Homebrew Bullywug Species Details

Bullywugs were amphibious humanoids with webbed digits that stood between 5′4″‒6′ (1.6‒1.8 m) and weighed 150 to 240 pounds (68 to 110 kilograms) on average, although they could vary in body type from 4 to 7 feet (1.2 to 2.1 meters) and 100 to 300 pounds (45 to 140 kilograms).

Their hides were smooth and reasonably tough, with mottled coloration ranging from emerald or olive green, yellow, brown, and gray. Bullywug skin was chameleon-like, so if they remained motionless in swampy terrain, they would shift through different hues and shades of their normal color range to match their surroundings. The creatures were noxious to be around, for they carried with them the rancid reek of the bog.

The huge heads of bullywugs resembled those of frogs, with big, bulbous eyes, wide mouths, and long, flicking tongues. Said tongues were barely capable of navigating a stunted variant of common, and they typically spoke in thick, sloppy accents.

Reproduction

Bullywugs were not known to bond in the long-term. Females would lay a clutch of 200 or so eggs once a year, which would be watched over by the collective tribe in a breeding pond. The non-intelligent spawn that hatched resembled large tadpoles and would feed upon insects and small amphibians (including each other) until they were large enough to leave the breeding pool, usually after about six to eight weeks. Following their emergence, the juvenile bullywugs were forced to fend for themselves, with nothing to rely upon but luck and their own strength against their larger kin. Unfortunately for them, this brutal "parenting" meant that less than one percent of bullywugs reached adulthood.

There were rumors that (despite their hatred of humanity) bullywug-human hybrids were viable. Such degenerate humans certainly dwelled in mixed communities, serving unnamed things deep below the earth.

Anatomy

Puncturing a bullywug's throat pouch without killing it would cause it to suck and noisily dribble whenever they breathed heavily.

Language

Bullywugs had access to the Batrachian Common tongue (a language used by frog-like humanoids), and the more intelligent ones could speak a fractured form of Common with limited vocabulary, but they had a primitive language of their own. The bullywug tongue consisted of a series of croaks, staccato notes, and clicks, and though crude, it allowed them to communicate over large distances, spreading news quickly across the swamps.

Animal Taming

Bullywug language allowed for the communication of simple concepts with amphibians, a capability bullywugs used to form strong bonds with giant frogs and toads. They trained them to serve as guardians, hunters, and in the case of larger varieties, mounts, and used their ability to swallow creatures whole to carry prey back to their villages.They were known to raise such creatures as tadpoles, and weren't bothered by them. Furthermore, they were the undisputed masters of capturing and training wild frogs, and while swamp-dwelling kobolds and goblins had managed to learn from them, only the bullywugs had learned to truly domesticate them, using them like dogs. Sometimes trained war frogs were offered as gifts to set up trade relations with other tribes.

Bullywugs were also known to ride giant leeches.

Numbers

Bullywugs normally appeared in groups somewhere between ten to eighty individuals, although they traveled in their tribal groups in numbers somewhere below fifty. A grouping of four bullywugs was known as a "pad", a pair of pads was called a "float", and between two to six floats was a "pond". Bullywug bands always had large leaders, with communities of thirty or more possessing five subleaders and groups of sixty or more having a great chieftain and five sub-chieftains.

Discrimination

A small number of bullywugs were bigger and smarter than their peers, being broader than their relatives and ranging in height from 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 meters). These "advanced" bullywugs were also more organized, more well-equipped, and more aggressive than the normal variety, staking out regular territories varying with the group size. Advanced bullywugs dwelt in abandoned buildings and caves, sent out regular patrols and hunting parties, and unlike normal bullywugs, were able to wear armor and use weaponry with little trouble. They regularly raided outside territory for food and plunder, particularly enjoying human flesh.

The presence of advanced bullywugs was one of the few times that bullywugs fought. Normal bullywugs hated their larger, more intelligent kin with a passion, going to war with them every chance they got.Advanced bullywugs reciprocated the feeling, viewing all outsiders, bullywugs or otherwise, as either threats or food sources. Despite this hatred,it was the largest and smartest bullywugs that invariably led bullywug kind, the kings and queens of their race normally being of unusual stature. On the other side of the coin, it was the advanced bullywugs that most frequently broke away from their kind and took up the adventuring lifestyle.

Often it was the females of bullywug society that decided to leave their lairs. Despite the fact that females and young made up about half of a given tribe, neither was given much weight in the social order, for their culture was heavily patriarchal. Females were looked down upon as nothing more than egg bearers, and these extremely limited options for advancement pushed them to a life of adventure.

Bullywug Traits

Your Bullywug character has an assortment of inborn abilities, part and parcel of Bullywug nature.

Wall Cling

The Bullywug can concentrate with a bonus action to cling to any service and continue to attack or cast from the position with a bonus action each turn without being impeded.

Size

Water Dependency

Constitution saving throws against dehydration are made with disadvantage. Two levels of exhaustion are given on a failed save over the traditional one. If they already have a level of exhaustion then it follows traditional rules.

Maw moves

Some Bullywugs have sharp teeth while others lash with their tongues and a spars few can croak out toxic fumes.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age

Bullywugs are able to live for about half the amount of time humans do. They are considered mature at age 12, and typically live to be 50-60 years old.

Natural Camo

You have proficiency in the Stealth skill.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a Swimming speed of 30 feet.

Amphibious

You can breathe air and water.

Standing Leap

Your long jump is up to 30 feet and your high jump is up to 15 feet, with or without a running start.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Bullywug, and Grung.

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