NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7901003" data-attributes="member: 20323">[USER=83242]@dave2008[/USER] Totally, using the physical description as a guiding beacon for a monster's stats and lore is a legitimate route. It could just be I'm taking issue with something that's a non-issue for some DMs like yourself.Anyhow, I'll try to elucidate what I'm observing in regards to "crowded froggy monster" design space with a side-by-side comparison of the hezrou to the blue slaad.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/5Jh6m1B.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Here are two chaotic brutish monsters from other planes that have a frog-like appearance. Both have a spiky aspect to their appearance, more so for the hezrou, but it's noticeable for the blue slaad. Likewise, both have a kind of pebbled texture to their skin. Both have smaller legs with three-toed claws and a slightly hunched over ape-like posture. Both have yellow frog-like eyes. Both have toothy mouths.Looking at the stats in terms of roleplaying, neither speaks Common, but both can communicate telepathy. Both are strong, nimble, tough, and fairly dumb. The only differentiation is that the hezrou is wiser and more charismatic.In terms of defense, we see they have comparable hit points, with the hezrou having better resistances while the blue slaad regenerates. They have natural armor granting comparable AC. Both have magic resistance. The main difference is that the hezrou has saving throws which the blue slaad lacks.In terms of offense, their attacks are virtually identical – claw/claw/bite for 37 damage (hezrou) or 36 damage (blue slaad). Their defining difference is that the hezrou has a stinky aura that poisons you, while the blue slaad's claws impose a disease on you.Were I fairly new to D&D and shown these two art pieces and the stat blocks with, say, all instances of the word "Hezrou" swapped for "Orange Slaad" (and Abyssal replaced by Slaad, and "fiend (demon)" replaced by "aberration"), I would assume they were just variations of slaad, along with Red Slaad, Green Slaad, etc.</blockquote>

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