Rather Odd Drow Question

I just had a thought, since Drow are meant to be Chaotic, Self obsessed, self obsessing and all in rather obsessive about standing out in the crowd, letting their egos shine though.

Why is it always considered that drow do not dye their hair, use magic to change their eyes or appearance?

Is there an actual IC Lore based reason why all keep their white hair and other wise uniform look?

I'd say its just an oversight. I dont remember reading anything in that regard... All I can say is drow value their physique highly along with a few details like... having a shaved head is stating how you are outside the normal caste.

Guess they can dye their hair all they want to look cool.

Hmm now that I think of it their taste are often odd, like ... valuing a huge bunch of gems instead of a fine one on a ring... Those lore books are so conflicting you know, says somewhere they value artistic, gaudy expression and tries to wear as less clothes as possible, because being half naked is a show of power, where as somewhere else they write how drow likes usefull stuff over the appearance.

There are some famous and semi-famous examples of Drow flouting typical Drow style, all in the name of their own personal style.

Oh I think I know......... aside from the fact that nobody seems to dye their hair in all dnd books.... having green hair in a bunch of white haired people would make you stand out.... hence easier to target.

Drow are also rather obsessive at being the master race of Faerun, white hair is part of that image. I do however see some Drow dying it. Drow are after all, incredibly motivated by personal looks. One can achieve a high status in a House or politics simply on their looks. I think magical 'augmentations' (think eagles splendour) would be used commonly by those who could afford it. If your Drow wanted to stand out as a love god(dess), then I don't see why they wouldn't change their appearance to catch another's eye.

As Kalundelyr said, some would try to 'blend' in as much as possible, the rogue like ones, but high ranking officials who were the public faces of their house would indeed try to stand out.

I would think it would depend on how crafty and/or paranoid they were. I could see one letting someone else stand out more than them, and letting everyone believe that they were the public face while they controlled everything from the shadows. Less likely to end up dying before they've managed to accomplish anything grand enough to impress Lloth (or, whomever) really.

I guess it would probably come down to how ballsy are you? Do you believe yourself capable enough to be in the spotlight with a distinctive look all your own and thwart every plot made against you? Or do you use some poor vain sod as your shield and only be thought of as mildly attractive?

Being sexy is important.

Shadowcraft wrote:

I just had a thought, since Drow are meant to be Chaotic, Self obsessed, self obsessing and all in rather obsessive about standing out in the crowd, letting their egos shine though.

Why is it always considered that drow do not dye their hair, use magic to change their eyes or appearance?

Is there an actual IC Lore based reason why all keep their white hair and other wise uniform look?

Drows are on a whole, deeply devout. Not being so will quickly get you killed.

They consider themselves as the suprime race of all Faerun, and that they are just as the spiderqueen WANT them to be.

The Drow do not consider their looks as a curse of Corellon, but a blessing from Lolth.

I'd wager that any one straying too far from the idalized appearance of a true drow (read blessed of Lolth) would or could be considered as ungreatfull...witch is a quickly way to get yourself branded as a heretic...aka...you would be killed  

Drow are "uniform" because despite their chaotic nature, their appearance, the obsidian black skin, white hair and often red eyes, are so closely connected to WHY they are drow, and what is considered the will of the Spiderqueen.

It is..part of their hallmark.

LOLTH TLU MALLA  

Drow don't dye their hair, particularly. Even Jarlaxle simply cut his hair, and he's about as over the top as it gets for Drow.

They DO style their hair, however. In fact, distinct hairstyles are often part of the distinguishing mark of certain houses. It would seem that coloring is about the only thing not on the menu. Then again, in the context of the Underdark, color does nothing anyways. Darkvision is monochromatic.

While color is not visible in most of the unlit Underdark, the more cosmopolitan areas often feature a lot of everburning torches so the concept is not outrageous.

Drow consider themselves the master race. The master race naturally has white hair, so to change that would be to lessen oneself. I have heard that in some places, hairstyle is kind of a mark of stature, too. Commoners have short/simple/no hair, nobles go overboard with their hair.

Only Snowflakes dye their hair. It makes you a target. It makes you stick out. Drow Society isn't where Hipsters can exist that want to say "Hey! Look at me! I'm different!" It gets you killed. (like it should in real life)

Master race reporting in. If you don't have White Hair, Black Skin and Red Eyes. You are a defect and I have to assess... Why are you still alive and what did you do to get here.

It's like an old joke by Dave Chappel, where he states when you see a group of hard Affiliated O.G. Brothers with one or two white guys mingling with them, you know damn well those white guys had to do something to make it that far.

Shadowcraft wrote:

Is there an actual IC Lore based reason why all keep their white hair and other wise uniform look?

DM FOE wrote:

There are some famous and semi-famous examples of Drow flouting typical Drow style, all in the name of their own personal style.

EXACTLY. There are no lore reasons against it

Some of the stuff above is just the opinions of some players and their personal view of Drow and are not lore based

A lot of these views are a bit male based. In the real world most men have a tendency to want to dress like men (male hunting pack instinct) and are pleased if they see another man in the same shirt as they are wearing. Women on the other hand are appalled if they turn up at a party and another woman is wearing the same dress as they are wearing. Its a FEMININE trait to want to be INDIVIDUAL in looks. Drow society is dominated by women.

Drow females are competitive with each other and this could probably extend to looks and fashions and hairstyles

I also still think - contrary to other opinions - that Drow SHOULD EXHIBIT SOME CHAOTIC TRAITS - including in fashion and looks

I tend to think that (personal opinion) that the armies of chaotic races (ie Elves and Drow) would not wear uniforms. Drow houses might wear colours to differentiate themselves. This opinion tho is not very lore based.

I actually have a personal interest in this - when i played Feanora as a NWN1 character on the Myth Drannor server she had did have red hair



ALTERNATIVE VIEW:
haha!
Maybe if Drow females are actually really very masculine perhaps all drow males should be roleplayed as effeminate? interesting idea? LOL

How I see it is the reason Drow never really dye their hair or things like that is due to the same reason they often don't wear a lot.

See the reason females according to drow of the underdark, that females don't wear a lot in the clothes department is because they are essentially showing off "hey look at my perfect body which looks better than yours", drow will often take someone using a lot of clothes as seeing that as an indication that they have something to hide such as a defect or that they arent confident in the superiority of their looks showing a lack of self confidence. Appearances can be everything.

So same reason as with dyeing hair, while it could be seen as a quirky new fashion statement, others could see it as the drow being ashamed to show their true appearance, and needing to hide behind make-up and dyes.

Remember all your rivals are just looking for an excuse to make you look bad infront of your superiors, sometimes they will need to fish for a reason

thats silly, women dont dye their hair to hide something... they dye their to show their individuality or for a change of look or to follow a style or make a statement



((unless they are older and are hiding grey but that doesnt count for elves))

DM Foe wrote:

Quote :

While color is not visible in most of the unlit Underdark, the more cosmopolitan areas often feature a lot of everburning torches so the concept is not outrageous.

Did everyone miss what was said and is happening here?

On the surface there is white light.  White light has all the colors of the visible spectrum.  It takes each of these bands of color in the spectrum in order to reflect those individual colors.



Menzoberranzan was mainly carved from calcite(image above) and it was filled with blue, green, and violet faerie fire.  Calcite crystals are calcium carbonate (CaCO3). They are generally white or clear and can be scratched with a knife.  So there would be blue green reflections intermixed with dark shadows throughtout the entire city.  There are daily peroids of time when the major sources of dim light are turned off.  So any other colors would not be seen.  I would imagine that the drow hair would reflect the color of the area and not any specific color that might be a dye.  White hair would be perfect for this reflection technic.   If a particular drow felt they looked best with green, they would make sure a dim green light source was near.  If they had something red, it simply would not show.  Another source for dim light would be phosphorus from crystals and minerals.  But phosphorus is below dim and could only be used as an applicator.

Darkvision does not allow for color vision at all.  It is surface vision that is part of the drow heredity(DNA) from the past that allows them to see color.  I wonder if there are some colors the drow do not see anymore?

Torch light would be irritating to most drow.

Phosphorus or faerie fire applications would be used in the underdark.  But remember, if you dont have some way of hiding it when needed, then you are visible.  I would even say HiPs would not be usable.  On the surface it would only be visible in darkness.  But surfacers would not see you, only your applications.

The combination of dim faerie fire in a particular area and a drow with phosphorus applications would be quite spectacular to view if done right.

Dyes in the underdark would mostly be seen as various shades of grey.

I play a duergar and will mostly follow these truths.

kramps