D&D MONSTER RANKINGS - DROW

[@ScythianGryphon]

Drow elves are so fascinating. My favourite fantasy novels are Homeland, Exile and Sojourn.

[@esperthebard]

Those really hit a great tone and have such a unique setting. Those books were pioneers.

[@domip3318]

Im reading these books for the first time now. I've started the Drizzt saga with them

[@James-qr5hx]

Loved them, though did feel Sojourn wasn't quite as good. Try the war of the spider queen series, especially the first book, just amazing.

[@StevenMichaelCunningham]

The iLythiiri fascinated me profoundly. The elf most akin to all others after all yet laden with corruption even prior to being cursed by the horror that is Araushnee infested by Lolth...

[@YourNameHere313]

R.A. Salvatore, the author who got me into High Fantasy. Haven't heard those book names in a while.

[@Treebohr]

On the topic of Driders, 4e lore says driders are *blessed* by Lolth. This has always made more sense to me, given that Lolth looks like a drider, so it never made sense to say that looking more like their god is considered a curse.

[@jondw]

Maybe when it's a curse the similarity is meant as a mockery of their ambition or "so you want to have power like mine? Sorry but as consolation I will put you in a form like mine so you never forget Who you failed" Though, yeah. Looking like her does sound like it would be a mark of favor and a blessing

[@nicholasgeere5125]

4e is not the best source for lore for anything

[@nialencapefet5154]

It is definetely a way of mocking the individual. It's like Lolth was saying "look, I am an evil monster without compassion, but even I feel bad for you- it must be hard to be such a failiure. Let me give you some power."

[@gamer1X12]

No. Lolth is both beautiful and disgusting, alluring yet disturbed. Her form is hideous in the most enchanting way, to be like Lolth is to be like the giant spiders that roam the Under dark feasting on the innocent. To be like Lolth is to, literally, be like vermin. She is vile and debauched and everybody knows it. The drow do not love their goddess---they fear and despise her, and in their cult-like culture, to need any outside assistance or help, of any kind, to any degree, is pure humiliation. And do you really think yourself so mighty, that any part of your pitiful existence could rival or imitate Lolth's glory? Are you so arrogant, to think Lolth would a bless a creature as lowly and wretched as a male drow? There is a reason there are no female driders in drow society... Make no mistake and dont get it twisted. Being a drider is a curse, and a horrible one at that 🕷️🦹‍♂️🪄🔮

[@RokuroCarisu]

Lolth is so messed-up, I'd imagine her to not entirely distinguish between blessings and curses.

[@purplehaze2358]

Technically speaking, a drow dying during the birth of a draegloth wouldn't intuitively mean that its conception failed; I can imagine a draegloth would be quite happy entering the world by simply tearing open any obstacles in its way, the life of its birth giver be damned.

[@Fyre19]

It is a demon after all

[@dimitrilium3912]

Considering "Revivify" is not that hard to cast, I bet it's probably the most common mean of birth.

[@stingerjohnny9951]

@@dimitrilium3912 That’s a…horrific concept…I love it

[@alexbarn3841]

@@dimitrilium3912 I’m not sure Lolth would allow a priestess who died in that fashion to be revived, even if they could.

[@matthewdenhof5841]

​@@alexbarn3841but loth would let the cleric die. examine her soul. Then rez her herself

[@حَسن-م3ه9ظ]

It's actually stated in older editions that albinoism is somewhat common among Drow, so the pale-grey Drow sorta make sense

[@HenriFaust]

Albinos would be white, though.

[@mikehat7652]

​@@HenriFaust elric of melnibone enters the chat

[@Battlefieldfan146]

Drow are so cool not only because they have this super evil majority culture, but also because they can overcome that. I really hope we get more content on Eilistraeen drow and the prejudices they face, maybe some sort of drow vs. drow thing in an Underdark setting.

[@MR-ri1qp]

I thought the 66th layer of the Abyss was Lolths personal domain. Hence the 66 significance for the Lady of Spiders

[@esperthebard]

Indeed the Demonweb Pits is the 66th layer of the Abyss. I find it strange how the layers of the Abyss are numbered and ordered ... it's supposed to be a plane of utter chaos.

[@azazelreeds]

​@@esperthebardIf I remember right the numbers are more like the order the material plane discovered parts of the abyss or something like that. It's utterly meaningless to the abyss and demons themselves

[@esperthebard]

@@azazelreeds That's true, but the fact that the Abyss is stable enough to be numbered and ordered goes against its supposed property of chaos. I see this same contradiction with the demons themselves, which have stable, patterned forms that can be named and categorized.

[@azazelreeds]

@@esperthebard That's fair, but if they really went full chaos on it there wouldn't really be any difference between the abyss and limbo. It feels more like the evil will of the demon lords gives it somewhat of a shape

[@Aggron9988]

@@esperthebard I think in my dad’s old copy of either the AD&D Monster Manual or Dungeon Masters Guide, I remember there being a section I referred to as “Build-a-demon-workshop”, that had tables for randomly generating features & abilities for “undocumented” creatures from the planes. It was really cool, I originally ran a game for my cousins a few years ago with those old books then later converted everything to 5e, but I still kept a demon I made with the tables, it was like a gargantuan serpent with I think a lamprey mouth and a furry mane, chased the players through the woods right to an NPC wizards tower. He was grumpy they lead that thing to his home so he scolded them after helping to beat it back to the abyss.

[@ericsmith3808]

In my personal homebrew, drow that have spent decades on the surface or who were born on the surface will have gradually lighter shaded skin. There are drow in my homebrew that have nearly-white skin, known as marble drow, who are devouted sages of Eilistraee, hated by most other drow of the underdark.

[@johngleeman8347]

That's what I was thinking when I saw the radical new art. The concrete skin means you rejected Lolth or lived without her corrupting influence twisting your body.

[@mr.grunnson9302]

I too had a Albino Drow concept in my home brew, typically powerful necromancer type males shunned by Lolth, and favored by Kiaransalee, dressed like Shiek from Zelda, Mummy wrappings etc.

[@MilkyToasty]

I had a drow elf character reverse tan,including tan lines

[@ShdowHuntr]

I like this idea

[@Wade-1]

You're talking about the 1%... they are changing evil races for SJW reasons.... not practical. Just look at what they did with orcs and the reason why

[@Thornspyre81]

The 5e Shadowblade is so nasty. Ive used them a few times and in the right environment it is deadly at almost any tier.

[@azazelreeds]

Dark elves have always been my favorite fantasy/mythology race, and while drow are far from the first version of them I've experienced they've definitely cemented themselves as one of my favorite versions alongside the original svartalfr

[@TraciPeteyforlife]

The drow have in some cases depending on the books. Been losing there fey abilities. Getting to the point where they might soon need sleep. Actual sleep.

[@etcetera1995]

I mean, they're supposed to be anti-elves, aren't they? If Corellon hates them so much, why wouldn't they be divinely cut off from a lot of their ancestral gifts?

[@jfdewoluwe]

Drow are such an iconic race from D&D, all the good dark stories from the underdark. So much inspiration for a campaign to use :)

[@Arishem34]

I read RA Salvatore's Dark Elf Trilogy many years ago (1994-ish) shortly after my first reading of the Time/War/Test of the Twins and the Dragonlance Chronicles; I've been a Drow fan ever since, preferring them to any other race, regardless of difficulty, in any CRPG/MMO that features them. This was the first (and best :) ) deep dive into ranking their power levels. Thank you. It was interesting to see "Zaknafein," the Weapon Master, classified as a Favored Consort and not NPC named; it kept the "class system" intact concerning the matriarchy. Great video. Thanks!

[@poilboiler]

When I first learned about them I assumed that driders were favored drow who got blessed and turned into half spiders by their drow spider goddess. 🎵 Itsy bitsy Drider 🎵

[@AtlasGaming-1993]

You would think

[@poilboiler]

@@AtlasGaming-1993 It makes perfect sense to me. If you get the approval of the spider goddess she turns you into a spiderdrow as a reward, because she loves spiders.

[@Aaron_Hayman]

​@poilboiler I always saw it as a punishment because you lacked the strength innately to overcome your obstacles, so the power boost is meant as an insult. You failed her, so you're going to be turned into a monster for someone else to slay to prove their worth. And if you kill them then they were weak anyway so good riddance. Lolth is insane. You want to rely on her as little as possible because she wants you to succeed on your own merits. Thats why her clerics arent supposed to cast many spells because relying on her is percieved as weakness.

[@johngleeman8347]

Well said!@@Aaron_Hayman

[@malkomalkavian]

That doesn't sound very crazy

[@chandlerdaniel4431]

I know it just came out but I would love a Chains of Asmodeus ranking. Love the channel

[@Notsidgaming]

The point you made about drow not further embracing their innate spells made me wonder. Why is there not a sorcerer subclass for races with innate magic? There seems to be a separation with sorcerer being "you were born with these powers" and the race that sorcerer is which was also born with innate spells.

[@esperthebard]

It would be such a natural fit, wouldn't it?

[@gabrielzubairy9857]

Please do Yuan-ti next and reptilian race's next.

[@cammyshill3099]

It's crazy to think that they even removed the Drow entirely out of the Pathfinder setting, allegedly because of copyright and the little fight with their pals at WotC, but obviously because of the new satanic panic and having to sanitize all fantasy setting for the sake of some Twitter guy who doesn't even play the game. It's crazy. Drows are present in all their evil, slave-holding glory in BG3, Dark Elves inspired by the Drow are all over fiction... And you have the main tabletop IP holders retconning their own best stuff in shame of themselves. It's totally a tabletop only psychosis. You go seeing TV shows and video games and you'll see all kinds of so-called controversial topics being treated without the slightest semblance of restraint.

[@kaaghalaa]

You're reading way too much into this, Pathfinder is setting itself apart by ripping away any strong ties to the Forgotten Realms and DnD in general, and that happens to include the drow among MANY other things.

[@Jeremy-rp3in]

The Drow are some of the best enemies a DM could ask for.

[@clarkside4493]

I keep forgetting just how cool the 4e monsters were. I have to make more time to convert them to 5e for the DM's Guild.

[@furroni9471]

Altho it doesn't have a stat block format. Quenthel Baenre stats are on toe to toe with demon lords. She can just cast any cleric spell at WILL at ANY level. Plus, using her throne, combat can turn very deadly really easily. Her unlimited lvl 9 spell pool make her a powerhouse. She might be one of my favorite monster stats

[@sagenod440]

Nice try but the Drow have a Minnesotan accent

[@rvt_h3d]

ya betcha

[@rachdarastrix5251]

Loth is such a twisted goddess that she probably enjoys... Super flaming hot Cheetos twist. Crunchy twisted corn chips flavored with 7 kinds of pepper and 15 kinds of spider venom. Dangerously cheesy.

[@johnsteiner3417]

You'd think that the Drow would've been absolutely pallid. By the way, dark skin isn't needed for camouflage in dark and absolute dark conditions.

[@Giggles474]

If you look at Derro and Duergar I'd assume its an effect of the Underdark. Though Drow were Dark before going under. And I guess dark skin would be a good camouflage when you account for all the creatures that have dark vision, which is black and white while in the dark.

[@johnsteiner3417]

@@Giggles474 In dark conditions camouflage is a moot point. Take a look at species in cave ecosystems, even ones with active predation. Coloration of any kind serves no survival value.

[@johnsteiner3417]

@@0ctobuss The original dark elf concept comes from Norse mythology, though it's vague about whether than meant dark in color or dark demeanor.

[@etcetera1995]

Yeah, a lot of deep sea fish are actually more *red.* ... You're giving me some visual ideas lol

[@johnsteiner3417]

@@etcetera1995 D&D's Underdark isn't what we'd normally think of as realistic subterranean. There's way more light, open spaces, and ecology in the Underdark than would actually occur. D&D's presumption was that infrared vision would be commonplace underground only holds true in D&D. But be that as it may, then you have some options regarding red and infrared coloration, not only for camouflage but also inducing visual confusion. Imagine IR "zebra striping" to confuse small pests.

[@tmacker14]

Drow having light skin makes sense cause lack of sun.

[@vonfaustien3957]

I blame the popularity of TES for the lightening of Drow skin tones. I imagine a lot of people got there idea of what a dark elf should look like from the Dunmer and as a result a feature intended to help differentiate Dunmer from the DnD insperation got folded into it.

[@XavierBasurto777]

they turn grey from all the cloning they do. they got used to not having sex and instead birth in pods as clones, just like in real life...

[@raitoiro]

I usually disagree with you on the art aspect since I find a lot of the newer design/art to be as good if not better than older ones. But damn, monster of the multiverse is one big ugly exception, I can't understand how any of it got approved, especially the zoomer elf at 43:03, what even is that thing.

[@theauldfox1065]

Esper I would absolutely love to see you look into one of my all time favorite books for the drow which was The Tome Of Drow Lore so many subclasses houses and even subspecies of Drow

[@IllIllIIIllIll]

Great video about the Drow and their lore

[@captainrelyk]

Not really, he left out Eilsitraee which is very very very very bad. Not only is eilsitraee a fan favorite diety but she’s very important to the lore of drow.

[@jeffagain7516]

WotC is on a mission and it has nothing to do with the betterment of D&D. Their redo of MToF with their MPMM does not surprise me in the least and I wouldn't accept a copy given to me.

[@Mortyrian]

small shields are still useful especially ones with weapon trapping gaps

[@GrinWatch]

Drows are just some of the best monsters lore wise. Jarlaxle is actually one of my faves, an interesting and complex character.

[@willybiggs-rj6qt]

i prefer the blueish dark elves from Everquest

[@Sgt-Wolf]

I personally like to make the drow of my world have blue or purple shades of skin. I think it looks good contrasting with white or sliver hair.

[@azazelreeds]

Mine range from the more traditional obsidians and coals to more modern blues and purples. I've even made a few as pale as lavender and and ice blue.

[@Thunderwolf4]

I thought the blue/purple shaded elves were the Moon elves?

[@VPNemo]

That's so wild. I randomly picked this video to watch. And the drow image you used for the sniper drow is my DND character. I had that artist draw him as as a commission. Small world lol. His name is Umbra.

[@michaelpettersson4919]

Lighter skinned drow probably comes from the problem of making obsidian black look good in illustrations. It can be done but it is difficult. I have seen a picture of an obsidian skinnef African lady working as a model. She have some kind of condition that cause her skin to be pitch black. This condition is harmless thou but indeed possible. But illustrations, nah, hard. Even the supposed to be grey skinned dunmer in Skyrim are extremely difficult to get to look good on the darker end of the grey spectrum.

[@dragonlord498]

drow are definetly one of my favorite races in dnd though i do wish they covered the other types of drow more such as those who follow elistraee and her bother vhaeraun especially given at least vhaeraun is the main god in their pantheon lolth actually see's as a true threat apparently

[@ggkkkgkgkkgkgkg]

I absolutely enjoy your indepth knowledge on these nich(almost lost to time) topics. It seems that WoTC wants these things burried and forgotten(forgotten realms.) Thank you for keeping it alive.

[@iratevagabond204]

The shield looks like it's supposed to be a targe/buckler, which is also meant to be small. It's design isn't that crazy, if you're familiar with Talhoffer-styled bucklers.

[@Wade-1]

My favorite race in D&D but they are doing their best to ruin them.

[@futurewario9591]

I'm pretty sure that The Drow can also be blue 🔵.

[@idriseldritch9739]

Thanks for the video Esper. Could you do a video that mirrors/compliments your recent one on the most evil gods of the forgotten realms, i.e. ranking the most good, wholesome gods of the forgotten realms? There's a myriad of ways you could determine the ranking eg. most powerful force for good in the world, who has the most followers, which portfolio is the most purely good, which has made the most beneficial impact on the world etc.

[@fslayer1290]

Sooo… Shadow Blades are Noob Saibot. Got ya! 😊

[@joshwhite1562]

Having read all the Drizzt books I loved this video immensely. The lore behind drow is incredible. I will never forget reading Homeland and just being blown away by how the society of Menzobarrenzon functions. Can't wait to incorporate this into my current campaign.

[@arch-warlock7409]

8:11 i'm pretty sure MotM was a rebalance of volo's and tome of foes

[@Phsstpok]

well,,,reasoning concerning skin color... you would logically end up with the drow being rather albino white than possessing any color at all... firstly, since their darkvision would carve out not color anyway but rather shapes of structure and temperature... color is not an issue.. .secondly, since there is no sun the body is in no need to protect it by melanin at all.. so not only is black absolutely unnecessary it is not energy efficient... but who wants to argue logically when it comes to fantasy races and their appearance anyway.. i guess

[@esperthebard]

That's right, in the real world, cave-dwelling creatures lose skin pigment and melanin. They also lose sight and eventually eyes altogether, and in place develop other senses, such hearing, detecting organic matter, or detecting bio-electricity. But when it comes to fantasy, aesthetics and storytelling are big factors, and the drow are prime examples of this.

[@captainrelyk]

How come in you didn’t mention Eilsitraee? You can’t talk drow lore and drow without mentioning Eilsitraee, who is not only very important in the story of drow but is a very popular diety amongst dnd players

[@esperthebard]

I didn't come across any bestiary stat block of a drow aligned with Eilisitraee. Do you know of one?

[@captainrelyk]

@@esperthebard I’m fairly certain 3e had one, Though you still didn’t mention Eilistraee in the beginning of your video when going over their lore.

[@Jakzul1]

44:44 can i just outright summon a Draegloth once per day? 🤗 Pretty please.? 😳 i mean being one of the spider's queen favorites should have the right to command her most blessed creatures. 😼✨

[@bleach-kun]

I disagree with you on the drow warriors shield. In fact its not a shield at all, its a buckler, and is perfectly sized for use with her saber.

[@ivodijkman137]

Yes, they evil... ...but mommy?~

[@jasonhutzel7490]

i never understood why becoming a drider is considered a punishment when it makes them look more like their goddess

[@Turbo-bs7ok]

I dont mind the lighter skintone, it kinda makes sense if you live underground

[@Giggles474]

Mordekainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse is worse than just a repackage of old bestiaries, it nerfs the hell out of many mosnters, especially spellcasters by taking away most of their spells and replacing leveled spell slots for general casts per day

[@crankysmurf]

Regarding the 66 hp, it goes back to 1E Deities and Demigods where Lolth had 66 hp!

[@stannytwasswan]

Love how the tiers are Pantera Tracks

[@blackshard641]

The CR conversions you're doing from 4e to 5e are perhaps a bit misleading in some ways... although to be fair, I'm not sure you would make them LESS misleading because the edition math is significantly different. It's fair to say that 4e levels aren't a 1:1 with 5e in terms of power scaling, game time investment, etc., but they're not exactly 1.5:1 either. The problem is that 5e's math is flattened and its magic items rare, while 4e had a far more "superheroic" tone, with abundant magical items and PCs and monsters all capable of wildly magical feats far earlier than other editions, where level-to-level growth was more exponential but neither monsters nor PCs ever truly outpaced each other. In 4e you also started off vastly more powerful. In terms of number (and "flavoring") of abilities, a typical level 1 4e monster would have been roughly equivalent to a CR 3 or CR 4 monster in 5e, but the PCs were basically the same. In short, I'd say that a level 11 4e Drow is significantly more powerful than a CR 5 5e monster (without crunching the numbers, I'd probably guess something closer to a high CR 8) but it depends heavily on the relative level of the PCs.

[@capitalG386]

didn't they sort of retcon a fair bit regarding what the Drizzt (and other) novels established? because they kind of twisted certain bits of lore? to be clear, I am not terribly thoroughly informed in things D&D, but I have taken a renewed interest since Baldur's Gate 3 and have been reading around different forums and that's sort of what they seemed to be saying about those novels, so figured I'd ask.

[@squashedeyeball]

47:38 as random Drow males say in Shadows of Amn, "do not question the Matron Mothers!". And indeed, all Drow priestesses will answer, "aaaaaaaaaalll glory to the dark mother!" They had some of the best voice acting of the whole game. And while my PC is a potato and can't run BG3, I was glad to see MInthara was a Drow who lived to her name. She has the best voice of BG3. Amazing ranking Esper! One of the greatest yet: and I rank even the 2010 ones as 10/10.

[@zannrazor8569]

remember that in 4e, the creation of Driders was changed from a punishment to a blessing. Then it reverted back to a punishment in 5e

[@jens1639]

Drow's favored consort in MM might be least of the versions, but the artwork definitely fits the definition of a scantidly clad boy toy only there to make his sugar mama happy and easily discarded for the next one.

[@redcapetimetraveler7688]

Why do they despise so much the driders ? with spider climb .. which unites could best them in storming the walls of enemies' fortresses ? ohh Lolth make me general of your armies , give me plenty of driders and i will plunder in your name all the cities of those weak surface dwellers wahhahahahaha

[@futurewario9591]

QUESTION ❓. Is it possible for Half-Drows & or Half-Orcs to have loving parents?

[@poilboiler]

Of course it is.

[@captainrelyk]

Half orcs are less likely to have loving parents but orcs are sentient and sapient and as a result good orcs do exist, albeit rarely Half drow are more likely to have loving parents. A half drow’s drow parent is most likely an Eilsitraeen or at least isn’t a follower of lolth.

[@blackshard641]

As with all things D&D, depends on the lore of your world. The Orcs of mythology were chthonic spirits, fickle and creepy, not necessarily "evil," but not exactly parent material. Old school fantasy Drow and Orcs were irredeemably selfish and cruel by their very nature. Blizzard decided to code their Orcs as a displaced hunter-gatherer society with shamanic and warrior traditions, and absolutely capable of being loving parents. Post-Drizzt Drow are understood as having been conditioned by the unforgiving totalitarian theocracy they are bound to, and would presumably be just as capable of altruistic love as humans if raised in a different environment.

[@futurewario9591]

@@blackshard641 I was thinking of The Baldur's Gate world aka Forgotten Realms. What about for Baldur's Gate world?

[@futurewario9591]

@@captainrelyk I'm playing as Alac The Half-Orc in Baldur's Gate & think that Half-Orcs are cool & being big, green, & strong is cool, but I don't like them being stereotyped as being a product of "The Bill Cosby Experience"

[@UltraHeatSeeker]

Man 4e really was a terrible edition. It made me quit D&D thankfully there are a lot of roleplaying settings to explore. "How can we sell more products to the consumer" "Ends up selling less products to the consumer" JUST MAKE GOOD STUFF AND YOUR PROFITS WILL REFLECT IT.

[@mikewaterfield3599]

No they were describes as coal black in all of D&D. This modern WOKE on Coke crap is stupid. You don’t erase 50 years of lore because PC.

[@kevinedwards5390]

The grape you had about the shield in one depiction caught my attention.. I'm a little bit of a medieval weapon enthusiast. I just wanted to throw my opinion in here. Which is that while it is way too thick it's not too small. That's an excellent size for a buckler shield. And the spikes on the side of it actually make it a very good offensive tool. Citation but I wish that 5e represented that Shields can be really dangerous if you use them aggressively. If anyone here watches the boys and saw soldier boy using his shield you know exactly what I'm talking about

[@PrayAlwaysAnglican]

A good campaign idea would be the party assuming the role of a party from the underdark. The party raid the surface for resources and precious supplies vital for the functioning of their society. They're not necessarily pure evil merely seeking to survive and thrive in a challenging environment.

[@daveerk6573]

My characters are Drow or Half Drow ever since 1983 when I saw them in the Fiend Folio🖤🖤🖤🖤 4e sux

[@arnijulian6241]

Does irritate me how they ceased printing Tome of foes as I have Volo's but never picked up Tome of foes due to the lockdown & being ill. This making product legacy content is infuriating. Monsters of the multiverse is terrible & I only know from friends & never had a reason to buy Tome of foes as I was not the DM in any real capacity till recent as I main Wizards. 1/2 the books in 2022 were awful rehashes for money that damage the game & 2023 was awful for every book that I did not buy thankfully even if people say (Keys from the Golden Vault) is good I don't care at this point. The last book I bought that I enjoyed was Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons though it is niece.

[@midshipman8654]

I mean, small sheilds were real, and pretty common, bucklers rondeleros, etc especially with more dueling and ease of carry situations.

[@AceoftheVoid]

If we’re being honest, then being grey rather then black is actually far better for the stealth, being ebony, darker colors will actually make you stand out in the darkness, you’re darker then the darkness of the night sky, the darker purple ones, on the other hand, would blend in better. Your best color in that case though is a dark blue

[@SageofCancer]

Eclavdra: Betrays Lolth with the super tentacle rod Lolth liked that Other Drow Matrons: Acquiring tentacle rods Never change, hot mess elves.

[@brandonyeung7838]

Ummm, ok I came for the lore but you're rankings are on a Pantera scale?? Thats awesome!!!

[@rafinery576]

Good reasoning why Drow should be black, but nowadays nothing negative can be associated with black. They even redesign orcs to be tame, because someone thought they're offensive to black people.

[@grandsome1]

I think the paler drow are so cosplayers don't get cancelled by Twitter. I always joke that it's funny that the evil elves "just happen" to be black AND lead by women. 😅

[@markstevenson2492]

I think one of my favourite things about the drow was talked sbout in the excellent Drow of the Underdark book for 3rd edition. Their deity is insane, their attempts to imitate her are also insane. But, not in that howling madman style that most people go to, but in a very real sense. Lloth hates her current form, it is a hidioeus curse, female drow emulate her, but she curses them to look like her as a punishment not a blessing, the self hatred is a deep core part of drow psychology and that leads to irrationality and anger. Hate those that they should love, fear those they should respect and punish those they should reward. Self flaggelation, addiction, depression and narcacassim are all endemic in drow society. Layer that on top of a female dominant society that actively looks down on pathetic males and have the dominant member of that soceity be incredibly beautiful, talented and insane magical women and wow...what an incredibly rich source of adventure, a place to challange sexual steryoptes and explore the darker side of female mentality (or dark power fantasy) so often left aside by modern gaming.

[@erikwhitney7403]

I always wanted to play a game with Esper the Bard as DM after listening to his Wizard tower story adventure

[@nealenthenerd399]

Personally I’m fine with the new method of spellcasting NPCs. A lot of times I end fights thinking “man I wish I could have use this spell, or this one, etc” but the new ones can get what they need done while also being very effective at what they do. After all it’s just a game mechanic and if I need a spell casted that isn’t on their stat block it isn’t hard to come up with a reason not too.

[@richardmethot7195]

Considering the melee bash between the mind flayer and your drow mage id say it's a contentious ranking haha.

[@joearnold6881]

There are indeed a lot of things one could say about the drow. “Smorgasbord” was not one I expected 😂

[@paulstarrett1949]

One thing that I’ve never understood and still don’t - is why Driders are ostracized by the Drow, seeing that Lolth, their goddess, is literally a giant Drider. Wouldn’t it be a blessing? Lolth shaping them in her own image, and doesn’t it make them physically stronger? I get that they’re super creepy to look at but so is their goddess. I could see why Seldarine Drow following Eilistraee would spurn them (and even then they’re supposed to care for and help other Drow find a new path) but not Lolth sworn. I don’t know, it just doesn’t make sense to me. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@chuckhoyle1211]

In 3E Drow were the master race. Great stats, magic resistance, good saves, all the Elf goodies, etc... The only thing they did not excel at was being a tank.

[@lucasistrom]

I regret buying Monsters of the Multiverse so much. I strongly prefer the old style of monster design over the new stuff, especially in regards to how they handle spellcasters.

[@Amber_Scarlet]

Draegloth abomination... Aren't... I thought driders were sterile...

[@AlexFrank02]

Lolth is just so disturbing, I love the drow but their beliefs and societal norms are fucking horrifying.

[@darkcrydotmrihavetoomanyst1440]

Drow are some of my favorites My favorite drow character is a CG drow goddess from one of the older books (I don't remember her name though)

[@nightflame69]

Does this character gain anything in place of losing the spells? NOPE! *screams in frustration*

[@archam777]

2:40 They already have a "light grey" skin elf, theyre called the LeShay, and theyre NOT Drow 😉

[@eatmyassgoogleyouassholes]

I still remember the first time I found this channel in 2019, I think I binged the whole monster rankings playlist at the time but it looks like I have some catching up to do lol, still great videos man, glad to see it.

[@DarthStuticus]

The Drider lore never made sense to me. They should be BLESSED, not Cursed. Lolth is the queen of spiders.

[@dylanschenkelberg7399]

They basically got punished with mandatory overtime

[@trevorgreenough6141]

Couldn't the light grey be a Drow equivalent of Albinism?

[@jakewarman7277]

I feel like shadowblade was the inspiration for ecko knight

[@Vladislavaklyma]

> I will send a swarm of spiders if you dont like the video >Immidiatly unliked the video

[@robertmcdermott3919]

check out the template from 3.0 or 3.5 called Zin'car'la

[@dutchmilk]

The writing for drow culture and society and the practices are so devoid of logic.

[@franklinrichards8851]

If a Drow does not have black skin it is not a Drow, call it a want to be or what ever but it is NOT a Drow

[@alexeisenhauer5874]

I like giving them dry, ashy skin cracked with deep fissures that in the punished, damned, or sacrificed are fertile places for spiders of all kinds to lay their eggs. Emphasizing their curse by losing their elven beauty in Lolth’s fall.

[@OccultistResearcher]

oohhh i like that

[@strikethespike816]

I like the light gray as long as it’s not the only color Drow comes in.

[@ShdowHuntr]

Idk man I prefer the look of the blue, purple and off grey colored drow.

[@mugendono23]

No mention of the followers of Eilistraee. Disappointed.

[@Colin12475]

Why are the Drow so evil? They just do it for the Lolth.

[@Nyoh_5]

Couldn't a Drow dye their hair black to be more stealthy in the dark? I don't know if there is any rule in their religion about this.

[@drekbleh7081]

Ruins the aesthetic. I think their hair is supposed to align with spider silk or something. I mean, they are spider elves

[@esperthebard]

There must be some drow out there that do dye their hair. I've never come across any specific lore that addresses this topic though. I could imagine Lolth loving or hating this, depending on how a drow went about it. Using hair dye to more effectively slay enemies? She'd probably delight in that. Using hair dye to rebel against the spiderweb-looking hair out of spite? She'd probably be pissed off.

[@Nyoh_5]

@@esperthebard Very interesting topic to think about