From Menzoberranzan to Hopeholme: How Fans of R.A. Salvatore’s Drow Can Embrace After the Fall

For decades, the name Menzoberranzan has conjured images of shadowy politics, deadly intrigue, and the graceful menace of drow society. Thanks to the vivid storytelling of R.A. Salvatore, many D&D fans were first introduced to the Underdark. They saw it through the eyes of Drizzt Do’Urden, House Baenre, and the treacherous web spun by the Spider Queen.

During the War of the Spider Queen, tales of magical explosions, noble house collapses, and divine upheaval helped define the tone of the Underdark.

Now, a new chapter unfolds in the underworld.

Welcome to Holoth—Or Perhaps Menzoberranzan?

Rise of the Drow: After the Fall is AAW Games’ latest evolution of the Underdark saga. It’s a fully playable campaign where characters begin not as bold surface-dwellers invading the dark. Instead, they start as defeated drow prisoners — survivors of a ruined city, now renamed Hopeholme under the occupation of the Coalition. It’s a narrative steeped in loss, betrayal, and the potential for redemption, rebellion, or rule.

While our story is rooted in Holoth, we know many Game Masters and longtime fans already have strong emotional and narrative investments in Menzoberranzan. That’s why After the Fall can also be adapted and reskinned to represent a different kind of collapse. Any drow city could face such a collapse, whether from divine silence, magical backlash, or internal civil war.

Was it Holoth that Fell… or Menzoberranzan?

In R.A. Salvatore’s War of the Spider Queen series (2002–2005), a cataclysmic event shattered part of Menzoberranzan. A magical explosion at Sorcere — the school of arcane magic within Tier Breche, Menzoberranzan’s elite training complex — rocked the city during Lolth’s mysterious silence. The blast destroyed parts of Sorcere and sent political shockwaves through drow society. It set the stage for even greater upheaval.

These novels introduced themes of magical instability, divine silence, and the collapse of drow power structures. These are the very themes that echo throughout After the Fall.

Players and GMs who love the world Salvatore helped shape can easily imagine After the Fall as a spiritual successor or alternate future for Menzoberranzan itself. Want to set it in the ruins of Tier Breche? Replace the ruins of Tolgorith Tower with the rubble of House Baenre. Instead of the Vidrefacte, it might have been an unstable artifact deep beneath Sorcere. The driders, the scheming houses, the forbidden alliances — it all fits.

Note: All references to R.A. Salvatore’s works, Menzoberranzan, Drizzt Do’Urden, and other Dungeons & Dragons content are intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast. AAW Games claims no ownership over such content. Our Rise of the Drow setting is an original third-party creation. It is designed to be compatible with D&D and other fantasy TTRPG systems.

How You Can Use After the Fall in Your Game

Whether you’re a fan of Salvatore’s novels or a GM looking for a gritty, character-driven Underdark campaign, After the Fall offers modular entry points and an emotionally rich narrative structure:

• Rebuild Menzoberranzan: Use After the Fall as the framework for the aftermath of the Sorcere explosion or another canonical collapse.
• Start from Within: Let players begin as imprisoned drow from noble houses, stripped of power but given a chance to rise again — in secret or in rebellion.
• Explore Drider Alliances: After the gods fall silent and houses crumble, who truly speaks for the future of the drow?
• Political Power Plays: Allow players to shape the fate of the city — whether they seek revenge, justice, or a new order.
• Diverge from Canon: If you love the world but want your own spin, After the Fall lets you chart a new path in a familiar place.

A Love Letter to the Shadows

Rise of the Drow: After the Fall isn’t just a continuation of an existing product — it’s a reimagining of drow society. The story is told from the shadows, a place where driders are unlikely allies and the nobility are broken but not defeated. Furthermore, even the shattered city itself might be reborn in unexpected ways.

For fans of Menzoberranzan, Drizzt, and the endless intrigue beneath the surface, this is your invitation to return to the Underdark. It invites you not as a conqueror, but as a survivor.