Post/Author/DateTime	Post
vactus 12-04-07, 08:57 PM	Ok, so I've never played anything in the Underdark, let alone a drow. Starting a new high level campaign in that type of world and it was left to me to decide what I wanted to play. I was thinking (if the rolls were good) I'd play a Drow Warlock. Sound decent? Or is there another race in the underdark that would be better suited for a warlock? Starting Lvl 16. Haven't done the rolls yet but it'll be 4d6 drop the lowest. Thankfully, The Underdark Noob.
Rebel7284 12-04-07, 09:09 PM	As far as i know, drow are considered underpowered, partially due to the large level adjustment (which is even more painful for a spellcasting/invoking class). Sadly, as far as underdark goes, i only know of two great races. 1) Whisper Gnome (dont knwo if it's underdark, but it's certainly close enough in flavor) which is good for rogues and Mineral Warrior template which is great for melee characters.
eternalGM 12-04-07, 09:10 PM	Warlock was made for the drow, perfect fit and i'll tell you why! A warlock needs good Dex to succeed on his ranged touch attacks and Cha to improve the effectiveness of his invocations. By the way if you are starting at level 16 and you can include prestige classes, i reccomend seriously the blood magus from complete arcane; it ahs a requiremtn that you have to have died but if you ignore that it is TOTALLY worth it to get bloodwalk and bloody exit. Your most esteemed' eternalGM
vactus 12-04-07, 09:23 PM	I'm pretty sure if I asked my GM I might be able to fit Whisper Gnome, and I know they're good for locks... As for prestige class, I hadn't thought of Blood Magus. Didn't think it would be a good combo, but definitely an interesting idea. The only PrC I had thought of would have been Hellfire Warlock atm, but I don't want to deal with the Incarnum rules and such to deal with the con penalty. Course I could just get some wands of restoration (correct spell?) to fix that problem. Thanks for the ideas... Anyone else?
The_Shaman 12-05-07, 04:55 AM	Warlock... I guess it's okay, as far as warlocks go. DotU has a warlock PrC that may be worth your time, but I don't really think it will be necessary. Still, I'm not a fan of the class and I'd say that a drow dragonfire adept (drow and deep dragons go a long way back :P) might be better, even though the drow con modifier tends to be a problem. Give someone a taste of Tiamat's own breath and call me a liar :D . Anyway, the race is considered a bit on the weak side as Rebel said: their LA is bad for spellcasting races and their ability adjustments aren't exactly great for warriors (although drow do a decent job as swashbucklers or warblades). I'd say they do best as rogues or bards. If you're looking for a solid underdark race, the Deep Imaskari are pretty scary as mages or psions. The Duergar, strangely enough, aren't half bad - especially if you use the psionic version.
Argaud 12-05-07, 10:50 AM	I am surprised nobody has mentioned dwarves, which are likely the prevalent underdark race and perfectly adapted to the environment. Moreover they are pretty good for all non-cha dependent classes, including wizard and cleric. As it has been mentioned drow are pretty bad for LA +2. Too much LA for too little stuff that helps spellcasting, and not good synergy for stuff that helps melee fighting.
Essex 12-05-07, 11:39 AM	If you're looking for an underdark race with many of the benefits of a drow and a +2 LA, then I'd suggest Gloamings from the Forgotten Realms book Underdark (not to be confused with the general D&D book Drow of the Underdark). They're a small (bonuses to AC, attacks, and hide checks!) winged (constant 40' fly speed!) race of native outsiders (immune to charm person and free proficiency with martial weapons!) with bonuses to Dexterity and Charisma (great for Warlocks!). They've also got racial bonuses involving spells with the shadow descriptor (would this possibly apply to Warlocks?) and a bonus feat that helps them find magical portals. Although the Gloaming Racial Traits table lists them as having low-light vision (and the power to glow in the dark) instead of darkvision, you could easily argue that they should have darkvision 60' in addition to low-light vision. After all, outsiders (including native outsiders) have darkvision 60' by default (as well as the aforementioned automatic proficiency with simple and martial weapons); just because the book does not explicitly indicate that they have darkvision does not mean that they don't get it. IIRC, a Sage Advice column noted that as monstrous humanoids, Goliaths (Races of Stone) get darkvision, even though their racial traits entry left it out. If you're using the regional feats from Player's Guide to Faerun, then Gloamings qualify for their choice of one from among Fearless (immune to fear), Luck of Heroes (luck bonus to AC and Saving Throws), and Smooth Talk (smaller penalty for rushed Diplomacy check).
vactus 12-05-07, 01:01 PM	The +2LA isn't a must, just lookin for something flavorful with the warlock class. Gloaming seems really cool. I have the book so I'll check it out. I'll be meeting up with the DM tomorrow night so I'll run some of this by him along with some builds that I'm thinking of for the different races.
The_Shaman 12-05-07, 07:28 PM	See if the LA could be bought off. This is probably the biggest consideration for any drow - or gloaming, for that matter - player.
Legdiwena 12-05-07, 08:01 PM	Anyone remember the LA for the Deep Dragon Drow? Think it was Dragon Magic or Races of the Dragon.
The_Shaman 12-06-07, 07:48 AM	They didn't mention it change, so I'd think it would still be the same (+2). Still, the loss of that +2 to will saves vs spells seems a little tough... I could envision it as a +1, really, especially if you take a few points of SR off.