Drawn by avengedog.

avengedog.tumblr.com/#=

twitter.com/AVENGEDOG

First piece experimenting with Vide the Derro sporting my homebrew Derro design. For all my love of Derro, I have to be honest with myself and recognize their D&D designs are essentially blue gnomes and with the aesthetic of “patchy clothing”. My other Derro character, Tohuys, is already sporting the look as a mutant but I decided that if I’m going to change the look of Snow Elves (who were just…typical looking Elves in winter fashion) then I might as well go all in.

To that end I’ve given them more monstrous features. The key being a sprinkle of the mildly-threatening than anything that changes the key concept. SO:

Sharp teeth.

Upturned bat-like nose.

Ears shaped like bat wings. Not bat-ears or fish fins, but bat wings.

Its actually only in hindsight that I realized how appropriate a bat-motif is for a cave dwelling race. And while I certainly wouldn’t have them flying by their ears or turning them into full on bat people: I think giving their foggy eyed blind selves an echo-location power would be interesting. Not to mention the narrative lure of a screeching Derro raiding party or the maddening cacophony of a Derro warren. Bats, with their twitchy, insect eating, panicky nature fitting in quite well. Much like how Dark Elves have spiders, Derro have bats incorporated into their aesthetics.

To add to the madness I’m also going to add a spiral, swirling, fractal undertone to their (currently non-existent) artistry. Everything can still look ragged, but the hovels and villages would lack straight lines. The Derro mind show its preference for a kaleidoscopic Halloween view. Its groan-worthy to say but “Tim Burton-esque” is a good description. Anyone familiar with a Twilight Hammer cult in Wacraft will also have a good idea.

Derro origins have never been consistent throughout the settings but I found their start as Homunculi to be the most interesting. Gives real call to the echo of a degenerate culture. My homebrew idea as corrupted halflings feels like a waist in comparison. So I’ll have to do some thinking.