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Written

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Greg Lynch

Open Game Content & Copyright InformationThe Tome of Drow Lore ©2005 Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduction of non-Open Game Content of this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. The Tome of Drow Lore is presented under the Open Game and d20 Licences. See page 256 for the text of the Open Game Licence. All text paragraphs and tables containing game mechanics and statistics derivative of Open Game Content and the System Reference Document are considered to be Open Game Content. All other significant characters, names, places, items, art and text herein are copyrighted by Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. If you have questions about the Open Game Content status of any material herein, please contact Mongoose Publishing for clarification. ‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used according to the terms of the d20 System Licence version 5.0. A copy of this Licence can be found at www.wizards.com/d20. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. Dungeons & Dragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States and other countries and are used with permission. Printed

in China.

Mongoose Publishing

Mongoose Publishing, PO Box 1018, Swindon, SN3 1DG, United Kingdom

info@mongoosepublishing.com

EditorChristopher Allen

Cover ArtworkVincent Hie

Interior ArtworkMartin Hanford, Vincent Hie, Sergio Villa Isaza, Vitor Ishimura, Celso Mathias, Phil

Renne, Stephen Shepherd, Ron Smith

Studio ManagerIan Barstow

Production ManagerAlexander Fennell

ProofreadingMark Quennell, Sarah Quinnell, Ashley Tarmin

PlaytestersTanya Bergen, Stephen C. Cole, Mark Gedak, Tammy Gedak, Malcolm Greenberg, Jeff Greiner, Kent Little, Leslie Lock, Joseph P. Singleton, Rob Usdin, Brian D. Weibeler, Pat Werda,

Nathaniel G. Williams

The Tomeof

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ContentsChapter 1: Introduction 4

Chapter 2: History of the Drow 6

Chapter 3: Overview of the Drow 14

Chapter 4: The Noble Houses 50

Chapter 5: The Lost Tribes 100

Chapter 6: The Drow in the Campaign 135

Chapter 7: Drow Magic and Equipment 186

Chapter 8: Creatures of the Underdeep 217

Chapter 9: Encounters in the Underdeep 237

Appendix: Character Sheet 250

Index 254

License 256

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Drem na’Koth leaned on his cleft shield, gasping for breath in the close stillness of the cave. His jet-black skin gleamed with sweat and his white hair was matted to his scalp like a web spun by a thousand insane spiders as he dragged stale air into his tortured lungs. All about him, wide-eyed and

frightened, beaten and bloodied, drow from a dozen different clans clutched each other in terror, trembling at the slightest sound.

Drem knew the drow were beaten, there was no denying that, no way to reassure himself with thoughts and plans for another push, another counterattack. It was done.

The elves of the surface had learned more of war during their own struggles against the goblins than the drow had given credit for, that much was clear. They had certainly provided the drow with ample evidence of their martial prowess during the many years of war between the cousins, the many years that had now apparently ended with the drow broken and splintered in the unknown depths of the world.

Knowledge had been the key to the defeat of the drow, Drem knew. Lack of knowledge of the surface cousins’ lore of battle, coupled with the drow’s eagreness to share the knowledge they themselves had gained fighting the goblins had conspired together to leave the drow ill-prepared when the other elves struck, when they betrayed the drow.

Ignorance of the Underdeep too had been responsible. When the drow first retreated here, Drem had favoured the decision, believing the surface elves could not hope to fight them in the caves and caverns the dark elves had inhabited so many years as they held the ground against the unending goblin hordes. He had been proven wrong and it gave him no satisfaction that the presumed wiser heads of his race had been equally mistaken. None of them were prepared for what lurked in the depths, the abomination of scaled skin and sharp teeth that laid low the mightiest of the drow with a glance and a thought. Caught between this new terror and the relentless assault of the betrayers from above, the drow had been doomed, shattered and sundered into groups like the one sprawled on the floor of the cave all around him.

Drem nodded grimly to himself with the clarity of hard-won wisdom. It was knowledge that had brought the proud drow low, whether it be willingness to freely share knowledge with the betrayers, or lack of knowledge, ignorance of what the surface elves already knew and ignorance of what terrible things laid in wait in the depths of the Underdeep.

The drow could survive here in the Underdeep, Drem was sure of it, but not without knowledge. Knowledge was a weapon mightier than any made of steel, stouter than the thickest wall. Knowledge was the one blade, hidden from the eye though it may be, that none could withstand. Knowledge was the weapon the drow must have.

First, he would start with the one thing he did know. He cast away his cleft and useless shield, forcing himself to stand up straight.

‘Come,’ he ordered the other drow. ‘If we remain, we will be found.’

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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 spider-worshipping 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.

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 stand-alone 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.

Introduction

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