Halfdrow vision and their life in the UD
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 12:19 pm
I have come up with a few proposals about vision, so I think I will share them.
This one initially came from this thread but there I messed up and also named other races whose visions turned out to be all right. So probably better face the halfdrow issue alone.
Currently halfdrow are the only race forced to train daylight adaptation. This for them is a penalty. In theory they could avoid doing that if they played only in the Underdark, but practically life exclusively in the Underdark for a halfdrow is at present impossible.
First and foremost I will state that I think the penalty of daylight adaptation for halfdrow is right. Even if they cannot live in the Underdark at present, they can go there and feel relatively at home. It is almost the same for a halfdrow to infiltrate either Waterdeep or Menzo, or any other Underdark area, while for most races this possibility is simply not available. And thus it is fine, in my opinion, that they pay for this in some manner.
If anyone wondered in tabletop halfdrow do not need to train daylight adaptation, because their human heritage makes their eyes not vulnerable to sunlight. Even more so if they have been born on the surface like the halfdrow of Cormanthor or Dambrath. They do however have only 60 feet darkvision, instead of 120 like the drow.
Races of Faerun, however, introduces for halfdrow a racial feat, drow eyes, that allows them to gain 120 feet darkvision, like their drow parent.
What is the point of all of this?
Well, as anticipated, there is an issue with halfdrow, they can't live in the Underdark, either for the lack of places where to hang out (they can really stay only in their hometown of Skullport) and in the UD wilderness they are not better than any dwarf or halforc. And actually worse than any caster with polymorph who can turn into say, an orog or a drow and get the 2 room vision in the UD wilderness map.
I believe this is wrong.
An easy fix, in my opinion, would be to simply give halfdrow the same vision, and the same penalties, of the drow.
This would have three-fold benefits:
-Let the halfdrow have a bigger role in the Underdark, at least bigger than dwarves or surface wizards. After all they *are* creatures of the Underdark.
-Remove the compulsory need to train daylight adaptation. If you are a halfdrow and want to live in the Underdark or simply want to live up with the penalties of staying on the surface without that feat, well, so be it.
-Get more consistency with tabletop. This way a halfdrow with the daylight adaptation feat would be comparable to a tabletop halfdrow with the drow eyes feat .
This one initially came from this thread but there I messed up and also named other races whose visions turned out to be all right. So probably better face the halfdrow issue alone.
Currently halfdrow are the only race forced to train daylight adaptation. This for them is a penalty. In theory they could avoid doing that if they played only in the Underdark, but practically life exclusively in the Underdark for a halfdrow is at present impossible.
First and foremost I will state that I think the penalty of daylight adaptation for halfdrow is right. Even if they cannot live in the Underdark at present, they can go there and feel relatively at home. It is almost the same for a halfdrow to infiltrate either Waterdeep or Menzo, or any other Underdark area, while for most races this possibility is simply not available. And thus it is fine, in my opinion, that they pay for this in some manner.
If anyone wondered in tabletop halfdrow do not need to train daylight adaptation, because their human heritage makes their eyes not vulnerable to sunlight. Even more so if they have been born on the surface like the halfdrow of Cormanthor or Dambrath. They do however have only 60 feet darkvision, instead of 120 like the drow.
Races of Faerun, however, introduces for halfdrow a racial feat, drow eyes, that allows them to gain 120 feet darkvision, like their drow parent.
What is the point of all of this?
Well, as anticipated, there is an issue with halfdrow, they can't live in the Underdark, either for the lack of places where to hang out (they can really stay only in their hometown of Skullport) and in the UD wilderness they are not better than any dwarf or halforc. And actually worse than any caster with polymorph who can turn into say, an orog or a drow and get the 2 room vision in the UD wilderness map.
I believe this is wrong.
An easy fix, in my opinion, would be to simply give halfdrow the same vision, and the same penalties, of the drow.
This would have three-fold benefits:
-Let the halfdrow have a bigger role in the Underdark, at least bigger than dwarves or surface wizards. After all they *are* creatures of the Underdark.
-Remove the compulsory need to train daylight adaptation. If you are a halfdrow and want to live in the Underdark or simply want to live up with the penalties of staying on the surface without that feat, well, so be it.
-Get more consistency with tabletop. This way a halfdrow with the daylight adaptation feat would be comparable to a tabletop halfdrow with the drow eyes feat .