Friday, October 1, 2010

By Popular Demand: Froglings

Froglings hail from a distant low-land country known to the Humans of the world as Hoppland.  Hopland is little more than a large salt marsh which extends to the Darkest Sea.  There the Froglings build their cities.  The Men of the west often have noted that Frogling architecture and clothing is strikingly similar to that of their Human counterparts, a fact which Froglings are quick to deny.  Froglings dress quite similarly to Western  Humans, but they always are seen wearing garish colors and clothes stained with foreign substances.

The Froglings marshy home is haunted by foul creatures of various sorts.  At night they retreat to their lantern-lit cities to avoid ravaging Bullywugs, Poisonous Froads, Snake Men, and more terrible creatures.  As such, Frogling society is highly urbanized, possibly even more so than Human culture.  Brave knights defend these cities from the ravages of Naga and the undead.  Froglings are often brave warriors, though they are aware that their small stature rather hinders them in a fight.  So, while Froglings often like to put on the air of a swashbuckling rogue, their true art is that of a thief.

The Church sees Frogling culture as a diabolic parody of Human society.  Froglings are known for their excellent skills in making all manner of alcohol, particularly beer.  Their stout ales and venomous lagers are the envy of Dwarvenkind, but their proclivity for drink and their pugnacious attitude appall the more conservative elements of God's Church.  For their part the Froglings seem to have no religion, being far more interested in contemplating philosophies of honor, death, and drink.

Froglings are also known for their bizarre cuisine, which consists of heavily spiced swamp-bugs which are often poisonous to other races.

Though still seldom seen in the realms of man, Froglings upset humans less than the other races.  Despite the Church's general condemnation of such creatures, their brewing arts are prized enough for them to often be in high demand in the cities of Men.  They are often lampooned or viewed as comical figures, a mistake most humans who meet one in person only make once.

Character Advancement: Froglings may advance as much as they wish as a Thief.  They may also choose to be a Fighter, however if they do so they are limited to 6th level.

Climb Sheer Surfaces: Regardless of which class they chose, Froglings always gain the Climb Sheer Surfaces Thief skill.  Froglings who are also Thieves treat this skill as if they were four levels higher.

Hop: Froglings may jump a distance of 30ft horizontally or 15ft vertically.  Froglings do not take falling damage for distances under 30ft.

Wary: Froglings may roll an extra d6 when determining surprise and take the better result.

Swim: Froglings may swim for far longer than the other Races.  The exact amount of time is up to the referee.

Saving Throws: Froglings receive a +4 to saving throws vs. Poison.

5 comments:

  1. I can Dig'Em. But what's their downside vs. being a human thief. Beside, you know, being a frog.

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  2. If I'm not mistaken one could make the same argument for Halflings. You are right though, I should make being a Human thief a little more attractive somehow.

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  3. I just got the Digem reference.

    My soul hurts now.

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  4. Honey Smacks are so good.

    Are you considering a Frogling MU? Mostly because its awesome. Though I can see how you might avoid it in order to maintain a degree of seriousness hah.

    Very cool though. Incidentally, I don't think the church is too far off with its assessment of them as a "diabolic parody of human society" haha.

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  5. If you haven't seen them, you should check these out:

    http://tinyurl.com/28gz9sg
    (frogs at bottom of page)

    and these:

    http://tinyurl.com/24x4xe9

    As soon as I have enough room for a proper painting setup again, I'm going to find a use for those figures.

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