The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

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Drow; the dark elves. Banished to the
Underdeep millennia ago by their surface
cousins, they plot, scheme and struggle
for survival. Beautiful yet wicked, brilliant and
deadly, the drow are the knife in the dark, the
threat in the deeps.
Since the drow were introduced to the roleplaying
world some 25 years ago, they have become both
favourites of many Games Masters and terrible
foes to uncounted parties of Player Characters.
Sadly, over time they have also become overused
and oversimplified. There is no mystery to
them any more. Players know exactly what
to expect from an encounter with drow and
exactly how to cope with it. Games Masters find
themselves saddled with innumerable clichés and
presumptions about the drow, making one raiding
party just like any other, one drow city just like
all the others.
Which is where this book comes in.
The philosophy behind The Tome of Drow Lore
is that as a race, the drow are as complex and
vibrant as any inhabitants of the surface of the
world. This book is dedicated to the drow and
to exploring all their varied, wicked splendour.
In the millennia since the drow were forced
underground in the Great Betrayal and dispersed
throughout the Underdeep in the Sundering, the
intense pressures of life beneath the surface have
caused them to change dramatically. For years,
they have been thought of as a sophisticated and
cruel race, governed by an even crueler spiderworshipping
matriarchy with absolute power
over every drow. The truth is not so simple and
arrogant adventurers who set out beneath the
surface of the world, certain they know the full
measure of the drow, will find themselves quite
unpleasantly surprised.
Introduction
Within The Tome of Drow Lore, Games Masters
will find information on a variety of drow cultures,
religions, societies, Houses and even sub-races.
In addition, there are new drow spells, feats and
drow equipment, of magical, alchemical and
mundane natures.
For those interested primarily in the archetypal
spider-worshipping drow, they are certainly
covered, as no book on drow would be complete
without them. They are not the sum total of
the drow, however. Scattered throughout the
Underdeep, the dark elves have adapted to
and been altered by their strange and hostile
environment. Centuries spent in isolation from
one another gave rise to a variety of cultures
and beliefs. While one drow city may be totally
devoted to the Dark Mother, presenting the
traditional perception of the drow, another may be
dominated by worship of Mu’Ushket, or perhaps
with power concentrated in the hands of a single
noble House it has become a much more secular
society. Games Masters interested in putting an
entirely new spin on the drow may forsake the
usual culture altogether. Instead, the intense
pressures of the violent and barren Underdeep
might have caused all drow to regress to a savage,
brutal race like the Kanahraun, or perhaps a large
underground sea is home to tens of thousands of
Sulzthul after all other drow having been slowly
exterminated by their many powerful enemies in
the world beneath the surface.
The Tome of Drow Lore may be used as a standalone
product, or it may be used in conjunction
with The Quintessential Drow and Encyclopaedia
Arcane: Drow Magic. As with any good
roleplaying book, The Tome of Drow Lore is here
to assist, not instruct. Games Masters should feel
free to take what they like from these pages and
ignore the rest.