A Toad is So

Inexplicably, 3e neglected a monster utterly ubiquitous to early versions of D&D: the giant toad. As Zenopus Archives carefully detailed, there were no less than five or six different versions of these critters kicking around OD&D, Holmes, B/X, and AD&D.

The retro clones were careful to correct this omission. And happily 5e gave us an open version that could be ported back to 3.5e. I dropped the 5e poison attack, which does nothing more than damage, and reduced the size for the base creature to Medium—but included a Large advanced version to complete the set.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Monstrous Toad

This pale, warty amphibian is larger than a mastiff dog, with a stout body, stubby but powerful limbs, and an enormous, gaping mouth.

0e

Giant Toad CL 3 (60 XP)

Giant toads are predators, willing to attack creatures as large as men. Giant toads can attack at the end of a hop, which is in addition to the toad’s normal move.

HD 3; AC 6 [13]; Atk 1 bite (1d8); Move 6 (hop 50 ft); Save 14; AL N; Special: Hop

3.5e

Monstrous Toad CR 1

Always N Medium animal (aquatic)

Init +1; Senses darkvision 30 ft., low-light vision; Listen +2, Spot +2

Defense

AC 13, touch 11, flat-footed 12
(+1 Dex, +2 natural)

hp 11 (2d8+2 HD)

Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +2

Offense

Speed 20 ft., swim 40 ft.

Melee bite +2 (1d8)

Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks improved grab, swallow whole

Tactics

During Combat Monstrous toads are voracious and will leap toward the smallest creatures first, attempting to swallow them whole.

Morale Monstrous toads will leap away if reduced to half their normal hit points or less.

Statistics

Str 10, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 1, Wis 14, Cha 4

Base Atk +1; Grp +1

Feats Weapon Finesse

Skills Jump +8, Hide +8, Swim +8

SQ amphibious

Ecology

Environment temperate or warm aquatic, forests, marshes, and underground

Organization solitary, pair, or knot (3–12)

Treasure none

Advancement 3 HD (Medium), 4–6 HD (Large)

Special Abilities

Amphibious (Ex) Although monstrous toads are aquatic, they can survive indefinitely on land.

Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a monstrous toad must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can try to swallow the foe in the following round.

Swallow Whole (Ex) A monstrous toad can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of up to one size smaller by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the opponent takes 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage plus 1d4 points of acid damage per round from the monstrous toad’s digestive juices. A swallowed creature can cut its way out using a light slashing or piercing weapon by dealing 10 points of damage to the monstrous toad’s digestive tract (AC 11). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out.

A Medium monstrous toad’s gullet can hold 2 Small, 8 Tiny, 32 Diminutive, or 128 Fine or smaller opponents.

Skills A monstrous toad’s coloration gives it a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks. A giant toad has a +12 racial bonus on Jump checks. A monstrous toad has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

Advanced Monstrous Toad

Giant Monstrous Toad CR 2

Always N Large animal (aquatic)

Init +0; Senses darkvision 30 ft., low-light vision; Listen +2, Spot +2

Defense

AC 13, touch 9, flat-footed 9
(+4 natural, -1 size)

hp 30 (4d8+12 HD)

Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +3

Offense

Speed 20 ft., swim 40 ft.

Melee bite +6 (2d8+6)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks improved grab, swallow whole

Statistics

Str 18, Dex 11, Con 17, Int 1, Wis 14, Cha 4

Base Atk +3; Grp +11

Feats Improved Natural Attack (bite), Lightning Reflexes

Skills Jump +10, Hide +7, Swim +12

SQ amphibious

Special Abilities

Swallow Whole (Ex) A swallowed creature can cut its way out using a light slashing or piercing weapon by dealing 15 points of damage to the monstrous toad’s digestive tract (AC 12). A Large monstrous toad’s gullet can hold 2 Medium, 8 Small, 32 Tiny, 128 Diminutive, or 512 Fine or smaller opponents.

5e

Giant Toad Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Unaligned Large beast

Init +1; Senses darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 10

Defense

Armor Class 11

Hit Points 39 (6d10 + 6)

Offense

Speed 20 ft., swim 40 ft.

Bite. +4 melee weapon attack, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) piercing damage plus 5 (1d10) poison damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the toad can’t bite another target.

Swallow. The toad makes one bite attack against a Medium or smaller target it is grappling. If the attack hits, the target is swallowed, and the grapple ends. The swallowed target is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the toad, and it takes 10 (3d6) acid damage at the start of each of the toad’s turns. The toad can have only one target swallowed at a time. If the toad dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 5 feet of movement, exiting prone.

Statistics

Str 15 (+2), Dex 13 (+1), Con 13 (+1), Int 2 (-4), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 3 (-4)

Traits

Amphibious. The toad can breathe air and water.

Standing Leap. The toad’s long jump is up to 20 feet and its high jump is up to 10 feet, with or without a running start.

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