The Suppreme Matron Mother of the Drow

[Max Caysey]

Hey boys and girls...

I was tinkering with a build... for future gaming... which would be the Matron Mother of the Drow. But I havent been able to find any builds...

So I a wondering what level and what build do you guys amagine when thinking about the Matron Mother of the Drow?

Any good ideas would be cool. I'm thinking of putting her together over the nex couble of weeks and thus I need inspirations and good calls from the here... and your guys.

Bring it!

[Inevitability]

The entire drow race? Epic-leveled cleric of Lolth. I don't even slightly doubt that one.

In a setting where higher-leveled NPC's are incredibly uncommon, I'd probably still have her able to cast 9th-level spells. Only in a setting where such people literally don't exist would I lower her level to whatever is still acceptable.

[Andezzar]

The drow are way to fractured to have a single matron mother.

Yvonnel (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Yvonnel_Baenre) and Triel (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Triel_Baenre), the two most recent matron mothers of House Baenre (most influential house in one of the biggest drow cities on Faerun) are character level 25 and 20 respectively.

So if such a thing existed it would at least be in that ball park.

[stanprollyright]

Level 17+ Cleric, Trickery and Evil Domains. Feats: Improved Initiative, Leadership, Imperious Command, Gift of the Spider Queen, Verminfriend, Unspeakable Vow, Vow of the Spider Queen. Equipped with Whip of Fangs or something like that (multiheaded snake whip IIRC)

[Khedrac]

According to Expedition to the Demonweb Pits she is currently Eclavdra (Drow cleric 23, see epic level handbook page 306).
She fell out of favour after her alliance witht he Elder Elemental God cost Lolth's attempt to capture Oerth, then served as ambassador for Graz'zt for a while before regaining Lolth's favor by betraying Graz'zt. She is currently "Lolth's most favord mortal and earthly high priestess".
Note: she may not be the most powerful, but she currently has Lolth's favor - not the same thing, especially as Lolth prizes ambition over loyalty.

[Max Caysey]

The drow are way to fractured to have a single matron mother.

Yvonnel (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Yvonnel_Baenre) and Triel (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Triel_Baenre), the two most recent matron mothers of House Baenre (most influential house in one of the biggest drow cities on Faerun) are character level 25 and 20 respectively.

So if such a thing existed it would at least be in that ball park.


According to Expedition to the Demonweb Pits she is currently Eclavdra (Drow cleric 23, see epic level handbook page 306).
She fell out of favour after her alliance witht he Elder Elemental God cost Lolth's attempt to capture Oerth, then served as ambassador for Graz'zt for a while before regaining Lolth's favor by betraying Graz'zt. She is currently "Lolth's most favord mortal and earthly high priestess".
Note: she may not be the most powerful, but she currently has Lolth's favor - not the same thing, especially as Lolth prizes ambition over loyalty.

Ok... that was a bit lower level than I had imagined.

What if you had to design Matron Mother... Personally I dont have much info on the society of the Drow, but I had always imagined that even though each clan for house had their own matron mother, than there was some darker more powerful "queen" of the matron mother... most favoured of Lolth or Shar or whatever god they paid homage to.

But if you had to design a most powerful one... possible someone who had had the power and influence to rule more than the others... what kind of design would that be?

[Andezzar]

Ok... that was a bit lower level than I had imagined.

What if you had to design Matron Mother... Personally I dont have much info on the society of the Drow, but I had always imagined that even though each clan for house had their own matron mother, than there was some darker more powerful "queen" of the matron mother... most favoured of Lolth or Shar or whatever god they paid homage to.That's how it is described in the lore. Houses are basically extended families, some are more powerful than others not unlike the houses in ASoIaF (remember House Lannister and the Reynes?). Lolths chaotic nature though encourages rivalries and upheaval even more that those already happen in the aforementioned novel series. The rise and fall of a house is attributed whether Lolth currently favors that house.


But if you had to design a most powerful one... possible someone who had had the power and influence to rule more than the others... what kind of design would that be?At a certain point (being able to cast 9th level spells at the latest) power does not come from personal badassery anymore. It#s who you know, what resources you have and how you apply those resources. Stanprollyright's suggestion is a good start, and then you go on creating who has aligned with her (e.g. Gromph IIRC), what resources she has at her disposal (e.g. demons) etc.

One leader for the drow race is especially weird, when even the more cooperative races are organized in city states. As far as I know there is no leader of all Matron Mothers, though one matron mother might rule a drow city, like Matron Mother Baenre does in Menzoberranzan.

[John Longarrow]

Drow are Chaotic Evil. They really wouldn't have anyone who's running the race any more than you'd have a single leader of all humans (or all dragons, or what have you).

Individual Matron Mothers can be incredibly powerful, but Drow culture is such that those who attain too much power get killed by those who covet said power.

[Max Caysey]

Thanks for your comments...

Consider this now. How high level is the most powerful drow persons? Is it the before mentioned Matron Mothers or is it some other more distant or secluded type drow?

[Andezzar]

Who knows? Drow society is generally matriarchal, so males cannot rise to the highest echelons of power, which the matron mothers occupy, but when you consider only personal power, I would not be surprised if the various archmages (e.g. Gromph (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Gromph_Baenre)) are similarly high level.

[Calthropstu]

What you are looking for OP, is a Valsharess.

Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark contained such a threat and is considered canon. The Valsharess was approximately lvl 30 and had succeeded in binding Mephistopheles, the ruler of the 8th layer of Hell.

[Eladrinblade]

But if you had to design a most powerful one... possible someone who had had the power and influence to rule more than the others... what kind of design would that be?


Level 17+ Cleric, Trickery and Evil Domains. Feats: Improved Initiative, Leadership, Imperious Command, Gift of the Spider Queen, Verminfriend, Unspeakable Vow, Vow of the Spider Queen. Equipped with Whip of Fangs or something like that (multiheaded snake whip IIRC)

You already got your answer.