“We are the watchers. We monitor those who enjoy the enlightened wisdom and benevolence of the matriarchs.”

—Xune Argith, eye of Lolth

The eyes of Lolth are stealthy servants and watchers faithful to the Church of Lolth. They observe activity in the lands controlled by the matriarchs and report their findings back to the houses. It falls to the eyes of Lolth to lead forces of dread fangs of Lolth (see page 76) and other drow to capture enemies and bring them back to the temples for interrogation. They are the secret police—and they are everywhere.

BECOMING AN EYE OF LOLTH

Multiclass cleric/rogues easily meet the requirements of this class, since they have the mix of skills and abilities necessary to take eye of Lolth levels early on. A cleric/scout can also advance into this class at a higher level.

PLAYING AN EYE OF LOLTH

You pride yourself on your vigilance and pay attention to every smallest detail, no matter how inconsequential. It is because of your observations that you have worth in the eyes of the matriarchs, and as long as you have worth, you have some degree of protection from the awful torments they in? ict on those who have angered them.

The eyes of Lolth are an insidious organization, infesting every level of drow society. As a member, you live a double life, posing as a priestess or as a common citizen in one of the city’s ghettos. It’s vital that you retain your cover, since it allows you to keep track of the various undercurrents that define the tumultuous atmosphere of drow culture.

Combat

You never allow yourself to be caught unaware, and your class features make this event unlikely at best. Scout out the battlefield before taking any action, using team stealth to best position yourself and your allies so you can surprise your adversaries.

Like a rogue or a scout, you’re at your best when you support other characters in combat. You can pepper your enemies with ranged attacks, but unless you have the advantage of surprise, you should focus on flanking your enemies to complement your warrior allies.

Should a battle ever turn against you, though, you have the means to escape. Hide in plain sight allows you to effectively vanish, and when you attain the highest level in this class, you can become invisible. Aside from providing an almost infallible means of escape, you can also use these abilities to strike from unseen positions, crippling unsuspecting oppo- nents with your devastating attacks.

Advancement

The church of Lolth aggressively recruits new eyes of Lolth. In fact, eyes are always under orders to watch for suitable can- didates to bring into the organization. In all likelihood, this was your first introduction to the eyes. Of course, it wasn’t as if you had a choice about joining. Refusing an invitation is tantamount to accepting a death sentence.

As an eye of Lolth, it is your responsibility to gather informa- tion about your fellow drow, to notice trends and developments within your culture, and to anticipate upheavals. One might expect the priestesses to take a more active role in monitoring their cities, but their important enemies protect their privacy with a variety of wards. It falls to you to undertake these dan- gerous missions, to get close to the movers and shakers of the underworld and learn what you can.

Your most important role is that of a spy, so you would do well to invest skill points in Gather Information, Listen, and Spot. Of equal importance is the ability to observe unseen, so Hide and Move Silently are excellent skills to improve. As for feats, select those that complement your class features, such as Quick Reconnoiter. Also consider feats that improve your combat capabilities and maneuverability, such as Spring Attack, Terrifying Strike, and Shadowborn Warrior.

Resources

As members of the secret police, eyes of Lolth have access to extensive stores of information, compiled by various agents working in the field. Most entries are dossiers on agitators, important slaves, and the members of the mighty house- holds. Eyes of Lolth who use this information gain a +4 competence bonus on Knowledge (history) and Knowledge (local) checks.

Eyes are more than just spies. They enforce the matriarchs’ will, acting as warriors and assassins. On dangerous mis- sions, eyes team up with dread fangs of Lolth (see page 76), especially when they must capture particularly troublesome opponents.

EYES OF LOLTH IN THE WORLD

“Never trust a drow, especially a smiling one.”

—Gorben Stonefist, duergar merchant

The eyes of Lolth wait, watch, and listen. They could be anyone, anywhere. They usually operate in drow cities, but they can be found anywhere—as long as their priestesses have an interest in the place. Eyes of Lolth provide an in-game reason for why the drow are able to anticipate the player characters’ movements, serving as foils for the PCs and, ulti- mately, as obstacles for the characters to overcome.

Organization

To the common drow, the existence of the eyes is only the sub- ject of conjecture. Few drow have ever knowingly met an eye of Lolth, even though most sus- pect that they’ve encountered at least one during the course of their lives. The extent of the eyes’ power varies from city to city. In some places, they are a force rivaling even the Spider Queen’s church and are no longer subject to the whims of her clerics. In others, they are small, disorganized, and subjugated by the subversive elements in the cities. Regardless, those who know about the eyes invariably fear them.

In most cases, the eyes work directly for the priestesses, filing regular reports and receiving assignments from the church. Eyes are loners, since too many operatives in one place can compromise a mission. Certain targets require a greater investment of resources, however, and in these cases groups of four or more eyes might monitor the same mark.

The eyes are closely affiliated with the dread fangs of Lolth. Although some rivalry exists between the two groups, they work together to handle dangerous jobs. Fangs, as the enforc- ers and elite soldiers, do the majority of the fighting. The eyes direct the combat, lending support where needed.

NPC Reactions

As drow, eyes of Lolth receive the same kind of reactions that other drow face, which is usually fear and hostility from nearly all non-drow and indifference from their own kind. On the off chance that an eye’s affiliation is revealed, drow attitudes improve to helpful, to avoid the wrath of the matriarchs.

EYE OF LOLTH LORE

Characters who have ranks in Knowledge (religion) can research eyes of Lolth to learn more about them. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

DC 10: The drow secret police are called the eyes of Lolth.

DC 15: They have preternatu- ral awareness: They can hear the slightest sound and spot the smallest detail.

DC 20: Eyes never fight fairly, preferring the element of sur- prise. When on an important mission, they work alongside the dread fangs of Lolth.

You don’t find the eyes of Lolth; they find you. Any con- certed effort made to track one down soon comes to an eye’s atten- tion, and one or more might be assigned to watch the player char- acters. If any of the PCs seem a good candidate for the organization, an eye might approach when they are alone, invit- ing the characters to join. Should a character refuse, the eye accepts that decision and returns the next day with a group of dread fangs to snatch the unwilling candidate.

EYES OF LOLTH IN THE GAME

The eyes favor secrecy, so you can incorporate them easily into an ongoing campaign. They can be a constant source of frustration to adventuring parties. They might approach the characters under the pretense of friendship, only to funnel information back to the matriarchs. Such villains might even help the PCs if it allows them to get closer to their target. More likely, though, the eyes shadow their steps, watching from a distance until the proper moment to attack.

Adaptation

The eye of Lolth class can be customized by changing its focus. Instead of serving the drow matriarchs, the eyes could be recast as surface elves who make forays into the Underdark to monitor their estranged kin. Change the drow requirement to elf or half-elf and the Knowledge (religion) requirement to Knowledge (dungeoneering). In lieu of gaining Lolth’s vision, the class grants characters darkvision out to 60 feet. Finally, the character loses all team-oriented benefits, but gains the ability to use disguise self at 3rd level, alter self at 6th level, and finally polymorph at 9th level, each a number of times per day equal to the character’s Charisma bonus (minimum 1/day) and at a caster level equal to the character’s Hit Dice.