Arelith

Referencing here: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=31818&start=75#p254420

But not directly related to what was said there, obviously.

Drow have exactly the same aversion to the sun of orog and duergar. No more, no less. 3.X source materials presents them as suffering the same penalties in daylight and also as being able to adapt.

To be fair, also, the penalties these races suffer in daylight are noticeable but hardly crippling. They are in no way comparable to what a vampire suffers, for instance.

Kobolds too suffer from these penalties, but the wiki mentions they are waived for them. After all kobolds are not an Underdark race and it makes sense in a way.

The wiki however does not say the same for orog and duergar which are Underdark races that should be pretty averse to sunlight, by lore and rule references.

I had heard mention of duergar travelling on the surface in broad daylight, and hoped it was not true. The post linked above makes me fear that there may actually be truth to it.

I don't even know how to comment it, other than I find it weird that the "setting" is enforced only for drow, and in a much more stern way than any canon source suggests, whereas the other Underdark races apparently receive a leniency in the same regard that is flabbergasting.

I am not sure what the developers' intent is with the selective enforcement of these policies, but personally, as a player fond of the Underdark setting, I find the neglect of the lore of Underdark races, to be rather impoverishing of the setting as a whole. There is not just drow, literally, the other Underdark races have their lore and they are part of the atmosphere as the drow are. Duergar travelling freely in broad daylight while drow are treated literally like vampires is just wrong.

To conclude, I am not advocating penalizing duergar or orog, I am simply saying that it makes no sense whatsoever to treat them differently from drow in regards to daylight.

I'm going to second this.

The Drow "aversion to sunlight" happens on several levels. First, Drow have never lived in sunlight as a general population. There is no living memory of it. However they are not "born blind" like many cave dwelling creatures who for centuries have exited in darkness. They are a seeing race.

Secondly, Underdark made equipment using the natural radiations of the underdark decay when exposed to sunlight. Obvious problem there.

Third, Drow have a mythology about the surface, much like we think of the Sahara desert. This myth is simply not true, and is very likely spread by Lolth herself to help keep the Drow in the underdark.

Most of these factors apply to every other underdark race, with maybe the exception of the mythology of the surface being unlivable. None of this comes even close to what Vampires suffer by dying in sunlight.

As I was quick in stating which races are sensitive or at risk, I'll go down the list piece by piece.

While not a race but a special condition of PC (vampires) - Takes active damage when exposed to sunlight http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Vampire

Drow - "Light sensitive", are not permitted to walk freely in daylight hours exposed to the sun, they should feel at minimum discomfort, at most their own blindness roleplayed however preferred. But the characters should be actively seeking shelter upon or nearing daybreak http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Drow
Goblins - No issue with sunlight, still prefer places to ambush, found in areas above/below http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Goblin
Hobgoblins - Same as goblins http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Hobgoblin
Kobold - Entirely comfortable in sunlight, like reptiles they have aversion (not mechanically enforced) to cold temperature http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Kobold
Gnoll - No issue with sunlight, found in areas above/below http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Gnoll
Orog - "Light sensitive" on par with drow, daytime hours should be avoided http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Orog
Ogre - No issue with sunlight, found in areas above/below http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Ogre
Minotaur - No issue with sunlight, found in areas above/below http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Minotaur
Imp - Extraplanar, no issue with sunlight http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Imp
Troglodyte - No issue with sunlight indicated http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Troglodyte
Derro - Same vulnerability as vampire, takes active damage when exposed to sunlight http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Derro
Yuan-Ti - No issue with sunlight, found in areas above/below http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Yuan-ti
Duergar - "Generally uncomfortable, or at least ill-tempered, above ground, and in daylight" while being able to traverse the surface in some acceptance, their preference to do so is generally during night http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Duergar
Svirfneblin - "Light sensitive race", on par with Duergar, they may travel and interact with the surface openly, but their preference is not out in open sunlight http://wiki.nwnarelith.com/Svirfneblin

Beings with any light sensitivity or weakness can take shelter in caverns to avoid direct sunlight.
This is the expectations that the DM Team has for setting integrity for what races in the Underdark should be doing if confronted with daylight hours (Hours 9-19) while exposed on the surface.

For reference, 3.5 drow have "Light Blindness" that applies the blind condition when in sunlight for one roubd. Duergar have "light sensitivity" which applies the dazzled condition. The dazzled condition is -1 ab/-1 search&spot.

They are not the same condition. Drow are more susceptible to sunlight than other underdark races. Drow are cursed, after all.

Having played both a drow and a vampire I can confirm, with absolute certainty, that drow and vampire sunlight aversion are not remotely related to one another on Arelith.

It sounds like there may have been some confusion on the wording, but it is super not the case because I can tell you I've stepped into the occasional mysterious portal to accidentally land somewhere outside in broad daylight, with both races, and as a vampire it is infinitely more unpleasant very quickly, and I mean very quickly.

I think the mention of 'survival instinct' for drow might be something closer to mentioned above - the sun is rising, it's not very easy to see, your sword or armor might dissolve and there may or may not be black archers in the bushes.

To add for clarity on the distance between the two:

With a vampire: you're on fire, taking hundreds of unhealable magic damage, the nwn engine and whoever wrote up the sun mechanics is laughing at you as you struggle with a portal lens only to find out that portals are a chat window and you can't have a chat window while you're taking damage (Oh, I'm too busy to use this right now) so you run for cover and find out that being on fire and literally disintegrating under the weight of holy light kind of slows you down. You explode thirty seconds later as onlookers who just happened to be socializing at the portal you just came through try to piece together what the heck they just saw.

With a drow: the DMs politely ask that you to go back to the darkness from whence you came.

As a final note I must quote that duergar being 'ill-tempered' during the sunlight is incredibly funny to me.

Light sensitivity is a tool used to guide us to play certain ways but there's more to it than that alone. It's not good for the server if drow get too active or comfortable on the surface and as they're a powerful and very popular (and populous) race there's been a lot more pushing of boundaries with them than any other underdarkers in the server's 15 year lifespan, whether it's raiding too frequently or trying to set up permanent houses on the surface or trying to be Drizzt 2.0. Thus they may get watched a little more closely and may be held to restrictions more than an Orog... But Orogs aren't played very much and with few exceptions the activities of that race don't have near as much impact on the server as drow.

I think things are very fair, honestly, and even drow have a lot of leeway.