Scorpions, shadows and flames! Keith, Wayne and Imogen explore the cultures of the drow of Xen’drik.
Time Markers
- 00:00:00 – Introduction
- 00:01:36 – References
- 3rd Edition Sourcebooks:
- Dragon Mag. 330 – The Umbragen
- Dragonmarks: Drow
- Dragonmarks: Drow, Dwarves and More!
- 00:02:55 – What are the Drow of Eberron?
- 00:04:00 – Qaltiar/Vulkoori and Wide Primal
- 00:04:41 – Sulatar
- 00:05:32 – Umbragen
- 00:07:03 – Changes Since 3.5e
- 00:09:54 – Umbragen Design History
- 00:15:23 – Drow Stories
- 00:30:51 – Drow PCs
- 00:41:54 – The Sulatar Multiverse
- 00:44:10 – Umbragen in Khorvaire
- 00:46:03 – Close
Thank you to Joseph Meehan for assisting with identifying the timestamps for the chapter markers.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:35 — 37.7MB)
DM here, I’ve just used some Sulatar Drow antagonists in Titan’s Folly on Lammania. They were looking for some lost secrets and artifacts about Elemental Binding and Magebreeding. They used the facilities to create flame-themed creatures. One such creation is the Salamander, which is basically a Sulatar version of the Drider/Scorrow. The dungeon facility’s original purpose was to create weapons against the Dal Quor Invasion. My PCs have an interest in the Dreaming Dark and Magebreeding. The Ashbound and a Vadalis Heir were also present in this adventure.
As a DM, I’ve dealt with the historically problematic nature of drow in D&D (and to an extent in Eberron) by going full Black Panther: the drow nations in Xen’drik, like Wakanda, are secretive, but maintain magics and technologies unavailable on Khorvaire. They focus all of their time and energy not on worldly concerns or geopolitics, but on defeating threats from Khyber (that last part is partly canon.)
As my players get into 2nd and 3rd tier in Xen’drik on unrelated quests, this is a cool reveal; I also have players get into geopolitics at this tier to balance against their power as PCs.
I also liked Exploring Eberron and nations beneath the waves like the Valraen Protectorate, and wanted to extend this idea further: there are political players, and nations, that can world awesome power but that nobody knows exist…
Welcome back! I discovered (and binged) your podcasts this April and thought I’d completely missed the party – I was pleasantly surprised to discover a new episode when I checked back yesterday to give your Demon Wastes episode a re-listen. All of these are amazing and very much appreciated – as long as y’all keep exploring I’ll be along for the ride 🙂