Drow Sorcerers

Every Drow is Psychic, but racial awakening alone does not make a sorcerer. These specialists learn formulas beyond Levitate, Darkness, and Telekinesis. Before Zaran Mor fell, schools and ancient families could train them slowly. Present households teach whatever knowledge survived, while monsters seek those whose magic can control minds, observe tunnels, or strengthen a servant for years.

These are natural NPC profiles, not Summon or Polymorph patterns. Their spell lists are deliberately narrower than the complete Psychic catalog: they represent learned roles, not every spell a Drow of that level could know. Individual spells and attributes can be changed without altering the role.

All four profiles possess Basic Fighting Style and use its Psychic grade. The bonuses are already included in the weapon damage below.

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Household Adept, Level 1

A Household Adept is the first true spellcaster a small family can produce. They mend daily problems, hide food, put frightened children to sleep, and raise a Barrier when a tunnel is breached. Most are not leaders. Their value comes from having several answers when everyone else has only a weapon.

Attributes: STR +2 · DEX +4 · CON +3 · INT +5 · WIS +4 · CHA +4
Caster Level: 3 · Spell DC: 16
Speed: 38 ft per tick
HP: 24
DR: 0, ordinary clothing
Saves: Fortitude +4 · Reflex +5 · Will +5
Action Board: 3 attacks · 2 spells · 1 dedicated dodge · 3 general actions—1 slot per tick.

Weapon

• Knife: 1d4 + 5

Psychic reserve: 5 Level 1 slots. The adept knows racial Levitate, plus Barrier, Illusion, Ray of Frost, Sleep, and Cleaning.

Tactics. The adept opens with Barrier if violence is unavoidable, then uses Sleep while relatives protect them. Ray of Frost slows a pursuer without filling a family chamber with fire. Illusion hides an exit, changes the apparent end of a passage, or buys one uncertain tick. Levitate is usually reserved for escape.

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Mindbinder, Level 3

A Mindbinder captures enemies without filling the cavern with blood. Surviving families use them for ambushes and interrogation; Psychic patrons use them to recover escaped servants. They are feared because an encounter can end before either side draws a blade.

Attributes: STR +3 · DEX +7 · CON +4 · INT +8 · WIS +7 · CHA +5
Caster Level: 7 · Spell DC: 21
Speed: 44 ft per tick
HP: 60
DR: 2, light armor
Saves: Fortitude +7 · Reflex +10 · Will +10
Action Board: 3 attacks · 3 spells · 1 dedicated dodge · 3 general actions—1 slot per tick.

Weapon

• Short sword: 1d6 + 9

Psychic reserve: 6 slots at each spell level through Level 3. The Mindbinder knows racial Levitate and Darkness, plus Charm, Hold, Illusion, Mental Fog, Night Bolt, Silence, Sleep, and Summon.

Known Summon pattern. A typical Mindbinder knows the Cavern Weaver pattern. Another pattern can replace it when the family has invested the time required to learn one.

Tactics. Silence prevents warnings and verbal casting. Darkness gives Drow allies control of the battlefield, then Hold or Sleep isolates prisoners. Mental Fog is an emergency defense against a stronger Psychic; while protected, the Mindbinder retreats because they cannot cast.

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Circle Priestess, Level 5

A Drow priestess is a sorcerer trained to turn several minds toward one formula. In Zaran Mor, priestesses preserved family rites and led public ceremonies. After the fall, the same discipline lets scattered Drows combine modest casters into a power that can protect a settlement, search a ruin, break hostile magic, or reach several minds at once. The rite may honor an ancient Drow, a family line, or a present monster patron; the magic remains Psychic.

Attributes: STR +4 · DEX +9 · CON +5 · INT +12 · WIS +11 · CHA +8
Caster Level: 12 · Spell DC: 28
Speed: 48 ft per tick
HP: 120
DR: 4, ceremonial light armor
Saves: Fortitude +10 · Reflex +14 · Will +16
Action Board: 3 attacks · 4 spells · 2 dedicated dodges · 4 general actions—2 slots per tick.

Weapon

• Ceremonial spear: 1d8 + 12

Psychic reserve: 7 slots at each spell level through Level 5. The priestess knows racial Levitate, Darkness, and Telekinesis, plus Barrier, Charm, Dispel Magic, Hold, Illusion, Lightning Bolt, Phantasm, Scrying, Summon, and Witness.

Known Summon patterns. A priestess usually preserves two patterns chosen by her community. Cavern Weavers control passages and capture intruders; Earth Elementals guard tunnels and recall the power Zaran Mor once held over other creatures. A group protected by a different patron may know another pattern instead.

Circle Rites. The priestess uses the normal cooperative casting rules, but builds communities able to exploit them. She groups Drows of compatible caster level, assigns one formula and one rhythm, and trains frequent assistants in Cooperative Caster. Three CL 7 Mindbinders contribute +6 CL to this priestess, bringing her from CL 12 to the cooperative ceiling of CL 18. If all three possess Cooperative Caster, they add only three ticks in total instead of nine.

A circle increases caster level, not spell access. Its result can still be dramatic: a larger Barrier, a harder Dispel, a broader Illusion, or a Phantasm with a stronger DC. In an encounter, the ritual is usually an objective to interrupt or protect rather than a technique assembled after initiative.

Tactics. Alone, the priestess protects herself with Barrier, sends Lightning Bolt down confined approaches, and lets guards hold the survivors. With preparation, she observes through Scrying or Witness and starts the encounter only after the circle has shaped the battlefield.

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Memory Smith, Level 7

A Memory Smith binds stable blue mana into objects. Their enchantments need no gold to remain active, but every object occupies part of the smith's own reserve. A commission is therefore not merely expensive work: it is a claim on the sorcerer's future power. Families court Memory Smiths, patrons protect or coerce them, and the smith accepts only objects and owners worth weakening themself for.

Attributes: STR +4 · DEX +10 · CON +5 · INT +16 · WIS +12 · CHA +9
Caster Level: 18 · Spell DC: 35
Speed: 50 ft per tick
HP: 180
DR: 8, personally enchanted armor
Saves: Fortitude +12 · Reflex +17 · Will +19
Action Board: 3 attacks · 4 spells · 2 dedicated dodges · 4 general actions—2 slots per tick.

Weapon

• Enchanted staff: 1d6 + 16

Psychic reserve: 8 slots at each spell level through Level 7 before maintained objects are counted. The smith knows racial Levitate, Darkness, and Telekinesis, plus Barrier, Dispel Magic, Enchant, Fireball, Illusion, Polymorph, Scrying, Stone and Flesh, and Witness.

Known Polymorph patterns. A Memory Smith commonly learns the Earth Elemental form for workshop defense, escape, and heavy labor. Another known form, if any, reflects the family or monster that paid for the research.

Living Catalog. A typical Memory Smith maintains two Level 3 objects and one Level 5 object for clients. Their usable maximum is therefore 6 Level 3 slots and 7 Level 5 slots, while every other level remains at 8. Releasing an object restores the maximum but not a filled slot; that capacity must recover normally.

The smith remembers every active object and can release one without touching it. Killing the smith ends all maintained enchantments, which makes assassination an attack on every family they support. It also gives those families a powerful reason to keep the smith alive and free enough to continue choosing their objects.

Tactics. The Memory Smith arrives protected by equipment and allies rather than seeking a duel. Barrier buys time, Fireball answers a massed assault, Illusion creates a false route to the smith, and Telekinesis moves the real enchanted objects out of reach. They surrender before risking death if their clients' enchantments matter more than the immediate fight.

Encounter Groups

• Silent capture: one Mindbinder with a Cavern Weaver, two Family Blades, and two Cavern Runners. Silence and Darkness close the encounter while the runners seal escape routes.
• The household circle: one Circle Priestess, three Mindbinders trained as Cooperative Casters, and four Family Blades. The party can strike before the rite finishes, negotiate with the family, or face its completed effect.
• A patron's investment: one Memory Smith protected by two Patron Guards and several Family Blades. The monster wants the smith recovered alive; rival Drows may help anyone who can break that obligation.
• A settlement under pressure: two Household Adepts support six mixed warriors. Their Barriers and Sleep spells make ordinary defenders much harder to overwhelm without turning the encounter into a battle against a master sorcerer.