Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Racist Tropes on Drow STOP IT

One other way to reset it would be to have plotline that involves a slave revolt in Menzoberranzan, done up like Spartacus or the Haitian Revolution or something. Just with a really epic sweep, that totally reorients the story of who the Drow are and clues us in to previously unexplored aspects of Drow culture. Not the violent abusive predation one we've seen so far, but some other undercurrent of it, which gives rise to characters like Drizzt. Now played by Idris Elba in my continued thought experiment lol. There are many ways they could run with something like that. Like especially because slavery is still full on in the Underdark where BG2 left off, and that's kinda fucked. So perhaps they take a character like Drizzt or Viconia, but make them into a cross between a Dutty Boukman and a Spartacus type figure? Just have it cracking off in Menzoberranzan, with different factions within the city, and outside as well, all vying for power in a big interconnected revolt arc? It could still be violent and gruesome, but also full of idealism high aspirations for like a better Drow way of life or whatever on the one side. Maybe with more interesting insights into the spider queen and such to be gleaned from a different point of view?

You know where the 'good' Drow in this story are the ones who are forced to toil for the more wicked houses of Menzoberranzan, but then they throw down and break chains, totally turn the city upside down with their allies? Drizzt completes his character trajectory as the ultimate good guy overcoming. The whole conception of the Drow resets a little, at least in that part of the Underdark, via a deep story with a couple familiar characters. Drow have conveniently long life spans, so it could work for a BG3 style timeline. For the Drow Druid angle, that whole idea of being forced underground or working the mines and getting laid low by past calamity could get a pretty interesting treatment I bet. Like where the good Drow faction in the story finds the roots and the true nature of the web, the veins of stone and water and life sources, pulling out from the depths. They could maybe give us a Drow druid sage, and she drops the knowledge and explains what the real deal is with this other form of drow mysticism. But only if they really worked hard on it probably and hired the right writers and artists. I don't really know who should do it, probably Salvatore could pass the baton on the character maybe if he wanted to. I can see where it might come off pretty poorly too if it wasn't done up to spec.

Now that the Drow are playable it makes the situation a little different than before as well. The most ancient Drow could do like a Kush Pharaoh angle on it, just full on, and do some ancient scrolls with another version of how the Drow came to be underground in the first place. And like maybe the surface Elves don't end up looking quite so good in that one lol

I don't know, just some ideas. Maybe it could take off, or maybe it totally falls flat, but I don't mind them trying something different with it. The Cumberbatch Drizzt stuff introduced the threefold Drow idea, but it still kinda just feels like they don't want to deal with Lolth or what are now called the Udadrow really. The whacko cultists running Menzoberranzan is how its framed now. I think it would be more interesting if they just reworked it at the core, instead of adding Starlight Drow that go off to some Hyperborean North, or the woodland Drow who aren't 'corrupted' by the spider queen. Which honestly doesn't feel like its moving the ball anywhere really.

But I could certainly see having some creepy sadistic albino looking Drow who remain classically evil and villainous, according to the most wicked of fascist colonialist slave trading archetypes that everyone loves to hate. You know like have them played by Magneto and Nurse Ratchet, but have the good drow from Menzo be like Idris and Zendaya or something, and they just wreck the whole previous program to the ground. That would be a clutch Underdark themed campaign, that could revamp the thing better that way than through some supplemental lorebook stuff. If they're serious they need to make a campaign for it.

But so far I haven't seen a whole ton in BG3 that would necessarily work against that sort of thing. We've only got one drow to pick apart right now, so I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens in the next act.

Maybe they should save it for Icewind Dale 3 though? Get Justin Sweet back in there to do the concept art, but with some other people too to round it out. Really do the whole thing on that theme so it can be executed well, instead of as an afterthought. Icewindale would be the most appropriate setting to kick it off, if they wanted to give it some legs.