Drow Wood Source?

[tbug]

A lot of drow carry hand crossbows. What are they made of? If wood, where is it grown? What about other weapons that are traditionally made of wood, or even the hafts of things like axes?

[Dance of Ruin]

I reckon they would use the stems of giant mushrooms as an analogue for anything normally made of wood. It would fit their habitat, and you could even come up with equivalents to 'normal' wood, darkwood, etc. by using various mushroom types.

[Heathansson]

I'd say either that, or trade with the surface; the wood would be exorbitantly expensive.
It would provide an impetus for an adventure though; perhaps drow rangers attacking lumberjacks to steal the fruits of their labors.

[eirip]

tbug wrote:

A lot of drow carry hand crossbows. What are they made of? If wood, where is it grown? What about other weapons that are traditionally made of wood, or even the hafts of things like axes?

I know this probably does not answer your question but in the back of one of the Second Darkness AP's I think there is a section detailing how the Drow craft certain materials. I cannot remember if they specifically mentioned weapons or not but it seems to me they did broach the subject.

[Seldriss]

Maybe they summon treants ;)

[Xuttah]

The drow are highly magical, so Polymorph any Object would be a good guess. They could also have artificial greenhouses or harvest from the surface using portable holes and greater teleport.

[tbug]

Thanks, everyone!

I guess I was assuming that there was a standard answer after so many years of drow with hand crossbows, and I was surprised when I checked a few sources and found it wasn't addressed much. Clearly in this AP they have access to a forest if they want to be lumberjacks, though we don't see any signs of that in the trees near the portals.

I don't see them as wanting surface products. I think they'd rather do things their own way, and for my campaign I think I'll go with the mushroom idea.

Thanks again!

[Caedwyr]

You could probably also go with bones of various creatures, or alchemically treated tissues of various creatures.

[Shadowborn]

Crossbow

Note in the photo above, the bow portion is actually made of metal. What the stock is made of really doesn't matter, so long as it is sturdy enough to support the actual mechanisms of the weapon. The stock could also be metal (probably hollow to keep the weight down), bone, carapace, stone...plenty of wood substitutes to be had.