Derro

This pale blue humanoid has bulging white eyes, wild hair, four-fingered hands, and a large, hooked club.

Source Pathfinder RPG Bestiary pg. 70

Originally posted in Archives of Nethys

Though derros dwell deep under most of the surface world’s cities, very few know of the sadistic creatures’ existence. Descended from mysterious fey that once dwelt deep underground, they lust for the comforts of the surface, yet the light of the sun causes them to blister, burn, and die.

Derros often abduct surface dwellers to perform hideous experiments on them in their never-ending quest to divine what protects those who dwell above from the burning death, yet the intrinsic madness that plagues all derros dooms these experiments to failure every time. In the end, traumatized victims are returned to their homes, memories not quite completely wiped of their ordeal, to live the rest of their lives in vague fear of a nightmare they can’t quite recall.

Typically, they fight with a short sword or a repeating light crossbow with plenty of poison bolts. Some derros also carry an aklys – a hooked throwing club attached to a 20-foot- long cord. This cord limits the club’s range but allows them to retrieve it as a move-equivalent action after it has been thrown.

Derro leaders are typically sorcerers of at least 3rd level, although they also make excellent rogues. Many derros wield strange and unusual weapons like hooked polearms, eerie whistling aklyses, long hollow spears that can be filled with toxins, or crystalline throwing wedges that shatter on impact to create horrific bleeding wounds.

They stand 3 feet tall and weigh around 70 pounds.

• Derro 5e Stat Block
• Derro Pathfinder Stats

Derro

Family: Derro

Small humanoid, chaotic evil

Armor Class 15 (leather armor and buckler)
Hit Points 14 (3d6+3)
Speed 20 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
10 (+0)	16 (+3)	12 (+1)	1 (–5)	9 (–1)	9 (–1)

Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages none
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Sensitive Eyes. they have disadvantage on all attack rolls and perception checks while in sunlight or magical sunlight.

ACTIONS

• Repeating Crossbow. They make two Crossbow bolt attacks.
• Crossbow Bolt. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (d4+3 ) piercing damage.
• Fauchard-Hook. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d6) slashing damage. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

ABOUT

Sages believe they were bred as slaves, possibly by the dark elves or the kalas-toa, or some other unknown evil subterranean race. The ancestors of the derro escaped, multiplied, and built a civilization in the deep earth. Due to their history, they are fiercely independent and rarely maintain alliances for long.

They are short in statue, no taller than 4 feet tall and typically have muscular physiques. Their skin is pale white with a purple or bluish tint. Their eyes are round and broad, and they possess darkvision to 120 feet.

Their hair tends to be white or gray. They venture to the surface only to capture slaves.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Dwarrowdeep 5E, Copyright 2022; Greg Gillespie.

Derro CR 3

XP 800 CE Small humanoid (derro) Init +6; Senses Darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+2 armor, +2 Dexterity, +2 natural, +1 size) hp 25 (3d8+12) Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +6 SR 14 Weaknesses vulnerability to sunlight

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft. Melee short sword +5 (1d4) or aklys +5 (1d6) Ranged repeating light crossbow +5 (1d6/19-20 plus poison) or aklys +5 (1d6) Special Attacks sneak attack +1d6 Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd)   At will – darkness, ghost sound (DC 13) 1/day – daze (DC 13), sound burst (DC 15)

STATISTICS

Strength 11, Dexterity 15, Constitution 18, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 5, Charisma 16 Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 13 Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse Skills Perception +0, Stealth +9 Languages Aklo, Undercommon SQ madness, poison use

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Madness (Ex) They use their Charisma modifier on Will saves instead of their Wisdom modifier, and are immune to insanity and confusion effects. Only a miracle or wish can remove a derro’s madness. If this occurs, the derro gains 6 points of Wisdom and loses 6 points of Charisma.   Poison Use (Ex) They are not at risk of poisoning themselves when handling poison. They use Medium spider venom to poison their crossbow bolts, and generally carry 10 pre-poisoned bolts at all times. Vulnerability to Sunlight (Ex) A derro takes 1 point of Constitution damage after every hour it is exposed to sunlight.

ECOLOGY

Environment any underground Organization solitary, team (2-4), squad (5-8 plus 1 sorcerer of 3rd-5th level), or band (11-20 plus 30% noncombatants plus 3 sorcerers of 3rd-8th level) Treasure NPC Gear (leather armor, short sword or aklys, repeating light crossbow with 10 poisoned bolts, other treasure)