Drow
Monster Manual p103

The Drow is notably more powerful than the standard races presented in the PHB. Players who want to play drow characters need to check with their GM that it is appropriate for the campaign. The drow are 1 HD creatures and therefore they have no racial character class, however they still have an experience point cost to pay. Drow who pay that cost are then balanced with characters of other races.

Game Rule Information

The following changes have been made to the powers and abilities of the Drow. Any published rules for the drow that do not directly contradict the contents of this page still apply.

• Alignment: Any (usually Neutral Evil)
• Hit Dice: as character class
• XP Cost: 3000 XP. This must be paid before the drow advances to level two, however, the GM can stagger the cost if he desires (see below).

Racial Traits

• Starting Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Cha.
• Size: Drow are Medium-sized creatures.
• Type: Humanoid
• Speed: Drow land speed is 30 feet.
• Darkvision: range 120 feet.
• Spell Resistance: equal to 11 + character level.
• +2 racial bonus on Will saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities.
• Spell-like abilities: At will - dancing lights; 1/day per character level - faerie fire, darkness.
• Weapon Proficiency: I use the rules for Weapon Group feats (UE p94). A drow automatically gains the feats Weapon Group (crossbows) and Weapon Group (light blades).
• Poison: An opponent hit by a drow's poisoned weapon must succeed on a DC 13 Fortitude save or fall unconscious. After 1 minute, the subject must succeed on another DC 13 Fortitude save or remain unconscious for 2d4 hours. All drow start play with 1d4 doses of this poison and should be given the opportunity to obtain or create more by the GM. Drow typically coat arrows and crossbow bolts with this poison, but it can also be applied to a mêlée weapon. Note that drow have no special ability to apply poison without risking being poisoned themselves (see DMG p296). Since this poison is not a magical effect, drow and other elves are susceptible to it.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Elven and Undercommon or three other campaign-specific languages. See the section on Langauges for more information on the new rules.
• Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds drow for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.
• Favoured Class: I do not use the rules for favoured classes. Please ignore them

The Drow Class

There is no drow racial character class. Drow select a core character class at first level and advance normally. However, drow are more powerful than other races. Before reaching level two, the drow must pay an additional 3000 XP.

The GM may stagger the acquisition of the drow's powers as the player earns the first 3000 experience points as shown on the table below. The drow receives its hit dice, feat and skill points at character generation, but does not initially follow his chosen's class's base attack progression, and has only limited benefit from the class's saving throws.

Note that this is simply a mechanic that allows the drow to gain its more impressive abilities gradually during the first few sessions of play. The drow is still level one throughout this time.