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Message: <blockquote data-quote="faria" data-source="post: 6856627" data-attributes="member: 6780042">The point of Giant Frog/Toad builds is to utilize the powerful Swallow ability, circumventing enemy HP. There are 2 ways to use this tactically:(1) Enlarge/Reduce + Swallow = eat Medium/Large size enemies (make them small enough to eat)(2) Haste + Bite + Swallow = 1-round meals (use the Hasted action to attack with Bite and then the standard action to Swallow)Giant Frogs and Giant Toads are different, and toads are arguably the better of the 2. Giant Toads have a higher CR, making them tougher than frogs, and, more importantly, they are Large size. Being Large means they can Swallow Medium size enemies, meaning they rely less on Enlarge/Reduce. A lot of enemies, including most humanoids, are Medium size, so size matters (heh). Both Enlarge/Reduce and Haste require Concentration, so you can't cast both at once. Which one you pick depends on the circumstance. You won't usually be fighting Small or smaller creatures, so Haste is arguably less useful for Giant Frogs.There are 5 ways to get a Giant Frog: cast Animal Friendship on one (lasts 24 hours), cast Awaken on one (lasts 30 days), cast Find Steed (requires Small race and DM's permission but works RAW), Wild Shape into one as a Druid, or pick one as a Beastmaster Companion.There are only 4 ways to get a Giant Toad: cast Animal Friendship on one (lasts 24 hours), cast Awaken on one (lasts 30 days), cast Find Steed (not limited to Small races but still requires DM's permission), or Wild Shape into one as a Druid.**For the record, Animal Friendship doesn't specify that the animal will obey you, only that you mean it no harm. So builds that rely on this spell may not be viable. It depends on the DM. Personally, I'd call for a few Animal Handling checks (with Advantage because it's Charmed) even after this spell is cast because the player still needs to 'train' it.Build Options (F = only access to Giant Frog, T = access to both Giant Toad and Giant Frog [Toad is usually the better option in this case]):Sorcerer or Wizard 3 or 4 T - Animal Friendship** and Enlarge/Reduce. Variant Humans can start with the Magic Initiate feat to learn Animal Friendship, but others have to wait until level 4 for the feat. Sorcerer or Wizard 3/Druid 1 T - Animal Friendship** and Enlarge/Reduce. Druid dip instead of the Magic Initiate feat above. Seems dumb at first, but you free up an ASI (which you gain the next time you level up).Sorcerer or Wizard 3/Nature Cleric 1 T - Animal Friendship** and Enlarge/Reduce. Same as above, but the main perk here is Heavy armor. It's MAD though so I doubt you'll have the STR to wear it.Lore Bard 6 T - Find Steed and Haste. Can take Enlarge/Reduce at level 10. No multiclass needed! Bardic Inspiration dice can be given to your steed to land attacks.Valor Bard 10 T - Awaken or Find Steed, Enlarge/Reduce, and Haste. You already know Awaken, but Magical Secrets gives only 2 out of 3 of the others. I recommend dropping Enlarge/Reduce. Find Steed is cheaper than Awaken (1000g component) and has no time limit. Beastmaster 3/Lore Bard 6 F - Companion, plus Enlarge/Reduce and Haste from Additional Magical Secrets.Beastmaster 3/Sorcerer or Wizard 3 F - Companion and Enlarge/Reduce. Can take Sorcerer or Wizard to 5 for Haste.Beastmaster 11 F - Companion, plus Bestial Fury. Bestial Fury means getting off one round Swallows without Haste.Moon Druid 2/Sorcerer or Wizard 3 T - Wild Shape and Enlarge/Reduce. You could use Animal Friendship instead of Wild Shape, but there's no point. Moon Druid can Wild Shape as a bonus action so you can cast Enlarge/Reduce and then Wild Shape on the same round. Access to Giant Toad form at level 2! Can take Sorcerer or Wizard to 5 for Haste. Grassland Druid 5/Sorcerer or Wizard 3 F - Wild Shape, Enlarge/Reduce, and Haste. Slower than taking Sorcerer or Wizard to 5 in the above build though... And you have to wait until level 8 Land Druid to have access to Giant Toad form. Moon Druid is clearly a better option.I think that's it... Which of these is the most optimal?Final Thought: While Giant Toads are generally better options than Giant Frogs, Beastmaster's Giant Frog builds have 2 noticeable benefits: the companion HP buff (helps immensely vs AOEs at higher level) and Bestial Fury (can get off one round Swallows without needing Haste). Bestial Fury doesn't kick in until level 11 though... Most campaigns won't go too high though, so plan realistically around how many levels the campaign will take you through.And before someone suggests it (even though it's brilliant out of the box thinking), no, a Duergar Druid using their Enlarge/Reduce daily racial spell won't work because you'd have to cast it while in Wild Shape, which is impossible.</blockquote>

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