need help creating CG drow that's not Drizzt

[Akisa]

I’m looking to make a CG drow who’s not a Drizzt clone seeing as he seems to be the Sephiroth of D&D (which why the hell is he popular and gets on people nerves if someone tries to copy them). Now I don’t have a group as of yet so can’t provide background of the campaign world (but I avoid eberron and FR is a “do we have to… Ok I guess” situation for me). After reading about the drow and how they were transformed by the Seldarine in FR it gave me an idea about making a character. I was wondering if anyone could help me flesh out my idea (and maybe suggest a name ^^’).

I was thinking of making a drow who grew up on the surface in a community that worships Eilistraee and has never set foot in the underdark. Although she has grown up in a community that worships Eilistraee, she has heard stories of drow atrocities, and the racism she endures as a drow even during ‘the run’ she begins to learn to carry conceal weapons in order to protect herself narrow-minded individual. As time went by she begins to learn the history of the drows and how they were cursed or transformed after Lolth’s failed attempt to over throw Corellon Larethian. My drow then sets out to find the cure to the curse so she could be transformed into a normal elf. She quickly discovers that the best way to avoid confrontation was to disguise herself as another regular elf (or another elf subrace) as she did not want to harm people unnecessarily.
Now I was debating on creating a rogue or bard not sure what to go for, probably depends on what group needs and what sort of campaign is going on. Because I’m pretty sure I’m not going to have the patience for an undead campaign even if there is a lot of traps as I’ll see myself sitting around just provide flanking and aid another in combat while the warriors and spell casters have something to do.

(It's 4:39 am when I wrote this so please excuse my grammar and spelling ^^')

[vegetalss4]

Congratulations.
you have just made a CG drow that is not a Drizzt clone.

why did you need our help?

[Mike_Lemmer]

For more hooks, have her community be a legitimate part of some small country, so the other drow are trying to raise their reputation. Have her be a representative of the other converted drow, whether she likes it or not.

[Nowhere Girl]

It's not actually hard to create drow who aren't Drizzt clones, as there are many other types of stories to tell. I guiltily confess to having a drow stashed away in my own bag of tricks, although she's not good and, being aware of his existence, mockingly refers to Drizzt as "Drizzle."

Edit: If you're fishing for ideas, consider taking ranks in Perform (dance) and spending time dancing naked by the moonlight. Remember, that's your religious duty.

Well, part of it.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Psst, wanna hear a secret?

The drow aren't as they are because they were transformed by the Seldarine. They were, originally, elves dark-skinned and resistant to magic. After Lolth's fall, Lolth sent her avatar(s) to find consorts among the dark elves and also called upon the Balor Wendonai to seduce and corrupt female elves. This led to the major drow bloodlines becoming corrupted and evil. Then, the rest of the elves did two massive High Magic rituals-the first to create Evermeet that also inadvertedly created the Underdark and the second to create a substance within the Underdark that would compell all drow to live there. It was due to the second ritual that drow assumed the powers of levitation and faerie fire.

At least that's the current story.

[Adumbration]

Another plot-hook could be that she has been told all her life about the atrocities of drows. But she doesn't believe them. She thinks they're just inventions and propaganda of elves, and she has set out to prove that really, the drow-folk are nice and decent people, if a bit misunderstood.

[Lolzords]

I made a CG drow archer type guy as my very second campaign, worked pretty well.

[Renrik]

Nope, it's stilla Drizzt clone. It's a CG drow that wants to live a life without being hated for its race and doesn't like having to fight people. Also, Eliastree was basically created to facilitate Drizzt clones.

If you want to play a drow, play an evil character.

[Solo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drizzt#Personality

Outwardly calm and composed, Drizzt has a controlled anger within him, a legacy of the time he spent living in the wilds of the Underdark surviving by instinct alone. While he has mastered that side of his psyche—he refers to it as the "Hunter"—he can still call upon it when he is hard-pressed and under great emotional duress. The "Hunter" is a purely instinctual being, which propels him to an almost invincible fighting state, at the same time stripping him of the compassion that epitomizes Drizzt's character. When not possessed by the "Hunter," Drizzt is a cool-headed peacemaker who is always willing to avoid a fight if he can, except with evil races such as orcs, giants, yetis or goblins. Even then, he looks for exceptions to the stereotypical prejudice of those races. When the situation calls for it, he is incredibly daring, yet controlled. He is extremely confident, to the point that several of his friends are convinced that someday the drow will leap into a situation which he will not be able to escape. He harbors a deep love for the surface world and cherishes his place in it (he loves to watch the sunrise, although it stings his eyes, although later in the series it does not burn as much), though many of its other inhabitants are still prejudiced against him. He cares little for the prejudice of those who do not know him, however, understanding that theirs is the flaw, not his (although this was not always so; when he first came to the surface, he tended towards depression and despair after such encounters). He accepts their reaction as being reasonable, considering the vicious reputation of his evil kin. His usual reaction to the initial fear and surprise (without plain aggression) is a kind and comforting smile.

To subvert the stereotypical Drizzt clone, you must be GC, but have a different personality, ie, a CG @$$hole who doesn't like the surface world, prefers the darkness, will get very angry when someone is prejudiced against her, is more emotional, opposed to cool headed, and etc.

[The Neoclassic]

Congratulations.
you have just made a CG drow that is not a Drizzt clone.

why did you need our help?

Agreed.

I'd also like to say that as much as I HATE Drizz't clones, this example actually isn't all that close to one (though there are still some similarities). Whether we admit it or not, nearly all characters have something cliche or borrowed in them, so it's really not our place to be getting all high and mighty about what Akisa wants to play. I do like Solo's idea of going for a different personality, though I don't think it needs to be taken to a complete extreme. Just don't read about Drizzt (if you can help it); draw on other sources of inspiration to build your character's personality. One thing I'd avoid is the "I'm so amazing and self-sacrificing and noble" attitude of Drizzt and his clones; make your character have realistic flaws.

My two copper... Why did you need help again?

[Jarlax]

first off she probably should not have a surname(house name) since such a naming convention would make no sense in a community with no houses. she may also choose to take a high elf name while she travels so you might not need to reveal her real name right away.

second she will probably have a strong opinion against Patriarchy and any examples of this that she encounters in her travels. her community is likely gender neutral with females or males being heads of families. so her world veiw would reflect this. she would take offense to any mistreatment or being underestimated based on gender (be it male or female).

finally she will probably avoid using her hand crossbow proficiency, spell like abilities, etc. that are unique traits of drow, with her society abandoning their heritage entirely. later on in life she may take a more sensible approach choosing to use those abilities after coming to the realization that these skills and abilities themselves are a natural element of her biology and not inherently evil.

you may find NG more to your liking, you respect laws and traditions of the places you visit unless they conflict with your moral veiws on torture, slavery gender inequality and other principles traditional drow are infamous for.

[Renrik]

You could go in the opposite, angsty direction and play a resentful character, but hat's really just a type of Drizzt clne in and of itself- the wangsty drow outcast. They always turn out to be constantly bemoaning their curse and are so melodramatic and contantly emo that you just wanna ake one of those annoying scimitar/longsword/rapier/katanas of theirs and drive it through their skulls. Don't play good-aligned drow.The NG and CG always end up clonign Drizzt or being worshipersof Elistree (a godess created to facilitate Drizzt clones), and the LG ones just can;t be roleplayed correctly, because, well, they're drow. A CN or N drow is possibly acceptable, but you ought to just play an evil drow. People play drow for the cool imagery, but don;t want to have to be evil, so they make Drixxt clones. Just play an evil drow or a good non-drow.

[Hawriel]

Wow Renrik you really seem to have a chip on your shoulder against good drow characters.

Your idea for your character to avoide confrontation by trying to hide her identity is fine. yeah Salvator did somthing similar with Drizzt. That in no way invalidates you falling a similar character devopment path. Even though your character grew up in a comunity that fallows Eilistreaa doens meen she or other drow from the same place are not going to have to deal with the out side world. The hatred and curse of the drow as a race is huge. Every one unless they have close ties to this small comunity is automaticly going to misstrust you at best and generaly think of you as being a evil demon spawn that has no worth outside furtalizer for any plants your coprs lies under. That would really cause alot of self dout, hatred, a need to prove this conseption wrong and many more reactions that can be conseaved. This is alot of pressure. I want to draw a paralel to race relations in the US but that will derail the topic. I would think one of the biggest goals of a community of Eilistreaa drow would be to redeam the drow race for themselves and the eyes of the world. but hay that might be to drizzt poser because after all onely one member of a race can think that way.

[Jewish_Joke]

Renik, I feel really sorry for you if this is the only encounter you've had with good drow characters. I, for one belong to a group of experienced roleplayers who pulled off the whole "good drow" thing without playing clones of Drizzt, or any other angsty character, for that matter. She's here for advice, not criticism and naysaying. Having such a pre-conceived notion of good drow as unoriginal character concepts is kind of ironic considering the prejudice that such characters face in RPing terms is mirrored in real-life against the people that wish to play them. It can be done, and I applaud Akisa for coming up with such an original idea.

[Nowhere Girl]

Personally, every time I see an elven ranger, I have to resist the urge to think, "So you're Legolas."

But really, what is any dwarf character but Thorin or Gimli? And just how many "dark, mysterious warriors" are there? Always wearing all black, of course. With their faces hidden in shadow, etc. Emo. And they're probably Vampire LARPers, too, when they're not killing things with their giant greatswords or whatever it is they use.

Please. We're all being derivative here, 'kay? D&D is itself entirely derivative. The current halflings are Tolkien hobbits who got their genes spliced with Dragonlance kender, who were just funnier, sillier hobbits without hairy feet. Elves have been around since long before D&D was even imagined, and believe it or not, they didn't always hang out on Toril, or even Middle Earth.

[The Neoclassic]

I would like to emphasize my strong agreement with the last two posters.

[SpikeFightwicky]

Personally, every time I see an elven ranger, I have to resist the urge to think, "So you're Legolas."

But really, what is any dwarf character but Thorin or Gimli? And just how many "dark, mysterious warriors" are there? Always wearing all black, of course. With their faces hidden in shadow, etc. Emo. And they're probably Vampire LARPers, too, when they're not killing things with their giant greatswords or whatever it is they use.

Please. We're all being derivative here, 'kay? D&D is itself entirely derivative. The current halflings are Tolkien hobbits who got their genes spliced with Dragonlance kender, who were just funnier, sillier hobbits without hairy feet. Elves have been around since long before D&D was even imagined, and believe it or not, they didn't always hang out on Toril, or even Middle Earth.

I think the whole Drizzt clone scenario is more poignant because elves, dwarves, etc... all fall into their roles naturally. Nobody looks twice at a dwarf fighter or an elf ranger. However, the only way (using FR continuity...) that a drow would become good would be to be the exception. So regardless of whether or not anyone knows about Drizzt, a C/G drow is still not the norm for the Drow race (when I played in 2nd ed., one of the players in my group had a drow called 'Zachnafaen' (sp?). At the time it didn't jive well, mostly because everyone though this character was so awesome, though for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. He just seemed like a typical 'I want to play a different character to get more attention' character. I found out years later that his character was just a rip of a Drizzt storyline character....)

That being said, unless your drow goes out of her way to get a panther figurine and dual wield scimitars, I wouldn't worry about anyone crying foul or a 'Drizzt' clone. Back story and everything, your char's different enough that I wouldn't have made much of a connection if you didn't mention not wanting to make a Drizzt clone.

As for the additional background stuff, it seems like you pretty have all the pertinent information.

One interesting point in this discussion is that out of all the 'normally evil' races, drow seem to be the ONLY one people ever want to play. I think that's why people always groan over the */Good Drow idea. Personally, I'd be more impressed with a concept for a C/G orc or gnoll than a drow. Then again, that's likely good aligned orcs aren't the 'cool' races.

[Solo]

I do like Solo's idea of going for a different personality, though I don't think it needs to be taken to a complete extreme. Just don't read about Drizzt (if you can help it); draw on other sources of inspiration to build your character's personality. One thing I'd avoid is the "I'm so amazing and self-sacrificing and noble" attitude of Drizzt and his clones; make your character have realistic flaws.

And make her wear bright, pink clothing, and plant flowers.

[Catch]

Drizzt is a personality and that's what you want to avoid. Angst, brooding, persistent feelings of inadequacy and general malaise are all to be avoided. Hell, make a happy, friendly drow if you really want to break the mold. Maybe she's overly gregarious and cheerful, trying to act more like an elf and less like a drow.

I was wondering if anyone could help me flesh out my idea (and maybe suggest a name ^^’).

Try this for starters. There's a nice table for names, and the rest of the site is a basket of goodies for the budding drow-player.

[SpikeFightwicky]

Try this for starters. There's a nice table for names, and the rest of the site is a basket of goodies for the budding drow-player.

But if she was raised in an Elven community, wouldn't she have an elven name? Or at least an elven 'cover' name for when she needs to interact with elves?

[Catch]

But if she was raised in an Elven community, wouldn't she have an elven name? Or at least an elven 'cover' name for when she needs to interact with elves?

A community that worships Eilistraee. Eilistraee is a drow goddess, so I'd presume she'd have an Undercommon name. If not, an elven name would work well too, probably better, considering the breaking-the-mold idea and all.

[SpikeFightwicky]

A community that worships Eilistraee. Eilistraee is a drow goddess, so I'd presume she's have an Undercommon name. If not, an elven name would work well too, probably better, considering the breaking-the-mold idea and all.

Ah, that works. I'm quite unfamiliar with Eilistraee. The only thing I know is that she's listed under the Drow pantheon, but isn't evil.

[Alex12]

If you want to create a non-Drizz't-y CG Drow, you could make him come from the city described here. (yes, this is a totally shameless plug)
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59591

If he's been raised someplace like that, he'd never have really faced racism, and his being good would never have been called into question. That could lead to some very interesting roleplaying, especially if the rest of the world still hates/fears Drow, and even more if he was friends with some even weirder things when growing up (Baby beholder, anyone?)[/shamelessselfplug]

[Rex Blunder]

Also, just because someone draws a particularly powerful character, that doesn't mean they have drawn a magic chalk circle around their character into which you may not enter. Han Solo is cool; so I can't play a cool scoundrel with piloting skills in SWd20? Conan is cool; so I can't play a human barbarian? D'Artagnan is cool; so I can't play a swashbuckler who travels to England to save the Queen's diamonds? OK, maybe I shouldn't do that.

If you're sick of Drizz't clones, you shouldn't play them. But if you're not, maybe it would be fun to play one. The other people at your gaming table might roll their eyes; to be polite to them, if they've played with tons of Driz'zt clones, you might want to avoid it. (But they might just be rolling their eyes because that's the conventional thing they've seen other people do, like saying you hate mimes.)

[ArmorArmadillo]

Okay, a Drizzit clone is more than just a 2-Weapon Drow Ranger.

"Drizzit Clone" as a concept, is really whenever you take a races predominate characterstics (Whether it be evil, good, or trickiness) and making a character that's the opposite "just to be different." It could be a Tiefling Paladin, a Elf who lives in tunnels, or a Gnome who refuses to use illusions.

It's a trite writing strategy because it doesn't really have a good basis in the setting, it's just differentness for differentness' sake.

It came out of FR because so much of the Realms lore was arbitrary because the gods hammered everything into place. Pretty much everything was "Mystra made them this, Lolth made them this, etc.", so more arbitrary decisions almost fit.

It's alright to break the rules, but you need to have a reason to do so.

Follow this line of questioning:
Why are Drow evil (Answer must not be "Lolth Made Them So")?

How does their society survive, being evil-dominant?

Without denying the previous answers, what reason could a drow have to be good and stick to it?


Example:
Drow are evil because the underdark is a vicious place, and the fittest (and most ruthless) survive.

Their society survives by taking advantage of the weaker races of the underdark, and relies on militarism and slavery to resist the stronger Illithid and other creatures.

Veradin Ao'Dun, however, believes his society is digging itself into a deeper hole with this strategy, even though it is necessary at the moment. He left the underdark to learn the secrets of a moral society from the surface dwellers. He now wants to return to the underdark and lead his people "out of the darkness."


Ta-da; even if he was a 2WF Ranger, he has the kind of emotional and story integrity that Drizzit never did.

[Prophaniti]

For me, running a unique drow is not that difficult. The one I liked the best took the goodness and the helping other people parts from Drizzt and combined them with the randomness, unpredictable cleverness and flamboyance of Jar'laxle (who, btw, I find at least as compelling a character as Drizzt, if not more so. He's hilarious).

With the sheer volume of fantasy literature out there, no matter what you do with your character someone somwhere has done at least part of it before. Your best bet for something that FEELS original is taking parts of other characters, putting them in a blender and hitting 'frappee' untill you like what comes out.

[Nowhere Girl]

So if I play a pacifistic female half-orc bard, will she be a Drizzt clone?

[Indon]

Veradin Ao'Dun, however, believes his society is digging itself into a deeper hole with this strategy, even though it is necessary at the moment. He left the underdark to learn the secrets of a moral society from the surface dwellers. He now wants to return to the underdark and lead his people "out of the darkness."

Hah, I was going to recommend something very similar to this: A drow who felt his society was destroying itself, and so seeks to lead his people down a different path.

I'd made a NE (standard) elf once with a similar concept: He was disgusted at his people's lack of ambition, thinking that inevitably humans would overwhelm and destroy what he viewed to be the superior elven race through sheer effort.

[Severus]

Play an Albino Drow.

[Azerian Kelimon]

Wouldn't that be a light sensitive elf who used archmage levels to take crappy SLA's? Without any other benefits, of course.