Drow Character Options

[Hiro]

I've a game where I need to generate a drow (or half drow, Draegloth) character of lvl 12 for drow or 14 for half-drow.

but I have a 32 point buy and want to make a strong, competitive character.

But with all the options out there with the books I"m confused about waht to try

help?

I have the ToB but dont' prefer it. I don't have the ToM or MoI

[Mithril Leaf]

First off, wizard is a solid choice, for one main reason. Drow have a racial class, which they gain a bonus to intelligence in for 0 LA. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a) Then you can take a level of the racial paragon class for easy save and skill bonuses. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/racialParagonClasses.htm#drowParagon)

[Urpriest]

What are the other players playing? Usually if you can't think of what class to play it's best to try to fill a niche left empty by the rest of your party.

[Hiro]

I can see the paragon but the racial class is basically the LA itself in level format. I never really understood the concept behind it.

either way you're still spending 2 out of 14 levels on your race. then another 3 for the paragon meaning you've got 9further levels to play with and if you're mage: a 1 lvl reduction in CL spells known and slots.

I mean I can see the virtue of the options sure. but the party I'm with has 2-3 mages already so I was thinkin gmore melee oriented or at least gish?

to answer Ur Priest

1 Drow "matron" that's pulled strings and has a ridculously high Cha and pretty much every magical class you can think of that uses it as their main stat:

the rest are mage types or variants

and 1 rogue.

and 1 Yolchol.

Is Eye of Lolth or the martial version of it (I don't recall but it' still "of Lolth" variety) that're basically zealots with social bonuses and an evil deity whispering to them.

are those two good choices or just need to be left alone?

[Urpriest]

I can see the paragon but the racial class is basically the LA itself in level format. I never really understood the concept behind it.

either way you're still spending 2 out of 14 levels on your race. then another 3 for the paragon meaning you've got 9further levels to play with and if you're mage: a 1 lvl reduction in CL spells known and slots.

I mean I can see the virtue of the options sure. but the party I'm with has 2-3 mages already so I was thinkin gmore melee oriented or at least gish?

You misunderstand. The Monster Classes in Savage Species require you to take all of their levels. In the case of the Savage Progressions on the WotC site, it was explicitly stated that you could delay taking levels as long as you want. So you could have 14 class levels, and plan to take the next two levels of the racial class at level 50 or the like.

If you've already got 2-3 mages then you probably want to aim for something more melee-focused though, yeah. What are those 2-3 mages doing though, specifically? Knowing their classes at least would be helpful.

[Hiro]

the powerful one is more about control, debuffs

the second powerful is the blaster with a few nifty buffs and counterspelling ability

the Rogue is the secondary glass cannon (most rogues are. no offense)

atm we have no martial ability or direct combat ability

[Urpriest]

the powerful one is more about control, debuffs

the second powerful is the blaster with a few nifty buffs and counterspelling ability

the Rogue is the secondary glass cannon (most rogues are. no offense)

atm we have no martial ability or direct combat ability

Given the existence of the Rogue I would avoid Dread Fang of Lolth. Eye of Lolth is a lot worse than most of the other ways to give a Cleric sneak attack, so one of those would be preferable.

If your Drow matron character a Cleric? Even if so, why not build a melee-focused Cleric (since she sounds less melee-focused)? Lots of versatility and high level oomph, coupled with the ability to hold the line. If you really like Eye of Lolth's Cleric-Rogue hybrid structure, consider the feat Sacred Outlaw from Dragon Magazine, if that's available to you. There are other ways to build that sort of character without Dragon, but they're usually weaker.

[Hiro]

Unfortunately I have no access to anything dragon really. sorry.

And yes the "matron" is actually a male that's used magic to fuse the essence of brachina and changed to "female" as it were. (like a persmanent alter self of sorts)

But she has one follower taht's basically her meat shield. but yeah lack of martial ability in this party

[ThiagoMartell]

Man, draegloth is not at all like a half-drow.
Like, two extra arms, a lot of racial hit dice and a bunch of SLAs different.

[Urpriest]

An insect-themed Druid might also make a nice frontliner, if you're shy of Cleric.

[Hiro]

I can use the Draegloth racial class to use that race.

And an Insect based druid? Hmmm that could be different. *thinks on that* Maybe even the insectile template..?

[ThiagoMartell]

I can use the Draegloth racial class to use that race.

And an Insect based druid? Hmmm that could be different. *thinks on that* Maybe even the insectile template..?

Go Drider while you're at it :smalltongue:

[Hiro]

But aren't driders considered ..outcasts? And quickly eliminated?

[Urpriest]

But aren't driders considered ..outcasts? And quickly eliminated?

Depends on the setting. IIRC in FR they're used occasionally by higher ranking drow as shock troopers and the like. But I may be misremembering.

[Hiro]

Does your monstrous guide cover Driders Ur? *points at your sig* haha

[ThiagoMartell]

Depends on the setting. IIRC in FR they're used occasionally by higher ranking drow as shock troopers and the like. But I may be misremembering.
You're correct. They even show up as guards during War of the Spider Queen (book 1, I think).

But aren't driders considered ..outcasts? And quickly eliminated?
Drow of the Underdark mention that younger drow shun this concept and see driders as useful tools.

[Hiro]

Hmm I see.. I'd have to ask my DM about it

using the racial LA buy off to force the LA cost down then replace them with class levels or something.

[Randomguy]

But aren't driders considered ..outcasts? And quickly eliminated?

I always found that weird. In 4th ed, Driders are the ones that pass Lolth's special test, not the ones that fail it. That makes much more sense, in my opinion.

Anywho, you could try playing a drow judicator (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20031003c). Check out the Iron Chef (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243052) thread for help.

I'd suggest being a melee class with a level of sorcerer or possibly suel arcanamach, and then heading into Drow Judicator after taking 5 levels of Abjurant Champion. Or something like that.

[Hiro]

Iron chef thread? Huh? Oh that optimization contest?

[Gavinfoxx]

First off.. Get LA+0.

So Lesser Drow, Deepwyrm Half-Drow, or Half-Drow. From that point, you need to narrow down your concept some!

[Hiro]

Edit: Nvm I found it on the Wizards site.

And I had a fun concept for a char waht do you guys think:

lesser drow
using warblade class (for high HP and full Bab)
with improved unarmed strike + superior unarmed strike

+1 dip in dread necro

convince DM to allow you to deliver charnel touches with unarmed strikes. XD

[Gavinfoxx]

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19546874/Master_Player_Race_List_Version_2.0

Use that as a resource for all of your LA+0/0RHD race needs! Of course you will need to look at the actual books for full writeups...

[Hiro]

Well I'll be. that's helpful

But back to the subject on hand:

Melee oriented (or Gish) builds for lesser drow?

[Gavinfoxx]

Your standard gish builds would work.

Duskblade or Magus for gish in a can. Spellsword1/Abjurant Champion for build your own Gish.

[Urpriest]

If you're cool with ToB, Warblade is indeed a nice choice. Hard to screw up, and viable up to higher levels.

You couldn't start with LA bought off as a Drider, unfortunately. Buying off the first point of LA +4 requires 12 class levels, and they can't be racial hit dice. At that point you're already a 22nd level character, so it won't happen any time soon. So while my guide doesn't cover Driders in detail, it's definitely worth it to read it if you're considering any monstrous race.

[Gavinfoxx]

If you want to start with LA, look at these races:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=189980

And also look at this:

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=6992.0

And the templates here:

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7044.0

(Pay attention to the ones that don't lower your power).

Between the 0LA/0RHD, 1LA/0RHD, 2LA/0RHD, LA Buyoff, the myriad types of Lesser Planetouched, and the tier 1, 2, and 3 templates... you should be able to manage most of your 'funky weird race' concepts fairly well, without the system penalizing you... too much!

Also... READ THIS!!!

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207928

[Mithril Leaf]

For Gavin
Here's an updated list of handbooks and such. A few of yours seemed a bit out of date. (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=399.0)

If you want to play a Drider, the homebrew monster classes often work well. Check this one out. (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=947.0)

[Gavinfoxx]

I knew about that... but I didn't know they had updated the master LA+0 race list!