Drow Compendium
Drow Compendium
Drow Compendium
D
row. This text offers up homebrew elements to
flesh out and individualize drow characters and Darksong
campaigns that include drow. The Drow At 14th level, the bae’qeshel has taught you the epitome of
Compendium covers: their talents: the Darksong. As an action, while you sing on
your turn, a darkness spell is cast that you can see through
that has a radius of 10 feet and a range of 60 feet. You may
Class Archetypes: Class archetypes unique to the drow. select a number of creatures that you can see to see through
Deities & Prestige Class: The Drow Pantheon is as old as the darkness spell with you equal to your Charisma modifier.
the drow themselves, but many things have changed. Each Each round that you maintain the sphere of darkness makes
deity has a prestige class that only the highest ranking of its radius extend 10 more feet at the end of your turn you
their followers may attain. maintain it, which requires concentration and a bonus action
Monsters & Templates: There are many monsters that each turn. You may maintain the Darksong ability for up to 1
inhabit the Underdark, but a few are related directly to drow minute before it dissipates, or you may, as an action, dissipate
affairs and concerns. it yourself. At that point, roll your Song of Rest die and
Equipment: The drow are known for their magical multiply that result by your Charisma modifier and heal all
weapons and equipment, some of which are detailed here. creatures that amount within the radius of the darkness. If
your concentration is broken the effect immediately ends and
no one is healed.
Bard Colleges Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you
finish a short or long rest.
College of Bae'qeshel
The College of Bae’qeshel is an old, secretive order. They are
known as the “dark minstrels”. They practice the arcane arts
and twist magic into song and music, most known for their
healing songs. Most bae’qeshel practitioners are females,
with only one or two males ever trained in the art. Bae’qeshel
bards twist the arcane arts to mimic that of the divine to the
point some confuse them for clerics.
Bonus Proficiencies
When you join the College of Bae’qeshel at 3rd level, you gain
proficiency with one skill of your choice, medium armor, and
martial weapons.
Healing Song
Also at 3rd level, your ability to twist your music in battle
reaches new heights. Whenever you take the Attack action or
cast a spell, you may, as a bonus action, simultaneously sing
and expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to heal
yourself or a creature an amount equal to your Bardic
Inspiration die + your Charisma modifier that you can see
and is within 60 feet. The creature must be conscious and
currently have at least 1 hit point to receive healing in this
way. Constructs and undead cannot be healed in this way.
Additionally, you may use your voice as a spellcasting focus
and the verbal component to cast bard spells and cantrips
you know, but you must sing when doing so.
Charismatic Aura
At 6th level, you gain the ability to become strikingly alluring
and difficult to attack when you perform. As a bonus action or
part of an attack or casting of a spell in which you are singing
or performing, your song innately ripples over you a
charismatic aura. Up until the end of your next turn or as
long as you continuously use the Attack action, cast a spell, or
use a bonus action, you gain an armor class equal to 11 +
your Charisma modifier + your Dexterity modifier. Creatures
that are immune to being charmed ignore this new armor
class.
Divine Strike
At 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes
with divine energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit a
creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to
deal an extra 1d8 damage of the same type dealt by the
weapon to the target. When you reach 14th level the extra
damage increases to 2d8.
3
Tamed Fury
Class Archetypes At 14th level, you understand the ability to withhold your
rages when you desire. Whenever you end your rage on your
Primal Paths turn as a bonus action and you still have rounds remaining
Few drow are barbarians, although some find themselves beyond the round in which you end the rage, you may add
drawn to the rage and fury of battle. Some overly sadistic those rounds to the 10 the next time you rage before taking a
drow females enter into a rage that becomes difficult to long rest. You can only add a number of rounds to your next
abate; Drizzt Do’Urden was well known to be overcome by rage in this way equal to your Intelligence and Wisdom
his rage, dubbed the Hunter. modifiers combined. Thus, if you have 14 Intelligence and 12
Wisdom, you may only add a maximum of 3 rounds of a rage
Path of the Tamed Fury to the next rage you use before you take a long rest. Many
warriors prepare themselves for future battles by entering
For some barbarians, recklessness and abandonment are the into a rage, abating it, and using that hinge of fury in the
key to their rage. For others, they struggle with their rage. upcoming battle to prolong its effect.
Always trying to balance their fury and what it brings, those When you rage with an extended rage as per this feature,
who follow this path train in harnessing their own rage to the you do not have to take damage or deal damage within a
point where one might never know just how much anger was round to maintain the rage.
raging within them.
Furious Finesse
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you have
honed your rage enough to handle a number of weapons that
have the finesse feature to use with your rage. Select a
number of weapons that you are proficient in equal to your
Intelligence modifier (a minimum of 1). While raging, you may
apply your barbarian rage damage to its attacks. Should your
Intelligence increase, you may train one week to gain new
weapons to use in this way and as detailed below.
At 5th level, whenever you enter into a rage you may
instead opt to gain advantage on Dexterity checks and
Dexterity saving throws instead of Strength checks and
Strength saving throws. You cannot change this until you
enter into a new rage.
At 9th level, whenever you use the Reckless Attack class
feature, you may use your selected weapon that has finesse
and thus gain advantage on a melee weapon attack roll that
uses Dexterity.
Fury
At 6th level you learn how to utilize your rage to push yourself
to your physical limits. When you rage you may choose to
enter into a fury. When you do so, for the duration of your
rage you can make a single melee weapon attack as a bonus
action on each of your turns after this one. When your rage
ends, you suffer one level of exhaustion.
Furious Movmenet
At 10th level, whenever you opt to take the fury class feature
during a rage, you may use the Dash action as a bonus action
so long as you aren’t wearing heavy armor.
Current Events
Eilistraee is the daughter of Lolth and brother of Vhaeraun.
She self-exiled herself from Arvandar to be among her kin to Prerequisites
serve as a beacon of hope and goodness from the drow, trying In order to advance into and as a sword dancer, you must
to aid them in their escape of the Spider Queen’s web. meet the following prerequisites (in addition to the
Recently, it was believed she slew her brother, Vhaeraun in multiclassing prerequisites for your existing class):
combat, absorbing his portfolio and becoming the Masked Dexterity 15. Sword dancers need to be agile, graceful,
Lady. In this new form, she adopted many new worshippers and fluid in their precise movements.
and battled the Spider Queen herself for sole divine Charisma 15. To rise to such a leadership in the faith of
dominion over the drow. Eilistraee requires a charismatic persona.
Eilistraee failed. She was slain in the Material World, which Gender female. All sword dancers are female.
caused enough damage to temporarily strip her of her divine Patron Deity: Eilistraee
strength, descending her into nothing but an aspect of her At least 5 levels between bard, cleric, or paladin.
former self. Soon, however, with an alliance with Mystra, who Eilistraee choses only the most powerful and worthy of her
was also believed to be dead at the time, Eilistraee ascended priestesses for this role and the art of the sword dance feeds
to divinity again. She was seen dancing above Waterdeep, off divine magic. Many sword dancers are also bards,
calling to her faith to return to their dance. paladins, and fighters.
Having a new alliance with her also re-materialized Complete a special task. To discover whether one is
brother, Vhaeraun, Lolth’s children are fully united in their worthy or not, you must do one of two things. You can locate
new offense against the Spider Queen and her cruel web of a singing sword and dance with it, seeing if Eilistraee choses
deceit and subjugation of the dark elven race. to imbue you with the understanding of all it takes to be one
of her sword dancers. Otherwise, you must dance naked
under the moonlight each night for 30 days consecutively. If
Prestige Class: you are worthy, you will slowly feel the presence of another
dancing with you whom you believe to be the Dark Maiden
The Sword Dancer herself. At this point, you may advance as a sword dancer.
Eilistraee’s elite order of priestesses are known as the sword
dancers. They are the graceful, battle-ready females who are
often known to carry the ancient swords of Eilistraee’s faith: Divine Domain Variant: Moon
the singing swords. Sword dancers are expected to lead the Domain
fight in bringing drow and other creatures with good intent The Light Domain is clearly designed for the more
into the World Above. They nurture beauty, music, and are sun-oriented light abilities. Eilistraeeans, instead,
always ready for a hunt or helping others. Most sword change the effects created as that of moonlight.
dancers are drow or half-drow, although some surface elves Additionally, all spells cast through this domain
deal half fire and half radiant damage, instead of
and half-elves have been known to take up a singing sword
just fire damage, if they don't already.
and have become sword dancers if they are worthy. Spell Swap. Exchange flaming sphere for moon
beam.
Ritual Casting
You can cast a sword dancer spell as a ritual if that spell has
the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared, but you must
dance during the ritual to cast a spell with the ritual tag as a
ritual.
Sword Song
At 1st level, you may attune yourself to a particular sword
(magical or not), a process that takes ten days. During this
time, you must be wearing or holding the sword for at least 8
hours each day, and if you are interrupted you must start over.
You may be attuned to only one sword in this way at a time.
Beginning the process of attuning another sword negates the
ability of the previously attuned sword. Attuning a sword in
this way takes up a magical item attunement slot.
Once attuned with this sword as described above,
whenever you wield the blade it sings to you heroic songs
when you are in battle. If not already, the sword becomes a +1
magical sword. In battle, as a bonus action, you may activate
its singing abilities. When activated, you and all allies within
30 feet of you, or the sword if it is dancing, gain advantage to
resisting Charmed and Frightened conditions as the singing
blade counters these effects, inspiring you. Additionally, as a
bonus action, you may give a Bardic Inspiration (1d8) die to
you or an ally as per the Bardic Inspiration ability so long as
the sword is within 30 feet of you. Once you decide to do so,
roll a 1d6. You may give another Bardic Inspiration (1d8) die
in that many turns. As a bonus action, you may silence the
blade from singing. Your sword can sing only a certain
number of turns before exhausting its magical energies,
which is up to 1 minute or 10 rounds (not counting the turn
you silence it). After a long rest, regains all used rounds to
sing again.
Zone of Desecration
At 7th level, yathrishnees are constantly surrounded by an
aura of negative energy. You have a 60 foot radius aura that
surrounds you, making all creatures feel a sense of
uneasiness or frustration while within it. Your aura also
bolsters your undead allies and minions. Any undead within
your aura gains 1 temporary hit point per hit dice. They must
remain within your aura to retain these temporary hit points.
As an action, you may reimpose your aura, thus having
undead regain the temporary hit points from this effect,
should they have lost any. Additionally, all undead have
advantage when resisting being turned while within your
aura.
Keening
At 10th level, you have unlocked the ultimate ability of the
yathrishnee: the wail of the banshee. As an action, you may
unleash a tormenting, cruel, malevolently enchanted magical
keen in which all creatures that are not undead within 30 feet
of you, excluding yourself and other yathrinshees, must
succeed at a Constitution saving throw or immediately drop
to 0 hit points as their soul is severed from their body.
Creatures that succeed their saving throw take 4d6 necrotic
damage as the dark, magical energies still tear through them.
Once you use this feature you may not do so again until you
finish a long rest.
Ooze Form
At 3rd level, you have discovered That Which Lurks has
bestowed you the ability to burn away your form like wax and
become an ooze. As an action, you may turn into a gray ooze.
You can stay in your ooze forms for a number of hours equal
to half your level in slime lord (rounded down). As a bonus
action, you can revert to your normal form. You automatically
revert if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die.
While you are transformed, follow the same rules that apply
to the druid’s wild shape class feature (page 67 of the Player’s
Handbook). If you revert back to your normal form for
whatever reason, all split oozes remain behind and act as
though they are Charmed by you for 1 minute. Afterwards,
they behave normally and will likely attack you or the nearest
creature.
Spider Affinity
At 1st level, all high priestess of Lolth have an affinity with
spiders and spider-like creatures. You are immune to all
venom and poisons from spiders and spider-like creatures,
unless Lolth wills otherwise. Additionally, you may
communicate telepathically with arachnids and spiderlike
creatures of all kinds so long as the creature has an
intelligence score of at least 1. Normal spiders never attack or
harm you unless magically controlled.
Whip of Fangs
Also at 1st level, you gain a whip of fangs, also known as the
snake-whip. This weapon is a whip that has the head of a
viper, or somtimes the head of more than one depending
upon the strength of the high priestess. How you attain this
weapon can differ. Choose one option below as your method
of attaining your whip of fangs and let your DM know.
Gift. You are given a snake-whip by a fellow priestess,
usually another high priestess or one that belonged to a fallen
cleric of Lolth. Should this gifted whip of fangs have more
than one head, all heads fall off but one as you attune yourself
to it. It shoudl be noted, however, that gifts from drow are
never given freely and come with a price.
Ritual. You create your own whip of fangs through a
magical ritual that requires eight days of constant, strenuous
prayer in which you sacrifice an intelligent creature for seven
days and then prostrate yourself to the Spider Queen on the
eighth day. If you are worthy, she gifts you with the whip and
you are automatically attuned to it.
Webspinner
At 2nd level, you are highly attuned to magical and natural
webbing. You ignore all difficult terrain effects from natural
and magically created webbing. Additionally, you may cast the
web spell as an action. Once you cast the web spell in this
way, you may not do so again until you finish a short or long
rest.
Ritual
At 4th level, you start to develop more prowess with the dark
rituals of the Spider Queen. As you level, you gain access to
more rituals. See each ritual description for their details.
Regardless, each ritual requires either 500gp in material
costs and the sacrifice of an intelligent creature of a
Challenge Rating of at least 4.
You may only perform a ritual once before you must wait After the ritual, you maintain telepathic communication with
eight days to try again. Thus, if you attempt to summon a the zin-carla so long as you two are on the same plane of
yochlol, you must wait eight days before you can attempt a existence. After the ritual and then once after each dawn, you
drider conversion ritual. must make a Concentration check against the creatures
Wisdom saving throw. If you succeed, the creature is under
Summon Yochlol your control as per the dominate monster spell. Control over
At 4th level, you gain your first ritual. You can summon a the zin-carla is severed should either of you travel to a
handmaiden of Lolth herself. You may use this ritual to gain different plane.
insights into Lolth's will, request the aid of one of her If control over the zin-carla is ever lost, either by planar
handmaidens (a dangerous request), or whatever scheme you travel or by the creature succeeding its saving throw, the
may be devising. Yochlols are signs of Lolth's favor and the telepathic link is destroyed and the creature becomes a free-
capability of summoning one successfully is usually a willed undead with the sole purpose of seeking vengeance
boastful moment for drows and drow houses. against you. It gains the supernatural ability to know your
Time. This ritual takes 10 minutes to cast. exact location and how to get to there from where it currently
Religion Check. At the end of the 10 minutes, roll a is. Should the zin-carla kill you, it crumbles to dust. Should
Religion skill check. If you roll below an eight, you take 2d10 you die before it can kill you as it is seeking vengeance, it
necrotic damage as the ritual's magic eats away at your flesh becomes a free-willed undead.
and soul. Lolth is disappointed by you. If you roll a nine or Time. This ritual takes 8 hours to complete.
above, the ritual succeeds. If your check was above 25, the Sacrifice. You must use the creature sacrificed for the cost
yochlol regards you respectfully. of the ritual as the creature you are applying the zin-carla
Result. If your check succeeds, a yochlol is summoned template to.
before you. It may attack you, aid you, offer you advice, or any Autonomy. Although the zin-carla creature is dominated
other reaction it desires. Usually, yochlols regard high and subject to your will, it is still an independent creature. It
priestesses of Lolth with a modicom of respect, although this can act, think, and talk anyway it would like that otherwise
is usually dependent on the whims of Lolth herself. Yochlols does not disobey your commands through its domination.
are not favorable to freely offering combat aid, usually,
although its possible to persuade them. Drider Conversion
At 8th level, you gain your third ritual: the ability to convert
Zin-carla drow and half-drow into driders. You choose a creature to
At 6th level, you gain your second ritual. You can create a sacrifice (see below) and apply the drider template to them.
special form of undead, called the zin-carla, which means This is an agonizing, painful ritual in which a creature is
"spirit-wraith". This applies the zin-carla template (see the utterly destroyed and maimed in dark, cruel energies and
Monsters and Templates section of this text) to a creature contortion of their old body.
that you ritualistically murder with a dagger that is blessed by Time. This ritual takes 8 hours to complete.
a cleric of Lolth, usually done by the high priestess Sacrifice. You must use the creature sacrificed for the cost
performing the ritual. of the ritual as the creature you are applyign the drider
template to. The creature must either be a drow or half-drow
of Challenge Rating 4 or a character of 6th level.
Dogma
War is the ultimate expression of individual power, and only
through battle and death can you realize the respect of your
comrades. Hone your fighting skills constantly and teach
those who will follow into the fray. Never give or receive
quarter, and hope to die amid the bloodlust of battle against
overwhelming odds.
Current Events
Selvetarm is the loyal grandson of Lolth, son of Vhaeraun
and Zandilar the Dancer. Long ago Selvetarm was tricked by
Lolth into battling Zanassu, a demon lord who claimed
dominion over spiders. In his battle with Zanassu, Selvetarm
absorbed his demonic energy, becoming much like him and
simultaneously became bound to Lolth's service.
Selvetarm battled his father during the Silence of Lolth
when the Masked Lord attacked his mother in her weakend
state. The battle was a stalemate.
Before the Spellplague, a Darksong Knight, named
Cavatina Xarann, entered the Abyss and battled Selvetarm,
slaying him with the ancient artifact known as the Crescent
Blade. He was believed to be dead for some time, until after
the Sundering the vestige of his divine energies was re-
created. Some believe it to be the will of Lolth, others think it
other matters entirely.
Regardless, Selvetarm serves as the one who gifts male
drows who serve Lolth with divine spells. Should any male
cleric of Lolth think she is giving him spells he is actually
recieving them from Selvetarm.
Prestige Class:
Judicator
A mortal imbued with fiendish cruelty, the drow judicator is a
knight most foul. This unholy warrior is steeped in the divine
energy of Selvetarm, the Spider That Waits, self-appointed
Champion of Lolth. Consort of demons and demonic
arachnids, the drow judicator is hated and feared by all,
especially other male drow who are jealous of the heights of
power to which he has risen.
Drow judicators must make an unholy pledge to Selvetarm
and then survive the rites of entry to adopt the prestige class.
At least a little schooling in spellcasting is required, but only
the toughest and meanest sorcerers and wizards can survive
the entry requirements. Clerics often attempt to take on the
drow judicator's mantle as well, as do fighters, rangers, and
rogues who have taken levels in spellcasting classes.
Typically, an NPC drow judicator serves a higher-ranking
cleric of Lolth, although he chafes to be the sole authority.
Drow judicators and assassins usually fill out the ranks of a
high priestess's hand-picked murder team.
Class Features
As a judicator, you gain the following class features
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d10 per judicator level
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constituion
modifier per judicator level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: None
Tools: None
Saving Throws: None
Skills: None
Equipment
You gain no additional equipment for joining the judicator
prestige class.
Selvetarm's Wrath
At 4th level, you gain the ability to enter into a wrathful state
where you can endure a long, strenuous battle against
overwhelming odds. As a bonus action, you declare your
wrathful state. Once you do, you add your judicator level as
bonus damage to any damage roll you make from melee
weapon attacks. Additionally, you may use bonus actions to
make one additional melee attack. This wrathful state lasts
for five rounds or a number of rounds equal to your
Constitution modifier, whichever is higher. Once you use this
feature you may not do so again until you finish a long rest.
At 9th level, you may use this feature twice. You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Spider Steed
At 5th level, you can summon forth a fiendish giant spider to
serve as a mount. If you cannot already, you can cast a special
version of the find steed spell. When you cast this spell in this
way, you summon a giant spider that is also a fiend.
When you cast this spell in this way you may not do so
again until you finish a long rest.
Spider's Grace
Starting at 7th level, you can take on some aspects of a spider. Vhaeraun
As a reaction to having to roll a Dexterity saving throw or as a The Masked Lord, The Shadow
bonus action, you activate your spider's grace. You gain a
climb speed equal to half your regular speed. Additionally, you Dogma
gain advantage on any Acrobatics or Athletics checks, as well The shadows of the Masked Lord must cast off the tyranny of
as any Dexterity saving throws. This effect lasts for 1 minute. the Spider Queen and forcibly reclaim their birthright and
You may use this abilty twice. You regain all expended uses rightful place in the Night Above. The existing drow
when you finish a long rest. matriarchies must be smashed, and the warring practices of
twisted Lolth done away with so that the drow are welded
Judgement into a united people, not a squabbling gaggle of rival Houses,
clans, and aims. Vhaeraun will lead his followers into a
At 10th level, you earn the ability to judge others harshly and
society where the Ilythiiri once again reign supreme over the
by divine right. As an action, choose up to 8 creatures you can
other, lesser races, and there is equality between males and
see within 100 feet of you. Each creature must make a
females.
Wisdom saving throw (DC equals 15 + your Charisma
modifier) or take 1d8 necrotic damage as their body reels
from divine judgement. A successful save only halves the
Current Events
Vhaeraun has had a great deal happen recently. For centuries
damage.
he fueded with all the Dark Seldarine, trying to save drow
You may choose to expend a spell slot when you use this
from the useless and wasteful snares set by their Dark
ability to increase the damage by 1d8 per spell slot expended,
Mother, Lolth. Eventually, this led to a battle between him and
up to 5th level. Thus if you expend a 5th level spell slot, each
his sister, Eilistraee, in which Vhaeraun was destroyed and
selected creature takes 6d8 necrotic damage.
the Dark Maiden absorbed some of his portfolio, even
Once you use this feature you may not do so again until you
becoming a new form of herself: the Masked Lady.
finish a long rest.
It was believed Vhaeraun was deceased. However, after the
Sundering when Eilistraee returned, Vhaeraun did as well.
Him and his sister, who returned his portfolio to him as an
act of treaty, became partners against their mother. Now,
while ideologically vastly different, the churches of Eilistraee
and Vhaeraun work towards a common goal: save the drow
from Lolth.
M
onsters of the drow, the creatures who
are often involved in the affairs of dark
elves, are often formidable foes and
terrible to encounter. This section of
the text has two aspects: monsters and
templates.
Draegloth
Large fiend, any evil alignment
Drider Template
Creatures that wish to adopt the drider template
must be either drow or half-drow. When they gain
this template, the following changes occur:
Type. Your type becomes monstrosity.
Hit Dice. All hit dice you had that were less than
d10s now become d10s.
Ability Score Improvements. Choose two ability
scores between Strength, Dexterity, or
Constitution. Two of these scores increase by 2,
but not above 20.
Speed. You gain a climb speed equal to your
normal speed.
Size. Your size increases to large.
Spider Climb. You can climb difficult durfaces,
icnluding upside down on ceilings, without
needing to make an ability check.
Web Walker. You ignore movement restrictions
caused by webbing, magical or otherwise.
Natural Armor. You have a natural armor equal to
16 + your Dexterity modifier.
Skills. You gain proficiency in Stealth.
Bite. Your mouth enlarges slightly as your teeth
and maw drip with venom. You gain a bite attack
that may use Strength or Dexterity when
determining your melee attack roll and damage. It
deals 1d4 piecing damage and 2d8 poison
damage. If you can attack more than once during
an Attack action, you may only use your bite attack
once.
T
he drow are known for their magical gear.
Even common patrols throughout drow cities
and through the Underdark carry magical
items the empower them. There are, however,
some unique magical items that the drow are
notorious for possessing.
Whip of Fangs
Weapon (whip), uncommon (1 head), rare (2-3 heads), very
rare (4 heads), legendary (5 heads) (requires attunement)
Conclusion
Let it be noted, I do not take any creative credit for
the artwork here. I bastardized the beautiful work
found on the internet to model it after the D&D 5e
paint splash style of their work.
Thank you to to artists in the world and to The
Homebrewery for your amazing web-based
creation tool that was used to create this
document.