Arcane Lexicon · D&D 5e
Give your drow a sound of their own. The same word always gives the same result, and you can translate it back to Common.
Translations are reversible: paste one back, set it as the “From” language, and translate to Common to get the original text.
Turn any text, translated or plain, into a print-ready RPG handout: scrolls, decrees, wanted posters and more. From $5.
See the handout styles and how it works
No. In the 5e rules, drow speak Elvish, and many also speak Undercommon. There is no separate Drow language, and the rules give none of these languages a word list.
This site adds Drow as a bonus language with its own invented sound. It is for tables that want their drow to sound different from other elves, and different from the trade speech of the deep. If you want the language as the rules have it, the next section shows where to go.
Type English or Common, and each word becomes a short invented one. The words lean on sharp sounds such as z, x, v and ss, and many end in -ae, so a threat or a welcome comes out with an edge. The same word always gives the same result. A letter from a rival will decode the same way next month, and a code word you give a player means one thing every time.
These words are invented for the table. They come from no rulebook. Your drow can use them, and the books do not. This site is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.
Each line below was run through this translator. Type your own line into the box above to get more.
The 5e rules give no Drow vocabulary, so these are made up for the table. Each was generated by the translator, and the same English word always gives the same Drow word. Looking for a Drow word for an outsider? It is the first one below.
Paste the Drow text into the source box. Set “From Language” to Drow and “To Language” to Common. Press Translate and the original sentence returns. The swap button does it in one click.
This works because each English word maps to exactly one Drow word. It decodes text made by this translator. A line from a forum thread or a name list will not decode, because no shared dictionary exists.
Script. The rules give Drow no script, because they give it no language. This translator writes its words in ordinary letters, which suits a note slid under a door.
Speakers. Drow NPCs, and any character your table decides. You also get to decide something the rules do not: whether an Elvish speaker can half-follow Drow, or whether it is a code only drow know. Either choice is a house rule, and both make a good scene.
Put your Drow letter on a handout
Drow speak Elvish in the 5e rules, and many also speak Undercommon. The rules include no separate Drow language. This site offers Drow as a bonus language with an invented sound, for tables that want it. Use the Elvish or Undercommon translator if you want the rules language.
The rules have no Drow language to learn, so it is your Dungeon Master’s call. Many tables treat it as flavor or as a dialect of Elvish. Ask before you put it on a character sheet, and bring the translator to show how the words look and sound.
No. The rules give no word list for Elvish, Undercommon or Drow, so these words are invented for your table. They stay consistent, which means a line you translate today decodes the same way later. This site is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.