Derro Savant

D&D 2024 monster: Derro Savant. Source: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. challenge rating 3, creature type Humanoid (Derro), Small size, speed 30 ft. Mad as hatters, every one of them. No derro has ever been sane, but neither is every form of madness a hindrance. Derro Derro slink through the subterranean realms, seeking places that are safe from the perils of the Underdark. Equal parts fearful and vicious, bands of these dwarfkin prey on those weaker than themselves, while giving simpering obeisance to any creatures they deem more powerful. Wild-haired, haggard, shuddering, and shabbily dressed, a lone derro seems a pitiable creature, but when a cackling, spitting, growling, howling horde of them attacks, the sight inspires both fear and revulsion. 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 b...