Drow response to unexpected Darkness

[malachi]

I'm in a 5e game where I and another PC are both Drow, currently on the surface. A situation came up last night where my PC was suddenly engulfed in darkness (along with the rest of party, and a bunch of other inmates we were jailed with), and I was trying to figure out what the Drow instinctual reaction to being engulfed in magical darkness would be.

My first thought was to crouch down (to make yourself a smaller target to random attacks, be harder to knock down by someone running like an idiot, and be less likely to trip over obstacles) and carefully move away from the center of the open space you're in, as the 15' radius sphere would probably be centered in the middle of that area. Given that my character knew his brother (a fellow PC, also a prisoner) had cast it, that's basically what he did.

Any other ideas for what the instinctive response would be? And if it matters, I'd be interested to hear whether that response would be different if they assumed an enemy had cast it or if an ally had cast it as an "oh s***" button.


EDIT: In 5e, Drow can't see through magical darkness, so my PC is just as blind as everyone else - but simply has better instincts of how to respond.

[TheYell]

A sigh of relief.

What's your class? It would matter a lot on your combat training.

[zinycor]

They would probably be well adapted to it, your response seems very much on point.

[Psyren]

Given that my character knew his brother (a fellow PC, also a prisoner) had cast it, that's basically what he did.

Since you (a) aren't inconvenienced by it in any way and (b) know exactly where it came from, you can react pretty much however you want.

[malachi]

A sigh of relief.

What's your class? It would matter a lot on your combat training.

Yes, definitely a sigh of relief. No more ball of death burning the eyes, or reflecting off the snow.

My character is a wizard (14 str, 18 con, 12 dex, if that matters), and the other drow is a sorcerer (15 str, 10 con, 11 dex). (Yes, the stats are weird, but that's what you get when you roll 4d6 drop lowest in order for stats.)

Since you (a) aren't inconvenienced by it in any way and (b) know exactly where it came from, you can react pretty much however you want.

In 5e (what I'm playing), Drow can't see through magical darkness. Not sure if it's the same in other editions, but that's why I'm wondering about reactions. If Drow weren't inconvenienced at all, it'd definitely make this question a moot point.

[Keltest]

One of the first things they would do would probably be to dive in a random direction that they knew was more or less open. As long as you hold still, whoever cast the darkness knows more or less where you are, but as soon as you move they don't know where you are any better than you know where they are.

[zinycor]

Yes, definitely a sigh of relief. No more ball of death burning the eyes, or reflecting off the snow.

My character is a wizard (14 str, 18 con, 12 dex, if that matters), and the other drow is a sorcerer (15 str, 10 con, 11 dex). (Yes, the stats are weird, but that's what you get when you roll 4d6 drop lowest in order for stats.)



In 5e (what I'm playing), Drow can't see through magical darkness. Not sure if it's the same in other editions, but that's why I'm wondering about reactions. If Drow weren't inconvenienced at all, it'd definitely make this question a moot point.

They would be annoyed by it, but they would know how to act under the effects of darkness, like how people know to react to the climate they live on. Again, your reaction seemed appropriate.

[VoxRationis]

I'd argue that the drow might not be better suited to being immersed in darkness. Every human has experienced a rapid transition to darkness, whether total or one that can be overcome once the eyes adjust, whether from blowing out a candle or from walking into a dark room. Your average drow, by contrast, only encounters that sort of visual deprivation if there is an active magical effect to achieve it. They might have only experienced darkness of this sort a handful of times in their centuries-long lives.

[zinycor]

I'd argue that the drow might not be better suited to being immersed in darkness. Every human has experienced a rapid transition to darkness, whether total or one that can be overcome once the eyes adjust, whether from blowing out a candle or from walking into a dark room. Your average drow, by contrast, only encounters that sort of visual deprivation if there is an active magical effect to achieve it. They might have only experienced darkness of this sort a handful of times in their centuries-long lives.

I would disagree with that, After all darkness is a spell that Drows get naturally, so I would imagine that they would get pretty used to casting darkness themselves and interacting with other Drow, who would use the spell on ocassion.

[malachi]

I'd argue that the drow might not be better suited to being immersed in darkness. Every human has experienced a rapid transition to darkness, whether total or one that can be overcome once the eyes adjust, whether from blowing out a candle or from walking into a dark room. Your average drow, by contrast, only encounters that sort of visual deprivation if there is an active magical effect to achieve it. They might have only experienced darkness of this sort a handful of times in their centuries-long lives.

For humans, the transition to darkness would usually happen by moving to a new area, or would be a slow transition. This comes from my thinking that, typically, people aren't going to suddenly lose all light (unless it's at night, and they have a small source of light like a candle or a lamp - something like a torch or a campfire is going to be harder to put out). I could be wrong - especially in a world where humans are one of the few races who can't see well in dark rooms / on a cloudy night.

Drow, on the other hand, live in a culture full of backstabbing, where any remotely dangerous Drow is capable of creating a 15 foot radius sphere of darkness at least once a day. Any Drow who learned to survive down there (all soldiers, all women, all men of any status, etc) would have learned (whether through training, surviving enough attempts, or even just as a sort of nebulous cultural knowledge) how to respond.

I would disagree with that, After all darkness is a spell that Drows get naturally, so I would imagine that they would get pretty used to casting darkness themselves and interacting with other Drow, who would use the spell on ocassion.

And likely use it when backstabbing their former 'friends'!

[zinycor]

For humans, the transition to darkness would usually happen by moving to a new area, or would be a slow transition. This comes from my thinking that, typically, people aren't going to suddenly lose all light (unless it's at night, and they have a small source of light like a candle or a lamp - something like a torch or a campfire is going to be harder to put out). I could be wrong - especially in a world where humans are one of the few races who can't see well in dark rooms / on a cloudy night.

Drow, on the other hand, live in a culture full of backstabbing, where any remotely dangerous Drow is capable of creating a 15 foot radius sphere of darkness at least once a day. Any Drow who learned to survive down there (all soldiers, all women, all men of any status, etc) would have learned (whether through training, surviving enough attempts, or even just as a sort of nebulous cultural knowledge) how to respond.



And likely use it when backstabbing their former 'friends'!

Emphasis mine

I don't think men can have any status in Drow cultures, I could be wrong...

[malachi]

Emphasis mine

I don't think men can have any status in Drow cultures, I could be wrong...

You might be right. Haven't looked into Drow stuff much in over 15 years since I last read any Drizzt books.
I figured that those who distinguished themselves in war / assassinations / etc would have the status of 'more useful than a slave'. But either way, you're right in principle :P

[Elysiume]

In 5e (what I'm playing), Drow can't see through magical darkness. Not sure if it's the same in other editions, but that's why I'm wondering about reactions. If Drow weren't inconvenienced at all, it'd definitely make this question a moot point.

Pathfinder/3.5 make a distinction between Darkness, which allows darkvision to work, and Deeper Darkness, which does not.

[redwizard007]

Emphasis mine

I don't think men can have any status in Drow cultures, I could be wrong...

Traditionally, drow males have the status afforded them by the Matron Mother of their house and no more. That status is backed by the MM but not always reliable. Thus, Male children of the MM, her consort, chief wizard, and weapons master have standing. Note that several of those positions commonly overlap. Further standing can be carved out by the males themselves amongst one another, but rarely matters to females of equal or higher station.

I think the "of any status," comment would be better replaced with, "of any ability." Status matters far less than experience in survival situations among the drow.

[a_flemish_guy]

Emphasis mine

I don't think men can have any status in Drow cultures, I could be wrong...

they can't have any official status, I still think any favourite boytoy of a drow matriarch knows very well to watch his back against the other males of the group

[a_flemish_guy]

Traditionally, drow males have the status afforded them by the Matron Mother of their house and no more. That status is backed by the MM but not always reliable. Thus, Male children of the MM, her consort, chief wizard, and weapons master have standing. Note that several of those positions commonly overlap. Further standing can be carved out by the males themselves amongst one another, but rarely matters to females of equal or higher station.

I think the "of any status," comment would be better replaced with, "of any ability." Status matters far less than experience in survival situations among the drow.

I think it's fairer to say that status and experience in survival are synonymous in drow society

[OldTrees1]

I was trying to figure out what the Drow instinctual reaction to being engulfed in magical darkness would be.

Drow use Magical Darkness as a tool for blinding their enemies (including other Drow). So a Drow would instinctively expect an incoming attack while they are blind. Whether they rush out of the magical darkness or fight within the magical darkness depends on whether they think they have the upper hand when "hidden & blind" vs "visible & sighted". Lots of tactics and training surround when to stay in or rush out.

However the immediate response would be to move to a new location in the magical darkness. Staying where you were gives the enemy a better chance of hitting you than if you move (up to a 35:1 difference Yikes!).

Here would be a general rule of thumb:
1) Immediately hide by moving to an orthogonally (not diagonally) adjacent quadrant of the darkness. You know the center of the darkness effect because you have been trained to look for the point the "darkness spreads from". Against others following the same strategy this improves your odds by 2:1. I said an orthogonal quadrant because others might be spooked to run to the opposite quadrant, so the enemy might be biased towards attacking the opposite quadrant rather than the orthogonally adjacent ones.
2) If you saw an arcanist, either exit out the back of the darkness to use it to hide from the arcanist or take the dodge action to prepare for an incoming evocation blast (still 2:1 odds against the arcanist, now 4:1 odds against other enemies). Non arcanist Drow can still use Darkness, so you can't assume Darkness implies an arcanist. However if you are not fighting drow, it is likely Darkness implies an arcanist (and also implies when the Evocation blast will hit).
3) If you did not see an arcanist, hide in the darkness and ready a counter attack against anyone that finds you (avoid friendly fire by waiting until they attack you if you like you allies). Continue to move around in the darkness. As time passes your advantage will rise to 35:1 odds.