Review of Drow of the Underdark (D&D)

[Cynical Cat]

So its not really that surprising that I would get around to getting this book. So here it is:

Cover: Okay, nothing special. Drow female with a crossbow in front of an Underdark castle.

Interior Art: Hit and miss, with more hit than miss.

Layout: Fairly straightforward and well indexed.

Content: Okay the good stuff. Good chapters on drow society and behavior, with only a trace of D&D prudishness. A few new spells and magic items, all appropriate. There is a small section on drow varients on basic classes, such as the abyssal specialized wizard and the poison using rogue. An excellent section of drow feats, especially those that deal with fighting styles and techniques and drow intrinsic powers. The power feats in particular are excellent.

There's a prestige class section with a slightly reworked arachnomancer and several priesthood related prestige classes. They're all appropriate and well done. Worthy of special note for fluffiness and mechanics are the cave stalker (Underdark ranger type), demonbinder (demon binding warlock), and kinslayer (elf killing fanatic).

The mundane gear and alchemical section is also quite good (small, but good) instead of the usual mostly filler section. I quite liked the new poisons. There's a modest section on new creatures and precreated npcs of typical drow servants and slaves. There is also a huge list of typical drow npcs with one for every major role in drow society. Need an assassin, a priestess, or a favored consort? Got it.

This section feeds into the last, which is a detailed exploration of the Vault of the Drow and the infamous city of Erelhei-Cinlu along with important NPCs. Not only is it a nice sample drow city, its a nice blast from the past for those of us who remember the old Against the Giants and Descent into the Depths series.

Low Point: Editing errors. The stat block for the Vril, a type of specially bred goblin warrior, is missing entirely. There's a few other ones around as well.

Overall: A qualified endorsement. I liked it and if you like using the Underdark or the drow you will probably will as well. The material is specific enough that if your campaigns don't include either of these elements it won't be much use to you as well.

[SirNitram]

I agree on the above: If you like Drow, get it. I was pleasantly surprised how they took the amount of ridiculous baggage the parade of foolishness that has been depictions of Drow and resolved, explained, or justified it all.