Pathfinder Drops Drow as They Part Ways With OGL Content
Pathfinder has retconned the Drow from out of their game, as part of a move to abandon the legacy of the OGL.
The OGL saga that defined the year for the tabletop industry, spins on. Though the core of the matter seems to be settled, the fallout is still, well, falling out. As we can see playing out live, in Paizo’s rounds of course correction.
Announced during a panel at PaizoCon 2023, Paizo creative director James Jacobs revealed that Pathfinder would be dropping Drow, so to speak. This move comes as part of a concerted effort to excise the Open Gaming License and its legacy from Pathfinder. While WotC ultimately decided not to de-authorize the OGL, the company is determined to keep its game under the ORC license. Which means getting rid of things too tied to the OGL.
Pathfinder Retcons Drow Away
Drow are, weirdly enough, one of the more iconic D&D creatures. Partly because they’re closely associated with one of the few canonical D&D heroes to make it into the mainstream. But even in the earliest days of D&D, the Drow were created to be the children of Lolth, demon-worshipping Dark Elves.
And for Pathfinder, who kind of leans into that flavor for Drow, that’s a big problem. Because they could originally use Drow as part of the OGL. But with Paizo’s move to excise the OGL with the upcoming Pathfinder Remaster project, the Drow have got to go.
Of course, they’re not the only OGL creatures in Pathfinder. Though they are some of the most closely tied to D&D out there. Chromatic dragons and creatures like Duergar can be reimagined, but the word Drow is so firmly embedded in D&D.
In a thread on the Paizo forums, Jacobs confirmed their absence, quoting an upcoming article about Zirnakaynin:
“‘Perhaps the most mysterious and legend-haunted location in all Sekamina is the ancient city of Zirnakaynin. This sprawling ruin features architectural styles echoed today among many other cities, yet curiously Zirnakaynin lacks sekmin influence. Sekmins consider it forbidden, and they dedicate considerable effort to guarding all tunnels leading to this city. Who—or what—built Zirnakaynin, and what may live there today, remains unknown.’
The article DOES leave a “back door” open for us some day in the future to still have some sort of “cruel demon-worshiping elves” involved in it if we decide to retain that, but it’s just as easy to say anything else about it. It IS sad to see a lot of the familiar OGL monsters having to go away… but for the health of the company, the long-term strength of the brand, and to help us as employees feel more invested in building something WE built rather than ride on popular coat-tails from other companies… drow no longer being a part of Pathfinder is a necessity.”
Jacobs also talked about how other closely-connected figures were disappearing. Tiamat is a thing related to Dragons, for instance, as well as the demon lord Orcus:
“An ORC book isn’t an OGL book, so we are very likely to not do anything with Orcus going forward.
Fortunately, we’ve got other demon lords like Kabriri and Zura who can more than handle the need for ‘necromancy-themed demon lords’.”
All this, from the OGL drama, what else lies in store for those who published under the OGL and are now finding their own path?
