Over the last few months there has been a general effort to push the Drow as a race by myself and others. This has i think been in general successful in that there have been more Drow on for longer periods than for quite a long time previous. However it has also shown up some of the limitations of the Drow RP environment.
Firstly the game environment for Drow is now the best it has ever been in the time I have played this game (too many years for me to mention.) Whilst there are issues with availability of components and some trainers this is really pretty minor compared to how it used to be.
What i want to do is open up this post to have a discussion about the current limitations of Drow RP , and if we can come up with some constructive ideas for making the whole RP experience better for everyone. So any ideas and issues welcome !.
I will start the ball rolling with my own thoughts..... which are all of course opinions..
Communication:
It is very hard IC to arrange anything because there is no IC means of communicating other than in person. And with the relatively small player base for Drow not everyone is playing at the same time.
Constructive solution:
A Message post in Menzo and preferably Ched Nasad and Skullport as well this would allow IC commuication amongst Drow and possibly if there was a post in Skullport to Drow from other interested parties..
Lack of competition:
The essence of the Drow race is competition both against the rest of the world and internally in the society. Currently with the stagnation of the top levels of Drow society there is nothing to compete for. This is i think one of the primary reasons players of high level Drow stop playing them.
possible solutions:
Firstly sort out the faith issues (see below). Secondly make the society more dynamic by setting up some spurious titles that the various players can compete for. Like First Mage of house Tlabbar, Weapons master of a house Baenre etc, and then some biggies like Weapons master of Menzoberranzan, heads of the various parts of the academy etc. Some of these would be appointments by the Matron mothers or there designated seconds, but many would be by out and out competition between all the houses giving a reason for advancing the character in both an RP and game sense. By competition i do not just mean PvP combat, a post could well be decided by a vote, thus allowing a lot of fun politics. Making it so that the positions are regularly re-competed for would also keep the higher level Drow on there toes. Maybe even allow challenges for position at any time as long as there was a suitable witness i.e. a priestess.
Faith issues.
At the moment the Faith managers of Lloth are the Matron mothers this is correct and would work well if they were played more. What this means is that any non priestess Drow who wants to follow Lloth has one hell of job doing so and has to apply to even get a quest. Personally i think that the competition for rank within the church with its several levels would also enhance the RP environment considerably.
Possible solution:
Promote 1 or more priestesses to an FM level or just below IC position. Preferably choosing who by some sort of competition giving the priestesses something to vie for. My favoured position would be high priestess of the academy a non house position that could be occupied by a priestess from any house. Making it an in game position would allow the IM's to appoint or dismiss the player in a suitably arbitrary way (Lloth would like that
). This would then allow the faith to work like the other faiths in the world while retaining the individually Drow elements like Matron mothers to be used by the IMM's as needed.Bregan Darthe
Bregan Darthe is an integral part of the canon description of the Drow giving commoners a possible route to advancement and survival in an otherwise incredibly hostile world. It does exist in game but due to the fact that its primary character Jarlaxle is an auction character and is effectively away on one of his long journeys it is basically inactive.
Solution:
Leave Jarlaxle in charge and useable by the IMM's to guide the organisation but appoint 2 or 3 PC's to the organisation and let them run it from then on. By making it multiple players there is more of a chance the organisation will continue. I would happily expand on this idea if it is thought worthwhile.
Duranamir still a Drow and still loving it !
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