Issues with in-game Drow height

[She Said Destroy]

So, to start, let us look at what the sourcebooks say:

In the module, male and female drow's height values go from 55 to 65 inches.
However, due to the way that male and female models/phenotypes are set up in-game, a female drow with 65 inches (max height) appears smaller than a male drow with 62. This differs from the sourcebook description.

Height values, for reference. Again, 62 is male; 65 is female.

Spoiler: show

Side by side comparison:

Spoiler: show

So, with this in mind, could drow women get a boost to maybe 75 inches maximum to be just as tall (or a bit taller) than their male counterparts?

[Spazzer]

+1. Please do.

[SardineTheAncestor]

65 -> 75 is going to be quite a bit more than "slightly taller," I suspect, with the way scaling works at the extreme ends, but I agree, should be changed for consistency.

[Zyemeth]

A little height bump average for females would make sense then I would agree.

[Vissy]

I think female models need an overall height bump, yeah. More customizability is never bad.

[BraveSirRobin]

It's worth noting that Drow in Eberron are much larger than their Forgotten Realms counterparts, with their minimum height being 5′4″, and their maximum height being 6'0", with it being co-equal across both genders. I'm not sure if they've already taken this into account in scaling for Xen'drik Drow, but if not, it should be updated.

I think female models need an overall height bump, yeah. More customizability is never bad.

Female models are usually shorter; I'm not sure why they'd need a height bump, outside of this rare instance where the female Drow are like, an inch taller on average than the male.

[EO]

Actually the generic DnD female elf in 3.5 is also supposed to be the same height as the male; however NwN elves aren't the same size, which creates this problem. There's no real solution though; we could scale the female up a little to match the male model, but it'd also make the female elf bulkier, which would look strange.

[Spazzer]

Actually the generic DnD female elf in 3.5 is also supposed to be the same height as the male; however NwN elves aren't the same size, which creates this problem. There's no real solution though; we could scale the female up a little to match the male model, but it'd also make the female elf bulkier, which would look strange.

This is perfectly fine/good IMO, females are meant to to be heavier then the males, it makes sense they have more bulk/muscle to them.

[EO]

This is perfectly fine/good IMO, females are meant to to be heavier then the males, it makes sense they have more bulk/muscle to them.

Not elven ones though, and if we applied the changes it'd affect both drow and elves.

[She Said Destroy]

Not elven ones though, and if we applied the changes it'd affect both drow and elves.

Elven players can choose to not take the maximum height option.
I just want it to be possible to be a taller/bulkier Drow woman. It isn't, currently.

[BraveSirRobin]

Actually the generic DnD female elf in 3.5 is also supposed to be the same height as the male;

Elves in general tend to be equal in height, as the Eberron Drow are, afaik. Drow specifically have taller females in Forgotten Realms because it's a euphemism to Spiders, in which the Female is larger. I was referring to females in general, not specifically Elves, in response to this.

I think female models need an overall height bump, yeah. More customizability is never bad.

[Skelni]

It'd be more true to PnP if the Drow were allowed to adjust more freely. I mean, the Athasian Elves get to tower over everyone. So why not let the Drow have more accurate portrayals as well?

[EO]

It'd be more true to PnP if the Drow were allowed to adjust more freely. I mean, the Athasian Elves get to tower over everyone. So why not let the Drow have more accurate portrayals as well?

Because drow are treated no differently than standard elves in 3E, so if we were to make a change, it'd have to affect most generic elf subraces, not just drow. An easy fix would be to adjust the size of female elves, but they would all look bulkier than males across the board.

[Skelni]

It'd be more true to PnP if the Drow were allowed to adjust more freely. I mean, the Athasian Elves get to tower over everyone. So why not let the Drow have more accurate portrayals as well?

Because drow are treated no differently than standard elves in 3E, so if we were to make a change, it'd have to affect most generic elf subraces, not just drow. An easy fix would be to adjust the size of female elves, but they would all look bulkier than males across the board.

If I can just inquire more about it. Are we talking about a technical limitation here with the NWN engine, or is it a design choice with the representation of their 3E description? The Athasians are taller then other Elves right, but not every other Elf is as tall as them when selecting your size. If they're able to be different than the other subraces, what's preventing the Drow exactly?

[EO]

If I can just inquire more about it. Are we talking about a technical limitation here with the NWN engine, or is it a design choice with the representation of their 3E description? The Athasians are taller then other Elves right, but not every other Elf is as tall as them when selecting your size. If they're able to be different than the other subraces, what's preventing the Drow exactly?

The issue is that as per DnD, female and male elves of most subraces are the same height, whereas in NwN female are noticeably shorter. In order to bridge that gap, you'd need to resize the female elf, which is possible, but it'll affect their overall appearance. Again, whilst the original poster brought up drow, this doesn't really concern drow specifically. In 3rd edition, drow and generic elves have the same height. Athasian elves are taller than others as per source books, which is represented here.

[Skelni]

The issue is that as per DnD, female and male elves of most subraces are the same height, whereas in NwN female are noticeably shorter. In order to bridge that gap, you'd need to resize the female elf, which is possible, but it'll affect their overall appearance. Again, whilst the original poster brought up drow, this doesn't really concern drow specifically. In 3rd edition, drow and generic elves have the same height. Athasian elves are taller than others as per source books, which is represented here.

Gotcha, thank you for clarifying it.

[Zyemeth]

I would say a resize of female elves across the board would make sense if they are supposed to be equal in height according to dnd anyway. Even if it's not enough to make female drow "bigger" persay, enough of a boost to bring male and female heights to look equal would make a better representation.

[zDark Shadowz]

I'm all for elven women being able to look chonkier while athletic due to an upsized model. Theres plenty of folk preferring min or near-min sized elven women but the bronze-skinned wild amazoness look works too with equal heights.

[SardineTheAncestor]

Elves are gangly and bone thin even at normal size, making them like 12-15% larger is fine, imo

[Vissy]

Yeah, elven female models look really paper thin at times.

[Maffa]

yeah wouldnt mind if they were slightly less jail bait-y

[Erikat]

Have to agree that boosting female elves across the board would be a nice change. Again players can still drop the height ridiculously but this does align more truly to PnP.

[hn3SoNaReS]

I dunno if messing around with proportions of the racial models in a 20 year old game is really a good idea , that's just the way they made the models look, there are lots of things about the game you could say the same thing about, like the doorknobs in proportion to the doors are totally whack, but I would never dream of trying to do anything about it.