[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Link: Well, he learned them alright. The levitation, and the globe of darkness thing he uses all the time are things he LEARNED while in Drow Academy. He's just a gifted student, and that's what makes him so powerful.

Levitate, Globe of Darkness and Faerie Fire were all innate abilities of drow PC's in PnP. The drow elves originally appeared in the Fiend Folio and were designed to be adversaries against the party - hence the addition of innate abilites to make them a little tougher. They were not orginally designed to be PC's and most DM's I played under wouldn't allow them because their drow abilities made them a bit too powerful. Also - until R.A. Salvatore introduced us to a certain drow ranger - drow elves were considered to be universally evil by most gamers.

Having Drizzt "learn" the Globe of Darkness and Levitation at the Drow Academy was just Salvatore's way of rationalizing these innate abilities. (BTW, Drizzt also had the Faerie Fire as an innate ability. He used it in some of the battles in the IWD Trilogy).

On a completely different note, Faerie Fire was one of the most useful spells in PnP (especially at lower levels), and I'm sad to see it wasn't converted into BGII. When cast, it would cause 1-4 figures to be "wreathed" in purplish flames. The flames did no actual damage, but they made opponents much easier to see and hit (effectively raising their AC by 2 points). It would also work on Invisible opponents, so that was a BIG advantage. IF I ever learn how to create spells for the game, that might be one I try to work up.

[ 07-28-2004, 11:22 AM: Message edited by: Cerek the Barbaric ]