The description of dark elves in the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook has been updated through errata, as part of a larger push to change the lore of D&D. The drow update makes a lot of sense, as the description in the Player's Handbook referenced one popular aspect of the drow, but didn't represent the culture of the race outside of the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk.
The dark elves (drow) have been part of D&D since the days of first edition, where they appeared in the Against the Giants campaign. The drow are dark-skinned elves that reside in cities in the Underdark, where they worship the evil goddess Lolth. The lore of the drow might have been created in the early days of D&D, but it was author R.A. Salvatore who fleshed out drow society in his The Legend of Drizzt novels. Drizzt Do'Urden is a drow ranger who left the Underdark and traveled to the surface world in order to escape his evil kin. It was difficult for Drizzt to live on the surface, as drow elves were hated by many, which is why he ended up in Icewind Dale. Drizzt would later become one of the greatest heroes of the Forgotten Realms, and he might be the most iconic character in D&D.
Wizards of the Coast has released a D&D has changed a lot of problematic lore in recent updates, yet there is more to the drow update than just toning down the idea that most of them are evil.
The Drow In D&D No Longer Belong To A Single Culture
The issue with Dungeons & Dragons' drow description in the Player's Handbook is that it heavily references the lore of the drow in the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk settings. The description makes it seem as if all drow are Lolth worshipers and that she created the rules of their society. This isn't the case. For one thing, there is a good drow goddess in the Forgotten Realms, named Eilistraee, who had many followers on the surface. There are also D&D settings where drow exist, but Lolth doesn't, like in Eberron, so the information in the Player's Handbook doesn't fit.
The Forgotten Realms is the most popular D&D campaign setting, which is why it's used as the default setting for most official campaigns. The Legend of Drizzt novels are also the most popular D&D novels. As such, it made sense for the Player's Handbook to heavily reference the lore from these aspects of the franchise. The D&D multiverse is growing, however, and even more classic campaign settings are due to return in 2022 and 2023, so the lore of the drow needed to be updated to help players fit them into different worlds. Not all drow come from Ched Nasad or Menzoberranzan, and there is more to the dark elves of Dungeons & Dragons than those who serve Lolth.
