Half drow elf

[Frojoe21]

Wandering though the local EB yesterday, I came across a copy of Demon Stone. I remembered that one of the characters was a half-Drow half Wild elf. That got me thinking: Is there any ruling on a situation like that? So I cooked up this:

Half-Drow Moon Elf
+2 Int, -2 Con, +2 Dex, -2 Cha. Half Drow Moon elves are quick and intelligent, but they are frail like all elves and their universal shunning hampers their social interaction
Medium Sized
Darkvision 60 ft
-2 on diplomacy Checks involving elves of any kind
+2 on intimidate and bluff regarding drow heritage
Automatic Languages: Common, Elven
Bonus Languages: Any (Except secret languages such as draconic or druidic
Favored Class: Rogue

Oppinions? Coments? Constructive Criticism?

[jdrich]

Make a half-drow elf a LA +0 race is probably futile. Drow are considered to be quite a powerful race, and they would almost assuredly pass down some of that ability to a half-breed that was in some way elven.

Citing Savage Progressions (One of the best series of articles on Wizards.com, ever) once again on this form is that of a half-drow to drow transition class:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040319a

Basically, the half-drow is a more powerful variant of a half-elf (with no mechanical disadvantages therein). Gaining darkvision 60', but no other abilities.


A half-drow is a half-elf born of a human and drow union. A half-drow typically has dusky skin, silver or white hair, and eyes of some normal human shade. Half-drow have the abilities of normal half-elves except that they have darkvision (60-foot range) instead of low-light vision. A half-drow who wishes to explore his dark elf heritage can become a full drow with a 2-level transition class.

Table SP-29: The Half-Drow/Drow Transition Class
Level CR Special
1st +1 Dex +2, Con -2, dancing lights, darkvision 120 ft., faerie fire, favored class, skill bonuses, spell resistance (lesser)
2nd +1 Int +2, Cha +2, darkness, languages, light blindness, proficiencies, saving throw bonuses, spell resistance (greater)

Half-Drow/Drow Transition Class Features

All of the following are class features of the half-drow/drow transition class.

Ability Score Changes: The indicated ability score increases or decreases by the amount noted.

Dancing Lights (Sp): A half-drow/drow may use dancing lights (caster level equals half-drow/drow's character level) once per day.

Darkvision (Ex): When the half-drow/drow reaches 1st level, the range of his darkvision increases to 120 feet.

Faerie Fire (Sp): At 1st level, the half-drow/drow may use faerie fire (caster level equals half-drow/drow's character level) once per day.

Favored Class: A half-drow/drow who adopts this transition class may keep his original favored class ("any") or adopt the standard drow favored class (wizard if male, cleric if female).

Skill Bonuses: The character's racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks increases from +1 to +2. Furthermore, a half-drow/drow who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if he were actively looking for it.

Spell Resistance (Su): At 1st level, the half-drow/drow gains spell resistance equal to 5 + character level. At 2nd level, his spell resistance increases to 11 + character level.

Darkness (Sp): At 2nd level, the half-drow/drow may use darkness (caster level equals half-drow/drow's character level) once per day.

Languages: At 2nd level, the half-drow/drow becomes fluent in Common, Elven, and Undercommon if he was not already. If he has any bonus languages slots available, he may select bonus languages from the following list: Abyssal, Aquan, Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Gnome, Goblin. These choices are in addition to the half-elven automatic and bonus languages. (Their bonus languages are normally "any," but this ability enables the drow to learn special languages that a DM might deny to surface dwellers.)

Light Blindness (Ex): Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds a half-drow/drow for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, he is dazzled as long as he remains in the affected area.

Proficiencies: At 2nd level, a half-drow/drow becomes proficient with the hand crossbow, rapier, and short sword if he was not already. If he spent feats to become proficient with these weapons, he may not reassign those feat slots.

Saving Throw Bonuses (Ex): At 2nd level, a half-drow/drow gains a +2 racial bonus on Will saves against spells and spell-like abilities.

Considering the difference in race (half-elven instead of half-human) I would say that the first level of the transition class, included as a LA, would probably be your 'half-drow elf' race.

[Frojoe21]

Wow, I actually had no clue such a thing existed. Ok then...

[Maxis_IronForge]

please Explain to me the logic of this, how does one become a full drow when one starts off as half drow?

p.s. my first ever character was a high-elf/dark-elf cross. He had multiple personalities disorder :)
The rules I used were from the 2nd ed. book players option: Skills and Powers so, assuming you're a D20 person, of no use to you. Was a good system though, had a list of elven abilities that you could pick and choose from to create any elven blend you want (used for mixed parentage, new sub-races and even variant bloodlines within subraces).

[amanodel]

Yay! I've already done my wild/dark elf, since these two races are my favourite ones. It was quite long ago, I dont remember well, but I think they were around +1 LA. (+2dex, +2int, -2con, drow spelllikeabilities) I did not do the exact stat modifiers since I've only done two such elf. Very hard to play, but I kinda like them :) The storylines around them are so complicated and twisted that it gives you a totally different atmosphere.

That template thing at wizards sounds good for creating mixed creatures, but frojoes concept is just fine.

[Nikolai_II]

Basically, the half-drow is a more powerful variant of a half-elf (with no mechanical disadvantages therein). Gaining darkvision 60', but no other abilities.


Loosing Low-Light Vision IIRC..

[MrNexx]

The rules I used were from the 2nd ed. book players option: Skills and Powers so, assuming you're a D20 person, of no use to you. Was a good system though, had a list of elven abilities that you could pick and choose from to create any elven blend you want (used for mixed parentage, new sub-races and even variant bloodlines within subraces).

I liked it, but it provided, IMO, a bit too much freedom where races were concerned. I could see, for example, an elf not learning the sword and bow when they were younger. I had more trouble with elves who didn't have infravision.