Does anybody actually like Desmodu?

[Felon]

I have no real problem with them other than the simple concept problem.Why arent these bad boys taking over the Underdark? They really are too powerful to be losing a war to the Drow.

IIRC, the rationale for their near-extinction is that as a race they are deficient in magic, with little in the way of spellcasters or magic items. Of course, this distinction is lost if your campaign doesn't embrace the 3e notion that access to magic in a typical D&D setting should be as common as access to technology is in our world, with magic shops taking the place of Circuit Cities and wizards renting office space between the blacksmith and the cobbler.

At any rate, I'll take the Desmodu over the Yuan-Ti, who seem to make appearances in a lot of D&D modules and books as if they were major players in the hierarchy of evil races (like, say, drow and mind flayers). I guess it's subjective how interesting they are, as they are basically just a hodge-podge of about a half-dozen spell-like and a half-dozen psionic abilities, but they sure don't strike me as being all that potent. I'm running the Banewarrens, and there's an encounter with a single Yuan-Ti taking on the whole party. I believe it's given a CR of 10. I've poured over that critter's stats over and over, and I still see the party annihlating it in less than a round.

 

[MerricB]

I like them. Deep Horizon has a lot of potential; it is a pity that more space wasn't given to adventure ideas - as it plays it's a pretty straightforward module, but it really could be made much more interesting with a little effort.

Desmodu are extremely interesting as an underground combatant, with good tactics and abilities that suit the terrain.

Role-playing-wise, I enjoyed using them.

Cheers!

 

[demiurge1138]

Personally, I thought that while the melodrama was a bit excessive at times, Jeremy Irons did a GREAT job playing Desmodu. It's just a pity about the blue lipstick.
Hong "although his love for Snails was just plain weird" Ooi

um, hong, his name was Damodar. But Jeremy Irons played Profion, not Damodar.
I can't believe I know that.
But actually on topic, I'm okay with the desmodu. I really can't see them as the archememies of the drow, though. Maybe as a lost species that was defeated by the drow in millenia past, but not as current foes.
Demiurge out.

 

[Piratecat]

um, hong, his name was Damodar. But Jeremy Irons played Profion, not Damodar.
I can't believe I know that.

Hong knew it too. It was part of the joke; Hong's weird Austrian sense of humor acting up, I think.

 

[MerricB]

I wish hong had been more accurate - he should have been talking about the Morlock leader (also played by Irons).

Uber-Morlock = Desmodu.

Cheers!

 

[Shirt Guy John]

Well, i laughed when I saw their picture, and I laughed again when I read their abilities, so I guess i'm not too big of a Desmodu fan. If I wanted a bat race, I'd definately go more down the route that that one other person said (sorry, laziness): smaller, much more agile critters that can fly.

I do like bit bat's though. Any new mount is a potential abuse for paladins, blackguards, windriders, and death knights.

 

[Ghendar]

It seems like WotC keeps trying to force the desmodu down our
throats like they're the next drow or something.

.

Why shouldn't they do that? The minis development team keeps trying to force things like the Bloodhulk and the god-awful wrackspawn down our throats. They'll keep doing it too.

 

[Klaus]

IMHO Grimlocks are just fine as Desmondu without the steroids. They're blind, they have blindsight, they live underground -- why not just toss them some bats and have done?

Again IMHO, Desmondu are one of the dumbest things in the MM2 -- and that is saying a lot.

-- Nifft

Quoted for yoinkness!

Note to self:

Grimlocks + Dire Bats

 

[DragonLancer]

I don't mind them, other than I dislike the constant stream of humanoids that we get in every new monster sourcebook.

I've only ever used the Desmodu once and that was during the Deep Horizon module. The way the party handled that scenario I had considered allowing them as a potential minor race if a player really wanted one. No one did but not because they hated them, they just prefered something more suitable to the campaign.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

I hate thread necromancy.