There's no point in adding Drow. Other then their basic stats (+2 dex, +1 int, -1 Con, -2 cha, and a 20% to gained xp penalty), your character wouldn't have any of their other abilities (and technically Viconia shouldn't have any magic resistance at all, their magic resistance drops 10% per week spend outside of the underdark, eventually disappearing entirely). And even in BG2, you'd have to spend months in the underdark just to begin to regain a few of them back, which would be lost quickly a couple weeks after leaving.
@ZanathKariashi: Even assuming that BG always has to follow the rules of the sourcebooks (which I'd find needlessly complicated and a potential obstacle to story/character - by those rules, Dorn shouldn't exist), you could just handwave it by saying that Viconia's magic resistance is being preserved by Shar. Likewise, a drow PC's MR could be due to their Bhaalspawn blood.
Just like all evil drow would be sustained by Lolth, or Vaerun, or Gaunadour or Kirsanna-lee. Even plot armor mongering Drizzt doesn't have his magic resistance after leaving the underdark in the novels (the only time his magic resistance is mentioned is either while he's in the underdark or within a few days of leaving it, or battles that take place in or near Mithril Hall, since it's on top of an Underdark entrance.
(and trust me, Lolth is an absolute Saint of forgiveness and love compared to Shar. You know...Shar..the goddess who literally EATS the souls of her worshipers when they die so she can eventually overpower Selune and whose whole religion beats it's worshipers down in terms of self-esteem and pessimistic outlook to the point they welcome the oblivion when it comes.....yup....caring and loving goddess that one.)
Half-orcs are in the Complete book of humanoids.
And no, by the actual current in-game mechanics, Dorn shouldn't exist. He's an illegal class, and unlike Aerie whose sub-race can be C/M, Half-orcs cannot be Blackguards.
@ZanathKariashi: Exactly my point - I'd rather the BG games take liberties with D&D rules in service to its own story possibilities, than follow the sourcebooks to a T and miss out on unique characters just because they're "illegal".
I don't see much point in subraces except for munchkinism. Either - You want to roleplay beeing a drow. Well, just open EE Keeper, and change your color. Who cares if it's written "Elf" in the character sheet, because - DUH - drows actually are Elves. Or - You want to be a drow for all the cool abilities they get. Change the color, and add 60% MR to your character via EE Keeper. Who cares if it's written "Elf" in the character sheet, because - DUH - drows actually are Elves.
There's pretty much no point to the subraces when the game itself won't be taking into account the fact that you're an Avariel OR a Drow OR a Sun Elf
They'll still all call you "Elf" unless there's a huge revamp of a tonshnitz amount of dialogues, and that will probably not happen.
Where do you draw the line between taking creative liberties with the ruleset and creating one-off NPCs of exceptional circumstance?
To me Dorn, Haer'dalis and Viconia are only possible because of what their backstory and quests set up. Without their individual context, they wouldn't have been added to the game. Their justification is in a completely different league to adding in post-2ed content.
The sourcebooks aren't necessarily restrictive in their enforcement of the Forgotten Realms' rules. Instead I see the explicit differences and restrictions among races to be the only thing that gives each race its' unique context (well outside character models that is). If you chip away at the rules that define an era of d&d you are chipping away at the races' identity. The most extreme suggestion I've seen floated is the complete removal of racial restrictions to classes just so people can take liberties with their characters.
There are many liberties taken with 3ed and 4ed when it comes to races but that doesn't mean that adding them retroactively to a game from the 2ed era is exactly wise. For example the 3ed prestige classes added by Overhaul stick out like a sore thumb because they don't fit in at least tone wise with the BG2 kits (The Blackguard being the exception, since that originally came from an 80s Dragon magazine issue). Not to mention that even some of the BG2 kits were introduced rather poorly; the Druid was made redundant in comparison to its' kits. This is because they didn't take in consideration that new content must be balanced among old. There's no article of faith that a drow subrace (or any subrace for that matter) would be balanced or suitable for the BG game world.
As long as the info is taken from 2nd ed sources and followed to the letter, it would work...but as mentioned above...you'd be adding a race with higher starting stats and a xp penalty, and no other benefits, except for 1/2 to 2/3 of a chapter in the sequel, depending on how long you stayed in the Underdark.
If you want a drow, just make a drow looking character, and SK your MR to whatever, that's pretty much what Viconia is.
Comments
There's no point in adding Drow. Other then their basic stats (+2 dex, +1 int, -1 Con, -2 cha, and a 20% to gained xp penalty), your character wouldn't have any of their other abilities (and technically Viconia shouldn't have any magic resistance at all, their magic resistance drops 10% per week spend outside of the underdark, eventually disappearing entirely). And even in BG2, you'd have to spend months in the underdark just to begin to regain a few of them back, which would be lost quickly a couple weeks after leaving.
(and trust me, Lolth is an absolute Saint of forgiveness and love compared to Shar. You know...Shar..the goddess who literally EATS the souls of her worshipers when they die so she can eventually overpower Selune and whose whole religion beats it's worshipers down in terms of self-esteem and pessimistic outlook to the point they welcome the oblivion when it comes.....yup....caring and loving goddess that one.)
Half-orcs are in the Complete book of humanoids.
And no, by the actual current in-game mechanics, Dorn shouldn't exist. He's an illegal class, and unlike Aerie whose sub-race can be C/M, Half-orcs cannot be Blackguards.
Either
- You want to roleplay beeing a drow. Well, just open EE Keeper, and change your color. Who cares if it's written "Elf" in the character sheet, because - DUH - drows actually are Elves.
Or
- You want to be a drow for all the cool abilities they get. Change the color, and add 60% MR to your character via EE Keeper. Who cares if it's written "Elf" in the character sheet, because - DUH - drows actually are Elves.
There's pretty much no point to the subraces when the game itself won't be taking into account the fact that you're an Avariel OR a Drow OR a Sun Elf
They'll still all call you "Elf" unless there's a huge revamp of a tonshnitz amount of dialogues, and that will probably not happen.
To me Dorn, Haer'dalis and Viconia are only possible because of what their backstory and quests set up. Without their individual context, they wouldn't have been added to the game. Their justification is in a completely different league to adding in post-2ed content.
The sourcebooks aren't necessarily restrictive in their enforcement of the Forgotten Realms' rules. Instead I see the explicit differences and restrictions among races to be the only thing that gives each race its' unique context (well outside character models that is). If you chip away at the rules that define an era of d&d you are chipping away at the races' identity. The most extreme suggestion I've seen floated is the complete removal of racial restrictions to classes just so people can take liberties with their characters.
There are many liberties taken with 3ed and 4ed when it comes to races but that doesn't mean that adding them retroactively to a game from the 2ed era is exactly wise. For example the 3ed prestige classes added by Overhaul stick out like a sore thumb because they don't fit in at least tone wise with the BG2 kits (The Blackguard being the exception, since that originally came from an 80s Dragon magazine issue). Not to mention that even some of the BG2 kits were introduced rather poorly; the Druid was made redundant in comparison to its' kits. This is because they didn't take in consideration that new content must be balanced among old. There's no article of faith that a drow subrace (or any subrace for that matter) would be balanced or suitable for the BG game world.
If you want a drow, just make a drow looking character, and SK your MR to whatever, that's pretty much what Viconia is.