Evil Drow -> Good Drow [Archive] - Wizards Community

Evil Drow -> Good Drow [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DizzyDawg
10-16-04, 01:44 AM Below is a character outline I've created for my character, Wzzurcis Mauviir. His class is cleric 3/wizard 4/mystic theurge 10, and his race is Drow. The campaign setting is Eberron. We are using standard Eberron deities only, and as noted before, the gods do not care if your alignment becomes opposite of their own. They grant spells to you just as before.

To create a story for a Drow of good alignment, I chose to have him begin the way of all Drow, adhering to an evil ethos. It was not a matter of motivation but rather a societal preference. Not being evil in a city of Drow is just welcoming somebody to turn you into their slave. And I didn't worry about his motivation for changing to good, as you will see. A rival made sure the character acquired a Tome of Opposite Alignment; a clever trap to get rid of a Drow foe without dirtying your hands.

I'm open to any comments, criticisms, ideas to build on my outline, etc. Writing is not a problem for me. But before starting it is nice to develop the ideas to their fullest potential to create an intriguing story for the reader. Actually, in this case its essential to being admitted to the campaign.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Character Background Outline (Wzzurcis Mauviir):

Note: The campaign world is Eberron. This means that even when you reverse alignments, your gods still reward your prayers

with spells (Eberron campaign book pg 35).

Part 1: Evil Past
Para. a: The birth of evil - growing up among the Drow
Para. b: Knowledge - the path to power.
Para. c: The growth of curiousity and rise to prominence
Para. d: Its lonely at the top, especially if you're a Drow
Para. e: Conflict - enemies abound both known and unknown

Part 2: Transformation
Para. f: Poison in a Pretty Package
He is lured into reading a Tome of Opposite Alignment by another Drow who wants him eliminated. Its a nonviolent means of ridding yourself of a rival who's another Drow. Magics heavily disguise the book so it can't be detected as a trap. The book alters its text to make itself attractive to whomever picks it up, describing a subject they're interested in. So the book is a 'Study in Methods of Psychological Tortures'.

Para. g: Sowing the Seeds of Destruction
To properly understand the means of applying psychological tortures to good-hearted prisoners, its neccessary to understand their way of thinking. Its a sensible position, and so as the book gives tantalizing hints at various tortures. Each day of study plants seeds of destruction within the psyche of the reader. Unknowing and unfelt by the reader, these spread each day and devastate the beliefs of the reader more and more, concluding their work when the last page of the book is finished. The book vanishes at that point.

Para. h: Submit or perish!
The reading is completed, and suddenly the cognitive dissonance is too much to bear. A lesser character would submit, but a high level Drow wizard-priest? There is always the alternative of driving a dagger into your own heart, or jumping into a bottomless abyss. But the struggle inside of his violated mind will not stop until he changes alignments (LE to CG) or dies.

Para. i: Appraisal and Escaping the Nightmare
The reader submits, his attitudes change. What have I done?! What am I doing here?! I cannot live amongst the Drow any longer; they're poisoning my mind with their evil! The character gathers what he has of value and uses his magic to escape to the surface world.

Part 3. Good Present
Para. j: The Quest for Knowledge - Stranger in a Strange Land

Para. k: Echoes of Guilt from the Past
He cannot understand why he was motivated to commit the heinous crimes of his past. His alignment is definitely CG, but he remembers the tortures he inflicted, the murders, and a host of other sins. His remembrances become more painful than a knive thrust in the gut.

Para. l: The Burden of Conscience: Absolution
He seeks atonement for his sins.

Para. m: A quest for redemption
He must perform a great quest to atone for past sins. He is very motivated to follow this course. It is too late to undo what he did in the past, but perhaps through good works he can cleanse the taint from his soul.
Murr-Quan Lord #2
10-16-04, 10:53 AM Hmm ... I hope this doesn't disrupt things too much, but one thing to keep in mind is that in Eberron, the Drow are a tribal race which lives in the jungles of Xen'drik, and are rumored to be obsessed with scorpions instead of spiders. They may have their own cities somewhere, but it will likely be different than the Menzoberranzan archetype.

Also, alignment is not "set" in Eberron, although it may be that insular Drow society keeps themselves more or less the same alignment.

I'm not sure much has been said about their peculiarities relative to other Drow, but what has been said is pretty major. *nods* Hope this helps.
DizzyDawg
10-16-04, 07:01 PM Interesting. You can see how little of the Eberron book I've really read. As far as deities, the GM wasn't very particular. He suggested Khyber as the Drowish deity, but I just put the Dark Six as my deity. I prefer pantheism to monotheism.

I'll have to check up on the jungles of Xen'drik. Unless the place is in constant gloom, I would think the racial light sensitivity does not apply. Since Drow did not appear specifically under the "Races" in the Eberron book, I didn't expect the book had much to say about them.

Thanks for the heads up.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DizzyDawg 10-16-04, 01:44 AM	Below is a character outline I've created for my character, Wzzurcis Mauviir. His class is cleric 3/wizard 4/mystic theurge 10, and his race is Drow. The campaign setting is Eberron. We are using standard Eberron deities only, and as noted before, the gods do not care if your alignment becomes opposite of their own. They grant spells to you just as before. To create a story for a Drow of good alignment, I chose to have him begin the way of all Drow, adhering to an evil ethos. It was not a matter of motivation but rather a societal preference. Not being evil in a city of Drow is just welcoming somebody to turn you into their slave. And I didn't worry about his motivation for changing to good, as you will see. A rival made sure the character acquired a Tome of Opposite Alignment; a clever trap to get rid of a Drow foe without dirtying your hands. I'm open to any comments, criticisms, ideas to build on my outline, etc. Writing is not a problem for me. But before starting it is nice to develop the ideas to their fullest potential to create an intriguing story for the reader. Actually, in this case its essential to being admitted to the campaign. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Character Background Outline (Wzzurcis Mauviir): Note: The campaign world is Eberron. This means that even when you reverse alignments, your gods still reward your prayers with spells (Eberron campaign book pg 35). Part 1: Evil Past Para. a: The birth of evil - growing up among the Drow Para. b: Knowledge - the path to power. Para. c: The growth of curiousity and rise to prominence Para. d: Its lonely at the top, especially if you're a Drow Para. e: Conflict - enemies abound both known and unknown Part 2: Transformation Para. f: Poison in a Pretty Package He is lured into reading a Tome of Opposite Alignment by another Drow who wants him eliminated. Its a nonviolent means of ridding yourself of a rival who's another Drow. Magics heavily disguise the book so it can't be detected as a trap. The book alters its text to make itself attractive to whomever picks it up, describing a subject they're interested in. So the book is a 'Study in Methods of Psychological Tortures'. Para. g: Sowing the Seeds of Destruction To properly understand the means of applying psychological tortures to good-hearted prisoners, its neccessary to understand their way of thinking. Its a sensible position, and so as the book gives tantalizing hints at various tortures. Each day of study plants seeds of destruction within the psyche of the reader. Unknowing and unfelt by the reader, these spread each day and devastate the beliefs of the reader more and more, concluding their work when the last page of the book is finished. The book vanishes at that point. Para. h: Submit or perish! The reading is completed, and suddenly the cognitive dissonance is too much to bear. A lesser character would submit, but a high level Drow wizard-priest? There is always the alternative of driving a dagger into your own heart, or jumping into a bottomless abyss. But the struggle inside of his violated mind will not stop until he changes alignments (LE to CG) or dies. Para. i: Appraisal and Escaping the Nightmare The reader submits, his attitudes change. What have I done?! What am I doing here?! I cannot live amongst the Drow any longer; they're poisoning my mind with their evil! The character gathers what he has of value and uses his magic to escape to the surface world. Part 3. Good Present Para. j: The Quest for Knowledge - Stranger in a Strange Land Para. k: Echoes of Guilt from the Past He cannot understand why he was motivated to commit the heinous crimes of his past. His alignment is definitely CG, but he remembers the tortures he inflicted, the murders, and a host of other sins. His remembrances become more painful than a knive thrust in the gut. Para. l: The Burden of Conscience: Absolution He seeks atonement for his sins. Para. m: A quest for redemption He must perform a great quest to atone for past sins. He is very motivated to follow this course. It is too late to undo what he did in the past, but perhaps through good works he can cleanse the taint from his soul.
Murr-Quan Lord #2 10-16-04, 10:53 AM	Hmm ... I hope this doesn't disrupt things too much, but one thing to keep in mind is that in Eberron, the Drow are a tribal race which lives in the jungles of Xen'drik, and are rumored to be obsessed with scorpions instead of spiders. They may have their own cities somewhere, but it will likely be different than the Menzoberranzan archetype. Also, alignment is not "set" in Eberron, although it may be that insular Drow society keeps themselves more or less the same alignment. I'm not sure much has been said about their peculiarities relative to other Drow, but what has been said is pretty major. nods Hope this helps.
DizzyDawg 10-16-04, 07:01 PM	Interesting. You can see how little of the Eberron book I've really read. As far as deities, the GM wasn't very particular. He suggested Khyber as the Drowish deity, but I just put the Dark Six as my deity. I prefer pantheism to monotheism. I'll have to check up on the jungles of Xen'drik. Unless the place is in constant gloom, I would think the racial light sensitivity does not apply. Since Drow did not appear specifically under the "Races" in the Eberron book, I didn't expect the book had much to say about them. Thanks for the heads up.