Homebrew Derro Species Details

Madness and Sorcery. Fractious in groups and individually weak, derro would have been driven to extinction long ago but for two elements of their character. They have an inborn tendency toward paranoia, a peculiarity that serves them well as they navigate the dangers of the Underdark and its societies. They also have a stronger-than-normal tendency to develop sorcerous power. Individuals who do so become their leaders, known as savants. The derro consider these sorcerers to be specially blessed by their deity, Diirinka.

Forgotten Duergar. Grandiose fantasies and rampant fanaticism have obscured the true origin of the derro, even among themselves. Most dwarves don’t recognize derro as kin, but the legends that the derro tell about their race and the story that the duergar believe share a grain of truth.

According to the duergar, the derro are descended from dwarves of a clan that was left behind when the others escaped the mind flayers’ rule. They eventually also got away, but not before becoming demented and contorted.

The derro tell their own story of flight and survival in the Underdark, and the mind flayers aren’t always the enemy. Laduguer and Deep Duerra don’t feature in their mythic history. Instead they tell of two brothers, Diirinka and Diinkarazan, and of how Diirinka cleverly betrayed his sibling so that he could steal magical power from the evil they escaped. The danger the brothers are said to face in this legend varies, depending on whatever foe the savants want to lead their people against, yet the essence of the story remains the same: a lesson of survival at any price and an example of how deceitfulness and cruelty can be virtues.

Derro Madness

All derro suffer from a form of madness that most often manifests as mania and paranoia, but other mental afflictions and strange tics also commonly affect them. Derro take little notice of odd behavior in their ranks, except when an individual displays the characteristics of a savant. They believe the strange behavior of savants arises because those leaders carry messages from Diirinka. You can use the Derro Madness table to generate one or more odd qualities for a derro NPC.

Derro Traits

Your Derro character has a number of traits in common with all other derro.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age

They mature at the same rate humans do and are considered full-grown adults by 25. They live 200 to 250 years, although hard toil and the dangers of the Underdark often claim them before their time.

Alignment

Derro inherit a tendency toward chaos due to societal madness and paranoia. They are not strongly inclined toward good.

Size

A typical derro stands about 4 to 4½ feet tall and weighs 80 to 120 pounds. Your size is Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Poison Resilience

You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.

Derro Madness

You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed.

Skulking

You gain proficiency in the Stealth skill.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Undercommon and Dwarvish. Dwarvish is full of hard consonants and guttural sounds, and those characteristics spill over into whatever other language a dwarf might speak.

Superior Darkvision

Your darkvision has a radius of 120 feet.

Sunlight Sensitivity

While in sunlight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.