Drow (Dungeons & Dragons)

The drow ( or ) or dark elves are a generally evil, dark-skinned subrace of elves in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game.

Publication history
The word "drow" is from the Orcadian and Shetlandic dialects of Scots, an alternative form of "trow", which is a cognate with "troll". The Oxford English Dictionary gives no entry for "drow", but two of the citations under "trow" name it as an alternative form of the word. Trow/drow was used to refer to a wide variety of evil sprites. Except for the basic concept of "dark elves", everything else about the Dungeons & Dragons drow was invented by Gary Gygax. However, in the Prose Edda Snorri Sturluson wrote about the black elves: "[...] the dark elves however live down below the ground. [...] while the dark elves are blacker than pitch."

Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax stated that "Drow are mentioned in Keightley's The Fairy Mythology, as I recall (it might have been The Secret Commonwealth--neither book is before me, and it is not all that important anyway), and as Dark Elves of evil nature, they served as an ideal basis for the creation of a unique new mythos designed especially for the AD&D game." The form "drow" can be found in neither work. Gygax later stated that he took the term from a "listing in the Funk & Wagnall's Unexpurgated Dictionary, and no other source at all. "I wanted a most unusual race as the main power in the Underdark, so used the reference to 'dark elves' from the dictionary to create the Drow." There seems to be no work with this title. However, the following entry can be found in abridged editions of Funk & Wagnall's Standard Dictionary of the English Language, such as The Desk Standard Dictionary of the English Language: "[Scot.] In folk-lore, one of a race of underground elves represented as skilful workers in metal. Compare TROLL. [Variant of TROLL.] trow"

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
The drow were first mentioned in the Dungeons & Dragons game in the 1st Edition 1977 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual under the "Elf" entry, where it is stated that "The 'Black Elves,' or drow, are only legend." No statistics are given for the drow in this book, apart from the statistics for normal elves, and only a single paragraph is written about them. The drow are described here as purportedly dwelling deep beneath the surface world, in strange subterranean realms. They are said to be evil, "as dark as faeries are bright", and pictured in tales as poor fighters but strong magic-users.

It is hinted in G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief (TSR, 1978) that there is a "secret force, some motivational power behind this unusual banding of different races of giants." G2 The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl (TSR, 1978) mentions this guiding force again in its introduction. The third module in the series, G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King, again mentions the party's need to find out whatever is behind the giants' alliance, and this time mentions the drow specifically by name. In the adventure, the player characters can discover the first hint of drow involvement in the fire giant king's council room, on a scroll which promises "powerful help from the Drow", signed by Eclavdra. Actual drow can be encountered starting on level #2 of the king's hall, beginning with a group of drow priests, and then other drow later.

Having discovered that the drow instigated the alliance between the races of giants and its warfare against mankind, in D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth the party follows the fleeing drow into the tunnels leading northwest and deep into the earth, to eliminate the threat they pose. Examining a golden spider pin found on one of the drow priestesses, the party can discover runes in the drow language reading "Lolth, Death Queen Mother". The party continues to pursue the drow in D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, meeting the kuo-toa and the deep gnomes (also known as the svirfneblin). As the party travels, signs of the drow are noted all around; the drow clearly freely pass through these subterranean areas, even though they are hated and feared by the other local intelligent races. The drow and kuo-toa trade with each other openly, but the kuo-toa hate and fear the drow, resulting in frequent skirmishes between the two peoples. In D3 Vault of the Drow the adventurers follow one of two subterranean passages leading out from the kuo-toan temple to come upon the Vault of the Drow, "a hemispherical cyst in the crust of the earth, an incredibly huge domed fault over 6 miles long and nearly as broad." The party eventually makes it to Erelhei-Cinlu, the vast subterranean city of the drow, which is thoroughly described in the module. The characters may freely enter the city and spend time there, unless they attempt to organize any escaped slave groups for open warfare against the drow; the threat of a slave uprising will bring the chaotic drow into full cooperation. An extensive overview of the drow power structure is given for the purpose of creating any number of mini-campaigns or adventures taking place inside the drow capital. The House of Eilservs, led by Eclavdra, turned from worship of Lolth to the Elder Elemental God when the city's other noble houses allied against them after proclaiming that their mistress should be the Queen of All Drow. Eilservs attempted to establish a power base through a puppet kingdom in the surface world dedicated to the worship of their new deity, so that their demands of supreme power in the Vault can no longer be denied, but this scheme was recently ruined. The characters travel on to the Egg of Lolth, where they must enter the dungeon level and fight the demoness herself. The players may discover an astral gate leading to the plane of the Abyss, which sets them up for module Q1. The statistics and information for drow are reprinted from Hall of the Fire Giant King in the back of this module, along with statistics for Lolth herself. The story concludes in module Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits. The astral gate from D3 leads to the Abyssal realm of Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders, goddess of the drow elves, and architect of the sinister plot described in the two previous series of modules. Her realm, the 66th layer of the Abyss, is referred to as the Demonweb Pits. The Q1 module offers a glimpse into the Abyss itself, home to the D&D race of demons, where time and space stretch and twist in bizarre ways, and there are many portals that allow passage into entirely different worlds. At the very end of the module, the players face a final confrontation with Lolth, an exceptionally difficult challenge. The G1-G3 modules were later published together in 1981 as a single combined module as G1-2-3 Against the Giants, and the entire series of modules in which the drow originally appeared were later published together in Queen of the Spiders (1986).

The first hardcover D&D rulebook featuring statistical information on the drow was the original Fiend Folio. Gygax wrote this entry, listed under "Elf, Drow", according to the book's credits section. The text is a slightly abridged version of that found originally found in modules G3 and D3. Likewise, Lolth's description from module D3 is reprinted in the Fiend Folio under the "Demon" heading.

The drow are first presented as a player character race in Unearthed Arcana (1985), also written by Gygax. Several elven sub-races are described in the book, including gray elves, wood elves, wild elves, and valley elves; the dark elves are described as the most divergent sub-race, and dark elf player characters are considered outcasts from their homeland, either by choice, differing from the standard chaotic evil alignment of the race, or having lost in some family-wide power struggle.

Novels
Gary Gygax's 1986 novel for TSR's "Greyhawk Adventures" series, Artifact of Evil, was the first novel to feature the drow prominently. Gygax's subsequent Gord the Rogue novels, published by New Intinities, Inc., continued the story and the drow's involvement, in the novels Sea of Death (1987), Come Endless Darkness (1988), and Dance of Demons (1988).

R. A. Salvatore's 1988-1990 The Icewind Dale Trilogy featured the unlikely hero Drizzt Do'Urden as one of the protagonists, and the 1990-1991 followup The Dark Elf Trilogy focused on Drizzt and the drow of the Forgotten Realms setting. Salvatore continued the story of Drizzt and the drow in his subsequent series Legacy of the Drow (1992–1996), Paths of Darkness (1998–2001), and The Hunter's Blades Trilogy (2002–2004). Other works continuing the story of the drow in the Forgotten Realms include Elaine Cunningham's Starlight and Shadows series (1995–1996, 2003), the War of the Spider Queen series (2002–2005, various authors), and Lisa Smedman's The Lady Penitent series (2007–2008).

Keith Baker's The Dreaming Dark trilogy (2005–2006), overseen by R.A. Salvatore, featured the story of the drow in Baker's world of Eberron.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
The drow appear first for this edition in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), which expands the information on drow society. Also included in the entry for drow is a description and statistics for the drider. This entry is reprinted with some minor modifications in the Monstrous Manual (1993).

Drow society, religion, history, magic, craftwork, and language for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting is detailed significantly in The Drow of the Underdark (1991), by Ed Greenwood. Greenwood appears in the book's introduction as a narrator, explaining how he came across the information in the book: a discussion with Elminster, and chance encounter with a former apprentice of Elminster - the drow lady, Susprina Arkhenneld - as the two explain the drow of the world to the narrator.

The drow are presented as a player character race for 2nd edition in The Complete Book of Elves (1992). Drow deities Lolth, Kiaransalee, Vhaeraun, and Zinzerena are described in Monster Mythology (1992). The drow are later presented as a playable character race again in Player's Option: Skills & Powers (1995).

Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition (2000-2007)
The drow appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).

The drow of the Forgotten Realms setting appear in the hardcover Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001), and in Races of Faerûn (2003).

The drow also appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).

The Underdark hardcover for the Forgotten Realms setting (2003) features the drow yet again as a player character race, as does the Player's Guide to Faerûn (2004). Lost Empires of Faerûn describes the drow werebat (2005).

The drow paragon 3-level prestige class appears in Unearthed Arcana (2004).

The umbragen for the Eberron campaign setting appeared as a player character race in Dragon #330 (April 2005).

The arcane guard drow, the dark sniper drow, the drow priestess, the Lolth's sting, and the Lolth-touched drow ranger appear in Monster Manual IV (2006). The deepwyrm drow is presented as a player character race in Dragon Magic (2006).

The drow are presented as a player character race for 3rd edition in Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (2007) and Drow of the Underdark (2007). Drow of the Underdark also features the arcane guards, the drow assassin, the house captain, the house wizard, the drow inquisitor, the favored consort, the arcane guard, the drow priestess, the drow slaver, the spider sentinel, the albino drow (szarkai), the szarkai fighters, the szarkai druids, and the drow warrior, along with numerous prestige classes and other monsters related to drow.

Open gaming
The release of the Open Game License and the System Reference Document's inclusion of the drow race also led to a number of books related to drow being published by companies not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or TSR, such as The Quintessential Drow, The Complete Guide to Drow, and Encyclopaedia Arcane: Drow Magic.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)
The drow appear in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), including the drow warrior, the drow archanomancer, the drow blademaster, and the drow priest.

The drow appear as a playable race in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide.

The drow feature in a pre-written playable module called "Demon Queen's Enclave" which takes adventurers from levels 14 through 17 into the Underdark to battle the forces of Orcus and possibly ally with members of the treacherous dark elves and/or their minions.

Description
The drow made their first statistical appearance in Hall of the Fire Giant King in the Hellfurnace Mountains of the Dungeons & Dragons World of Greyhawk campaign setting at the end of the module, and received a lengthy writeup. The history of the drow within the game is revealed; in ages past, the elves were torn by discord and warfare, driving out from their surface lands their selfish and cruel members, who sought safety in the underworld. These creatures, later known as the "dark elvenfolk" or drow, grew strong in the arcane arts over the centuries and content with their gloomy fairyland beneath the earth, though they still bear enmity towards and seek revenge against their distant kin, the elves and faeries who drove them down. They are described as chaotic evil in alignment, and highly intelligent. They are described as black-skinned and pale haired in appearance, around 5-feet tall and slight of build with somewhat sharp features, with large eyes and large pointed ears. Their equipment (magical boots and cloaks, and fine mesh armor similar to chainmail) is black in color and described as being empowered by exposure to the strange radiations of the Drow homeland, losing this power and eventually falling apart when exposed to direct sunlight and kept from the radiation for too long. Females are inherently more powerful than males, and only females may be clerics or fighter/clerics; male drow are commonly fighters, magic-users, or both classes at once. Drow move silently and with a graceful quickness, even when wearing their armor, and blend into shadows with ease. They carry long daggers and short swords of an adamantite alloy and small one-handed crossbows which shoot darts carrying a poison that causes unconsciousness. Drow are difficult to surprise as they are able to see very well in the dark, have an intuitive sense about their underground world similar to that of dwarves, and can detect hidden or secret doors as easily as other elves do. Drow are highly resistant to magic, while all drow have the ability to use some inherent magical abilities even if they are not strictly spellcasters. The module also reveals that there are rumors of vast caverns housing whole cities of drow which exist somewhere deep beneath the earth, and now that the drow have dwelled in these dark labyrinthe places they dislike daylight and other forms of bright light as it hampers their abilities. They are able to communicate using a silent language composed of hand movements, and when coupled with facial and body expression, movement, and posture, this form of communication is the equal of any spoken language.

The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game's second edition product Monstrous Compendium Volume Two describes the world of the drow, where violent conflict is part of everyday life, so much so that most drow encountered are ready for a fight. Their inherent magic use comes from training in magic, which all drow receive. Not long after the creation of the elves, they were torn into rival factions, one evil and one good; after a great civil war, those who followed the path of evil and chaos were driven far from the world's forests and into the bleak, lightless caverns and tunnels of the underworld. Most creatures who live on the surface have never met a drow, but those who have seen a drow city report nightmarish buildings constructed of stone and minerals, carved into weird, fantastic shapes. Drow society is fragmented into opposing noble houses and merchant families, and they base their rigid class system on the belief that the strongest should rule. Female drow tend to fill many positions of great importance, with priests of the dark goddess Lolth holding a very high place in society. Drow fighters are required to go through rigorous training in their youth, and those who fail are put to death. Drow use giant lizards as pack animals, use bugbears and troglodytes as servants, and have alliances with many of the underworld's evil inhabitants such as mind flayers. Drow constantly war with other underground neighbors such as dwarves and dark gnomes (svirfneblin), and keep slaves of all types - including allies who fail to live up to drow expectations. The Complete Book of Elves by Colin McComb focuses some of its attention on the drow. The Elfwar is presented, an elven myth in which the elves were one people until the Spider Queen Lolth used the dissent among the elves to gain a foothold; the elves of Lolth took the name Drow to signify their new allegiance, but as they massed to conquer the other elves, Corellon Larethian and his followers drove Lolth and her people deep into the earth, where they chose to remain. The dark elves who became the drow were originally simply elves who held more with the tenets of might than those of justice, and as they quested for power they became corrupted and turned against their fairer brethren. Dark elves rarely produce half-elves, as they would slaughter any fool who trusts them. Drow infravision is described as so intense that their eyes actually radiate heat; therefore, a character viewing a drow through infravision would see two burning eyes atop a normally glowing torso. Any elf character of good or neutral alignment, even drow, is allowed into the realm of Arvanaith where elves go upon reaching old age. The book notes that drow player characters have a large number of benefits while suffering few disadvantages, but that "the major disadvantage to being a drow is being a drow." Drow characters are extraordinarily dexterous and intelligent, but have the typically low elf constitution; also, their personalities are described as grating at best, and all other elves hate the drow which affects their reactions to a drow character.

Forgotten Realms
1991's The Drow of the Underdark, a 128-page sourcebook all about the drow, expanded the drow significantly for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition version of the Forgotten Realms setting. The first chapter explains "The Nature of Dark Elves", augmenting the information in the Monstrous Compendium entry. It describes their variable physical builds, their alert and inquisitive intelligence, their highly developed senses, the personal magic that all drow are trained in; it also details drow wizards (the most dangerous drow likely to be encountered outside the Underdark), as well as the driders, misfit drow who have failed a test of Lolth. Dark Elven Society is detailed in the second chapter. Drow society, being strongly matriarchal, allows the females to hold all positions of power in the government, and to choose and discard mates freely. Social station is the most important thing in drow society, making ascension to greater power a drow's ultimate goal. Drow have a strong affinity for arachnids, as most worship the spider goddess Lolth, and spiders dwell freely among drow communities. The third chapter details "Drow Religion" in the Forgotten Realms setting; as the majority of drow worship Lolth (or "Lloth", formerly known as Araushnee in ancient times), they simply don't speak of or recognize those who do not. Drow deities in this world include Eilistraee, the "Dark Maiden", the goddess of good-aligned drow, and of song, dance, swordwork, and hunting; Ghaunadaur, That Which Lurks (also known as "The Elder Elemental Eye"), a tentacled dark purple blob served by ropers and patron of oozes and all things subterranean; Lolth; and Vhaeraun, the god of thievery and the patron god of drow males in opposition to the matriarchy of drow society. "The High History of the Drow" in the Realms is revealed in the fourth chapter, detailing the descent of the Ilythiiri (the original "Dark Elves") of the southern jungles into the underground, and their dark wars as they became the drow they are today. The fifth chapter details 27 new "Drow Spells" for both wizards and priests; the sixth chapter includes dozens of "Drow Magical Items", some of which previously appeared in first edition AD&D sources; the seventh chapter details "Drow Craftwork", discussing their unique clothing and weaponry, their poison, as well as mining and engineering, and drow artisans. The eighth chapter briefly describes "Drow Language", while the ninth chapter goes into "Drow Nomenclature" by providing example female and male given names and drow house names, and the tenth chapter provides "A Selected Glossary of Deep Drow". "Dark Elven Symbols" are described in the eleventh chapter, including drow runes such as way-marker runes, sacred glyphs, house defense glyphs; the twelfth chapter, "The Spider and the Axe: War in the Depths" details an "ideal longterm camapaign setting" involving a war between drow and dwarves; the thirteenth chapter provides a brief look at "The Underdark", but advises readers to see the Queen of the Spiders series and the Dwarves Deep sourcebook for further information. The fourteenth chapter provides game statistics for several "Monsters of the Underdark" that associate with drow, or compete with them, including the deep dragon, the myrlochar, the deep rothe, the yochlol, and several species of spider and spider-like creatures. According to The Complete Book of Elves, drow are not welcome in Evermeet and are turned away.

Abilities
With the ability to resist magic and powerful darkvision, drow are more powerful than many of Dungeons & Dragons's races. Drow are naturally resistant to magic. They also possess darkvision superior to most other supernatural races. Drow have the ability 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. Female Drow are naturally inclined to priestly magic and males are naturally inclined towards arcane magic. Like other elves, they are more dexterous than humans, but have a weaker constitution. 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 also naturally excel at moving silently.

Reception
...today you can hardly mention the drow in the presence of gamers without sparking an argument. Some players love playing drow characters, while other players won't play in a game that allows drow PCs. Some GMs love the concept of "renegade" drow who have turned against their sinful ways to become champions of good, while others gag and gnash their teeth over the very concept. Even the name riles up gamers-there are at least two ways to pronounce the word, and I wouldn't put it past someone to come up with a third and a fourth. No matter how vocal people get about drow, the fact remains that everyone knows them and everyone talks about them.

The drow originally created by Gary Gygax are now "essentially the drow of fantasy fiction today", according to Ed Greenwood, who also stated that "After the D&D game itself, [the drow] are arguably Gary Gygax's greatest, most influential fantasy creation." This opinion was further reinforced by James Jacobs,

"There are certain monsters that can be considered "mainstream" these days—creatures that even non-gamers seem immediately to recognize on sight... Relatively few monsters who were "born" in the game have made this jump. Ask the average man on the street if he prefers ankhegs over bulletes, and you're likely just to get a weird look. The drow are different, though."

- James Jacobs

Drow have also been proven to draw additional sales of products which feature them. While Paizo Publishing was printing Dragon and Dungeon, covers featuring drow often sold better than other issues in the same year.

The drow, especially when used as player characters, are surrounded by much controversy, especially after the release of R. A. Salvatore's novel, The Crystal Shard.

Environment
Within the context of the Dungeons & Dragons game, 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. The drow live in city-states in the Underdark, becoming one of the most powerful races therein.

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. Some magic weapons, armor, and various other items of the drow disintegrate on contact with sunlight.

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. 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. Drow have several kinds of innate spell powers and spell resistance. This is balanced by their weakness in daylight. Also, drow weapons and armor (usually made of adamantite or another metal unique to the Underdark) slowly lose their magical properties if exposed to the sun. In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition, adamantite disintegrates upon exposure to sunlight unless specifically treated. Drow also employ the unusual hand crossbow, firing small, though very lethal, darts. Half-drow are the result of crossbreeding between another race and a drow, and share characteristics of both. (The term "half-drow" usually refers to one who is half drow and half human.) Half-drow are also generally evil; however, half-drow of differing alignments are more common than non-evil full drow.

Drow males are commonly wizards or fighters. Females are almost always clerics and almost never wizards.

Alignment
As a race, drow are usually evil. Exceptions exist, the most notable being Drizzt Do'Urden, Jarlaxle Baenre, and Liriel Baenre, but these are highly unusual. (Note that even Liriel Baenre was arguably of evil alignment for the first portion of her life, only shifting to a good alignment after close relationships with several good-aligned characters.) Originally, drow were chaotic evil in alignment. Beginning with 3rd edition D&D, drow are usually neutral evil. There have been encounters with non-evil drow, but these are distrusted as much as their brethren, due to their reputation. The Drow followers of Eilistraee are the largest group of good Drow, as Eilistraee is the patron goddess of all Drow that have a good alignment.

Society
Drow society is primarily matriarchal, with priestesses of their evil spider goddess Lolth (sometimes spelled Lloth) in the highest seats of power. However in the original world of Greyhawk campaign setting created by Gary Gygax, Drow rank structure was based much more on personal experience level and proven personal abilities rather than on gender. Males were just as likely to have positions of authority over both males and females, and the tradition of Matriarchy, where the highest-ranking member was always a female, was not a special directive of the Demon Queen Lolth. The vast majority of Drow Elves both male and female in the original campaign setting of Greyhawk have no authority or ranking at all and live an idle and degenerate life in the great city of the Drow.

Drow society is based upon violence, murder, cunning, and the philosophy that only the strong survive (though in Drow tongue, a quirk of the language creates a reversal of cause-and-effect; more correctly, it can be translated as "those who survive are strong"). 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; you are very unlikely to meet an elderly Drow. 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.

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.

Most drow societies hate surface elves, but will wage war with almost any surface race and other subterranean races, such as mind flayers, svirfneblin, duergar, kuo-toa, dwarves, and orcs, for spoils and territory.

Drow in Eberron
Inhabiting the jungles and Underdark in the continental isle of Xen'drik, the drow in Eberron have a much more tribalistic culture than their other Dungeons & Dragons counterparts. They are not an offshoot of the elven race like in many other worlds but rather a separate, if similar, race. Instead of the spider goddess Lolth most tribes worship a male scorpion deity known as Vulkoor, though exceptions are common. It is believed that Vulkoor is actually one of the forms of the Mockery. The tribes are often xenophobic, and the social structure varies from tribe to tribe. It is known that the drow mastered elemental binding before gnomes did- including a cultural group of fire-elemental binders called the Sulatar. There is also a subgroup called the umbragen, or shadow elves, who worship the Mockery in the form of a scorpion god and Khyber or the Umbra, the Consuming Shadow, for whom the umbragen are named; the umbragen dwell underground beneath Xen'drik and are noted for producing many warlocks and soulknives.

Drow in Eberron run the gamut from almost feral in nature to being fully civilized and on par with the cultural level of Khorvaire, varying from tribe to tribe.

Drow in the Forgotten Realms
In the Forgotten Realms, the dark elves were once ancient tribes of Ilythiir and Miyeritar. They were transformed into drow by the Seldarine and were cast down and driven underground by the light-skinned elves because of the Ilythiirian's savagery during the Crown Wars. The drow had fallen under the influence of Araushnee, who was transformed into Lolth and was cast down into the Demonweb Pits along with her son Vhaeraun by the elven god Corellon Larethian because of Lolth's and Vhaeraun's attempt to take control of the elven pantheon (which included Araushnee's seduction of Corellon Larethian). Prior to the Spellplague descendants of the Miyeritar dark elves later succeed in reversing their transformation and are recreated as a distinct dark elf race.

The largest drow civilization is the subterranean city of Llurth Dreier (population 400,000). However, Menzoberranzan is featured most prominently in the novels.

Previously drow could also worship Ghaunadaur, Kiaransalee, Selvetarm or Vhaeraun. A special case is Eilistraee, the only drow goddess who is chaotic good instead of chaotic evil; she wants the drow to return to the light. All of these alternative deities (except perhaps Ghaunadaur) were however killed or forgotten in the last years before the Spellplague.

Amongst the most infamous of drow are the members of House Baenre, whilst Abeir-Toril is also home to some famous benevolent drow including Drizzt Do'Urden and his deceased father Zaknafein (both of House Do' Urden), Liriel Baenre (formerly of Menzoberranzan's aforementioned House Baenre), and Qilué of the Seven Sisters. The drow Jarlaxle is also well-known, as he is one of the few males in Menzoberranzan to obtain a position of great power. He is the founder and leader of the mercenary band Bregan D'aerthe. These characters are from The Dark Elf Trilogy (1990–1991), a series of books by R. A. Salvatore (except for Liriel Baenre and Qilue). The six drow in the War of the Spider Queen series have also gained some renown since the novels have been published. The drow also have a long-standing, mutual racial hatred with the gloamings, a rare race found in the pages of the Underdark supplement.

Drow in Greyhawk
In the world of Greyhawk, the drow were driven underground by their surface-dwelling relatives because of ideological differences. There they eventually adapted to their surroundings, especially by attracting the attention of the goddess Lolth, "Queen of Spiders". The center of drow civilization is the subterranean city Erelhei-Cinlu, and its surrounding Vault, commonly called the Vault of the Drow.

Known drow of Greyhawk include Clannair Blackshadow, Derken Gale, Jawal Severnain, and Landis Bree of Greyhawk City; Eclavdra of House Eilserv; and Edralve of the Slave Lords.

Some drow, especially of the House of Eilserv, worship a nameless Elder Elemental God (said to have ties to Tharizdun) instead of Lolth.

Drow in other campaign settings
Different campaign settings portray drow in various ways.

In the Dragonlance setting, Drow do not exist; rather, "dark elves" are elves who have been cast out by the other elves for various crimes, such as worship of the evil deities. Dalamar, a student of Raistlin Majere, is the most notable of Krynn's dark elves. However, over the years Drow have accidentally appeared in a few Dragonlance modules and novels. Similar mistakes have occurred with other standard AD&D races, such as orcs and lycanthropes, which are not part of the Dragonlance setting. Some theories say that these rare Drow may have accidentally been sent there during a plane shifting spell or related magic, a misfire as like as not that is corrected before the respective timelines are tampered with too drastically.

In the Mystara / "Known World" setting, shadow elves are a race of subterranean elves who have been mutated via magic. Aside from living underground, they have nothing in common with Drow and are not known as Dark elves.

In Mongoose Publishing's Drow War trilogy, the drow are recast as lawful evil villains and likened to the Nazis. The author of the series has stated that this was a deliberate reaction to the prevalence of renegade, non-evil drow characters.

Drow appear as a playable race in Urban Arcana, which is a d20 Modern setting based on Dungeons & Dragons. They are shown as very fashionable, often setting new trends. The symbol for most drow is a spider, and they often take the mage or acolyte classes.

A supplement book about the drow was produced by Green Ronin Publishing called Plot & Poison: A Guidebook to the Drow in 2002 and is based on the d20 System. It introduces several drow subtypes including aquatic drow and vupdrax (or winged drow) plus fleshes out drow life, such as how they treat slaves of the various fantasy types like elves and humans. Wizards of the Coast, seeing the heavy sales of the GRP supplement, released their own supplement book called Drow of the Underdark in May 2007.

Drow in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting used to be elves but stayed on Golarion when the other elves left the world. Over time, the remaining elves turned into drow by powerful magic, and at this time any elf who is evil enough can spontaneously turn into a drow. The existence of drow in Golarion is virtually unknown to non-elves. Drow are also the main antagonists in the Second Darkness Adventure Path.

Related creatures
Like elves, drow have other creatures associated with them either by environment or by blood. The drider is one of the most often cited examples, but it is not the only one.

Draegloths
Draegloths are half-demon, half drow monstrosities. Found in any campaign setting, they are particularly numerous in the Forgotten Realms. They are created by the unholy union between an ascending high priestess of the drow goddess Lolth and a glabrezu.

Draegloths are about ten feet tall and have four arms, the upper pair being much larger than the lower. They have large claws on the upper arms and they use them for hand-to-hand combat, for they usually prefer the feeling of tearing flesh and sinew under their claws and fangs. Their face is stretched so it resembles that of a dog. Their flesh is as dark as a drow's, and they are covered in a fine coat of fur; they also have a white mane. They are sacred creatures to the Lolthites and are usually treated with respect.

Triel Baenre of Menzoberranzan, in the Forgotten Realms, had a draegloth son, Jeggred.

V3.5 statistics for the draegloth can be found in Drow of the Underdark.

Game products

 * Sernett, Matthew. Plot and Poison: A Guidebook to Drow (Green Ronin Publishing, 2002). ISBN 0-9723599-2-3