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...
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.
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
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."
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 🕷️🦹♂️🪄🔮
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
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!
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.
"I really hope we get more content on Eilistraeen drow and the prejudices they face, maybe some sort of drow vs. drow thing" I would love that too 💗💗💗I 100% back this 👍👍👍
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.
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.
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.
@@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
@@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.
@@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
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
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.
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
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.
Man I love 4th edition's monster manual 3. My first ever Dungeons and Dragons book, my uncle gave it to me when i was in third or fourth grade. I used to read it all the time even though I didn't really understand the rules at all. I remember bringing it to school and showing all my friends my favorite monster art in the book. Me and my best friend to used to play our own version of "DND" which was essentially a wargame with no rules, we played with the random miniatures we used to beg our parents to buy us. The art in that book is still so important to me, i remember being so freaked out and still fascinated by all of it.
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
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.
An excellent and informative watch. As someone not interested in 5e, 2nd - 3.5 is what I DM, this was very insightful video on the more modern style of rules. The Drow have been my favorite humanoid race in D&D for almost forty years. Thank you!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
This video has made me really appreciate that I got VGTM and MTF instead of Multiverse. I only got them because the game store I was at happened to not have Multiverse in stock, so I got VGTM and then later I grabbed Tome of Foes to complement it. I knew the Multiverse statblocks had lost slot based spellcasting in favour of innate casting, but I didn't realize it was quite this bad. Thanks for the video, this is super entertaining and helpful as always. :D
Very cool video. Just wanted to add: On the topic of drow color, there are actually albino drow, who are highly reviled within general drow society, but prized very highly for their ability to blend in with the surface world.
These are really interesting! Most of my knowledge comes from the books, specifically the War of the Spider Queen series and I never knew there was "monsters" write up for them. I do think in ever Drow encounter there should be some small percentage of one of the drow enemies just getting killed by a fellow drow,. I also think you can play them how you want. In the books Gromph Baenre was the arch mage and he was not a worshiper of Lolth, not really, more like someone who took advantage of the system, but knew his place. Since they are their own worse enemies, I would also have a chance in an encounter where someone maybe blinded or sick but trying to cover it up.
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.
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.
Spent half of my student years reading vigorously Salvatore's books and yes.... I'm a Drizzt fan boy... One of my favourite monster ranking videos!!! PS: The beaver KILLED me!!! I literally burst into laughing in the middle of the night!
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.
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.
For the draelgoth abomination maybe for a lore redesign maybe it can an experiment. Experiments on drider by infusing Demon blood into a drider ( maybe out of morbid curiosity by the drows to see what happens)
Love the old Drow art. I imagine that the creative process went like: "What's the most evil thing that this murder ritual priestess could wear?" "Fishnet." "Are you s-" "FISHNET."
Ahhhh, notice you’re an old school Pantera Fan! I seen them in concert twice and gotten their autographs in 1991. Seen them again while in the Army in Korea in 2002.
@@esperthebard I use to go to The Alarosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio in my freshman year of college and a few times in my sophomore year. I would watch various bands play there. Unfortunately several years later that was where Dimebag Darryl was killed on stage with his band Damage Plan. He was a very talented and even educationally oriented guitarist. He was a nice friendly guy when Ingot his autograph.
the Drow warrior with the small shield, the red on the tip almost makes it look like it's a bladed punching buckler which... if it's a light warrior considering the chainmail, a bladed buckler wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility since a buckler is a light shield which dexterity can still use
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.
@@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.
@@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.
I feel like the lighter grey could work well for a half-drow though I'd probably then I'd still probably at least a tint to reflect the other parent so maybe a dusty purplish colour As for light grey elves the image of being devoid of colour fit well with the idea of the shader kai (I think that's the right spelling but I can't be bothered to check) as they're the elves from the shadowfell
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.
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.
Sorry, too much to do. I have not been keeping up. Plan to watch everything. Just went through and gave you a thumbs up on all your videos yesterday, I think it was. Maybe it was Saturday. Can't remember for sure. I still dream of getting you bookshelves, but maybe you did already? Take care!
On the one hand, I do know why the Drow get so much focus; they are iconic, diverse, and many fans, of numerous stripes, desire to play them, but it does make me look at similar "the evil mirrors of the player races", and wonder why they get SO MUCH less? I don't actually like the Duergar anywhere near as much as I seem to the Drow, and yet I kind of wish there was a video like this for them. I like psionics, and their innate growth, and invisiblity, powers are cool. It's weird that their leaders are CR 5, sometimes, or 12, at a pinnacle, while Drow can hit 20? Still, could be neat!
In regards to your points on npcs having class levels, how do you feel about the outclassed series documents on Dmsguild? They tried to make generic npcs that cover every subclass and was wondering if you tried it.😊
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. 😼✨
When you say the shield looks like it's two inches thick of steek... That's just a rolled edge buddy, they're very common on all sorts of medieval armor, and they don't represent the overall thickness of the piece. In this particular case, we're seeing the inner side of the shield and it looks like the rolled edge is rolled in to kind of clamp down on the thick leather lining on the inner side of the shield. But the drow as a whole is meant to be very monotone, likely for stealth, and so it's hard to differentiate dark-dyed leather from darkly enameled steel.
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.
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
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. 🤷🏻♂️
5e has done to the Drow a disservice. They are no long the monsters to fear in the dark . They have been nerfed to the point that they are just "purple" skinned elfs with sunlight issues.
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
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.
Drow elves are so fascinating. My favourite fantasy novels are Homeland, Exile and Sojourn.
Those really hit a great tone and have such a unique setting. Those books were pioneers.
Im reading these books for the first time now. I've started the Drizzt saga with them
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.
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...
R.A. Salvatore, the author who got me into High Fantasy. Haven't heard those book names in a while.
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.
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
4e is not the best source for lore for anything
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."
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 🕷️🦹♂️🪄🔮
Lolth is so messed-up, I'd imagine her to not entirely distinguish between blessings and curses.
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 :)
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
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!
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.
"I really hope we get more content on Eilistraeen drow and the prejudices they face, maybe some sort of drow vs. drow thing" I would love that too 💗💗💗I 100% back this 👍👍👍
The 5e Shadowblade is so nasty. Ive used them a few times and in the right environment it is deadly at almost any tier.
It's actually stated in older editions that albinoism is somewhat common among Drow, so the pale-grey Drow sorta make sense
Albinos would be white, though.
@@HenriFaust elric of melnibone enters the chat
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.
Thats so awesome, you left your mark on the Drow zeitgeist.
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.
It is a demon after all
Considering "Revivify" is not that hard to cast, I bet it's probably the most common mean of birth.
@@dimitrilium3912 That’s a…horrific concept…I love it
@@dimitrilium3912 I’m not sure Lolth would allow a priestess who died in that fashion to be revived, even if they could.
@@alexbarn3841but loth would let the cleric die. examine her soul. Then rez her herself
I thought the 66th layer of the Abyss was Lolths personal domain. Hence the 66 significance for the Lady of Spiders
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.
@@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
@@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.
@@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
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
I had a drow elf character reverse tan,including tan lines
I like this idea
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
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.
It would be such a natural fit, wouldn't it?
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.
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.
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?
The Drow are some of the best enemies a DM could ask for.
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
Please do Yuan-ti next and reptilian race's next.
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.
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
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.
Man I love 4th edition's monster manual 3. My first ever Dungeons and Dragons book, my uncle gave it to me when i was in third or fourth grade. I used to read it all the time even though I didn't really understand the rules at all. I remember bringing it to school and showing all my friends my favorite monster art in the book. Me and my best friend to used to play our own version of "DND" which was essentially
a wargame with no rules, we played with the random miniatures we used to beg our parents to buy us. The art in that book is still so important to me, i remember being so freaked out and still fascinated by all of it.
Drows are just some of the best monsters lore wise. Jarlaxle is actually one of my faves, an interesting and complex character.
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
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.
An excellent and informative watch. As someone not interested in 5e, 2nd - 3.5 is what I DM, this was very insightful video on the more modern style of rules. The Drow have been my favorite humanoid race in D&D for almost forty years. Thank you!
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.
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.
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.
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...
Great video about the Drow and their lore
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.
I always wanted to play a game with Esper the Bard as DM after listening to his Wizard tower story adventure
Love how the tiers are Pantera Tracks
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
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.
This video has made me really appreciate that I got VGTM and MTF instead of Multiverse. I only got them because the game store I was at happened to not have Multiverse in stock, so I got VGTM and then later I grabbed Tome of Foes to complement it. I knew the Multiverse statblocks had lost slot based spellcasting in favour of innate casting, but I didn't realize it was quite this bad. Thanks for the video, this is super entertaining and helpful as always. :D
There are indeed a lot of things one could say about the drow.
“Smorgasbord” was not one I expected 😂
Very cool video. Just wanted to add: On the topic of drow color, there are actually albino drow, who are highly reviled within general drow society, but prized very highly for their ability to blend in with the surface world.
These are really interesting! Most of my knowledge comes from the books, specifically the War of the Spider Queen series and I never knew there was "monsters" write up for them. I do think in ever Drow encounter there should be some small percentage of one of the drow enemies just getting killed by a fellow drow,. I also think you can play them how you want. In the books Gromph Baenre was the arch mage and he was not a worshiper of Lolth, not really, more like someone who took advantage of the system, but knew his place. Since they are their own worse enemies, I would also have a chance in an encounter where someone maybe blinded or sick but trying to cover it up.
small shields are still useful especially ones with weapon trapping gaps
We home brewed a Drow campaign after finding them in the Fiend Folio back in the 80's.
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.
Considering the melee bash between the mind flayer and your drow mage id say it's a contentious ranking haha.
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.
I know it just came out but I would love a Chains of Asmodeus ranking. Love the channel
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.
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.
I thought the blue/purple shaded elves were the Moon elves?
Spent half of my student years reading vigorously Salvatore's books and yes.... I'm a Drizzt fan boy... One of my favourite monster ranking videos!!!
PS: The beaver KILLED me!!! I literally burst into laughing in the middle of the night!
Omg, that boyband version of the favored consort, lmao. He even has a mesh vest
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.
oohhh i like that
I really love all the videos you put out, the quality time and effort you put into these is astounding, please never stop!
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.
I love the drow. Their language is the origin of my name which I’ve been using for about 20+ years now.
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
For the draelgoth abomination maybe for a lore redesign maybe it can an experiment. Experiments on drider by infusing Demon blood into a drider ( maybe out of morbid curiosity by the drows to see what happens)
Love the old Drow art. I imagine that the creative process went like:
"What's the most evil thing that this murder ritual priestess could wear?"
"Fishnet."
"Are you s-"
"FISHNET."
Ahhhh, notice you’re an old school Pantera Fan! I seen them in concert twice and gotten their autographs in 1991. Seen them again while in the Army in Korea in 2002.
Cemetery Gates is my favorite Pantera track, so much style and mood, so much power and talent.
@@esperthebard I use to go to The Alarosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio in my freshman year of college and a few times in my sophomore year. I would watch various bands play there. Unfortunately several years later that was where Dimebag Darryl was killed on stage with his band Damage Plan. He was a very talented and even educationally oriented guitarist. He was a nice friendly guy when Ingot his autograph.
the Drow warrior with the small shield, the red on the tip almost makes it look like it's a bladed punching buckler which... if it's a light warrior considering the chainmail, a bladed buckler wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility since a buckler is a light shield which dexterity can still use
Ummm, ok I came for the lore but you're rankings are on a Pantera scale?? Thats awesome!!!
Always been a favourite of mine. Been rocking one on BG3 im yet to play one at tabletop dnd but pretty keen to try rp one next!
I dont mind the lighter skintone, it kinda makes sense if you live underground
I like that all the tiers are named after Pantera songs.
I like the light gray as long as it’s not the only color Drow comes in.
Regarding the 66 hp, it goes back to 1E Deities and Demigods where Lolth had 66 hp!
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)
i never understood why becoming a drider is considered a punishment when it makes them look more like their goddess
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.
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.
@@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.
@@0ctobuss The original dark elf concept comes from Norse mythology, though it's vague about whether than meant dark in color or dark demeanor.
Yeah, a lot of deep sea fish are actually more *red.* ... You're giving me some visual ideas lol
@@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.
I feel like the lighter grey could work well for a half-drow though I'd probably then I'd still probably at least a tint to reflect the other parent so maybe a dusty purplish colour
As for light grey elves the image of being devoid of colour fit well with the idea of the shader kai (I think that's the right spelling but I can't be bothered to check) as they're the elves from the shadowfell
Drow arachnomancer and drow lady of spiders are my favourites in this ranking.
i prefer the blueish dark elves from Everquest
suffers from the dazed condition LOL , love the work sir bard, ty
As to your shiel complaint , the old school drow used bucklers. There was dnd b4 4th ed
I'm pretty sure that The Drow can also be blue 🔵.
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.
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.
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.
Sorry, too much to do. I have not been keeping up. Plan to watch everything. Just went through and gave you a thumbs up on all your videos yesterday, I think it was. Maybe it was Saturday. Can't remember for sure. I still dream of getting you bookshelves, but maybe you did already? Take care!
On the one hand, I do know why the Drow get so much focus; they are iconic, diverse, and many fans, of numerous stripes, desire to play them, but it does make me look at similar "the evil mirrors of the player races", and wonder why they get SO MUCH less? I don't actually like the Duergar anywhere near as much as I seem to the Drow, and yet I kind of wish there was a video like this for them. I like psionics, and their innate growth, and invisiblity, powers are cool. It's weird that their leaders are CR 5, sometimes, or 12, at a pinnacle, while Drow can hit 20? Still, could be neat!
3:22
Breakfast in bed? How thoughtful. Maybe I was wrong about Drow.
In regards to your points on npcs having class levels, how do you feel about the outclassed series documents on Dmsguild? They tried to make generic npcs that cover every subclass and was wondering if you tried it.😊
8:11 i'm pretty sure MotM was a rebalance of volo's and tome of foes
My characters are Drow or Half Drow ever since 1983 when I saw them in the Fiend Folio🖤🖤🖤🖤
4e sux
I agree with what he says at 29:19 I mean the only addition we play is 5th and my DM still can’t remember how monsters work. Smh 🤦
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. 😼✨
When you say the shield looks like it's two inches thick of steek... That's just a rolled edge buddy, they're very common on all sorts of medieval armor, and they don't represent the overall thickness of the piece.
In this particular case, we're seeing the inner side of the shield and it looks like the rolled edge is rolled in to kind of clamp down on the thick leather lining on the inner side of the shield. But the drow as a whole is meant to be very monotone, likely for stealth, and so it's hard to differentiate dark-dyed leather from darkly enameled steel.
I feel like shadowblade was the inspiration for ecko knight
love the mortal kombat type music
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.
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
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. 🤷🏻♂️
thanks for your content
I hear drow tears are magical.
Great video
the Gloaming Magus fairy fire would be great against vampires
what about those drow from follower of Eilistraee? Like the Song Dancer etc
5e has done to the Drow a disservice. They are no long the monsters to fear in the dark . They have been nerfed to the point that they are just "purple" skinned elfs with sunlight issues.
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
I didn't come across any bestiary stat block of a drow aligned with Eilisitraee. Do you know of one?
@@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.
Sooo… Shadow Blades are Noob Saibot. Got ya! 😊
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.
Hey Esper, can you do a good Crypt Keeper impression?
Nice. An inter-edition ranking.
You could make the concrete-skinned drow ones that managed to break free of Lolth and live in independent cities. XD
check out the template from 3.0 or 3.5 called Zin'car'la
Eclavdra: Betrays Lolth with the super tentacle rod
Lolth liked that
Other Drow Matrons: Acquiring tentacle rods
Never change, hot mess elves.