Homebrew Bullywug Species Details

Bullywugs are often described to be nasty, savage, and foully wet creatures. They have a rich, if depraved, cultural background and history that has left them with an unfavorable reputation. 

Physical Description

Bullywugs are amphibious humanoids with webbed digits. They stand between 5′4″‒6′  and weigh 150​ to ​240 pounds on average, although they could vary in body type from 4​ to ​7 feet and 100​ to ​300 pounds.

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

The huge heads of bullywugs resemble those of frogs or toads, 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.

History

Bullywugs are a race that has lived in the swamps of the world since age-old history. They have lived in a foul aristocracy, fighting over ranks and appealing to their superiors in any way that they possibly can. While other societies have improved their technology with metal, bullywugs still use simple weapons and armor, however they use them more effectively than most races do.

Unlike many other creatures of the wild, bullywugs either didn't understand or didn't care about the effect they had on their own ecosystems. They hunted and killed for sport without the intelligence or discrimination to allow environmental recovery, and so systematically depleted the natural resources of their own habitats. Rather than fill any ecological niche, these habits made bullywugs a disruption and threat to the fragile balance they themselves relied upon, and after exhausting other food sources, they would either move on to greener pastures or turn to cannibalism (although some were cannibals by choice). While they didn't permanently poison the land like the undead, the effects of bullywugs left to their reckless practices was nothing short of disastrous for a few years, as they stripped acres of land bare and left behind a despoiled morass of mud, a mere echo of a once fertile swamp.

The bullywugs were not unaware of this phenomenon, the difference in environment before and after they entered being so noticeable that even they viewed their own presence as "off" somehow. This sense of something being wrong manifested as paranoia, the sense that everything was out to get them somehow, although this feeling was not exactly untrue. Bullywugs are traditionally seen as lesser beings—barely worthy of being humanoids, similar in this regard to goblins. They are nonetheless - and perhaps in overcompensation for this view - defiant to any who would look down upon them, and eager to shove upturned noses down into the mud of their marshes.

 

Society

Life as a bullywug is nasty, brutish, and wet. These frog-headed amphibious humanoids like to stay constantly moist, often dwelling in rainy forests, marshes, and damp caves. Some have adapted to more modern living, however, much like normal frogs and toads. Always hungry and often morally repugnant, bullywugs overwhelm opponents with superior numbers when they can, but they flee from serious threats to search for easier prey.

Bullywugs consider themselves the right and proper rulers of the swamps. They follow an etiquette of sorts when dealing with outsiders and each other, subject to the whims and fancies of their leader—a self-styled lord of the muck. Bullywugs often introduce themselves with grand-sounding titles, make great shows of bowing and debasing themselves before their superiors, and endlessly vie to win their superiors' favor.

A bullywug has two ways to advance socially. It can either murder its rivals, or it can present treasure as tribute or a token of obeisance to its liege. A bullywug that murders its rivals without cunning is likely to be executed, so it's more common for bullywugs to stage raids against caravans and settlements, with the goal of securing precious baubles to impress their lords and win their good graces. Invariably, such fine goods are reduced to filthy tatters through abuse and neglect. Once a gift loses its sheen, the lord invariably demands that its subjects bring it more treasure as tribute.

A small but growing number of bullywugs choose to live independently of their tribes, either by choice or by merciful exile (as most bullywugs earning an exile would be much more likely to receive and execution). Despite the species' tendencies towards chaotic and evil behavior, bullywugs were capable of adopting other behaviors. They often remained individualistic, but sometimes shed their more despicable traits when trying to find a place in the outside world. Curiosity could drive them to explore, and those that met success were the ones that learned to work with and rely on others, with most stray bullywugs being neutral and, on rare occasion, creatures of good.

Bullywug Names

Bullywug names are usually monosyllabic. These names are mostly unisex, though some may suit a particular sex better than the other. Bullywugs do not have tribe names or surnames. Instead, they take the name of one of their parents as a last name. Males usually take their father's name with the prefix Ur(son of). Females most often take their mother's name, prefixed with Ir (daughter of).

an example Bullywug name would be Blib Ur'Crok

First names: Arp, Blunk, Cer, Dot, Ekh, Fith, Gronk, Hepp, Ilk, Jet, Kex, Lawl, Mukk, Nash, Olp, Plick, Quor, Yawl, Zurk.

 

Bullywug Traits

Bullywug Traits

Size

Adult Bullywugs range between 3.5 and 6 feet tall, averaging at roughly 4.75 feet. Their average weight lies between 100-200lbs, but large Bullywugs sometimes grow to be over 300lbs. Your size is medium.

Climbing Speed

Your sticky frog toes allow you to climb slightly faster. Add 5 to base climbing speed.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by two, and your Dexterity increases by 1.

Languages

You can read, write, and speak both Common and Bullywug (Bullywi), used to communicate with frogs and toads. Bullywug is an odd, guttural language spoken mostly by contracting the windpipe and inflating/deflating airsacs. As such, it can be spoken with a closed mouth.

Amphibious

Amphibious. You can breathe air and water. Ignore if using Toad variant and refer to variant description. 

Swamp Camouflage

You gain advantage on Dexterity(Stealth) checks when in swampy terrain.

Frog Legs

Your base long jump is up to 20 feet and your base high jump is up to 10 feet, with or without a running start.

Bludgeoning Bite

Your crushing jaws are a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Tongue Strike

So long as the use of your tongue is not inhibited, your unarmed strikes are considered to have the Reach property. Additionally, you can make minor interactions with your tongue, such as activating buttons, casting touch spells or retrieving small items, from a distance of up to 10 feet.