we have D&D and AD&D lore to blame for that. Chaos does NOT equal evil. What chaos means is RANDOM and UNPREDICTABLE. This is what Drow are about and this is why they have such a reputation. Because no one can be sure, not even a Drow itself, what it is likely to do.

Thirdly, another misconception is that Drow who follow Lloth, the Spider Queen cannot be around humans. This is complete nonsense! Around 90/95% of Drow worship Lloth and even in the great Llothian cities humans and other races actually live there. They live and visit there to trade. Everyone needs to trade, even with enemies and inferior races.

The attitude of “I’m drow, you’re dead ha ha ha” is an oversimplification of what a Drow is and lacks any sort of imagination. You do not have to be a Drow to kill something just for the hell of it. Drow will do anything it suits to further its own personal selfish ambition, even to the extent of forming the most unlikely of alliances. You do not have to go on a killing spree to achieve this. In fact killing might be the last thing to do.

Drow hate each other, they even hate themselves for what they are. They are continually at war with each other, more so than at war with any other races. But there are unwritten laws to be followed otherwise Drow would cease to exist as a race. Generally, before a Drow acts, the question it asks itself is “Am I high enough in Lloth’s favour to do this?” A Drow will not act unless it is sure it is in Lloth’s favour. THAT is the CHAOTIC nature of Drow.

I try to encourage my members in Floh’len d’Lloth (Followers of Lloth) to play Drow as they should be and to steer away from the rigid and unimaginative world of Gygax. That way they can have a lot more fun. Drow is a political animal of intrigue and treachery and UNPREDICTABLE in its nature.

I hope this clears up many of the misconceptions surrounding Drow.

Evil or not, town laws of Vesper state that you will be kicked out of the city and the surround with fear of death!

I would have always presumed Drow to be evil, but im not in F^L, im sure RPing evil does get a bit boring, but tea partys and casual conversation are not somethin i would ascociate with a Drow.

But, i respect your wishes!

Thanks for a informative post.

I think 90% of the rping people doesnt really know what a Drow is.

Post more information if you can about Drows...

Perfect.
And my Drow would not expect anything less. I can assure you holding tea parties and casual conversations are not something which goes on in F^L. If we turn up in Vesper, we are there for some reason. It might be mischief it might not but it certainly wont be for tea and cakes

Ofcourse they are. Good and evil are rarely absolute, both are relative. Does the existance of Drow benefit the majority of the population of Sosaria? Do Drow inflict more harm than good upon that population? By any reasonable calculation that would place them in the evil section. I fail to see why you need to be emotionless to be evil. While to be a sociopath you need to be devoid of empathy I suspect most Drow are quite casual in their destruction and debasement of others for the furtheration of their own ambitions. While you might put forward the theory that such is not an "inherent" trait it appears in the majority of those anyone is likely to meet. As you go on to say, a Drow will do anything so long as it has the favour of their, irredeemably evil, deity. I consider "good" to be the sacrifice of self for the betterment of others.. would a Drow ever do such? Not likely.

The wrath of the Nealothites was great indeed for a time. A pity their skill at arms was not so.

I think the most common complaint people have about drow is that too many people have read R.A Salvatore and want to emulate Drizzt by playing a totally goodly drow.

Drow may not be inherantly evil (although I would argue there is a strong natural tendancy towards being evil), but their society, religion and shared values certainly are immoral, and any that do not conform to their evil ways will probably die at a very early age. Some good drow may survive, but they would be extremely rare. Unfortunately this is often not reflected in roleplaying, because of the Drizzt appeal.

Fair points Samsca and ones which I'm not going to wholly disagree with. The point I was trying to make is that they are not evil in the absolute sense, which some people assume they are. Nor is it absolutely necessary to kill to be evil. There are a lot more other subtle ways of committing an "evil" act.

And Sineal, you are sopt on there

There are many versions of Drow out there which ones do you base you guild on Vierna? Or are you guys a melding of them all?

I for one dont understand them much. Any good books about drow apart from the drizzit ones you can name that are worth reading vierna?

To Raul

I think it would be fair to say I have taken a pinch here and a pinch there, however the guild is by far and away based on the Llothian concept.

To Henry

You could try the "War of the Spider Queen" series by various authors. The stories are a bit contrived but some of the characterisations are pretty good