whitebeard wrote:Well, you could do some dark elves without changing the elven features. Technically Dark Elves are evil but you can make a really good argument for the regular appearance of a rogue elf on the surface (e.g. Drizzt Do'urden).
I could do that.
My games are all built on each other. Lolth has been slain eternally* and the Dark Elven people have been released from her mystic bonds. The Dark Ones have fallen into numerous 'successor states' with some following gods and others living godless. Regardless, there are more dark ones running around than prior to the Lolth days. The Dark Elven Empire is shattered and there are many in the kingdoms who would claim the right to rule all of the Drow.
But.... I have banned them for play at my table due to the fact they are not balanced for player character use until end game and I don't care to have a minion of dark forces on the hero team at any level of play. I guess I could allow the occasional one off character that is independent and free of such worries...
*Great game this one.
One of my NPC's in the game was a shunned demonling named Scratch. Just a tiny dude with a 'tude who would talk smack about any Demon Lord that came up. Well one day the heroes heard some smack talk about Lolth from little Scratch and they listened. (If Scratch could just get one of the Demon Lords who cursed him dead, his curse would be lifted.) They started asking questions and Scratch who had been trying to get the party to quest to slay demon lords for ages was all to willing to tell the heroes everything he knew about the demon realms and how to permanently slay a demon lord. Well Scratch had a serious issue with the demon lords because he was an A list demon lord at one time. He knew everything the heroes needed to know on how to get to the dark palaces of the hierarchy...Well the players fixated on Lolth. They were having drow issues and they wanted to end it once and for all...
After numerous missions to recover artifacts and a heinous trip into the abyss they pulled it off. Lolth is dead. Scratch was released of his curse he was under and his diabolic powers returned to their former glory. He set up shop in the palace of Lolth and he gave the heroes free passage out of the abyss. Instead of solidifying power over the Drow, which he could have easily done, he fixated on tearing the joint apart and killing any other demon who supported the other lords in his banishment.
Left the players wondering what evil they had released on the realms with Old Scratch back in the saddle...
So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.
~Sun Tsu The art of War~