Lloth sworn Drow bard

[Rivazar]

I wonder how realistic this is in this world setting. As I understand Lloth-sworn aren’t that fitting lore wise for bard role

[pahrias]

Not really that familiar with the DnD lore, but it would stand to reason that there should be some form of musician and story teller. Even in extremely martial societies there would still be the march drummer, or the Propagandist town crier.
Or, it might not be the singing, dancing and acrobatic bard as with other cultures, but there would still be a place for the court jester, at least in theory. Though I doubt the Jester in Drow society would be allowed to make fun of his Matriarch. You could use that to say why he/she was on the surface though, being either exiled or on the run for doing just such a thing. A joke that went to far, or a song that cut a bit too close to the bone would likely lead to death and a self imposed exile would be a sensible choice for a Drow bard.

[Dragon Master]

Originally posted by Rivazar:

Originally posted by Dragon Master:

I can see a llolth-sworn drow bard. If it's a male then he would likely have been forced into slavery and would be part of a priestesses household and 100% meant to entertain her and her guests at her demand or die.

If it was a female drow then it is because she both enjoys it and likes to use her talents to serve as distractions from the political machinations that her household is engaging in.

Thank you. Kind of answer I looked for

Happy to help.

It's one of the reasons I love having set-in-stone lore. I, as a player, get to exercise my creative muscles to work out a backstory for HOW a character concept can work within the lore, and sometimes I may have to tweak what I have in mind but so long as I have fun with my friends then all is well.

[Hex]

They have male pleasure slaves in Drow society. A Bard isn't anything weird.

[EricHVela]

What makes D&D interesting are the exceptions.

If something is very rare, it can be considered an exception in my opinion. Lolth Drow Bard is rare, an exception, and (can be) interesting. How to play one is up to the imagination of the individual.

WotC has been trying to shy away from strict lore applying to player characters and villains. The lore is to set the environment, and the exciting churn created by the exceptional happens within that. Be the churn against ordinary FR life. That's what D&D means to me.

EDIT: Funny side note: My characters tend to be the "straight-man" or "everyman" trope of an ordinary person thrust into an exceptional situation—a foil contrasting the exceptional people in the group, making them even more exceptional by comparison... except I love the idea of the "anyone can be a hero" trope, and that's what usually happens to my characters.

[Popsicles]

Originally posted by Rivazar:

I wonder how realistic this is in this world setting. As I understand Lloth-sworn aren’t that fitting lore wise for bard role

Create the PC you want to play! Who cares what other think? It's your game.

[Rivazar]

Originally posted by Balltin:

Originally posted by Rivazar:

I wonder how realistic this is in this world setting. As I understand Lloth-sworn aren’t that fitting lore wise for bard role

Create the PC you want to play! Who cares what other think? It's your game.

I don’t ask opinions. I know what I want to play. I only ask how what I chose feels in world’s lore and setting apart from game. Simple curiosity but people still misinterpreting my question.

[Saadiya]

I'm pretty sure the Drow know what music is and have an appreciation for it. Not allowing for drow bards seems kinda... odd to me.

Originally posted by Rivazar:

Simple curiosity but people still misinterpreting my question.

As for this, your OP wasn't very clear on your intentions, it reads like you want people's opinion about the subject, but you claim you don't want their opinions. *shrug*

[EricHVela]

In tabletop, I've played Monk many times, but I've never played a monastic or kung-fu monk. The characters were always just bullies and tavern brawlers (both types with a lot of room to grow and stop being totally insecure ****s). We simply used the Monk mechanics.

I mentioned elsewhere in a D&D forum that a Druid doesn't have to be all nature-loving but a force of will upon the natural world. The ability to influence/control beasts and nature doesn't immediately mean a tree-herder. The average farmer influences (and in some cases controls) beasts and nature. The Druid mechanics could be seen as adding magic to the farmer's regular abilities... or maybe a court sorcerer in title who controls the natural world using the Druid mechanics.

As mentioned previously in this thread, just because the label has Bard doesn't mean you're an entertainer if you don't want to play it that way. I don't know the limits of Larian's freedom on that, though. I haven't played a Bard, yet. I also haven't seen their Monk, yet, but I know their description of Druid is rather specific.

[Rivazar]

Originally posted by EricHVela:

In tabletop, I've played Monk many times, but I've never played a monastic or kung-fu monk. The characters were always just bullies and tavern brawlers (both types with a lot of room to grow and stop being totally insecure ****s). We simply used the Monk mechanics.

I mentioned elsewhere in a D&D forum that a Druid doesn't have to be all nature-loving but a force of will upon the natural world. The ability to influence/control beasts and nature doesn't immediately mean a tree-herder. The average farmer influences (and in some cases controls) beasts and nature. The Druid mechanics could be seen as adding magic to the farmer's regular abilities... or maybe a court sorcerer in title who controls the natural world using the Druid mechanics.

As mentioned previously in this thread, just because the label has Bard doesn't mean you're an entertainer if you don't want to play it that way. I don't know the limits of Larian's freedom on that, though. I haven't played a Bard, yet. I also haven't seen their Monk, yet, but I know their description of Druid is rather specific.

I Chose charlatan bard Drow and laughed my ass when I took away coin from tiefling child and my party approved it. Later I replayed this moment as non bard normally speaking with child and realized he pickpocket me. I guess I wasn’t wrong with my drow bard

[Jinkaru]

Honestly, it's up to you to decide what you want to do, the backstory, and how your character came to be. It's up to the DM to decide how the world reacts to the character. It's up to the players to determine how your character fits into a group and how they react to your character.

DnD is only as good as the group. So, if things go properly, the story should reflect all of the factors of your character's existence in a way that fits the current situation.

Take it from someone who plays a gnoll lol

[Murderhobo]

Originally posted by Rivazar:

I wonder how realistic this is in this world setting. As I understand Lloth-sworn aren’t that fitting lore wise for bard role

Quite the opposite, actually, Lolth fearing Drow love bards. Their role in it's society though is kinda different as everything else.

Originally posted by Dragon Magazine #298:

An ingenious evisceration means nothing if others do not know of it. Hence, bards have a crucial role among the drow. Social climbers hire bards to commemorate their slayings in song. If possible, they even invite balladeers to attend the killings, to more vividly portray the slaughter. A skilled bard with a popular following can greatly enhance a drown's prestige, transforming a long run-of-the-mill execution into a celebrated slaughter. Bards patrol the winding passages of an underground community, yipping out their gore-spatted ballads in the screechy, affected tone expected of a drow singer. The hiring of a famed bard can cost tens of thousands of gold pieces, and the more an individual drow pays, the greater her chances of social elevation. The subject of the song might, for example, attract a more powerful priestess as a patron or gain new, well heeled customers for her business.

Think Tywin comissioning for the Rains of Castamere, but Black Metal.

Originally posted by Halisstra Melarn: Condemnation by Richard Baker, Chapter 3:

“Our wizards, swordsmen, and clerics are trained in academies. This is true in most drow cities. The reason you do not know of the bae’qeshel is that the bardic training is not a public matter. We pass our secrets, one mistress to one student at a time.”

[Murderhobo]

Originally posted by Oven:

Drow need entertainment too, they can't all be clerics and wizards.

Within drow entertainment I don't know how high would bards really rate, to be honest, with fantastic outdoors activities like murder and raiding being at hand.

[Steffan]

Drows are (generally speaking) evil and decadent but like all elves, they love aesthetics and art. They are not savages. I would say it totally makes sense for them to have bards.

But what bard would you like to be? An evil one who is soaked in vice and delusions, an outcast or something else?

To my understanding you can also play a 'Lolth-sworn' drow in various ways. It defines your place of birth, background and eye colour. It is not a predetermination, though. The future is still under your control (with all the baggage from your backstory, if you like)

I do plan to play a 'Lolth-sworn' sorcerer who has severed all the connections with the Spider Queen. He hates her but that he was still born in a society worshipping her. And that heritage does not easily lets go. And yes, he loves to play the lute... and is still a dangerous person.

[DeportedFetus]

Played co-op with a this exact character and it was pretty fun, and useful.