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 (2–12)
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.
