Editing Drow (section)

== Fictional ecology ==
{{See also|Underdark}}
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2022}}

=== Abilities ===
<!--This SHOULD NOT become a game guide. It should describe the in-game abilities of the drow from a real-world perspective and without getting into actual game mechanics. Everything should be sourced, naturally-->
With the ability to resist magic and powerful darkvision, drow are more powerful than many of ''Dungeons & Dragons''{{'}} races.<ref name="PF16intro">{{cite book|last1=Schneider|first1=F. Wesley|title=Pathfinder #16: Endless Night|last2=Jacobs|first2=James|publisher=[[Paizo Publishing]]|year=2008|isbn=978-1-60125-129-9|series=Pathfinder Adventure Path|location=[[Bellevue, Washington]], United States|pages=4–5|chapter=Foreword: To Serve the Matron|author-link2=James Jacobs (game designer)}}</ref> Drow possess natural magical abilities which enables them to summon globes of darkness, outline targets in faerie fire which causes no harm but makes the target brightly visible to everyone who sees them, and create magical balls of light. They can also levitate for short periods of time. They live to extraordinarily long ages if not killed by violence first, over a thousand years in some cases. Their hearing and vision are better than that of a human being and they are difficult to sneak up on because of this. They naturally excel at moving silently. Drow also employ the unusual hand [[crossbow]], firing small, though very lethal, darts.

In Lolth based societies, noble drow males are commonly [[Wizard (Dungeons & Dragons)|wizards]] or [[Fighter (Dungeons & Dragons)|fighters]]. Female nobles are almost always [[Cleric (Dungeons & Dragons)|clerics]] and almost never wizards.

===Alignment===
As a race, drow were traditionally portrayed [[alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)|evil]].<ref name="G3" /> There were unusual exceptions, the most notable being [[Drizzt Do'Urden]], [[Jarlaxle|Jarlaxle Baenre]], and [[Liriel Baenre]]. Originally, drow were chaotic evil in alignment.  Beginning with 3rd edition ''D&D'', drow were usually neutral evil. There have been encounters with non-evil drow, but these are distrusted as much as their brethren, due to their reputation. In the ''Forgotten Realms'' setting, the Drow followers of [[Eilistraee]] were originally the largest group of good Drow, as Eilistraee is the patron goddess of all Drow that have a good alignment.

The 4th Edition ''[[Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms]]'' (2010) does not suggest any typical alignment for drow player characters; however, it highlights the drow that break away from the evil Lolth based societies.<ref name=":3" /> The 5th Edition ''Player's Handbook'' (2014) described drow as "more often evil than not".<ref>{{Cite web|title=With D&D's Next Rulebook, Character Creation Will Never Be the Same|url=https://gizmodo.com/with-d-ds-next-rulebook-character-creation-will-never-1844807934|access-date=2022-02-07|website=Gizmodo|date=24 August 2020|language=en-us|archive-date=2022-02-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207235937/https://gizmodo.com/with-d-ds-next-rulebook-character-creation-will-never-1844807934|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, official [[Erratum|errata]] removed the suggested alignments for playable races, including drow, in all 5th Edition sourcebooks.<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 27, 2021|title=The changes to D&D races are right – but for the wrong reason|url=https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/race-changes-wrong-reasons|access-date=February 1, 2022|website=Wargamer|language=en-US|archive-date=February 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201174740/https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/race-changes-wrong-reasons|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-12-14|title=D&D: WotC's New Batch of Errata Removes Racial Alignments, Retcons Drow|url=https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2021/12/dd-wotc-removes-racial-alignments-retcons-drow-in-new-batch-of-errata.html|access-date=2022-02-01|website=Bell of Lost Souls|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201174739/https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2021/12/dd-wotc-removes-racial-alignments-retcons-drow-in-new-batch-of-errata.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As of ''[[Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse]]'' (2022), creature stat blocks that also have playable races "now state that they can be any alignment".<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|date=2022-01-31|title=Dungeons & Dragons: Everything You Need To Know About Monsters Of The Multiverse|url=https://www.thegamer.com/dungeons-dragons-monsters-of-the-multiverse-explained-guide/|access-date=2022-02-01|website=TheGamer|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131150447/https://www.thegamer.com/dungeons-dragons-monsters-of-the-multiverse-explained-guide/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Environment===
Within the context of many ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' campaign settings, the drow were forced underground in what is now known as the Underdark after the great war amongst the elves, a vast system of caverns and tunnels spanning much of the continent.<ref name="Races">Eric L. Boyd, Matt Forbeck and James Jacobs—''Races of Faerûn''; [[Wizards of the Coast]], 2003 {{ISBN|0-7869-2875-1}}</ref><ref name="Lost">Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout—''[[Lost Empires of Faerûn (accessory)|Lost Empires of Faerûn]]''; [[Wizards of the Coast]], 2005 {{ISBN|0-7869-3654-1}}</ref> The drow live in city-states in the Underdark,<ref name="Underdark" /> becoming one of the most powerful races therein.<ref name="Underdark" />

The drow are well adapted to seeing in the dark, and they loathe, are terrified of, and are easily blinded by the light of the surface.<ref name="MM4" /> Some magic weapons, armor, and various other items of the drow disintegrate or lose their magical properties if exposed to the sun.<ref name="Underdark" />

===Typical physical characteristics===
Drow characters are extremely intelligent, charismatic and dexterous, but share surface elves' comparative frailty and slight frames. Females tend to be bigger and stronger than males.<ref name="DotU2E" /> Drow are characterized by white or silver hair and obsidian black skin. Their eyes are red (or rarely gray, violet, or yellow) in darkness and can be many different colors in normal light.<ref>From the book ''Homeland'' by [[R.A. Salvatore]].</ref> In 5th Edition, drow typically have "white hair and grayish skin of many hues" along with better darkvision and a sensitivity to sunlight.<ref name=":7" />

Drow have several kinds of innate spell powers and spell resistance. This is balanced by their weakness in daylight. Half-drow are the result of crossbreeding between another race and a drow, and share characteristics of both.

=== Society ===
Lolth based drow society is primarily [[matriarchy|matriarchal]], with priestesses of their evil spider goddess Lolth in the highest seats of power.<ref name="Dark Warrior Rising" /> This society is based upon violence, murder, cunning, and the philosophy that only the strong survive. Hence, most drow plot endlessly to murder or otherwise incapacitate their rivals and enemy drow using deceit and betrayal. Drow, particularly in higher positions, are constantly wary of assassins and the like. One of the quirks of this constant infighting is the relatively short lifespan of the average drow. While being just as long lived as their surface cousins, living as long as a thousand years, elderly drow are rarely encountered. Consequently, they are the only race of elves that matches the fertility of 'lesser' races, such as humans. Their society, as a whole, is seemingly nonviable. The only reason they do not murder themselves to extinction is by the will of Lolth, working primarily through her clergy. Lolth does not tolerate any drow that threaten to bring down her society, and the clergy make certain that perpetrators cease their destructive actions by either threatening or killing them. Matron mothers lead the various noble houses and act as "high priestesses of Lolth".<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|date=2020-04-19|title=Dungeons & Dragons: These Are The Fiercest Underdark Monsters in 5e|url=https://www.cbr.com/dungons-dragons-underdark-monsters-5e/|access-date=2022-02-08|website=CBR|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208003050/https://www.cbr.com/dungons-dragons-underdark-monsters-5e/|url-status=live}}</ref> Matthew Beilman, for [[Comic Book Resources|''CBR'']], highlighted that Lolth based "drow society is a lethal cloak-and-dagger affair—like a constant ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' but if every character were playing by Lannister/Bolton rules. That is to say, playing dirty and playing to ''win''".<ref name=":10" />

There are exceptions to the rule, of course. Some communities of drow worship other gods (like Vhaeraun or Eilistraee), and thus, their hierarchy changes, reverses the roles of males and females, or (such as in the case of Eilastree) even approaching something like a workable, progressive society. Drow societies can also vary vastly depending on the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting.