Frog-Folk
by Andrew TheisenMedium-Size Humanoid (Aquatic)
Hit Dice: 2d8 (9 hp)
Initiative: +1 (Dex)
Speed: 30 ft., swim 40 ft.
AC: 13 (+2 natural, +1 Dex)
Attacks: Kick +2 melee; Weapon +1 melee; or Bite +1 melee.
Damage: Kick 1d6; Bite 1d4; Weapon (by weapon type) Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Qualities: Amphibious
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +4, Will +4
Abilities: Str 11, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 10.
Skills: Jump +6, Hide +5, Spot +3
Feats: Weapon Focus (kick)
Climate/Terrain: Any temperate land, or aquatic.
Organisation: Nest (3-12) or School (6-36) Challenge Rating: 1/2
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Any, usually lawful
Advancement: By character class
Frogfolk are the descendants of humans that were genetically bonded with frogs by an ancient cult known as the Order of the Frog.
They are roughly human sized (5-6 feet tall), though they are somewhat stockier and have a pronounced tendency to slouch. Their thick skin is generally a mottled green in colour, though many shades and hues have been observed. Like common frogs, frogfolk have gills, webbed hands and feet, and long, sticky tongues. However, frogfolk are warm-blooded creatures, not cold-blooded as common frogs.
Frogfolk are omnivores, but their sharp teeth are particularly good at rending flesh, and meat is their food of choice. They lay eggs like frogs, producing clutches of 2-4 young.
Combat:
Frogfolk tend to fight as individuals, favouring wide spaces within which to deliver their devastating kicks. They are particularly fond of setting ambushes, jumping down onto their opponents from high trees or cliffs, dealing additional damage as per a falling object (DMG p.89- usually +1d6 damage for a 200 lb. Frogfolk). After ambushing their opponents, Frogfolk will move to melee, lashing out with their muscular legs or a weapon (usually a club of some sort). Rarely, a Frogfolk will use his bite attack on an enemy.
Amphibious (Ex): Though Frogfolk live on land, they do possess gills, and can survive underwater indefinitely.
Skills: Due to their powerful leg muscles, Frogfolk receive a +4 racial bonus to Jump checks. Their coloration provides them with a +2 racial bonus to Hide checks.
Frogfolk Society: Frogfolk schools are semi-nomadic collectives, moving back and forth between two or three seasonal camps. They make their homes among trees along riverbanks and coasts, and hunt and fish, settling into the local ecology.
For all that they may seem crude and barbaric to outsiders, disdaining clothing and most tools in favour of their natural abilities, the frogfolk are actually a rather enlightened and civilised people. They are very ecclesiastical folk, being governed by a strict hierarchy of individuals.
Each school is led by a Saint (a cleric), who is attended by several monks that assist in the day to day ruling of the school. There is always a shrine to the frogfolk patron, a being known only as "the Frog". This shrine is always underwater, and is always open to the Saint and his monks.
On holy days, attendance to the shrine by all of the school is mandatory (and they are the only times the "lay" frogfolk are able to access the shrine). It is unknown exactly who or what "the Frog" is- no outsider has ever been in contact with such an entity, but frogfolk clerics have been observed casting divine spells.
Some more radical schools of frogfolk regularly practice human sacrifice on behalf of the Frog.
Frogfolk Characters: A frogfolk's favoured class is monk, though only clerics can rise to the rank of Saint. Frogfolk spellcasters tend to be mostly clerics, though adepts are not unheard of; sorcerors are more common than wizards, but both are rare. Frogfolk clerics worship the Frog, and can choose two of the following domains: Animal, Knowledge, or Water.