Playing with Sunlight Sensitivity

[Koren]

So Drow seem incredibly hard to work with unless they are catered to. They have some cool abilities but Sunlight Sensitivity is just a ridiculously heavy drawback when playing with day walkers. But I love playing around harsh restrictions, so here we go.

What features, feats, classes, spells, anything can help a Drow be effective in spite of his handicap?

I don't want to hear "goggles/glasses" though. Any searching at all will get me hundreds of reasons why goggles fit the world and how easy it can work etc. There's no challenge that way. Which is the point, I get that. I just want more of a challenge, like casting Darkness up high to block out the sun over the fight, or going Barbarian so all your attacks gain advantage making them regular hits.

[georgie_leech]

Take advantage of Saving Throw abilities. You can be blind as an eyeless bat, and your Fireballs will be just as difficult to avoid as any other equally powered caster, once they explode next to them.

[Koren]

Take advantage of Saving Throw abilities. You can be blind as an eyeless bat, and your Fireballs will be just as difficult to avoid as any other equally powered caster, once they explode next to them.

What would be a good class for it though? Wizard has the widest range of spells, but Drow get a small charisma boost and Sorcerers metamagic could be useful. I wouldn't want to play a Warlock without Eldritch Blast so that's out.

[CountWolfgang]

Easiest way is to use spells that require a save or automatically hit. Like magic missile specifically, which can be scary using bestow curse and hex stacked. Witch bolt would be great to use at lower levels, but it doesn't level at all in my opinion. There are plenty ways around it without using goggles, which probably wouldn't be allowed in adventure league. Call lightning also exists, and fog cloud I don't think states it has to be on the ground.

[CountWolfgang]

What would be a good class for it though? Wizard has the widest range of spells, but Drow get a small charisma boost and Sorcerers metamagic could be useful. I wouldn't want to play a Warlock without Eldritch Blast so that's out.

Sorcerer would probably be the best. Unless you roll really high for intelligence then it doesn't matter. If you go draconic origin you also get an also on mage armor, and extra hit points.

[Koren]

Witch Bolt uses a ranged spell attack, so it would be under disadvantage. The more I hear about that spell the less I like it haha.

Magic seems to be the go to, however the Revised Ranger UA intrigued me with the possibility of a wolf companion forcing opponents prone before the Drow goes in for the kill. Not to mention the whole first round you have advantage with initiative and disadvantage-free attacks with the updated Natural Explorer.

Actually that sounds awesome.

[CountWolfgang]

Witch Bolt uses a ranged spell attack, so it would be under disadvantage. The more I hear about that spell the less I like it haha.

Magic seems to be the go to, however the Revised Ranger UA intrigued me with the possibility of a wolf companion forcing opponents prone before the Drow goes in for the kill. Not to mention the whole first round you have advantage with initiative and disadvantage-free attacks with the updated Natural Explorer.

Actually that sounds awesome.

Plus you could buy an oath bow. I think you'd get advantage with the oath bow combined with pact tactics. Don't quote me though i'm not fimilar with the revised ranger or beast master.

[Sariel Vailo]

Try a hangover and sunlight sensitivity lolth be damned that man was ashes in seconds. Poor cleric we needed him for heals

[polymphus]

Talk to your DM as well. I allow my Drow players to wear sorta primitive sunglasses, which reduce darkvision and remove the attack disadvantage (attack only, NOT skill-check) in direct sunlight.

It means the Sensitivity still hurts a lot and needs to be managed, but isn't absolutely crippling.

[wilhelmdubdub]

true seeing if you want to wait to get 6th level spell slots 1h
cast arcane eye and use it as a scope for your bow

[Koren]

Talk to your DM as well. I allow my Drow players to wear sorta primitive sunglasses, which reduce darkvision and remove the attack disadvantage (attack only, NOT skill-check) in direct sunlight.

It means the Sensitivity still hurts a lot and needs to be managed, but isn't absolutely crippling.

Currently this is a whim, but I realized if I play a Drow it would be much better to plan around the drawback rather than just live with it.

And like I already mentioned I really don't want to use glasses. It's a lazy "forget they exist" solution that isn't nearly as fun and creative as, say, a Warlock dark elf who abuses the hell (nyuk nyuk) out of Darkness. Or a fighter who throws and shoves his foes into the shade where he can fight them properly.

Besides, that's the go to solution everyone talks about. I like having my options

[MrStabby]

I have found it not that bad. Between adventuring:

1) At night
2) On an overcast day
3) Inside
4) Underground
5) Anywhere other than a featureless plane where nothing casts a shadow
6) Demiplanes with no sun
7) near flammable objects that can make a smoke cloud

It hasn't been a problem.

Unless you are very close to the equator at noon, the sun will not be directly overhead and other objects will cast a shadow for you to fight in. Big enemies may even cast that shadow for you - use their own shadow to help defeat them.

My advice is to consider something like a shadowmonk rogue - the teleport is nice as you will want to end up in shadows. Cunning action is nice because a high speed lets you dash from shadow to shadow and you can get access to darkness if you really need it.

[Koren]

I have found it not that bad. Between adventuring:

1) At night
2) On an overcast day
3) Inside
4) Underground
5) Anywhere other than a featureless plane where nothing casts a shadow
6) Demiplanes with no sun
7) near flammable objects that can make a smoke cloud

It hasn't been a problem.

Unless you are very close to the equator at noon, the sun will not be directly overhead and other objects will cast a shadow for you to fight in. Big enemies may even cast that shadow for you - use their own shadow to help defeat them.

My advice is to consider something like a shadowmonk rogue - the teleport is nice as you will want to end up in shadows. Cunning action is nice because a high speed lets you dash from shadow to shadow and you can get access to darkness if you really need it.

I'm sure everyone I know who DMs would be generous. I just like having backup plans.

That is exactly what I was looking for when I made this. Work with the flaw!

[Armored Walrus]

Yeah, you might want to discuss how the DM will handle weather. Also, if you know you are going to have to fight outside, wait for twilight, or go in at dawn. Some DMs will give you a period of dim light in the day/night cycle. If you're a rogue, you want to operate in darkness anyway.

Other than that, yeah, shoving folks into shadows, fighting under trees, and accepting that once in awhile you'll just have to face something under the brutal glare of the hot sun.

Another tactic would be to be a support caster or summoner. You wouldn't have to attack directly, just buff teammates or summon creatures to do your fighting for you.

Edit: The weather thing. I've got a drow in my campaign, so I went ahead and printed off a historical weather chart so I can tell him day by day whether it's hot and sunny, cloudy, rainy, whatever. He plays more aggressively on cloudy days, and advocates for moving more slowly on sunny days. Sometimes the party accommodates him, sometimes they don't.

[Koren]

Yeah, you might want to discuss how the DM will handle weather. Also, if you know you are going to have to fight outside, wait for twilight, or go in at dawn. Some DMs will give you a period of dim light in the day/night cycle. If you're a rogue, you want to operate in darkness anyway.

Other than that, yeah, shoving folks into shadows, fighting under trees, and accepting that once in awhile you'll just have to face something under the brutal glare of the hot sun.

Another tactic would be to be a support caster or summoner. You wouldn't have to attack directly, just buff teammates or summon creatures to do your fighting for you.

Edit: The weather thing. I've got a drow in my campaign, so I went ahead and printed off a historical weather chart so I can tell him day by day whether it's hot and sunny, cloudy, rainy, whatever. He plays more aggressively on cloudy days, and advocates for moving more slowly on sunny days. Sometimes the party accommodates him, sometimes they don't.

So as a DM would you say working with it is problematic or a nuisance? Or is it just something else to consider? Does it negatively affect other players, having to deal with it?

If it were me, rp wise, I would make a character who would insist he can operate even in the sunlight for the sake not annoying people but that says nothing for how it will ACTUALLY work.

[Armored Walrus]

I don't think it's problematic from my point of view. I have my weather chart to give him a mix of sunny and cloudy days so there's no chance of fudging the weather, whether to favor him or punish him for his choice. The weather is just the weather.

In some situations it makes sense for the party to control the timing of the attack, and they'll get together to figure out what makes the most sense, tactically. Having your rogue not at disadvantage is a pretty big tactical situation. So in set-piece battles that the party knows it's walking into, they can self-manage the situation.

In other situations he just has to eat the disadvantage. It certainly doesn't make him useless; he's got an open hand monk and a BM fighter in the group,so they can both knock an enemy prone in order to negate the rogue's disadvantage and trigger his sneak attack, plus a moon druid that likes to use both the Dire Wolf form and the Lion form (both can prone an enemy). They haven't figured out yet that the druid could put a fog cloud above the fight or similar, and he hasn't thought to use his innate faerie fire yet to negate disadvantage, but he has those opportunities. Plus sometimes the terrain gives him opportunities to negate the sensitivity completely. Or sometimes they are indoors.

I know it's frustrating to the player occasionally to be rolling with disadvantage, or to not be rolling normally when he's in a situation that could have given him advantage if not for sunlight sensitivity, but that's a character choice he made, not me, and it's counterbalanced by the occasional fight where he just steamrolls all opposition because rogues can really dish out the pain when they get half a chance. Plus he's prone to that sort of frustration because he's a bit of a powergamer and a bit of a perfectionist. He gets over it pretty quickly, and someone more mellow would have no trouble just rolling with it.



All that being said, your experience could be totally different, depending on the DM. But a bad DM can make anything problematic, so that's not really an argument against drow; it's an argument against playing at the table of a bad DM.

Edit: No, I wouldn't say it's problematic for the other characters/players. It just adds a layer of differentiation between the characters.

[clash]

Fog cloud is also a low level spell that can completely negate the drawbacks when cast above the battlefield.

[Blacky the Blackball]

What would be a good class for it though? Wizard has the widest range of spells, but Drow get a small charisma boost and Sorcerers metamagic could be useful. I wouldn't want to play a Warlock without Eldritch Blast so that's out.

I've played a drow wizard, and it worked fine. We never bothered with weather charts or anything like that - we simply assumed that being outdoors in daylight was enough to have the penalty. However, the wide range of wizard spells means that you can simply not take any that require attack rolls (not even cantrips - I used Acid Splash and Poison Spray which are both save-to-avoid instead) and you're sorted. The only thing I ever used to get disadvantage on was perception rolls, although I did play up the "I can't see a damn thing in this bright sunlight" aspect during roleplay.

Sure, you don't get an Int boost, but that's fine. Even with standard array (which my group always use) you can have a 15 Int as a starting character and boost it to 17 at fourth level - I took Keen Mind and boosted it to 16 instead which is just as good.

Unless you're the sort of power gamer who can't bear to be even slightly "sub-optimal", it's absolutely fine as a character. It's certainly nowhere near bad enough to be considered a liability or a "joke" character type.

[Koren]

Yeah I don't care about sub optimal choices so long as they aren't like "why would you do that?!" Bad.

What were your favorite spells to use? Better choices?

[Lombra]

If there's a drow in the party it's safe to assume that most missions in the open will be planned from sunset to dawn, it's not an issue for indoor missions. I have played in a party with a drow and it wasn't a bad experience for any player at the table.

[Sariel Vailo]

I've played a drow wizard, and it worked fine. We never bothered with weather charts or anything like that - we simply assumed that being outdoors in daylight was enough to have the penalty. However, the wide range of wizard spells means that you can simply not take any that require attack rolls (not even cantrips - I used Acid Splash and Poison Spray which are both save-to-avoid instead) and you're sorted. The only thing I ever used to get disadvantage on was perception rolls, although I did play up the "I can't see a damn thing in this bright sunlight" aspect during roleplay.

Sure, you don't get an Int boost, but that's fine. Even with standard array (which my group always use) you can have a 15 Int as a starting character and boost it to 17 at fourth level - I took Keen Mind and boosted it to 16 instead which is just as good.

Unless you're the sort of power gamer who can't bear to be even slightly "sub-optimal", it's absolutely fine as a character. It's certainly nowhere near bad enough to be considered a liability or a "joke" character type.

Im drow a lot so i play drow wizards and go blade singer i sing dance and use magic missle and farie fire a lot even if. I have disadvantage. But they dont point to hulking barnarian fighter behind me and go back to rping a conversation with our bard about performance techniques.

[Blacky the Blackball]

Yeah I don't care about sub optimal choices so long as they aren't like "why would you do that?!" Bad.

What were your favorite spells to use? Better choices?

I was an illusionist, so I tended to go for things like Hypnotic Pattern and Phantasmal Force rather than for direct damage causing spells (we had a pyromaniac blasty sorcerer in the party and me going for too much direct damage would have been stepping on his toes). But I did get a lot of use out of Magic Missile (the auto-hit is great) and, of course, Lightning Bolt (to complement but not compete with the sorcerer's Fireballs).

[Ritorix]

Above all, I would avoid playing a drow rogue. Disadvantage at the wrong time is crippling to their damage output, while casters usually have a save-targeting spell to get around the issue. But I would definitely recommend taking stealth for any drow character, and building so they avoid stealth armor penalties.

Make sure you take advantage of your racial traits! If you are going drow you need to understand how all the sense-based rules work and interact. 120' darkvision lets you get the jump on those 60' darkvision races, sort of, though it's mostly useful outdoors at night. Remember that the darkness you experience as dim light via darkvision still gives a -5 to your perception (skulker feat can remove that penalty). This can work in your favor too, don't forget to use stealth. You basically auto-succeed if you stay outside the 60' darkvision of most races.

If you do spot someone early, you can make good use of your 120' range dancing lights to create a moving 'torch' and lead them astray or lure them into a vulnerable position. Couples well with minor illusion for audio - one is concentration, the other isn't.

----

Here was a drow dragon sorc concept I was working on. You could say he escaped the matriarchy, was bred for drow warfare, whatever. Obviously chaotic alignment, ignores the rules of society and magic itself. If you're going drow you might as well embrace the tropes. "Maximum drow!" :smallbiggrin:

Stats: 16cha/16dex/14con/12wis/8int/8str, AC16, 9HP; good for a sneaky ranged caster.
Gear: Hand crossbow does superior DPS to cantrips for the first few levels thanks to the +3 dex.
Cantrips: fire bolt (vastly outranges hand crossbow), minor illusion, mage hand, acid splash (use if in sunlight or with 2 targets)
Spells: Sleep and Shield; later on Shatter, Suggestion, Fireball, etc. Most don't care about sunlight.
Metamagics: Subtle and Empower for strong nukes and social/stealth cheese to go with the drow themes.
Skills: (sorc) deception, intimidate (elf) perception (background) You need stealth. Criminal or Urchin would do the trick and get you thieves tools as well. This sorc has no idea how magic works, so don't worry about not having Arcana.

[Chugger]

It would be hard not to try Warlock and go devil's sight/darkness. Though technically if the drow is in darkness - and he can see out of his darkness via ds - but his target is in sunlight, he seems to still get disadvantage. I'd use a familiar to help neutralize the disad maybe - at least get me not having a disad by assisting. And if I'm a rogue in darkness I probably have stealth and therefore an advantage - which would at least cancel out the disad if target is in bright light.

Of course, in tight quarters the darkness can hurt the party as much as it does the enemy - and occasionally the enemy can see in magical darkness.

[Koren]

This is all great advice. I have a few ideas floating around in my head but none of them work for my party and I don't want to drop my Dragonborn, so it isn't fully fleshed out yet. Currently my plan for a Drow is a Neutral/chaotic good Dragon Sorcerer, focused on Illusion and Control spells if possible (I think it's possible based on what you guys have said but I haven't been able to look through the Sorcerer list yet). He takes advantage of Subtle and Empowered spells to maximize effectiveness while avoiding aggro.
Stat wise it would be Cha>Con>Dex (for skills)>Wis>Str>Int. I haven't rolled it because I don't know when or where I will use him.

I'll probably need a custom background. He will use a disguise kit to fake being a Wood Elf, even to the party, but it's somewhat fragile and can be dispersed through water or if he gets hit a few times. This is how I figure a Drow would try to handle it, but with the added spirit of not eliminating the problem entirely I am pushing with the Sunlight Sensitivity.

Since I can't get the idea of a badass combat Archer out of my head from the Revised Ranger, his focus is a once-enchanted longbow, whose string is long since gone and has been without power. It hasn't been able to be restringed since its original broke. all of his non-subtle spells will be fluffed as arrows made of magic energy (think Pit with his bow) all of which look unique from one spell to the next. (Darkness will be a spike flaming with black energy, Magic Missile will be a white comet that splits, etc).

He still carries the harsh aggression of his race but has been struggling to understand empathy and compassion. This has been difficult since he is terrified of what will happen should people discover him so he doesn't stay in one place very long, getting by as an adventurer without a party.

It's either this or that Beast Master Revised Ranger with the wolf forcing people prone to eliminate disadvantage, who would generally be the same character with different particulars.