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There are certain monsters in the SRD that just dont get used. Thoqqas. Lamias. Tritons. Locathah. Yeth Hounds. In the case of Tritons and Locathah, this is justified (they're aquatic. there's too many aquatic creatures.)
Part of the re-imagining of classic monsters (goblins, ogres, ect) also seemingly includes using these seldom-written-of guys. Just look what Paizo did in rise of the runelords; built a whole new monster pack; the Lamyros.
And now, they've taken derro, a creature that doesnt even get artwork in the MM, and turned them into fertile design space. Creepy, short, blue people with huge white eyes who randomly abduct people and do weird things to them, then dump them back on the surface; mutilate pets and cattle, and in general, act like demented Greys. That's really, really cool. No, they're not so far advanced that we humans cant understand their ineffable benevolence; they're just crazy.
Derro are actualy mechanicaly very interesting, with nice spell-like abilities, auto-sneak attack, and sorceror charisma, they make good enemies.
As I mentioned in another thread, derro are based on a schizophrenic's nightmare Grey-analogues that were marketed as science fiction, or science fact if you believe him and his editor. :)
Which leads me to wonder. In Shaver's cosmology, the dero were so twisted and brain-damaged by radiation that they "thought backwards" and could do nothing but evil. But they were opposed by teros who, while just as fractured in their own way, were compelled to do good and oppose the deros.
Might the Darklands be home to a race of "Terros" who commit acts of charity and protect the helpless, but in creepy and not-right ways...?
Hey. I think I just invented the Golarion equivalent of Deep Gnomes. :)
Creative Director
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It's a shame that WotC never bothered to illustrate the derro in the Monster Manual. They've been a part of the game pretty much from the start; they first showed up in "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" (itself the first, or one of the first, published adventures ever). Derro have since shown up in all sorts of books, usually involved with the underdark. They played a HUGE role in the 2nd edition boxed set adventure "The Night Below," for example, and are presented as a PC race option in WotC's underdark book.
I've been a fan of them the whole time, and I put them into my own adventures relatively frequently. The main bad gal of Dungeon #89's "Headless" is a derro, and there's an even tougher derro in my installment for Age of Worms in Dungeon #134.
I'm pretty excited with the role we've come up for them in Golarion, and really wish we'd done more with them in "Edge of Anarchy." Returning them to their pulpy roots and tying them in to the UFO mythology really goes a long way toward making them even more fun to play with.
All of which is a way of saying: "There will be more DERRO HORROR in Pathfinder to come!"
The ecology article on them in the first issue of Kobold was great, too.
Kobold Press
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Derro are among my favorite creepy things! As proved by an old Dungeon adventure I wrote, and yes, the Ecology of the Derro in Kobold (thanks, Trey!).
I'm delighted to see them appear in Pathfinder. Though knowing James, perhaps I should not be surprised. They make demented fun at the gaming table, where I think of them as the Cthulhu's dwarven children, chittering and vile.
In Shaver's cosmology, the dero were so twisted and brain-damaged by radiation that they "thought backwards" and could do nothing but evil.
In Shaver's cosmology Dero stood for "Detrimental Robot", a fact I have always found amusing as he always seemed to decribe them as living creatures.
It's the part where they lack free will and can only do evil, in what we today would consider a "programmed" manner.
As I mentioned in another thread, derro are based on a schizophrenic's nightmare Grey-analogues that were marketed as science fiction, or science fact if you believe him and his editor. :)
Richard Shaver and Ray "I invented the Flying Saucers" Palmer! Yes! I have a copy of the 'Adventures Unlimited' book that includes the first Shaver story, as well as the write-up of him in Kafton-Minkler's Subterranean Worlds, which is an amazing book for people who love the Underdark/Darklands.
But for real madness, check out David Icke's Reptoids. Shape-shifting devil-worshipping Yuan-ti who live in the Hollow Earth, ride in flying saucers, control all humanity a 'la They Live and who killed Princess Diana when she learned the awful truth about the House of Windsor. Gosh, where's King Kull and 'Ka nama kaa lajerama', when you need them? Worse still, he believes all this.