I hope you enjoy the bitter root frog, and I'll be back tomorrow with another froggy monstrosity.
I'd also like to point you to an archetype by Landon Bellavia, inspired by the arcanaruna: https://questwriter.tumblr.com/post/178875933973/arcanarunologist. The archetype does a fantastic job of showing an arcanaruna's growth from juvenile to adult. I hope you like it as much as I do!
Blorbbit!
This slime mold is
shaped like a frog and has nodules of fungal material protruding from its body
like warts. When it moves along a surface, its front half shifts and the back
half flows quickly toward the front half.
Bitter Medicine
Frog CR 8
XP 4,800
CN Tiny plant
Init +9; Senses low-light vision, tremorsense 30
ft.; Perception +14
DEFENSE
AC 22, touch 18,
flat-footed 16 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 natural, +2 size)
hp 102 (12d8+48);
regeneration 5 (cold)
Fort +12, Ref +11, Will +7
Defensive Abilities
amorphous; DR 10/slashing; Immune acid, plant traits; Resist fire 10
Weaknesses cold
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.,
climb 20 ft.
Melee slam +16
(1d2–4
plus attach)
Space 2–1/2
ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks
attach, forced ingestion
STATISTICS
Str 2, Dex 21, Con 18, Int 5, Wis 17, Cha 8
Base Atk +9; CMB +12; CMD 19 (can't be tripped)
Feats Dodge, Go
Unnoticed[APG], Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Weapon
Finesse
Skills Climb +13,
Perception +14, Stealth +20
ECOLOGY
Environment
temperate and warm forests
Organization
solitary or apothecary (2–12)
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Forced Ingestion (Ex)
If a bitter medicine frog succeeds on a grapple check to maintain a grapple, it
forces itself down its target's throat. It removes any sickened or nauseated
conditions currently suffered by its target, and its target is immune to spells
or effects that cause these conditions. While within the target, the bitter
medicine frog deals 8d6 points of acid damage to the target each round (DC 20
Fortitude save halves) and it releases paralyzing spores every 1d3 rounds. When
it releases spores, the target must succeed on a DC 20 Fortitude save or become
paralyzed for 1 minute. The save DCs are Constitution-based.
The bitter medicine frog takes half damage from attacks
targeting the host or including it in an area effect. Removing a bitter
medicine frog requires cutting into the victim, which deals 2d6 points of
damage, and a successful DC 20 Heal check.
Bitter medicine frogs get their name from their uniformly
frog-like shape and their dangerous use to combat nausea. The cure often proves
overwhelmingly more lethal than the symptoms it’s meant to alleviate. While
they look like strange frogs, they are actually colonies of slime molds with a
hive mind. Bitter medicine frogs reproduce by implanting themselves into living
hosts and consuming their hosts from the inside. The originating colonies die
along with their hosts, but the spores they use to paralyze their hosts form
new colonies which burst from the corpses one month later.
Bitter medicine frogs roost in trees and are difficult to
spot among the greenery. They use height to their advantage, so they can drop
onto the heads of their victims. However, they are fast climbers, allowing even
grounded bitter medicine frogs to reach their victims’ mouths seconds after
attaching to their legs. More mercenary druids employ the plants as weapons
against their foes, welcoming the replacement of flesh-and-blood humanoids with
a fresh patch of bitter medicine frogs.
