Drow hit people in different ways, with some who absolutely love their evil and cruel nature, and others who can’t see past the shadows and spiders. They have been a major presence throughout many of the editions, leaving their mark across Dungeons & Dragons. From the Drow anti-hero Drizzt Do'Urden to the demon queen Lolth, the Drow can be found in the subterranean depths of the Underdark where they plot and prepare their poisons.

AD&D - Elf, Drow (Black Elves / Dark Elf)

Frequency: Very Rare (at best)
No. Appearing: 5-50
Armor Class: 4 (and better)
Move: 12” (females 15”)
Hit Dice: 2 (and better)
% in Lair: 0%
Treasure Type: Individuals: N (x5), Q (x2)
No. of Attacks: 1 or 2
Damage/Attack: By weapon type
Special Attacks: See below
Special Defenses: See below
Magic Resistance: 50% (and better); all saving throws at +2
Intelligence: Mean: highly intelligent
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Size: M (5 ‘ tall)
Psionic Ability: Unknown
Level/X.P. value: II and up/Variable

The first mention of the Drow in the Monster Manual (1977) is an underwhelming one. A sub-creature of the elf, the Drow is referred to as ‘Black Elves’ and may not be real. Legends say that they live underground, something no true elf would ever think of doing, that they are as ‘dark as faeries are bright’, completely evil, and are known as strong wizards, but weak fighters. That's it. We suppose that if you are considered to be a legend and to not actually exist, what's the point of going into more detail.

Well, it turns out they do exist and are introduced for real in the Greyhawk module G1-3 Against the Giants (1978) by Gary Gygax himself. You have to wait until G3 for the Drow to show up, though the background for G1-The Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, clues you in that strange things are afoot as a secret power is a motivation behind the giants banding together. The players probably forgot about this foreshadowing, as the following sentence informs them that they can keep all the loot they find throughout the adventure. We all know players are distracted by shiny things and magic items… and shiny magic items.

Module G2-The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, builds the tension as the players are informed that the most critical part of this adventure is to find out who or what is behind the giant alliance. We are finally introduced to the Drow in the final part of the adventure, G3-Hall of the Fire Giant King, where the adventurers learn that the Drow have promised to assist the giants. When the party, if they are still alive, make it down to the second level of the fire giant's abode, they have their first encounter with the Drow and have the pleasure of finding out more as they descend further down. Ultimately, the Drow flee at the end of that adventure, but the storyline continues in the D series, Descent into the Depths of the Earth (1978), where the party must make their way through the Underdark, culminating in the final adventure of this multi-part series in Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1980).

**Queen of the Demonweb Pits**, 1980 TSR Inc.

During the D series, the party finds out about Lolth and her importance to Drow culture, and eventually steal a golden egg of Lolth. They even have to make friends with kuo-toa during this adventure, and by friends, we mean you have to fight them to the death. Once you get past the insane fish-folk, you get to travel into the Abyssal realm and fight Lolth herself. She's considered a demon-lord, with only 66 hit points and a crazy good -8 AC. Sure, her hit points are low for a demon lord, but hitting an AC that low isn't easy even at the high levels the characters are. Add to that a long list of spells at her disposal, a poison that kills you if you fail your save, and she can heal herself three times a day… you just may want to give her the egg back and plead for forgiveness.

Throughout this adventure, we are supplied with stat blocks, lore, backgrounds, and descriptions of these new elves. This information is also repeated when they make their official appearance in a monster collection with the Fiend Folio (1981). They have some similarities to their elven brethren, having the traditional elven ears and being quite thin with delicate fingers and toes. Unlike the topside Elves, the Drow have black skin and shockingly white hair. Beyond that, there isn't much in the way of a description, so we would assume they retain all other elvish traits, except one.

The Drow are, simply put, evil. At the dawn of elvenkind, some were good and some, well, not so good. Exactly why some elves turned to the dark side isn't explained, but enough did so that there was a large war between them and the goody-two-shoes elves. They were defeated, and these cruel elves were forced to descend underground, their numbers decimated. As several generations have been born and died since then, the Drow numbers have increased to their previous heights. Now that their numbers are back, they are making their presence known even more than before; perhaps they want a second war to prove themselves.

Nope. The Drow have grown accustomed to living underground and have no desire to return to the painful sunlit skies. That doesn't mean they forgave their kin, as the Drow spend a good deal of time plotting their revenge against those that live above them. They often work with their underground neighbors to enact these plans, since sunlight is their kryptonite. Drow all take negative modifiers to their stats and attack rolls, whether it is sunlight or under the effects of a light spell, so they like to avoid even bright light which has an effect on them. If they end up fighting someone with a bit of light, the Drow abandon the fight and retreat to the comfort of darkness.

The positives definitely outweigh the negatives for the Drow. They obviously have darkvision, listed as superior infravision in the description. The Drow speak several languages, even their own unique sign language. They are rarely surprised, so forget sneaking up on them under the cover of darkness. The Drow are wicked smart, employing actual tactics when attacking, leaving you wishing for the mindless creature that only shuffles toward you in an attempt to eat you. They even have some resistance to magic as they increase in levels.

If you end up encountering them, get ready to fight a bunch of them as they like to prowl around in groups of 5 to 50. There will be a female in charge, as the god Lolth is female herself and blesses the women within Drow society more so than the men. Drow males and females are at minimum 2nd level fighters. Males can reach 7th level in this class while females can get to 9th. Those that forgo the sword for magic can become magic users, with the elite going as high as 12th level. There are a few male clerics, but plenty who are female. There is no level cap for a female drow, while the lowly male cleric maxes out at the 4th level.

Their weapons and gear also make them quite the foe, and even more so when you might encounter up to 50 of them at one time. Drow wear adamantine armor ranging from +1 to +5. This lightweight armor, the black boots, and cloaks allow the Drow to move silently. Their boots and cloaks are just like the magical items of elvenkind, and so they are incredibly quiet. We also can’t forget about their weapons. Daggers, maces, and short swords, also made from adamantine, can range upwards of +4. Some Drow have hand crossbows, other javelins, and a few have darts for their ranged weapons. The damage is terrible, but they are dipped in poison. This poison won’t immediately kill you if you fail the save, instead, you take a nap while they probably butcher the rest of your companions and think of how useful you’ll be as a slave in their subterranean homes.

Killing a Drow sounds like a chance to walk away with quite a bounty of magical items, but not so fast. A Drow's belongings are magical but more radioactive, retaining properties from the weird minerals and magic found deep underground. Your booty will maintain its powers for approximately 2 months, after which time you'll be left with a plain old dagger and a pair of mundane boots. It's even worse when you emerge from the darkness, upon which time everything will start to deteriorate. After twelve days, all your new stuff becomes utterly useless, and you're left with nothing to remember your battle by except the horrific memories.

With the release of Unearthed Arcana (1985), the Drow became a playable character race. The 1st edition had limits on what races could play what classes, and as a Drow, you could be a cleric, fighter, ranger, thief, cavalier, and magic-user. As an outcast, you don't start off with all the neat equipment listed above, nor do you have the magic resistance of those that remain underground. You do have +2 to all saving throws vs. magic effects, so there's that. In addition, you suffer from all light-based penalties, so hopefully, you spend a lot of time dungeon diving. Also gone are any combat bonuses, but they keep infravision, cannot be surprised, and can move silently like other elves.

If you are feeling a bit disappointed, we have some fun and unique abilities you also get. Once a day, you can cast dancing lights, faerie fire, and darkness. At 4th level, all Drow add detect magic, know alignment, and levitate to the list of spells they can innately cast once per day. If you are a female Drow, you also get clairvoyance, detect lie (or truth), suggestion, and dispel magic once per day at 4th level.

Of course, the Drow turns up in several Dragon Magazine articles throughout the editions. In Dragon #105 (January 1986), the article Tone Down the Demi-Humans by Len Lakofka recommends nerfing some of the new races, including the Dark Elf. Lakofka's first issue revolves around the levitate ability at the 4th level. He maintains it's too powerful and suggests Drow characters take a 10% penalty to earned experience at all times once you reach 4th level. Ouch. Next, he thinks that the female Drow needs to be nerfed because they have higher-level abilities. According to Len, female Drow should take a 20% penalty to earn experience from 3rd to 4th level, and then the same 10% penalty as male Drow.

The article Children of the Spider Goddess from Dragon #129 (January 1988) dives deeper into the Drow. The Drow are incredibly prideful creatures. They take pride in themselves first and foremost, then in their house or clan, and then finally in their race as a whole. Drow view themselves as better than all others, and each Drow thinks the house they belong to makes them the best of the best. The rivalry between houses is intense, and it is only their goddess Lolth that keeps these conflicts from spiraling out of control.

If you're a Drow adventurer, the abandonment of your clan will cause the other Drow to shun you. It's ok though, because you will have some new friends. The Drow's intense loyalty is then transferred to their compatriots, fighting to the death for them. Of course, they will still think they are better than you, so you'll be clashing with your haughty Drow teammate constantly. But at least they’ll begrudgingly take an arrow for you, all the while reminding you that if you were as good a warrior as them, they wouldn’t have to take this arrow for you. It’s an odd friendship for sure.

So what drives a Drow to abandon their underground society? It could be the pride we've been talking about. Player character Drow could prove they can handle the sunlight, making them think they are superior to others of their kind. The allure of treasure is always a motivation, especially for such typically greedy chaotic evil creatures. Whatever the reason, Drow push themselves to be the best in whatever role they decide to play. Females still make great clerics, rangers are a special breed, and fighters are considered 2nd tier. Thieves can be found in the adventuring world, but you'll be hard-pressed to find an assassin Drow. Why leave when there is so much work available in the subterranean Drow cities? Contracts are out for all the enemies of your clan, giving you plenty of people to assassinate.

2e - Drow

Climate/Terrain: Subterranean caves & cities
Frequency: Very rare
Organization: Clans, bands
Activity Cycle: Any underground, night aboveground
Diet: Omnivorous
Intelligence: High to Supra- (14-20)
Treasure: N (x5), Q (x2)
Alignment: Chaotic evil
No. Appearing: 5-50
Armor Class: 4 (10)
Movement: 12
Hit Dice: 2
THAC0: 19
No. of Attacks: 1 or 2
Damage/Attack: By weapon
Special Attacks: See below
Special Defenses: See Below
Magic Resistance: See below
Size: M (5’ tall)
Morale: Elite (14)
XP Value: Priests 975; Others: 650

**Monstrous Compendium Volume 2**, 1989 TSR Inc.

The Drow are found in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) and reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993). Their equipment and combat skills remain fundamentally the same. All the bonuses are still crazy good for the higher-level Dark Elves, and their armor, weapons, and clothing retain the bonuses from the previous edition. Female elves still hold their higher status in the Drow culture, but their additional bonuses in combat and magic have been scrubbed.

The history of how the Drow ended up underground is the same. When the elvish race appeared in the world, some were greedy and selfish jerks. In our modern-day society, we'd call them capitalists. The "good" elves fought against these "bad" elves and drove them underground in defeat. Living underground causes the pigmentation of their skin to darken, thus becoming Dark Elves… which isn’t really how that works.

The cities they live in underground are splendid if you're into dark gloom. All buildings are crafted from the stones and minerals found within their subterranean home. Even more interesting are the odd shapes many of the buildings take. In these cities, you can find all sorts of evil creatures happily roaming about with even mind flayers doing their holiday shopping in these metropolises. To top it all off, the stone gives off radiation that empowers the Drow boots and cloaks. With that much radiation, we are surprised that the Drow don't glow.

Looking at the Drow houses, they are split among several noble houses and merchant families. Everyone knows what house you belong to by the brooch a Drow wears. Nothing like having a pin that you wear with pride and makes you a target for everyone not wearing the same pin. The strong rise to the top, so the more powerful your house, the higher standing you have. You also get a slew of fancy titles that come with power, which is fantastic if you're into that type of thing. You'll probably have more servants, made up of bugbears and troglodytes, and your stables are bursting with giant lizards.

**The Drow of the Underdark**, 1991 TSR Inc.

The Drow are a big-time player in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting and even have their own book The Drow of the Underdark (1991) by Ed Greenwood. This book provides us with the most detailed look at Drow culture, society, and all things Drow in the Forgotten Realms. If you love Drow and want to learn everything you can about the Drow, this is the book for you. The book starts with the Drow appearance and society drilling down on the things we already know, such as innate magic, societal house/clan structure, and driders just to name a few.

We find out that the Drow are not limited to worshipping Lolth. Most Drow do worship the spider goddess, but some will pray to the other eleven gods like Eilistraee, goddess of the good drow, Ghaunadaur, the slime god, or Vhaeraun, the god of thievery. Each god has its own ethos, appearance, responsibilities, spells for the clergy, and more. The importance of the Drow society being matriarchal is reinforced, with females being more intelligent and physically stronger than males. Men are relegated to secondary roles in the Drow culture, such as magic users and low-level fighters. Only females get to be a priestess to their goddess, Lolth, though we aren’t sure we’d want to worship a demon-spider queen.

The book continues on with all things Drow, but also things that directly affect the Drow in the Underdark. There is a lot of information about various wars, conflicts, and how much they hate other races that aren’t their own. It also has information on the start of the conflicts, when the elves fought the Dark Elves and forced them to flee into the Underdark. The quick synopsis is that Dark Elves are evil. The other elves didn't like that and went to war. The Drow were led by Lolth and the others by Corellon Larethian. Corellon defeated Lolth in battle, driving her underground. The remaining Drow refused to bathe in the purifying sunlight that ensued. Corellon was pissed and decided that their treachery would forever show upon their faces, hence the dark skin and features. As a final punishment, Correllon sent them through a portal to live underground with their Queen, which is one way of getting rid of unwanted house guests.

If you are starting to think that Drow are just terrible, no good elves. Well, Dragon #176 (December 1991) is here to help shed some light on the non-evil Drow who follow the teachings of Eilistraee in the article If You Need Help - Ask the Drow! by Ed Greenwood and Steven Schend. It is an interestingly written piece, with the authors speaking to a Drow named Laerel. She talks about the Eilistraee's Promenade, a temple devoted to Eilistraee and her priestesses. There is also information about priestesses to Eilistraee and what strange powers they might get, like the ability to summon moonfire, a magical fire that is as bright as moon light. They also have a sacred mission by Eilistraee, and to fulfill it, they train in the arts of combat and negotiations.

If you need more Drow for this edition, it continues in The Complete Book of Elves (1992). The book gives you the option of playing as a Drow, unlocking your inner edgelord. Their abilities are pretty much the same as before, though now there is a 20% experience point cost to playing them, meaning you get 20% less experience when the DM awards it. It’s kind of harsh, but you get a ton of magic for free, magic resistance, way better darkvision than the other elves, and bonuses to your Dexterity and Intelligence. The downsides though, beyond losing out on some XP, is that you take a penalty to your Charisma and Constitution, and that bright light is just the worst. You take a lot of penalties when facing light brighter than a torch, and if you spend more than two weeks above ground away from the caverns of the Underdark, you begin losing your powers. You start to lose your magic resistance, your spells, and more until you are just a dark-skinned elf who hates the sun. It’s a tough life being a Drow on the surface, but if Drizzt can do it, we have confidence in you.

3e/3.5e - Drow

Medium Humanoid (Elf)
Hit Dice: 1d8 (4 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (+1 Dex, +4 chain shirt, +1 light shield), touch 11, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+2
Attack: Rapier +3 melee (1d6+1/18–20) or hand crossbow +2 ranged (1d4/19–20)
Full Attack: Rapier +3 melee (1d6+1/18–20) or hand crossbow +2 ranged (1d4/19–20)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison, spell-like abilities
Special Defenses: Drow traits, spell resistance 12
Special Qualities: darkvision 120 ft.
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +1, Will –1*
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 10
Skills: Hide +0, Listen +2, Search +4, Spot +3
Feats: Weapon Focus (rapier)
Environment: Underground
Organization: Squad (2–4), patrol (5–8 plus 2 2nd-level sergeants and 1 leader of 3rd–6th level), or band (20–50 plus 10% noncombatants plus 1 2nd-level sergeant per 5 adults, 2d4 6th-level lieutenants, and 1d4 9th-level captains)
Challenge Rating: 1 (see text)
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +2

The Drow appear in the Monster Manual (2000/2003), though they are a bit more streamlined, with a focus on their abilities and not their background. Most of the information is the same as the previous editions, with adjustments to fit the current edition. There's a lot of focus on the poison the Drow use, now being able to apply it to melee weapons along with their crossbow bolts. Males are typically wizards, and females are still the clerics favored by Lolth. Makes us curious why the stat block is for a lowly fighter. We'd rather see a badass cleric of Lolth and all the ways she could inflict pain and suffering on the players. Though, there are rules for how you can create a Drow NPC from scratch, since NPC and PC creation are pretty similar to one another in this edition. The biggest takeway is that they have spell resistance, bonuses to Intelligence and Charisma, and plenty of innate spells to ruin their enemies’ day.

If you are tired of waiting years into an edition before you can play as a Drow, rules for playing them appear in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001). In the Forgotten Realms, the Dark Elves are the descendants of a dark-skinned elven subrace called the Illythiiri. These Drow worshiped, you guessed it, Lolth, and the supposed good gods cursed them into their modern-day appearance.

**Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting**, 2001 WotC

For those wishing to create a Drow player, be ready for a slight disappointment. They have a level adjustment of +2, meaning that your character can only get their 1st level in a class once they reach 3rd level or have gained 3,000 XP. But, you get lots of extras for that handicap. You get innate spells, bonuses to your Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma scores, and spell resistance to keep you safe from those pesky spellcasters. On the flip side, there are more downsides than just a slower level progression as you are still affected severely by bright light. Abrupt exposure to bright light, say from a daylight spell, will immediately blind you for 1 round with no saving throw to resist. After that, you take a penalty to all attacks, saves, and checks while in bright light, so it’s a real pain to go out when the sun is shining.

We doubt you'll be surprised by how much the Drow are featured in the book Underdark (2003). They are one of the most prevalent creatures in the Underdark, making their homes deep underground. Some fun new stuff is added to the Drow's lore, background, and abilities. Drow enslaved the chitines to be their servants and experimental guinea pigs. Now free from Drow oppression, they roam the darkness, fighting their former masters. The chitines have a spider-like form, the result of generations worth of genetic experimentation by the Drow.

This book also features even more abilities that Drow can pick up, allowing DMs to create the perfect Drow to catch their players in a spiderweb. Prestige classes are special classes that are only a few levels long, but offer very specific and powerful abilities, perfect for Drow who haunt the Underdark. Arachnomancers are popular as they are all about spiders, and most Drow still worship Lolth, the spider goddess. Have fun with webs, spiders, and your new spider friends. The Drow Judicator is an evil knight filled with the divine energy of Selvetarm, the Spider That Waits, self-appointed Champion of Lolth. They are the source of envy for male Drow everywhere, as Judicators are one of the few male Drow who holds a position of power within Drow society.

In the book Unearthed Arcana (2004), Drow paragons are introduced. Drow can follow one of two paths: evil and now one of good. A Drow who follows the path of good has moved away from their innate evil nature and can appreciate the beauty and grace surrounding them. They are normally more reserved than their Drow brothers and will interact with other races with good intent instead of just trying to kill them on sight.

While the Drow are touched on briefly in the Eberron Campaign Setting (2004), the most exciting thing you should take away is that Lolth does not exist in Eberron. The Drow are shown more love in Secrets of Xen'drik (2006). Since there is no Lolth, some Dark Elves worship the scorpion god Vulkoor. As in the Forgotten Realms, Drow houses/clans exist in Eberron. The Sulatar are masters over the power of fire. The Umbragen Drow have been under siege for most of their existence and have entered into a spiritual bond with a dark force known as the Umbra to survive. Things were good for a while, but currently, all manner of evil creatures have descended upon the Drow. We guess evil pacts and magic don't last forever.

The Monster Manual IV (2006) presents a few more Drow creatures to kill players (or characters). The Lolth Sting Drow are female ninja Drow who are some of the best assassins in their culture. The Dark Sniper is an expert marksman with a bow while the Arcane Guard can wield a sword and cast spells, making them dangerous in so many ways. The last one is the Drow Priestess, who wields the most power of all the Drow, and is a willing servant of Lolth, feared by all Drow.

Finally, we have a few books updated to this edition with the Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (2007) and Drow of the Underdark (2007). Much like how they were before, one is an adventure that takes a group of adventurers down to fight Lolth and steal a golden egg, and the other is over 200 pages of all things Drow. It’s mostly a reprint or rephrasing of everything else we’ve mentioned. It does include new spells, equipment, and monsters to face off against your players who aren’t yet scared of the dark and think the Underdark would be a nice place to visit.

4e - Drow Warrior

Level 11 Lurker
Medium fey humanoid / XP 600
Initiative +13 / Senses Perception +11; darkvision
HP 83; Bloodied 41
AC 24; Fortitude 20, Reflex 22, Will 19
Speed 6
Rapier (standard; at-will) ✦ Poison, Weapon +14 vs. AC; 1d8 + 4 damage (×2)
Hand Crossbow (standard; at-will) ✦ Poison, Weapon Ranged 10/20; +14 vs. AC; 1d6 + 4 damage, and the drow warrior makes a secondary attack against the same target. Secondary Attack: +13 vs. Fortitude; see drow poison for the effect
Darkfire (minor; encounter) Ranged 10; +12 vs. Reflex; until the end of the drow warrior’s next turn, the target grants combat advantage to all attackers, and the target cannot benefit from invisibility or concealment.
Combat Advantage The drow warrior deals an extra 2d6 damage on melee and ranged attacks against any target it has combat advantage against.
Drow Poison ✦ Poison A creature hit by a weapon coated in drow poison takes a –2 penalty to attack rolls (save ends). First Failed Save: The target is also weakened (save ends). Second Failed Save: The target falls unconscious until the end of the encounter.
Alignment Evil / Languages Common, Elven
Skills Arcana +18, History +18, Insight +18, Religion +18
Str 14 (+7) Dex 19 (+9) Wis 13 (+6) Con 11 (+5) Int 13 (+6) Cha 12 (+6)
Equipment chainmail, rapier*, hand crossbow, 20 bolts* *These weapons are coated in drow poison

The Drow found in the Monster Manual (2008) seems to be hated by pretty much everyone. They are called arrogant, conspirators, and sinister, really driving home that no one really likes them. But we get it. A race of elves that live in underground cities that sounds like their personal vision of Barovia but with lots of spiders isn’t going to be the home of sunshine and rainbows.

We are introduced to four different types of Drow with the Fighter, Arcahnomancer, Blademaster, and the Priest, each one more deadly than the last. The Fighter specializes in using poison to cut down their enemies and can even surround them in darkfire, outlining their form making it pretty much impossible for the target to hide and giving everyone an easier time of hitting and hurting the creature. While the Fighters are going to be found in the frontlines, the Arachnomancer stays in the back. Some may say they are just hiding, but only until you get blasted by their ranged attacks. They sling magical webs at their enemies, immobilizing them and making it all the easier for their minions to come over and cut you down while you can’t defend yourself.

If you are able to take down the Fighters, you’ll then have to contend with the Blademasters that dance across the battlefield. They summon clouds of darkness to dodge attacks levied against them, and then close in with spinning swords that cause excruciating pain, causing you to be stunned. If you are able to surround them, they can unleash with a whirlwind attack, spreading the pain to all who dared to attack them.

At the very top of the food chain is the Drow Priest, who has the power to cause one of her allies to suddenly explode into a burst of spectral spiders. If that type of power isn’t enough to scare you off, they can also coat you in necrotic webs, darkfire, and hit you with a mace if you try to get too close. On top of that, if you do manage to hurt her, she can just transfer that damage from her to a nearby ally, healing her of any harm she has suffered. This simply means you are going to have to kill everyone else before you can finally fight the Priest, though by that time, you’ll probably have lots of exploded Drow all over you.

If you are wondering when you get to play as a Drow, the Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide (2008) and the Essentials Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms (2010) have you covered. You get a bonus to Dexterity and your choice of Wisdom or Charisma. After that, you can either conjure Darkfire yourself or summon clouds of darkness as a racial ability. While character traits might be a bit lacking, at least you don’t have to start out two levels behind everyone or suffer an experience point penalty like previous iterations of this playable race.

If you needed more Drow to throw at your players because they decided to vacation in the Underdark, Monster Manual III (2010) has you covered with five more Drow statblocks. The Drow Zealot is a massive brute, capable of challenging some of the greatest champions in the world with its massive strength and demonic spiders that explode out of it in case it dies. Anytime someone is reduced to half their hit points or less, they immediately begin taking poison damage while they remain close to the Zealot and that’s a bad place to be when they begin swinging their weapons around.

Shadowblades are apex ambush predators, biding their time as they watch their enemies flounder against their allies. They wait for the perfect time to attack, calling the shadows to help them flank their opponents and deal even more damage than by itself. The Archmage is a powerful spellcaster who can shoot bolts of abyssal energy, summon demonic influences to harm any who hurts its allies, or even sacrifice the hit points of an ally and regain spent powers and magic.

The last two have been blessed by Lolth herself, with the Exalted Consort able to call on Lolth’s Favor to teleport and distract their enemies. They can also use a powerful Darkfire to not just make creatures unable to hide, but to also burn them with vicious fire. And while you might think they like to be in the back, they are at the front lines with their longsword, slashing and cutting down their enemies. The final Drow is the Lady of Spiders, a leader of the Drow who acts more like a spider than an elf. They can cocoon their enemies in thick strands of web, shoot venom at their enemies, and even summon forth demonic spiders to do its bidding. They are scary priestesses who, while few in number, are one of the greatest adversaries a group of adventurers could ever face in the Underdark and with the Drow.

5e - Drow

Medium humanoid (elf), neutral evil
Armor Class 15 (chain shirt)
Hit Points 13 (3d8)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 10 (+0) DEX 14 (+2) CON 10 (+0) INT 11 (+0) WIS 11 (+0) CHA 12 (+1)
Skills Perception +2, Stealth +4
Senses darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 12
Languages Elvish, Undercommon
Challenge 1/4 (50 xp)
Fey Ancestry. The drow has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put the drow to sleep.
Innate Spellcasting. The drow’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 11). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: dancing lights
1/day each: darkness, faerie fire
Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the drow has disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damag
Hand Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 hour. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the target is also unconscious while poisoned in this way. The target wakes up if it takes damage or if another creature takes an action to shake it awake.

The Drow appear in the Monster Manual (2014) with the Drow, Elite Warrior, Mage, and the Priestess of Lolth. As you might have guessed, they still worship Lolth, are still evil, and enjoy using their poisons to kill their foes, be them Drow or anyone else. There is basically no change to their history, as they were banished for being jerks to the subterranean depths. Down here, they continue their worship to Lolth, building great cities with plenty of spider motifs, and enough political maneuvering and backstabbings to make a devil proud.

The Drow that appear here are pretty standard as far as their history is concerned, with changes just made to update them to the new edition. They have a few innate spells that they can cast, like dancing lights and darkness, and specialize in poisons. Thanks to their fey blood, they are resistant to being charmed and magic has no ability to put them to sleep, but we are pretty sure a hammer will still work. Also, as you can probably guess, they are sensitive to sunlight, making them a weak fighting force if exposed to its painful glare burning down on them. The basic Drow have two statblocks, either as a very weak fighter or you can through the Elite Warrior at your party. The Elite Warriors utilize poisons on their weapons to help bring down their targets, their martial ability helping them cut through most low-level adventurers. Unfortunately for you, they aren’t the ones you need to be concerned about as they have two powerful spellcasting allies.

The Drow Mage is a position reserved for privileged males who have studied magic and found great power. While females can become Mages, most end up becoming priestesses simply because the Spider Queen showers her favor on them instead of the males. The Mage is capable of casting up to 5th-level spells, with its spell list pretty thematic as far as spiders are concerned. They can cast web, black tentacles, and even cloudkill when they just want to poison a room full of political foes and not have to deal with getting tired from swinging a sword and potentially risking death.

At the top of the food chain are the Priestesses of Lolth, a position reserved only for females who have trained since birth to bring pain and cruelty to all of Lolth’s enemies. They are given the power of divine clerics, capable of casting up to 5th-level cleric spells with a focus on poison, insects, and even curing wounds though it’s probably for themselves more so than their allies. They can also summon a demon, and while a Mage can summon a sad little shadow demon, a Priestess can summon a horrific yochlol demon who looks like a yellow inkblot or a booger.

Luckily for those who have wanted to be the greatest edgelords to stride across the lands, the Player’s Handbook (2014) introduces the Drow as a playable race at the very onset of this edition. As you might guess, you get a couple of innate spells, have a sensitivity to sunlight, and your darkvision is one of the best in the game at 120-feet. This book also talks about Lolth’s corruption and how she has infected most of the oldest drow cities like in Oerth or Toril. It warns that Eberron, Krynn, and others will soon be victims within her webs, but maybe you can be the hero to stand up to her demonic influence.

Without getting into spoilers, the Drow play a pretty big role within the Out of the Abyss (2015) adventure where you begin as their prisoners. From there, you get to explore the scary Underdark and regret your life choices that brought you to these sunless lands. At the end of this adventure, you’ll find yourself delving into demonic forces, that is unless the Drow kill you before then.

**Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes**, 2018 WotC

Rounding out the end of this edition is Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes (2018), featuring even more Dark Elves to bring pain and suffering to your party. This sourcebook features six additional Drow to levy against your high-level players, teaching them to fear the Drow and their spider-like tendencies. The Arachnomancer makes its reappearance, bringing with it the ability to transform into a giant spider with plenty of spells to levy at its enemies. There are the Favored Consorts, these are attractive Drow who have no other use beyond pleasure, breeding, and sometimes both. A Favored Consort has access to powerful magic up to 6th-level, for people just known for being attractive, they are quite strong foes who have no problem calling down lightning and fireballs on any who try to cause issues for the High Priestesses.

But, Favored Consorts aren’t the only protection that a High Priestess or Drow household can expect as there are also the House Captains. While they may be the weakest of all the Drow in this book, they are leaders on the battlefield, giving orders to their allies and using their whips to ‘encourage’ them to try just a bit harder. There are also the Inquisitors who are focused on finding traitors to the Drow community and making the rest of their existence as painful as possible. They are all female Drow who possess talents for finding lies, casting powerful spells, and enjoy inflicting as much pain as possible to root out the rotten people of their cities. Overseeing all other Drow within a household are the Matron Mothers who carry out the will of Lolth with a fierce fanaticism. They can cast 9th-level spells and wield several powerful magical items like a demon staff and tentacle rod, perfect for imposing fear on their rivals and making those they strike suffer.

The last of the Drow are the Shadowblades who exist outside a house of Drow. They might be assassins who sell their services to the Matron Mothers of Drow houses, or they could be rangers who protect their cities from the horrific monsters of the Underdark. They can teleport through the shadows themselves and even wield a sword of shadows, capable of exuding magical darkness where ever their sword strikes. While they may not be as powerful as some Drow you’ll face, they’ll definitely make sure you never sleep without a night light again.

The Drow have existed since almost the beginning of Dungeons & Dragons, their first appearance a new surprise to players. While many of them are demon worshipers, they don’t let that chaos flood their cities as they are highly organized under a matriarch system. They understand the value of working together to survive the hard life of the Underdark, though not enough to fully formulate their plans to bring their revenge against the goody-two-shoes elves that drove them to these dark lands. Perhaps one day, when the Spider Queen has corrupted all Drow cities, they’ll make their move against their kin, marching out of the Underdark under the cover of night.