A random thought occurred to me on the way home from work. If the drow didn't have magic resistance, would they have been a matriarchal society?
A recap of magic resistance, specifically for the drow, follows:
In 1st edition AD&D, drow had magic resistance equal to 50 + (2 * highest level), so your 5th level drow has a magic resistance of 60%.
This supposes a caster of level 11. A higher level caster reduces the resistance by 5% per level greater than 11 while a lower level caster has another 5% per level lower than 11 to deal with.
If that 5th level drow casts a spell on another 5th level drow, the effective magic resistance is 90%.
Lyme is a level 12 magic-user in D3 Vault of the Drow, the only named drow magic-user above level 11 in that module*. If he casts a spell on that 5th level drow, that drow has an effective 55% magic resistance, not good for Lyme!
Now that the magic resistance mechanics are out of the way, consider the variation in stats between the sexes for the drow. Female drow have a higher strength (8+1d6) and wisdom (8+1d10), pushing them more towards fighter and cleric classes. Males are weaker (6 + 1d4) and less wise (8 + 1d4), and half of drow males are ineligible for the fighter class at all (a minimum strength of 9 is required) and all clerical spells for a drow male will have a chance of spell failure (of at least 5%). Both sexes make excellent magic users, with all drow having at least 11 intelligence. Similarly, both sexes can be thieves, with a minimum dexterity of 14.
Looking at the mechanics of the drow, male drow can be excellent magic-users or thieves and mediocre fighters at best. Now magic-user spells are a big deal! But if they barely work against other drow, then it's not going to be that useful in society if there are hostilities between different factions (as we see in the GDQ series). Female drow clerics are able to fight pretty well and can heal themselves, even if they have similar problems with casting offensive spells on other drow (but there are fewer offensive cleric spells, so it's not as much of a problem). Clerics and fighters also have higher hit points than magic-users (those poor d4 hit dice!).
If the magic resistance wasn't a part of their race, then the old "fighters are linear, magic-users are quadratic" saying rears its ugly head and medium/high level magic-users could dominate any offense.
Does this make sense, or is it a "this has always been obvious" thing?
* - There are random encounter human magic-users that can range from level 11 to 16 that would have a greater chance of affecting any given drow, but a) they are human and not part of drow society and b) random encounters that may not happen at all.
That is a very good example of rationalizing something 'on the books' in a way that makes sense in the game world. I do it all the time for my own campaign because having a reasonable explanation for things makes them more believable.
In the case you mention, I suspect that female drow dominating drow society via their very misandristic goddess was simply a creative way for E.G.G. to differentiate the drow from other elves and monsters. He was simply trying to make them interesting. (I recall the first time I encountered the idea that female trolls are far more powerful than their male counterparts and thinking, "Where did that idea come from? Did I fail to note it in the Monster Manual?" It was in Greyhawk Ruins. I found it to be a fresh take on the troll and liked the idea.)
So, even though I do not suspect that E.G.G. had it thought out as far as all that, I support your hypothesis and will probably incorporate it into my own campaign as an additional way of helping my players understand how 'real' the fantasy world of Greyhawk can be.
Edit: I think E.G.G. probably figured that the PCs wouldn't have any kind of decent magic resistance, so drow wizards would be useful against them, but PCs would have a much more difficult time using magic to defeat the drow, making it more of a battle of guerilla warfare in the tunnels.
Nope! This makes alot of sense the way you explained it. Guess the males even the score by making a klepto-magocratic society?
I've always admired the drow matriarchal culture for it was based around Lolth worship. If Lolth was male it's likely they would be ruled by men (and thus less interesting for a fantasy race)
That does make sense, from a mechanical perspective. Of course, I'm recruiting for a game set in Menzoberranzan, in the Realms. And Ed Greenwood -- and R.A. Salvatore -- tried to explain their culture from an anthropological perspective.
Yes, I'm wierd mentioning a game set in the Realms, but that's what I had inspiration for this week. For Greyhawk, this could be the seed of an article on the drow.
Nope! This makes alot of sense the way you explained it. Guess the males even the score by making a klepto-magocratic society?
I've always admired the drow matriarchal culture for it was based around Lolth worship. If Lolth was male it's likely they would be ruled by men (and thus less interesting for a fantasy race)
I'm actually not sure whether the drow are matriarchal because they worship Lolth, or whether they favor Lolth over other demon lords because they are matriarchal (chicken or egg). In D3 the Drow aren't all Lolth worshipers, and the Elder Elemental God faction is matriarchal too (with Eclavdra ruling her house). So the matriarchal structure may have come first, and led to many houses choosing Lolth as patron deity/demon.
And that was mentioned in the original post? There are less big offensive cleric spells than magic user spells in 1st edition.
Lolth feels very Howard Conan to me, with this evil demon goddess having dominion over this area that our intrepid heroes just happen to stumble over. She's been built up since her first appearance, but she has always seemed a little, well, underpowered. Even Asmodeus's daughter has more hit points than her!
Don't even get me started on a bunch of teenage kids and a young unicorn dropping her down a bottomless pit.
I personally think the matriarchal society came first. Though from the Oerth standpoint, did the drow worship Lolth before they were driven underground or did they discover her afterwards?
I personally think the matriarchal society came first. Though from the Oerth standpoint, did the drow worship Lolth before they were driven underground or did they discover her afterwards?
I don't recall where I read this, but it is my understanding that Lolth was originally part of the elven pantheon. She was slighted in some way by Corellan Larethion and started a war between her followers and his. Lolth's followers were defeated and chased underground where they became the drow. Lolth transformed into an evil goddess, remaining their primary patroness.
SirXaris, I know that is Forgotten Realms lore, but I question whether it is valid for worlds outside of that. After all, FR has an entire drow pantheon, and I don't believe there are any indications of those gods being in any other setting, though one of them was designed as a stand in for the Elder Elemental God (a poor stand in, IMO).
To quote D3: "Ages past, when the elvenfolk were new to the face of the earth, their number was torn by discord, and those of better disposition drove from them those of the elves who were selfish and cruel. However, constant warfare between the two divisions of elvenkind continued, with the goodly ones ever victorious, until those of dark nature were forced to withdraw from the lands under the skies and seek safety in the realm of the underworld."
There is no mention of the cause of the discord, though the implication is that it was an alignment issue. Though this also seems to mirror the later Suel-Baklunish conflict, so perhaps there were some ancient elven magics equivalent to the Invoked Devastation and Rain of Colorless Fire that set elvenkind on a slow decline? It could be an interesting parallel.
I tend to agree that Lolth in the original context is not necessarily as big a deal cosmically as Forgotten Realms Lolth later became. She does have only 66 HP, and isn't presented as head of a Drow pantheon (as later editions created with the "Dark Seldarine").
The comparison to a Conan monstrous deity/demon is I think a good one, especially given how she's just hanging out in the temple in D3.
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