Drow (starting race)

Drow, sometimes known as "dark elves", are a playable race of hero that appears in some variants of NetHack. They are most commonly implemented as a type of elf that are dark counterparts to standard elves, with a similar spread of attribute caps.

A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:

"Major cleanup (in progress), add SlashTHEM info. Consider split a la Vampire (starting race) as well, discuss on the talk page."

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, drow serve as chaotic same-race counterparts to the elves: the elves of SLASH'EM are usually lawful and can be played as lawful or neutral, as opposed to being chaotic like in NetHack. Drow can take the roles of Barbarian, Flame Mage, Ice Mage, Necromancer, Priest, Ranger, Undead Slayer, or Wizard.

According to the Guidebook:

Drow are the dark elves of the sunless realm. Well-suited to the dungeon environment, they have much in common with standard elves, but their specialty is their sleep attack.

Racial benefits and restrictions

For other qualities of drow monsters (including the hero) in this variant, see Drow (monster attribute)#SLASH'EM.

A drow hero engaging in bare-handed combat can sometimes put monsters to sleep, and like elves they gain sleep resistance at experience level 4. Unlike elves, drow heroes do not have infravision and cannot be seen via infravision themselves, and they are also incapable of two-weapon combat.

Attribute caps

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
18	18	16	20	20	18

Like elves in SLASH'EM, drow excel in mental attributes and are tied for the highest intelligence and wisdom caps at 20, while their strength has the lowest cap at 18, tied with elves and hobbits. Drow are also tied with elves for the lowest constitution cap at 16.

Strategy

The drow's sleep-inducing bare-handed attack make them enticing for players new to SLASH'EM: during the early game, drow characters survive well if they know when to fight bare-handed, and can keep monsters asleep with repeated strikes - this also enables them to more effectively fight multiple opponents or flee into a corridor as necessary. Drow with high bare-handed combat skill and fortunate enough rolls can even take down shopkeepers in hand-to-hand battles without taking a hit. The trade-off for this remarkable power is the lower damage output imposed by the inability to two-weapon, as well as the limits on attribute shared with standard elves.

A droven Barbarian is an easy race-role combination that allows the player to begin fighting bare-handed before switching to a better weapon like a battle-axe or an artifact weapon.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, drow have several substantial differences from elves, when begins as early as starting alignment: female drow heroes start the game as chaotic, while male drow or "hedrow" heroes are neutral. The quest a drow hero undertakes also differs between genders as well, and is also dependent on their role.

Drow can take the role of Anachrononauts, Binders, Convicts, Healers, Madpeople, Nobles, Pirates, Priests, Rogues, Rangers, Troubadours, or Wizards.

Racial benefits and restrictions

For other qualities of drow monsters (including the hero) in this set of variants, see Drow (monster attribute)#dNetHack.

Drow can see perfectly in the dark, but cannot see into lit areas and are virtually 'blind' in the light: light-blindness is much different from ordinary blindness in that a drow hero can still see (and thus will not have intrinsic telepathy trigger), but can only see items and engravings directly at their feet, along with items in their own inventory. Drow heroes can create a patch of darkness using the #monster extended command, which costs up to 10 energy (or all of it if their maximum energy is below 10).

Attribute caps

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
18	20	16	20	18	20

Drow and elves share similar attribute caps, including boosted dexterity (20 compared to 18 in NetHack), but exchange their higher wisdom for higher charisma.

Starting equipment

Drow have several replacements made to the starting equipment of their role, and often have different starting inventory outright from their counterparts of other races.

Armor

Droven armor (both droven plate mail and droven chain mail) is made of a material that degrades when exposed to light, eventually evaporating completely. Fixed droven armor still evaporates, but will regenerate while in the dark. Unfixed droven armor does not regenerate. Cloaks with magic cancellation protect against the light, so a MC3 cloak is a virtual necessity when exploring lit rooms. It is worth it to try to keep your starting armor intact. Both armors are non-metallic, low weight, and offer high AC. Droven chain mail also boosts spellcasting. Most drow begin play with one of these types of armor.

All Drow start with a droven cloak made of spiderwebs. These cloaks offer no AC but give level 3 magic cancellation. Droven cloaks can be (a)pplied to an adjacent square to create a web there. Each use of the cloak lowers its magic cancellation by 1. If it reaches MC0, the cloak is used up. The cloak may also be applied at an existing web to remove the web and restore MC to the cloak.

Weapons

Droven weapons deal high damage, but are made of fragile obsidian, meaning they will shatter if thrown or (in the case of droven crossbow bolts) fired. All starting droven weapons are coated in sleeping poison.

The lone exception to this is the droven crossbow, which is made of more durable stuff. Droven crossbows also bear the silver holy symbol of Lolth, so they deal an additional 1d20 silver damage if used to bash silver-hating creatures.

Rings

All drow also begin play with a droven signet ring. This is a new randomized appearance for rings, so its magical properties vary from game to game, but all signet rings function as poison-injection rings: when #dipped into an eligible potion, the ring absorbs 30 doses of poison, which can be inflicted on opponents through barehanded combat while wearing the ring. If two signet rings are worn, both apply their poison. The signet rings given to starting drow are pre-loaded with sleeping poison.

Signet rings are guaranteed to be of a valid type for starting players. All drow can reach grand-master level in unarmed fighting.

Signet rings also bear specific crests, and sometimes the holy symbols of drow deities. Rings engraved with the holy symbols also count as silver rings when attacking silver-hating monsters. Rings that have a spiderweb design on them add +5 to unarmed attacks.

Starting pet

The default starting pet for a drow hero has a ²⁄₃ chance of being a cave spider, and will otherwise be a baby cave lizard. Drow Healers instead start with a tame knight; hedrow Nobles start with a saddled small cave lizard, while other drow Nobles start with a saddled giant spider.

Lolth

Lolth is the primary drow goddess. When engraved, the name "Lolth" is a drow-specific alternative to elves' full-power Elbereth (i.e. vanilla NetHack 3.4.3 Elbereth). Like full-power Elbereth, it works on the vast majority of monsters, but not on shopkeepers, guards, the Wizard of Yendor, blind monsters, peaceful or tame monsters, the @ human or elf monster class, the elder priest, Great Cthulhu, Chokhmah Sephirah, Lamashtu and the Riders (and any monster that revives like a Rider). Like Elbereth, it only has a chance of affecting some other monsters: it has a ¹⁄₂ chance of working on Chaos, a ¹⁄₃ chance of working on Demogorgon, and a ¹⁄₉ chance of working on Asmodeus. Unlike Elbereth, Lolth does work on lawful minions, angels, and minotaurs. The downside compared to Elbereth is that if the monster is higher level than you, it will drain your alignment record, and it won't work if it is 0 or less.

Lolth does not work in the future (i.e. in the Anachrononaut quest). Lolth also does not work for characters of gnostic (void) alignment, i.e. Binders.

A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:

"Lolth also only works when following certain drow gods - detail which gods they are."

Strategy

A drow's light-blindness makes it all too easy to inadvertently attack pets and peaceful monsters, and their ability to create dark areas is often limited without the aid of other items. As a result, the first couple levels of the dungeon can be slow while waiting for power to recharge, and gaining experience will likewise take time.

Drow start with strong racial weapons and armor, though these items have some significant drawbacks as well.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, drow are considered an elven subrace similar to other variants: their starting attributes and caps are the same as other elves, they share an aversion to iron, and other elves count as the same race for purposes of cannibalism and sacrifice. Drow can play as either a Convict, Infidel, Knight, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Ranger, or Wizard - with the exception of the unaligned Infidel, drow are always chaotic.

Racial benefits and restrictions

For other qualities of drow monsters (including the hero) in this variant, see Drow (monster attribute)#EvilHack.

Drow start with sleep resistance and ultravision (allowing them to see in the dark as if it were lit), and they gain intrinsic poison resistance at experience level 5 and intrinsic searching at experience level 9. Drow characters have a natural ability to move through webs effortlessly like spiders are able to, and can cast an aura of darkness via the #monster command for 10 energy as long as they are not impaired (e.g. stunned or confused).

While drow can tolerate being in the light, they suffer various penalties while in it: their hit points regenerate three times slower, spell power regenerates two times slower, and to-hit suffers a −3 penalty across the board. In darkness, drow receive a ((XL/ 3) + 2) bonus to-hit when using drow weaponry or attacking bare-handed. Drow racial armor and weapons are made of adamantine (weapons and heavy armor) or spider silk (light armor).

Depending on the role, Drow may start with a large spider instead of the typical pet for that role. They are the only race that can tame spiders and cave lizards using food, as well as using them as steeds.

Attribute caps

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
18	20	16	20	20	18

Drow share the same attribute caps as elves in EvilHack: they excel in mental attributes and are tied for the second-highest intelligence and wisdom caps at 20, and share the same high dexterity cap of 20 with elves and many other races. While their strength cap of 18 is still low, it is still fairly high in comparison to hobbits (16) and illithids (10). est cap at 18, tied with elves and hobbits. Similarly, their constitution cap of 16 is second-lowest in comparison to the illithid's 12.

Starting equipment

Drow have several replacements made to the starting equipment of their role.

Starting pet

Drow Knights start the game with a saddled lesser nightmare, while other drow heroes start the game with a large spider.

Origin

The dNetHack implementation of the drow race is based on the drow of SLASH'EM, with the poison-injecting signet rings of the former being their answer to the latter's sleep-inducing melee attack.

Encyclopedia entries

dNetHack

Myths exist for a purpose - To explain the unexplainable.
Because man fears the unknown.

Murdering our kin. Our children.
Butchering our towns.
Devouring our flesh.
Enslaving our people.
Whispering of incest.
Desecrating our lands.
These mythical black demons with red eyes, embodying all
the sins of men.

But what if those demons truly exist?
What are they, who are they?
Do they dream?
Do they hate and love?
Do they have their own demons that represent
everything they despise and fear?

[ Drowtales, by Kern, Kite, and Bandit, Drowtales.com ]

Also known as dark elves, drow are a depraved and evil
subterranean offshoot of the elvish species.

White is the most common hair color among drow, but almost
any pale shade is possible. Drow tend to be smaller and
thinner than other sorts of elves, and their eyes are often
a vivid red.

[ DnD 3.5 SRD ]