Heredity

Drow and elves are so similar that many speculate they were once the same race, though no historical evidence has been found to support this. Furthermore, there have never been any reports of a half-drow, half-elf child, discouraging the idea that the two can even bear offspring with one another; however, others point out that there are no half-moon elf, half-sun elf children either: the offspring of such a union resembles a full-blooded moon elf, sun elf, wood elf, or wild elf. Regardless of whether or not drow were once elves, however, it is known that new drow children come from one of two unions: a full-blooded drow is born from two drow parents, and a half-blooded drow is the product of a drow and human pairing or two half-drow.

Commonalities

Drow share many traits with elves, including their keen senses, resistance to enchantments, and skills with several weapons; however, the similarities end there. Unlike elves, drow are able to see in complete blackness, and their magical aptitude has been greatly enhanced: drow can cast a bit of inherent magic and also have gained the ability to magically repel hostile spells. However, the drow's greatest common features are their hatred of other races, their joy in others' pain, and their desire to rule. The drow have become best known for these last three traits, and almost all drow will eagerly try to torture and dominate any race that does not submit to them. However, they are also capable of being incredibly polite and respectful around other races when they want something from them; the drow habit of quickly going from malicious to polite and back severely unsettles any who have dealings with them.

In Society

Drow society is matriarchal, with men ranked as far below women as slaves are ranked below men. Almost all the wealth belongs to the females, and men typically serve as bodyguards, warriors, or mages under some female; usually, an adult male will devote his life to a female as part of his courtship, and females are expected to have numerous mates. Unfortunately for the men, this often puts them in great danger; drow females of different clans have few pastimes they enjoy more than attempting to best females from other clans, often with lethal force. For this reason, females usually have a few friends they watch warily and otherwise keep their distance from females of other clans. They won't even send troops to aid other clans that fall under attack from outsiders.

While half-drow are universally slaves in drow society, they are considered the highest caliber of slave since they have some "worthy" blood in them. They are rarely used exclusively for torture. Instead, they often serve as taskmasters among the slave workforce and lieutenants in the slave armies. Some truly remarkable half-drow are even treated as well as male drow, though they are never given freedom from slavery.

Within the surface societies, drow and half-drow are distrusted, though they usually only receive physical hostility if they are shown to be an obvious threat. Many will not service or trade with drow, though those that do are rewarded with valuable goods not normally found outside the drow lands. Outside of dealing in the various markets--including the slave market—drow and half-drow are not trusted enough to obtain work on the surface.

Player Expectations

Players of drow and half-drow should not expect an easy time. NPCs and other PCs will treat your character with severe suspicion, regardless of how good your intentions may be; most believe a well-behaved drow is typically just biding their time before causing trouble. Your help may not be appreciated on some quests, and others may choose to ignore the party's aid if a drow is among them. If someone is kind to your character, you may want to be wary; there's a good possibility that they simply want something from you. While half-drow might be slightly more accepted than drow, it isn't by much. Any drow PC should plan to spend most of his time hooded and covered.