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. Bullywugs were mainly carnivorous and preferred a diet of meat. They lived primarily off of fish and any other game (being skilled hunters and fisherman) and would supplement a diet of fruit and insects with flesh whenever possible.

Bullywug society was savage, primitive, and tribal, one of the most petty-minded and mindlessly destructive of all humanoid organizations. Bullywugs had learned to cooperate for the sake of mutual survival and hunting benefit with practically zero infighting, but murder was still one of the two primary methods for getting ahead. The killing of one's rivals had to be performed secretly however, since bullywugs who witlessly did away with their opposition were likely to be executed by the others. Bullywug politics were typically more "subtle" than killing whoever was in front on the social ladder. Clerics and shamans were common among the bullywugs, with as many as ten percent of those in a community having access to divine magic (varying based on how advanced they were). However, the greater number of bullywug priests came at the cost of their individual quality; they had access to only three kinds of magic, spells taken from their divine domains (typically from Chaos, Evil or Water), inflict spells, and summoning spells, the latter being culturally favored. Bullywug clerics were infamous, in fact, for their powerful yet unpredictable summonings, having made a religious fetish out of calling creatures that might or might not stay within their control.

Bullywug Traits

As a bullywug, you have the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase

When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can’t raise any of your scores above 20.

Creature Type

You are considered a Humanoid.

Size

Your size is either Small or Medium, decided at character creation.

Speed

Your walking speed is 25 feet. You have a swimming speed of 30 feet.

Amphibious

You can breathe air and water.

Speak with Amphibians

You can communicate simple concepts to frogs and toads when you speak in Bullywug.

Standing Leap

Your long jump is up to 25 feet and your high jump is up to 15 feet, with or without a running start.

Swamp Camouflage

You gain advantage on any Dexterity (Stealth) check you make to hide in swampy terrain.

Languages

Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.

*Bullywug is not an accepted language option during character creation, though it does exist on the Bullwug's monster stat-block. If you wish to speak Bullywug, add it as a custom language on your character sheet post-creation.