Sunday, October 7, 2018

Frightful Fridays! Frogtober! Sandtoad

Hello and welcome back to Frogtober! Today's Inktober theme is "exhausted," and Hugo Solis (https://deviantart.com/butterfrog) really captured the sleepy essence of the sandtoad. It's an undead toad that died in the desert and is really angry about it, so much so that it afflicts the living with the fatigue of travelling through the inhospitable land where it dwells.

I hope you enjoy the sandtoad. I'll see you tomorrow with the opener of week 2 for Frogtober!

Please also check out the response to all these frog monsters by Wojciech "Drejk" Gruchala: https://shaperofworlds.blogspot.com/2018/10/monster-frog-eater.html

Sooooo sleepy



This toad is composed entirely of sand, which occasionally drifts off its body. Heavy, drooping eyelids, also made of sand, almost conceal the pits where the creature’s eyes should be.
Sandtoad      CR 2
XP 600
NE Small undead
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+1 Dex, +2 natural, +1 size)
hp 19 (3d8+6)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +3
Defensive Abilities dispersive evasion, sandy composition; DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune undead traits
Weaknesses kilning
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee bite +4 (1d6+1 plus fatigue)
Special Attacks breath weapon (30-ft. cone, 3d6 piercing and slashing damage, Reflex DC 13 for half, usable every 1d4+1 rounds)
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 13, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 15
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 13 (17 vs. trip)
Feats Lightning Reflexes[B]
Skills Stealth +5 (+13 in sandy environments); Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth in sandy environments
ECOLOGY
Environment any desert
Organization solitary or harmattan (212)
Treasure incidental
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Breath Weapon (Su) If a creature fails its Reflex save against a sandtoad’s breath weapon, it is subject to the fatigue effect described below.
If a sandtoad spends a full-round action gathering sand from its square and squares adjacent to it, it can use its breath weapon on its next turn.
Dispersive Evasion (Ex) When a sandtoad is caught in the area of effect of a spell or ability that deals damage, it automatically disperses. If it makes a Reflex save against such a spell or effect, it takes no damage. With the exception of failing a Reflex save against a spell or effect that deals fire damage (see kilning below), it must spend 1 round regathering itself, regardless of the success of its save. It is immune to all damage while it is discorporate.
Fatigue (Su) A creature hit by a sandtoad’s attacks or caught in the sandtoad’s breath weapon become fatigued if the creature fails a DC 13 Fortitude save. If the creature is already fatigued from this attack (but not due to any other sources of fatigue), it instead becomes exhausted. If the sandtoad causes a creature to become fatigued after making a melee attack, it heals 3 hit points. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Kilning (Ex) If a sandtoad takes fire damage from a spell or effect that deals damage to an area, the sand forming it becomes glasslike. The sandtoad loses its DR and the benefit of its sandy composition. If it takes damage from a critical hit or precision damage, the glass cracks, restoring the sandtoad to its normal state.
Sandy Composition (Ex) A sandtoad has a 50% chance to ignore additional damage from critical hits and precision damage. This drops to 25% when it is hit by a bludgeoning weapon.

While many sentient creatures that succumb to thirst in harsh desert environments rise as hateful undead, very few animals return from death as a result of their misadventures in the desert. Desert toads adapted to arid climates that die just short of pockets of life-giving water are prone to return as sandtoads, reflective of the inherent unfairness in their deaths by dehydration or sheer exhaustion. Like many undead, sandtoads return to inflict the same sort of conditions that contributed to their demises.

Their shared environments make sandtoads a ready choice for mummies to use as guardian creatures. Where sandtoads are not available, mummy spellcasters aware of the creatures build them from scratch using spells like create undead (which requires a minimum caster level of 12th). Mummies and other desert dwelling undead command sandtoads to use their abilities to the best effect. Without outside commands, sandtoads never recharge their breath weapons while threatened.

A typical sandtoad stands 3 feet tall, measures just over 4 feet in length, and weighs a mere 20 pounds.