Bullywugs

[Nahat Anoj]

For our "B-Team" adventurers (when the main campaign DM needs to take a break or when not everyone can make it), one of my players made up a bullywug avenger of Corellon. It's an amusing concept for a somewhat humorous campaign - basically, the bullywug thinks he's really beautiful and graceful (and, oddly, with his high Dex, he is!).

As with most monsters-as-PCs write ups, the bullywug's write-up lacks some "oomph". In particular, the Rancid Air aura is hardly ever useful on the PC end, since monsters don't spend surges all that often. Here's a first cract and what I'm thinking if I were to give bullywugs the PC treatment. I'd like to give them one, maybe two more neat little things but can't think of anything right now.

RACIAL TRAITS

Average Height: 5'4" - 6'0"
Average Weight: 150 - 240

Ability scores: +2 Constitution, +2 Dexterity
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares. (swamp walk)
Vision: Normal
Languages: Common, Primordial

Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics.
Frog's Leap: When you make an Athletics check to jump, roll twice and use either result. You are considered to have a running start.
Rancid Air: You gain the rancid air power.

Rancid Air
Encounter * Poison
Standard Action Close burst 1

Target: Enemies in the burst

Attack: Strength +2 vs. Fortitude, Constitution +2 vs. Fortitude, or Dexterity +2 vs. Fortitude
Increase to +4 bonus at 11th level, and to +6 bonus at 21st level.
Hit: The target is weakened until the end of your next turn.

Special: When you create this character, choose Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity as the ability score you use when making attack rolls with this power. This choice remains throughout you character's life and does not change the power's other effects.​

 

[Nahat Anoj]

I'll be particularly interested in anyone's comments on this version of Rancid Air. I'm not sure if I should keep it as a standard action (weakened is a pretty nasty effect) or make it a minor (to keep it in line with other racial attacks like dragon breath or earthshock).

 

[eriktheguy]

I like your version of rancid air better than the monster manual version. Monsters certainly do not spend many surges.
Go ahead and make it burst two though. It's not that powerful considering that dragonborn can nuke minions and other races can avoid an entire attack, re-roll a missed daily etc.
I don't see why bullywugs only get one skill boost instead of two. That only happens with monster manual races...
If you can think of one to give them, maybe you should.

 

[circadianwolf]

I agree about the second skill bonus. Perhaps Endurance or Acrobatics?

I'd also add the aquatic keyword/benefit, just because the bullywug monsters have it, it doesn't really add much mechanical benefit, and as is they feel a little featureless (though they have more features than shifters and just as many as goliaths, heh).

I'm not sure about the power. I think it's a good implementation as is, but as you said it's weird to have a standard action racial power. Maybe for a weaker effect copy the troglodyte aura and make the hit on a minor action close burst 1 attack a -2 penalty to attacks until the end of your next turn?

I'm also slightly worried that such a power makes bullywugs melee-focused, although it's at least a defensive power that can thus be used if monsters close in on a ranged character, and it's so flavorful that I don't really want to change it.

I find bullywugs hilarious and think they deserve more love (but not respect, haha), so kudos.

 

[Camelot]

I'd say add +2 Endurance, since it goes along with the race's flavor and mechanics. A poisonous creature should be able to better resist poison.

The aquatic idea sounds good, and maybe go a step further and let it reroll Athletics for swim as well as jump. It'd be cool to have a PC who's a good swimmer.

For rancid air, I'd say keep it a close burst 1 but add a small amount of poison damage, maybe 1d4 or Con mod, but not too much, since you don't want it to be blatantly more powerful than dragon breath, unless the rest of the race makes up for that.

A very good conversion for a monster PC! Well done!

 

[Nahat Anoj]

Well, we had our game last night and the player seemed quite receptive to the revised version of the power. We'll go with close burst 1, targets creatures in the burst (friend or foe), weakens, and costs a minor action.

I think a bonus to Endurance and giving them the aquatic keyword are good ideas.

I can already think of a lot of good racial feats for bullywugs. One is not provoking OAs while jumping, and another is using the encounter-based Rancid Air as an immediate interrupt.

The flavor we're using for why the bullywug PC write-up is different from the monster write-up is that bullywug PCs are more "civilized" and have better control of their smell, wielding it more like a precision tool.

In a future campaign setting, I'm going to make an assassin's guild masterminded by a cabal of bullywugs - they make great assassins! They'll be somewhat cultish, venerating a toad-god idol.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Don't Bullywug's have that "if hit with a critical hit, attacker gains bonus" feature?

You need that on your PC variant, too. And then use feats like Spite Nature that give the PCor his allies a benefit when that happens.

Well, okay, maybe you don't need that, but it sounds interesting...

 

[Nahat Anoj]

Don't Bullywug's have that "if hit with a critical hit, attacker gains bonus" feature?

Yeah, it's Nature's Release. Basically, anyone who crits them can heal 4 or 5 hitpoints. It's supposed to represent the natural world's satisfaction at having the strange, alien frogmen thwacked.

You need that on your PC variant, too. And then use feats like Spite Nature that give the PCor his allies a benefit when that happens.

Because PCs bullywugs are "reformed," I probably won't make it so that enemies benefit from critting bullywugs. Perhaps the ancestors of PC bullywugs made an agreement with the primal spirits or something. However, having something happen when they crit or when someone crits them might be cool. I might be tempted to make a feat out of it if we can't make a good racial ability out of it.

 

[Camelot]

Yeah, 4e's philosophy is strongly against inherent racial penalties, as you can see by looking at every race created so far. The monster races are different, since they're meant to be fought, so that the PCs can figure out their weakness and exploit it. The DM would know any obvious weaknesses that the PCs had and would be able to exploit them easier, thus putting the PCs at an unfair disadvantage.

Though I can imagine such a scenario:

Wizard: I gave myself a weakness to ice so that I could gain better fire spells. No one will be able to stop me!

DM: Oh, what's that? Five encounters in a row with monsters that all do at-will ice damage? Whoops, you're dead.

Wizard: HEY!

 

[eriktheguy]

Hey Jonathan, post a pdf when you get the final product.