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A thought which crossed my mind while I was reading about the drow in pathfinder; would the Dunmer be able to kick their collective asses? As the nerdiest nerd whom had ever nerd, I decided to see who the winners of a war would be. So here it is.

I will systematize this to have multiple steps, wherein we compare and contrast the two cultures in the following manner:
1. Developmental history.
2. Origins.
3. Physicality and Mentality.
4. Culture, Religion, and Economy.
5. Military.

So here we go.

1. Developmental history:

The Drow originated in D&D 1e, but were most popularly expanded upon in the Forgotten Realms campaign.

The Dunmer were based mostly on the drow during development on The Elder Scrolls: Arena, with a few changes here and there, but it wouldn't be until The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, when the series truly shaped itself into what it is today, when they would be expanded upon by Bethesda. They would become fully fleshed out by the time we get to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, which takes place in the heart of their homeland.

2. Origins:

The Drow were identical to their above-ground cousins early on, but due to their worship of Lolth; the queen of spiders, and multiple atrocities, they were driven underground by their own kin, and would adapt to the underdark, physically and culturally, into what we now know as the drow.

The Dunmer weren't always the dunmer, before then they were the Chimer; a faction of Altmer who worshiped the Daedra rather than the Aedra. They would make an en masse exodus from the Summerset Isles onto mainland Tamriel, on the eastern side, greeted by the Dwemer.
The chimer survived in the alien and hostile land with the dwemer against the nords to the north. However, it would be discovered by the chimer that the dwemer had been studying the Heart of Lorkhan in hopes to make their own god. This angered the chimer, and they would assault the dwemer. Despite the advanced technology of the dwemer, the chimer would win victory after victory against them, until the battle of Red Mountain, when the dwemer mysteriously disappeared.
The chimer were warned not to use the Heart of Lorkhan by Azura. After the death of Nerevar, however, the three rulers of the chimer: Vivec, Sotha Sil, and Almalexia would go against Azura's commands, becoming the Tribunal, but at the cost of their people being cursed by the Daedra of night and day, becoming the ashen-skinned, red eyed mer which they are now.

3. Physicality and Mentality:

Drow are physically identical to normal elves in every way but their appearance, having Obsidian-black to dark purple skin, white hair, and solid white eyes.
Mechanically tend to vary between the gameplay systems. In Pathfinder they have +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, and -2 Constitution. We will be using Pathfinder for this. They are all trained in the use of Hand Crossbows, Rapiers, and Shortswords, and have innate Immunity to sleep spells, have spell resistance, can cast Dancing Lights, Darkness, and Faerie Fire, are trained in the usage of poison, have +2 to Perception, and have wonderful darkvision, having been adapted for the pitch-black darkness of the underdark, but are sensitive to light as a result, and have poor eyesight in average lighting.

The Dunmer are very much a middle-ground when it comes to the mer races, being shorter than the snooty Altmer, and taller than the carnivorous Bosmer, around the height of the races of men, and have Ashen-grey skin which reaches into off-grey shades of blue and green, have dark hair tones and piercing, glowing red eyes.
Like the other races of Tamriel, have varied in their mechanics from game to game. In Daggerfall they have +10 Strength, +10 Intelligence, -10 Willpower, and -10 Personality, or just the Intelligence and Willpower in the case of the females. In Morrowind they have +10 Speed, Willpower, and Personality, with +10 to Destruction and Shortblade, and +5 to Long Blade, Light Armour, Athletics, Mysticism, and Marksman, and have Ancestor Guardian and a resistance to fire. In Oblivion they have +10 Speed and -10 Willpower, with the males having -10 Personality and the females having -10 Endurance, they receive +10 to Blade and Destruction, and +5 to Athletics, Blunt, Light Armour, Marksman, and Mysticism, with the added benefits of Ancestor Guardian and 50 points of resistance to fire damage. In Skyrim they have +10 Destruction, and +5 Alchemy, Alteration, Illusion, Light Armour, and Sneak, with the added benefits of Ancestor's Wrath and 50% resistance to fire damage.

4. Culture, Religion, and Economy:

Drow live in a theocratic matriarchal society, with the females being priestesses to Lolth and the nobility, and the males making up the more martial arm of society.
Their economy is based mostly on the slave trade, with "lesser" races being put to work, and they often sympathize with other slaver races such as hobgoblins.
They are manipulative creatures, and drow politics often include blackmail, bribery, assassination, and seduction. Lolth is their primary deity, and is of the Trickery domain, in the sense that she is the deity of lies and treachery, and the drow take to such a life-style as birds to flight.

Dunmeri culture is based on the major houses: Redoran, which maintains the finest dunmer armies, Telvanni, famed for their mages, who rival the finest breton wizards, and indeed, some lesser Altmer wizards, Indoril, which is closely linked to the temple, and Dres, an agricultural house which deals greatly in the slave trade. Dunmer have long practiced slavery, always on non-dunmer, with a particular interest in argonian slaves, as they are physically fit, are immune to even the deadliest of diseases, and have regenerative properties, in addition to being very capable of surviving in the hostile conditions of morrowind.
After their transformation, they came to worship Vivec, Sotha Sil, and Almalexia as the Tribunal. The nomadic ashlanders refused to worship them, believing them false gods. After the destruction of the tribunal, the ashlander religion was officially considered the true religion, recognized as the Reclamations, consisting of Azura, goddess of night and day, Boethiah, goddess of deceit, treachery, conspiracy, and sedition, and Mephala, goddess of lies, sex, murder, secrets, and plots, and revere the four deadra, Sheogorath, god of madness, Malacath, god of the Orsimer and the spurned, Mehrunes Dagon, prince of destruction, energy, and revolution, and Molag Bal, god of domination, rape, enslavement, corruption, and vampires, all as the four corners of the House of Troubles; as beings to test the individual rather than to be worshiped. They also participate in ancestral worship, and believe their dead continue to watch over them on nirn, and naturally believe necromancy to be heresy.
They run a self-sufficient economy, independent of the Empire of Cyrodiil. Though after the eruption of Red Mountain, they were forced to migrate off the island of Vvardenfell, onto mainland, but were soon after attacked by the argonians of Black Marsh for the centuries of enslavement, forcing the dunmer into Cyrodiil and Skyrim whilst the Redorans pushed the argonian invaders back south into Black Marsh.

5. Military:

The Drow military mostly consists of the males of society, and has a strength ~ 4,000 soldiers, with an additional 2,500 slaves maintaining their equipment. I cannot find much else in terms of their command structure or any strategies or tactics they've had beyond that point, but I can make some assumptions based on my knowledge of historical warfare, and what is there.
Due to their dexterous abilities then they are innately proficient in combat, but due to their commonly low constitution then they aren't able to fight for as long as other races, let alone remain on the march for as long. They are mostly dependent upon their stratagem, and fight in short bursts, possibly with some sort of a relay tactic, wherein the ranks in front do the fighting first, then as the first rank gets tired, they duck behind the second rank, which takes over as the other ones catch their breath.
In addition, they are led by priestesses of Lolth, which means that there is magical assistance in battle, as their enemies are pelted with divine energies.

The Redoran of the Dunmer wear strong armour made from the hard, chitinous plates of the wildlife of Morrowind, and wield silver swords and steel maces, or elven swords and bows like those wielded by the Aldmeri Dominion.
As they are trained from a young age with swords, they are also excellent swordsman if they have stuck to it their whole lives.
In addition to their weapon training, they're also talented in magic, as they are mer, but show an innate competence and understanding in destruction magic, that is, magic used for offensive purposes.
Due to them being no weaker than humans on average, nor any more dexterous, but do show to be a bit stronger in the limbs. The main thing is strategy, as per usual.
The dunmer aren't above using Morag Tong and Dark Brotherhood assassins, and will seldom call upon other cultures for aid.

I feel as though the dunmer would, before the eruption of Red Mountain, be the victors, as they are not by any means new to subterranean warfare, have gifted strategists, powerful magic, and a self-sustaining, well-ordered society. The drow would no doubt resort to finding traitors amongst the dunmer, but to no avail, for a dunmer to betray his kind would be to betray his ancestors, thus cursing him for life, and the dunmer aren't suicidal. Drow society consists mostly of backstabbers, and therefore isn't nearly as stable nor functional as dunmeri society. Even after the Red Year, the dunmer are unlikely to be defeated.

If you can refute me, or support me, then by all means.

Drow image courtesy of 000fesbra000 .

Description
A thought which crossed my mind while I was reading about the drow in pathfinder; would the Dunmer be able to kick their collective asses? As the nerdiest nerd whom had ever nerd, I decided to see who the winners of a war would be. So here it is.

I will systematize this to have multiple steps, wherein we compare and contrast the two cultures in the following manner:
1. Developmental history.
2. Origins.
3. Physicality and Mentality.
4. Culture, Religion, and Economy.
5. Military.

So here we go.

1. Developmental history:

The Drow originated in D&D 1e, but were most popularly expanded upon in the Forgotten Realms campaign.

The Dunmer were based mostly on the drow during development on The Elder Scrolls: Arena, with a few changes here and there, but it wouldn't be until The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, when the series truly shaped itself into what it is today, when they would be expanded upon by Bethesda. They would become fully fleshed out by the time we get to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, which takes place in the heart of their homeland.

2. Origins:

The Drow were identical to their above-ground cousins early on, but due to their worship of Lolth; the queen of spiders, and multiple atrocities, they were driven underground by their own kin, and would adapt to the underdark, physically and culturally, into what we now know as the drow.

The Dunmer weren't always the dunmer, before then they were the Chimer; a faction of Altmer who worshiped the Daedra rather than the Aedra. They would make an en masse exodus from the Summerset Isles onto mainland Tamriel, on the eastern side, greeted by the Dwemer.
The chimer survived in the alien and hostile land with the dwemer against the nords to the north. However, it would be discovered by the chimer that the dwemer had been studying the Heart of Lorkhan in hopes to make their own god. This angered the chimer, and they would assault the dwemer. Despite the advanced technology of the dwemer, the chimer would win victory after victory against them, until the battle of Red Mountain, when the dwemer mysteriously disappeared.
The chimer were warned not to use the Heart of Lorkhan by Azura. After the death of Nerevar, however, the three rulers of the chimer: Vivec, Sotha Sil, and Almalexia would go against Azura's commands, becoming the Tribunal, but at the cost of their people being cursed by the Daedra of night and day, becoming the ashen-skinned, red eyed mer which they are now.

3. Physicality and Mentality:

Drow are physically identical to normal elves in every way but their appearance, having Obsidian-black to dark purple skin, white hair, and solid white eyes.
Mechanically tend to vary between the gameplay systems. In Pathfinder they have +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, and -2 Constitution. We will be using Pathfinder for this. They are all trained in the use of Hand Crossbows, Rapiers, and Shortswords, and have innate Immunity to sleep spells, have spell resistance, can cast Dancing Lights, Darkness, and Faerie Fire, are trained in the usage of poison, have +2 to Perception, and have wonderful darkvision, having been adapted for the pitch-black darkness of the underdark, but are sensitive to light as a result, and have poor eyesight in average lighting.

The Dunmer are very much a middle-ground when it comes to the mer races, being shorter than the snooty Altmer, and taller than the carnivorous Bosmer, around the height of the races of men, and have Ashen-grey skin which reaches into off-grey shades of blue and green, have dark hair tones and piercing, glowing red eyes.
Like the other races of Tamriel, have varied in their mechanics from game to game. In Daggerfall they have +10 Strength, +10 Intelligence, -10 Willpower, and -10 Personality, or just the Intelligence and Willpower in the case of the females. In Morrowind they have +10 Speed, Willpower, and Personality, with +10 to Destruction and Shortblade, and +5 to Long Blade, Light Armour, Athletics, Mysticism, and Marksman, and have Ancestor Guardian and a resistance to fire. In Oblivion they have +10 Speed and -10 Willpower, with the males having -10 Personality and the females having -10 Endurance, they receive +10 to Blade and Destruction, and +5 to Athletics, Blunt, Light Armour, Marksman, and Mysticism, with the added benefits of Ancestor Guardian and 50 points of resistance to fire damage. In Skyrim they have +10 Destruction, and +5 Alchemy, Alteration, Illusion, Light Armour, and Sneak, with the added benefits of Ancestor's Wrath and 50% resistance to fire damage.

4. Culture, Religion, and Economy:

Drow live in a theocratic matriarchal society, with the females being priestesses to Lolth and the nobility, and the males making up the more martial arm of society.
Their economy is based mostly on the slave trade, with "lesser" races being put to work, and they often sympathize with other slaver races such as hobgoblins.
They are manipulative creatures, and drow politics often include blackmail, bribery, assassination, and seduction. Lolth is their primary deity, and is of the Trickery domain, in the sense that she is the deity of lies and treachery, and the drow take to such a life-style as birds to flight.

Dunmeri culture is based on the major houses: Redoran, which maintains the finest dunmer armies, Telvanni, famed for their mages, who rival the finest breton wizards, and indeed, some lesser Altmer wizards, Indoril, which is closely linked to the temple, and Dres, an agricultural house which deals greatly in the slave trade. Dunmer have long practiced slavery, always on non-dunmer, with a particular interest in argonian slaves, as they are physically fit, are immune to even the deadliest of diseases, and have regenerative properties, in addition to being very capable of surviving in the hostile conditions of morrowind.
After their transformation, they came to worship Vivec, Sotha Sil, and Almalexia as the Tribunal. The nomadic ashlanders refused to worship them, believing them false gods. After the destruction of the tribunal, the ashlander religion was officially considered the true religion, recognized as the Reclamations, consisting of Azura, goddess of night and day, Boethiah, goddess of deceit, treachery, conspiracy, and sedition, and Mephala, goddess of lies, sex, murder, secrets, and plots, and revere the four deadra, Sheogorath, god of madness, Malacath, god of the Orsimer and the spurned, Mehrunes Dagon, prince of destruction, energy, and revolution, and Molag Bal, god of domination, rape, enslavement, corruption, and vampires, all as the four corners of the House of Troubles; as beings to test the individual rather than to be worshiped. They also participate in ancestral worship, and believe their dead continue to watch over them on nirn, and naturally believe necromancy to be heresy.
They run a self-sufficient economy, independent of the Empire of Cyrodiil. Though after the eruption of Red Mountain, they were forced to migrate off the island of Vvardenfell, onto mainland, but were soon after attacked by the argonians of Black Marsh for the centuries of enslavement, forcing the dunmer into Cyrodiil and Skyrim whilst the Redorans pushed the argonian invaders back south into Black Marsh.

5. Military:

The Drow military mostly consists of the males of society, and has a strength ~ 4,000 soldiers, with an additional 2,500 slaves maintaining their equipment. I cannot find much else in terms of their command structure or any strategies or tactics they've had beyond that point, but I can make some assumptions based on my knowledge of historical warfare, and what is there.
Due to their dexterous abilities then they are innately proficient in combat, but due to their commonly low constitution then they aren't able to fight for as long as other races, let alone remain on the march for as long. They are mostly dependent upon their stratagem, and fight in short bursts, possibly with some sort of a relay tactic, wherein the ranks in front do the fighting first, then as the first rank gets tired, they duck behind the second rank, which takes over as the other ones catch their breath.
In addition, they are led by priestesses of Lolth, which means that there is magical assistance in battle, as their enemies are pelted with divine energies.

The Redoran of the Dunmer wear strong armour made from the hard, chitinous plates of the wildlife of Morrowind, and wield silver swords and steel maces, or elven swords and bows like those wielded by the Aldmeri Dominion.
As they are trained from a young age with swords, they are also excellent swordsman if they have stuck to it their whole lives.
In addition to their weapon training, they're also talented in magic, as they are mer, but show an innate competence and understanding in destruction magic, that is, magic used for offensive purposes.
Due to them being no weaker than humans on average, nor any more dexterous, but do show to be a bit stronger in the limbs. The main thing is strategy, as per usual.
The dunmer aren't above using Morag Tong and Dark Brotherhood assassins, and will seldom call upon other cultures for aid.

I feel as though the dunmer would, before the eruption of Red Mountain, be the victors, as they are not by any means new to subterranean warfare, have gifted strategists, powerful magic, and a self-sustaining, well-ordered society. The drow would no doubt resort to finding traitors amongst the dunmer, but to no avail, for a dunmer to betray his kind would be to betray his ancestors, thus cursing him for life, and the dunmer aren't suicidal. Drow society consists mostly of backstabbers, and therefore isn't nearly as stable nor functional as dunmeri society. Even after the Red Year, the dunmer are unlikely to be defeated.

If you can refute me, or support me, then by all means.

Drow image courtesy of 000fesbra000 .