I noticed from the writeup of the Drow that they get their Darkvision extended to twice the distance of other Elves. However, despite this they do not get any range in which total darkness is considered to be bright light, they simply would get dim light conditions out to a longer range, and included with that, would have disadvantage on all Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight in absolute darkness.
This seems to be to be a mistake, given the lore associated with the race, as it would imply that Drow cities would be dimly lit, but not in absolute darkness. It also seems strange that they perform optimally while in a lit environment, but not anywhere near sunlight, unless what used to be light sensitivity is being treated more as a vampiric curse-like state in this edition.
I'm wondering what other people think about this, or if I've read the rules wrong.
You're reading that correctly. The Racial Advantage of x2 distance, with the same easy to remember limitations, is enough. "Lore" notwithstanding.
CaptainPicard wrote:
I guess it's been too long, but I thought I remembered in Starless Night Yvonnel puts small candles all around the city to simulate stars, for the intended, extremely tactically poorly thought out attack on Silverymoon and Mithril Hall, and this was described as really invasive and annoying to everyone in the city, and necessary to get them used to even that level of light. The sort of Faerie Fire lights they used, like on Narbondil (the clock, if I have the wrong name), I thought were only visible under infravision. Kind of like, while Erelhei-Cinlu is certainly dimly lit, the place looks like Vegas under infravision. I figured their slaves were mainly other creatures with Darkvision, like Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Duergar.
I agree this generally works better, though, so PCs can actually move around Drow cities without being completely obvious.
Anyway, that answers my question, from a rules perspective, thanks.
Drow have always had a weakness to sunlight: it gave them penalties to hit and weakend (or even destroyed) their gear if made from underdark metals. It's not so much the brightness of the sunlight (though with the exception of some modern spotlights electric light sources aren't even as bright as sunlight, and torches and light spells aren't even as bright as electric lights).
I don't think everyone notices just how bright and different sunlight is to other light sources. It's the only source of light that makes me squint, sneeze, get headaches from (other than strobes but that's the strobe effect not the light itself), or burns my skin. I'm no drow but part of that comes from a natural photosensitivity and a tendency to live in minimal light conditions so imagine the effects for a race that's lived underground for generations.
I got around this by going Half-Elf and just calling it Half-Drow. Allows you to get most of the flavor without having to deal with Sunlight Sensitivity, and your Darkvision is just like every other standard race's Darkvision so it's easy for your DM to keep track of who can see what.
Grazel wrote:
Grazel wrote:
On an semi-related note, I absolutely love the precedence of "Dark Elves" as opposed to assumption of the term "Drow".
Dunno why. I just like the consistently found in Wood Elf, High Elf, and Dark Elf. To me, Drow are Forgotten Realms specific (which is an opinion, yes).
mrpopstar wrote:
Grazel wrote:
mrpopstar wrote:
aljergensen wrote: