Why drow in this game have blue skin?

[Pauca Verba]

From the lore - Drow skin tones ranged from dark grey, jet-black, and obsidian, (with various shades of blue),the albino drow known as the Szarkai being an exception.

But in this game there is more than shades of blue, all drow elves have light blue skin, like they just stepped out of the Avatar movie. Is there a particular reason for that, engine limitation, or atristic choice of the developers?

[id795078477]

Originally posted by Pan Darius Kairos:

Originally posted by Dellecross:

Well, in that case they could not possibly be blue / purple or whatnot. So again - choice.
Also, I can still "stretch" my way out even of the "curse". Maybe Eilistraee lifted the curse at least partially from her devoted paladin. She's a goddess after all.

I got no itchew wit dat.

:-p

just in case, it's only my choice. If I desire to set up RP for that particular MC in that way - I do that. But not for a second I start to think it becomes canonical just because I decided to make it that way.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Originally posted by Ereghor the Enigmatic:

Because your average hypothetical socially aware player can't tell the difference between a human's darker skin tone and a drow's RGB(0.0.0)-adjacent skin and thinks they are a racist caricature.

The drow were grayish and blueish and purple-ish in quite a few depictions for a while now, actually. In BG2 Viconia is gray-blueish in her portrait. Drizzt was kinda purple from the outset, though different renditions tend to recolor him. That said, the game does not prevent you from making your own drow character with a more canonical skin tone. Minthara does look a tad too pale, though.

Most of the best artwork from really old school D&D always depicted them with jet black or obsidian skin tones, maybe occasionally with a slight ashen or purplish tinge which may have been due to lighting more than their actual skin tone.

That said, I don't find any of this to be a particularly big deal.

Their hairstyles are more important to me, as I don't think that Larian realizes that elfs have cultursl hairstyles (kind of like how Amazon botched the new LotR show by giving Elrond and Celebrimbor short hair - it's stupid looking). Drow have some pretty specific hairdos.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by Dellecross:

Originally posted by GrandMajora:

Wait, why make them brown?

.. choice? My preference. It looks healthier this way to me. As a "lore" excuse? Well, I always make Seldarine drow brown. If a drow - paladin of Eilistraee always lived on the surface and reported back to the temple "under the moon", she (maybe even "he" if I feel like stretching the lore) would not develop the pitch black skin color and the pigment reaction to the solar radiation would likely make it brown-ish / bronze.

The ebony skin color is explicitly described as being a curse placed upon them by the gods. It has nothing to do with what kind of environment they evolved in.

[Metallicus]

I’m surprised WotC hasn’t made them bright pink. They are the Disney of Dungeons and Dragons. They dismantle and suck the soul from beloved IP.

[Trap Queen 85]

Originally posted by Pan Darius Kairos:

Their hairstyles are more important to me, as I don't think that Larian realizes that elfs have cultursl hairstyles (kind of like how Amazon botched the new LotR show by giving Elrond and Celebrimbor short hair - it's stupid looking). Drow have some pretty specific hairdos.

jfc this was one of the worst travesties of that show IMO.

[Trap Queen 85]

Originally posted by Pan Darius Kairos:

Originally posted by Dellecross:

.. choice? My preference. It looks healthier this way to me. As a "lore" excuse? Well, I always make Seldarine drow brown. If a drow - paladin of Eilistraee always lived on the surface and reported back to the temple "under the moon", she (maybe even "he" if I feel like stretching the lore) would not develop the pitch black skin color and the pigment reaction to the solar radiation would likely make it brown-ish / bronze.

Drow's skin color had nothing to do with light (or the lack thereof) - it was a 'curse'.

Yes, using skin color as a 'curse' is problematic.

I'm on the fence on this one. On the one hand I'd ask if people would have an issue with this curse if the curse was that they all had white skin. But on the other hand if my skin tone told everyone at large that I was cursed by the gods regardless of what I as an individual ahd to do with the curse being placed, yeah that would be a sucky way to live to be sure depending on the situation [i.e. my people are the most powerful under the earth striking fear in all who see me vs. I'm an outcast on the surface where I'm a minority with the added bonus of being hated because their favored god cursed my people.]

[GrandMajora]

Speaking of drow hairstyles, we should probably point out that not every drow has stark white hair. That's actually less common, and is considered to be a mark of having Lolth's favor. More common hair colors include black and blond.

[id795078477]

Originally posted by GrandMajora:

Speaking of drow hairstyles, we should probably point out that not every drow has stark white hair. That's actually less common, and is considered to be a mark of having Lolth's favor. More common hair colors include black and blond.

So me occasionally making blonde surfacers Seldarine drow who never received Lolth's favor is somewhat in-lore? Cool.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by Dellecross:

So me occasionally making blonde surfacers Seldarine drow who never received Lolth's favor is somewhat in-lore? Cool.

Yup, that's correct.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by Trap Queen 85:

I'm on the fence on this one. On the one hand I'd ask if people would have an issue with this curse if the curse was that they all had white skin. But on the other hand if my skin tone told everyone at large that I was cursed by the gods regardless of what I as an individual ahd to do with the curse being placed, yeah that would be a sucky way to live to be sure depending on the situation [i.e. my people are the most powerful under the earth striking fear in all who see me vs. I'm an outcast on the surface where I'm a minority with the added bonus of being hated because their favored god cursed my people.]

On the topic of gods afflicting mortals with curses, Orcs aren't just rage fueled neanderthals because they come from a tribal society. Their rage is specifically derived from their connection with Gruumsh. Their violence and savagery are literally carried in their blood, and they pass that fury on to their descendants even to this day.

[dolby]

cos they eat blueberries all the time ?

joking a aside do all thave the same shades ? never really payed much attention to tell teh truth. i could have sworn i seen more grey then blue...

[Revener]

Havn't really bothered me, but yeah they could be darker.
They are more purple than blue though in BG3.

[Trap Queen 85]

Originally posted by GrandMajora:

Originally posted by Trap Queen 85:

I'm on the fence on this one. On the one hand I'd ask if people would have an issue with this curse if the curse was that they all had white skin. But on the other hand if my skin tone told everyone at large that I was cursed by the gods regardless of what I as an individual ahd to do with the curse being placed, yeah that would be a sucky way to live to be sure depending on the situation [i.e. my people are the most powerful under the earth striking fear in all who see me vs. I'm an outcast on the surface where I'm a minority with the added bonus of being hated because their favored god cursed my people.]

On the topic of gods afflicting mortals with curses, Orcs aren't just rage fueled neanderthals because they come from a tribal society. Their rage is specifically derived from their connection with Gruumsh. They literally carry the rage of their god in their veins, and they continue to pass it down to their descendants even to this day.

Yeah I mean at the end of the day my discomfort [and I'm a minority irl] is one of a human in the real world. In Forgotten Realms if I was the Drow I would consider myself blessed not cursed and would have no such irl human based qualms about skin color.

And that's what this all boils down to. IRL humans wanting to make everything like their own real world or rather just the things they are uncomfortable with. With everything else they'll shout how this shouldn't reflect the real world hahahah. smh.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by Trap Queen 85:

Yeah I mean at the end of the day my discomfort [and I'm a minority irl] is one of a human in the real world. In Forgotten Realms if I was the Drow I would consider myself blessed not cursed and would have no such irl human based qualms about skin color.

Yes, and the drow feel the same way, according to their lore write up. :-)

They no longer view themselves as exiles from the surface, but the future conquerors who are destined to one day rule the world.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Originally posted by GrandMajora:

Speaking of drow hairstyles, we should probably point out that not every drow has stark white hair. That's actually less common, and is considered to be a mark of having Lolth's favor. More common hair colors include black and blond.

That's interesting, I did not know that.