Grung

Grung are fiercely territorial toad-people of marsh and swamp, about 3 feet tall. Below the waist they resemble giant frogs, with strong legs and big webbed feet; above, they have muscular arms, opposable thumbs and smaller, almost humanoid heads. They walk upright in quick short hops but cannot make a frog's or bullywug's great leaps. In place of a sticky tongue their wide mouths hold sharp carnivore's teeth. Their slick skin, which they breathe through, is mottled green and brown on top and white or yellow below. Small red eyes with black pupils sit under protective bony ridges. Females are a little larger than males.

Being small, grung favor ambushes: they hide until enemies, travelers or rival grung, are deep in range, then attack with short bows and spears. Before shooting or stabbing they wipe the weapon on their skin, coating it with the sticky toxin it constantly oozes. A victim who fails the saving throw dies in four rounds; a success means no harm. Grung are immune to their own poison but not others. Exposed to air, it breaks down in ten rounds, which also makes it nearly impossible to bottle.

Their bite carries a weaker version: the target saves at +2 and dies in six rounds on a failure. Dry skin is fatal, so each must soak for a full round at least every three hours or suffocate.

Grung claim a mile or more around each village and attack any intruder on sight, other grung included; border skirmishes between tribes are constant. Most encounters are with roaming war bands hunting trespassers. Negotiation is impossible; grung are hostile, always.

Villages are messy clusters of rough huts, sometimes inside big dead trees, always beside open water, because grung lay eggs that hatch into tadpoles. A tribe numbers 10d6+40, a quarter of them young (AC 10, Sw 12, HD 1/2, 1 attack for 1 damage, no poison). Within three months tadpoles lose their tails, grow limbs and join the tribe on land as immature grung of 1-1 Hit Dice with full adult abilities, maturing six months later.

Females rule: all war chiefs are female, and the chieftain is the best fighter among them, with rank won through duels to the death. A single female shaman, 3rd level at most, serves each tribe, with access to the All, Animal, Combat, Plant and Healing (reversed spells only) spheres.

Grung eat swamp mammals such as rats, careless travelers and even each other. Their poisonous flesh deters most predators, but giant venomous snakes are usually immune and hunt them actively. Water near a village is tainted: any non-grung who drinks it must save vs. poison at +3 or be nauseated for 2d4 rounds, suffering -1 to attack rolls and +1 to Armor Class.