| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Sir Luther Cromwell |
Posted - 18 Sep 2005 : 20:26:46
Ok, any FR fan knows that there are tomes upon tomes written by R.A. Salvatore about the Drow. In those books, the Duergar have some say in some things and are mentioned, as are the svirfneblin. And I don't know exactly where, But I'm certain that the Kuo-toa must have done something along the way.
But I was wondering, have there really been any stories that involved any of the 'other' underdark races? By other I mean races such as the deep Imaskar, the Chitines, the Grimlocks, the Derro, the Slyth, and gloamings. Grimlocks were noted in the Monster Manual, but the interpretation in the MM is much different from that of the 3e Underdark tome. Derro had a passive mention in the MM aswell. Otherwise, did these races just pop out of no where when the 3e of 'The Underdark' came out? I don't recall there being any mention of deep Imaskar or Chitines in the 2e "drizzit's guide". Has Salvatore included any of these races even passively? |
| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| ShadowDragonMage |
Posted - 19 Sep 2005 : 03:49:32
Don't forget the grell and beholders. Not to mention possible cities of underdark tolerant dragons. Giberlings, giants, kobolds, umber hulks, trolls, and gremlins would all also most certainly have tribes, colonies, or villages that could affect the underdarks political and mercantile maps. |
| Sir Luther Cromwell |
Posted - 19 Sep 2005 : 01:48:35
What gets me is that the Underdark book said that Chitines were designed by the drow and it spoke of them as if they had always been there, building for the drow.
BTW, does the idea of a Chitine monk frighten any of you in the slightest? I mean being able to climb, and take multi attack and have four unarmed strikes, non of them being off hand (since there is no such thing as an offhand attack for a monk as written in the PHG). Albiet, they would be 1d4 each to start out, but so far I'm intrigued by these little spider dudes. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 19 Sep 2005 : 01:47:05
In second edition, Derro always seemed to be portrayed (in modules, no novel appearances that I can cite) to be smaller bands of "Crazy Magic Using Quasi-Dwarves" rather than a power in the Underdark (though I always thought that the Theiwar in DragonLance were that settings version of said creatures).
Grimlocks also were sort of a "small bands of wandering raiders" race rather than a political faction, build significant settlement type creatures, and were less likely to be encountered, even in the underdark, than orcs and goblins, for example.
The idea that there were even organized cities underground was quite revolutionary back in 1st edition, in the Vault of the Drow series. The idea that there may be trade routes and interaction between several different cities, not unlike what a surface realm might experience, was really expounded upon in 2nd edition, and whatever else you might say about RAS a lot of this was largely due to his extrapolating on Gygax's Vault of the Drow ideas in the Dark Elf books.
Now on top of all of this, illithids, aboleths, and other really icky light hating creatures were given as being native to the underdark. While 2nd edition started defining realms and how they related to the surface and to each other, I think 3rd editions shot on all of this, that there are trade caravans, and all of these races, but that there are also different levels to the underdark and that someone on the "upper" levels wouldn't have any idea about the guys living "two floors down."
It all amounts to the fact that you can have a ton of different ecologies going on at once, and that even if a race is present in the underdark, it may not have much to do with any other inhabitant unless their cities are fairly close to one another. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 19 Sep 2005 : 01:29:55
Indeed. And I would think that most drow would entertain a "healthy" respect for the power of the Deep Imaskari, even during the time the city was sealed. Most drow groups probably gave the entire region (those who knew of it), a rather wide berth.
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| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 19 Sep 2005 : 01:21:30
Deep Imaskar was sealed up when Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark was written. And I don't think there's a lot of drow activity in the vicinity of Deep Imaskar. |
| Reefy |
Posted - 19 Sep 2005 : 00:55:05
I'd really like to see some more about gloamings, they certainly piqued my interest. |
| warlockco |
Posted - 18 Sep 2005 : 23:59:42
quote:
Originally posted by Sir Luther Cromwell
Ok, any FR fan knows that there are tomes upon tomes written by R.A. Salvatore about the Drow. In those books, the Duergar have some say in some things and are mentioned, as are the svirfneblin. And I don't know exactly where, But I'm certain that the Kuo-toa must have done something along the way.
But I was wondering, have there really been any stories that involved any of the 'other' underdark races? By other I mean races such as the deep Imaskar, the Chitines, the Grimlocks, the Derro, the Slyth, and gloamings. Grimlocks were noted in the Monster Manual, but the interpretation in the MM is much different from that of the 3e Underdark tome. Derro had a passive mention in the MM aswell. Otherwise, did these races just pop out of no where when the 3e of 'The Underdark' came out? I don't recall there being any mention of deep Imaskar or Chitines in the 2e "drizzit's guide". Has Salvatore included any of these races even passively?
Glyth, Gloamings, and Deep Imaskar are brand new, but the others were around in 2E at least and several from 1E. |
| TylerXKJ |
Posted - 18 Sep 2005 : 23:01:39
I don't think the other underdark races ha ve gotten too much spotlight but. [highlight for spoilers]
In Lady of Poison by Bruce R. Cordell there is an imaskari wizard. Also Pharaun meets a chitine in one of the War of the Spiderqeen books. |
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