Drow Warriors

Drow warfare joins quick bodies to three racial powers: Levitate changes the angle of an attack, Darkness removes the enemy's defenses, and Telekinesis turns the cavern itself into a weapon. Their martial culture changed after Zaran Mor fell. The old city trained specialists over decades; the surviving families need soldiers quickly, and Psychic monsters reward obedience more often than refinement.

These are natural NPC profiles, not additional Summon or Polymorph patterns. A transformed caster uses the Drow template instead. The profiles can be women or men; individual attributes may vary. Women are more common among warriors with unusually advanced Psychic awakenings, while men tend toward greater physical Strength.

Every profile possesses Basic Fighting Style. Cavern Runners, Family Blades, and Zaran Mor Duelists use the Rogue grade; Cavern Keepers use Ranger; Patron Guards use Fighter. The bonuses are already included in the weapon damage below.

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Cavern Runner, Level 1

A Cavern Runner is a young adult trusted with messages, lookout duty, and the narrow paths between a family's shelters. They have awakened Levitate but not yet Darkness. The work rewards speed and judgment: a runner is expected to see danger, escape it, and bring older fighters back.

Attributes: STR +3 · DEX +5 · CON +3 · INT +3 · WIS +3 · CHA +2
Caster Level: 2 · Spell DC: 14
Speed: 40 ft per tick
HP: 24
DR: 0, ordinary clothing
Saves: Fortitude +4 · Reflex +6 · Will +4
Action Board: 3 attacks · 2 spells · 1 dedicated dodge · 3 general actions—1 slot per tick.

Weapons

• Spear: 1d8 + 7
• Sling: 1d4 + 7

Psychic reserve: 4 Level 1 slots. The runner knows racial Levitate.

Tactics. A runner does not hold a corridor against stronger enemies. They Levitate across a shaft or up a wall, throw a stone to draw attention, and carry a warning to the nearest household. In a prepared defense, runners move ammunition, close doors, and guide combatants through vertical routes.

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Family Blade, Level 2

A Family Blade is the soldier a surviving household can train without an academy. They guard food, children, sleeping chambers, and the routes between scattered caverns. Their loyalty belongs to the person holding the family together, not to a city or law that no longer exists.

Attributes: STR +4 · DEX +7 · CON +4 · INT +4 · WIS +4 · CHA +3
Caster Level: 4 · Spell DC: 16
Speed: 44 ft per tick
HP: 40
DR: 2, light armor
Saves: Fortitude +6 · Reflex +9 · Will +6
Action Board: 3 attacks · 2 spells · 1 dedicated dodge · 3 general actions—1 slot per tick.

Weapons

• Short sword: 1d6 + 9
• Light crossbow: 1d6 + 9; the first bolt is usually coated with Drow Sleep

Psychic reserve: 5 slots at each spell level through Level 2. The blade knows racial Levitate and Darkness.

Tactics. One blade creates Darkness while another attacks through it. Levitate reaches a ledge, crosses a shaft with a rope, or leaves the ground before an approaching beast can grapple. Family Blades prefer taking an intact prisoner: information, ransom, and service are worth more than a corpse.

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Cavern Keeper, Level 3

A Cavern Keeper raises, feeds, and trains living Cavern Weavers. They know how to cross a web without alarming its maker, recognize sickness in an egg sac, guide a Weaver through hand signals, and prepare a tunnel so the animal can defend it. Zaran Mor's hatcheries made this a respected profession. The scattered families preserve it because silk, venom, and a reliable tunnel guardian remain difficult to replace.

Attributes: STR +4 · DEX +8 · CON +5 · INT +6 · WIS +7 · CHA +4
Caster Level: 6 · Spell DC: 19
Speed: 46 ft per tick
HP: 64
DR: 2, fitted light armor
Saves: Fortitude +8 · Reflex +11 · Will +10
Action Board: 4 attacks · 2 spells · 2 dedicated dodges · 4 general actions—2 slots per tick.

Weapons

• Hunting spear: 1d8 + 12
• Light crossbow: 1d6 + 12; bolts may carry Drow Sleep

Psychic reserve: 6 slots at each spell level through Level 2. The Keeper knows racial Levitate and Darkness.

Trained Cavern Weaver

This companion is a living adult animal, not a Summon. It has its own temperament, actions, HP, and body. If it dies, it dies permanently. The Keeper must raise or earn the trust of another Weaver rather than replace it through magic. Practiced signals allow the pair to act and react in the same instant using the Keeper's Reflex roll, while remaining separate creatures and targets.

Cavern Weaver, Level 2 Medium animal
Attributes: STR +6 · DEX +13 · CON +8 · WIS +5 · animal intelligence
Speed: 40 ft per tick, ground or climb
HP: 48
DR: 0
Saves: Fortitude +10 · Reflex +15 · Will +7
Venom and web DC: 18
Action Board: 3 attacks · 0 spells · 2 dedicated dodges · 4 general actions—2 slots per tick.

• Bite: 1d6 + 13. Once per round, a successful Bite can inject Level 2 Drow Sleep; Fortitude DC 18 negates the venom.
• Web Shot: one General Action, 30 ft range, Reflex DC 18. One layer anchors the target in place and has 20 HP. Later layers can bind limbs or gag the target under the normal Cavern Weaver rules.
• Web Sense: while touching its web, the Weaver feels the position and approximate size of anything moving on the connected strands.

The Weaver understands places, routes, prey, familiar Drows, hand signals, and learned commands. It does not speak and cannot follow an abstract plan. The Keeper normally directs it toward a position or target, then lets its training handle the details.

Tactics. The Keeper prepares web lines before a fight and uses Darkness only after allies and the Weaver know their routes. The Weaver anchors one enemy; the Keeper threatens the path out with a spear and reserves Drow Sleep for a valuable prisoner. Neither fights to the death merely to hold an outer tunnel.

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Patron Guard, Level 4

A Patron Guard belongs to a family that survives beneath a Beholder, Dragon, or other Psychic master. The guard protects the patron's servants, tribute, orchards, and temple. This service is not mindless. As long as the monster keeps rival families away, defending it also defends the guard's children.

Attributes: STR +6 · DEX +12 · CON +6 · INT +6 · WIS +7 · CHA +4
Caster Level: 8 · Spell DC: 20
Speed: 54 ft per tick
HP: 120
DR: 4, fitted light armor
Saves: Fortitude +10 · Reflex +16 · Will +11
Action Board: 6 attacks · 2 spells · 1 dedicated dodge · 3 general actions—2 slots per tick.

Weapons

• Spear: 1d8 + 16
• Shortbow: 1d6 + 16; several arrows carry Drow Sleep

Psychic reserve: 5 slots at each spell level through Level 4. The guard knows racial Levitate, Darkness, and Telekinesis.

Tactics. The guard fights from a ledge or ceiling approach prepared with ropes, opens Darkness around intruders, and uses Telekinesis to pull away a weapon, move cover, seize a prisoner, or throw enemies into a lower passage. A patron's guards know their own tunnels and retreat toward the monster rather than dying at the outer gate.

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Zaran Mor Duelist, Level 6

A Zaran Mor Duelist represents the complete education lost beneath the capital. Noble families trained sword forms of their own, while the city maintained schools that joined those traditions into a common discipline. Shara learned only fragments before the fall and later built her own style from them.

This profile is appropriate for a historical one-shot or an ancient warrior preserved through Psychic magic. It is not an ordinary opponent in the present Underdark.

Attributes: STR +8 · DEX +16 · CON +7 · INT +8 · WIS +10 · CHA +6
Caster Level: 15 · Spell DC: 25
Speed: 62 ft per tick
HP: 320
DR: 4, ceremonial light armor
Saves: Fortitude +13 · Reflex +22 · Will +16
Action Board: 9 attacks · 3 spells · 2 dedicated dodges · 4 general actions—3 slots per tick.

Weapons

• Paired curved swords: 1d8 + 22 each
• Thrown dagger: 1d4 + 22

Psychic reserve: 6 slots at each spell level through Level 4. The duelist knows racial Levitate, Darkness, and Telekinesis.

Suspended Footwork. While racial Levitate is active, the duelist incorporates vertical movement into attacks and parries. They can fight above a floor, descend behind a defender, or use walls and bridges as parts of the duel. This grants no automatic numerical bonus; it changes which movements, cover, and attack routes are possible.

The Cavern Is Armed. The duelist does not use Telekinesis as a separate artillery spell. They open the opponent's guard with it—moving a shield, pulling a weapon, breaking footing, or placing a loose object in the path—then spend their attacks on the opening. Resolve each use under the normal Telekinesis rules.

Tactics. The duelist first controls sight, then position, then the sword exchange. They parry with their abundant attacks instead of spending scarce dodges. Against an opponent who sees through Darkness, they abandon concealment immediately and turn the spell slots toward movement and Telekinesis.

Encounter Use

• A warning in the dark: two Cavern Runners spot the party and race along separate vertical routes; catching both prevents an organized defense.
• A hungry family: three Family Blades protecting a store of food and refusing to fight to the death.
• A guarded hatchery: one Cavern Keeper and their trained Weaver direct two Family Blades through prepared webs.
• A monster's household: one Patron Guard directing four Family Blades while the patron watches through Psychic senses.
• The ruin remembers: one Zaran Mor Duelist guarding an archive, still obeying an order given before the city fell.