One of my players wants to play a Drow Bard [in 5E] who wanted to blend in with surface dwellers. The background is that the PC asked a powerful wizard to change his appearance permanently (to an Elf), while keeping Drow stats, but he had to give up one arm as payment/penalty. Obviously this is a pretty hefty setback (especially for a race that already has a penalty, in the form of sunlight sensitivity), so, I'm wondering whether the following could help off-set the penalty:
- As part of becoming an elf, he loses both superior dark vision and sunlight sensitivity (but still retains all other Drow features)
- Presumably, when we lose certain body part/feature, the brain reorganizes over time, to devote more resources to the remaining ones. So, I was thinking that the PC would become more skilled with his remaining arm (assuming it was his dominant arm), and give him the Dueling Fighter feature (+2 bonus damage with melee weapon). Balance-wise, because he won't be able to dual wield or hold a shield, I think this is fair.
Is this fair, balanced compensation for starting with only one arm?
The fluff is that the wizard cast a True Polymorph spell, concentrated for an hour, but in order to keep the Drow traits, the wizard couldn't "pay attention" to the entire body–so, the arm shrivelled during the transformation (the wizard didn't have the energy to 'direct' the arm's transformation), and had to be cut off (a warning the Wizard had given the PC in advance).
Best Answer
I've not seen any rules for lost limbs in 5e. It looks like you'll have to house-rule stuff for this. Both of those solutions can help off-set this Drow's disability, but missing an arm is a big deal.
There are a lot of effects that losing an arm could have. What could it mean for skill checks (rock climbing 1-handed? Good luck!). Bows? Never again. Crossbows? Maybe. Two-handed weapons? Nope. Shields? Pretty much out-of-the-question. What about the social implications? Some people may dislike him just because he's "a cripple," while others may be more understanding.
Benefits of having lost an arm? He weighs less. Kind souls may pity him more. If he's a lefty now instead of a righty in a righty-dominated world, people may be super thrown off by his fighting style. A one-armed man on a battlefield? Likely lower priority than other fighters.
Considering all this, your proposed amendments may work out well. A +2 bonus to hit is pretty big, especially at low levels, so I may consider lowering that to a +1. Overall, though, I still think the drow made a poor choice, and is not coming out ahead after loosing the arm.
Of course, this opens up roleplaying opportunities as well. Rewarding the player for acknowledging their character's disability in various situations is a good idea!