Re: Spelljammer 3E Thoughts

At 6:58 -0800 2/11/03, Thatotherguy wrote:
>   (i well remember the change of
>>  drow from Greyhawk to FR--that's when the "they lose their powers
>>  when they leave the underdark" thing first showed up.)
>
>Actually that was 2e.  FR didn't alter drow powers on the surface, in
>fact, it added drow to the surface where GH never had them.  When 2e
>came out that change was implemented.  There are suggestions in
>Unearthed Arcana for using this explanation to deny PCs MR, however.

Just went and double-checked the books, and i don't see the
distinction you do--i read both UA and Drow of the Underdark as
saying that drow lose their powers when they leave the underdark.

As for the origin of the changes--while i can't immediately lay a
source to hand, i remember at the time considering the "drow can
leave the underdark but lose many of their powers" a Forgotten Realms
thing.  The original stuff, in the GDQ series and Fiend Folio
certainly didn't say anything about them losing their powers on teh
surface--though, as you note, it didn't say anything about them
coming to the surface at all.  Anyway, by the time UA came out, FR
was a firmly-entrenched part of the D&D universe, and the writing was
already on the wall for a campaign boxed set, so it certainly could
have influenced the race rules in UA.  Don't know for certain, of
course, barring me stumbling on an article in Dragon that makes the
connection explicit--but the changeover *did* happen at roughly the
same time that the official game world switched from GH to FR.
--
woodelf                <*>
woodelf@???.net
http://webpages.charter.net/woodelph/

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