Last Updated: April 25, 2022
Introduction
One Grung Above (affiliate link) was published in 2017 as part of Wizards of the Coasts annual fundraising drive for Extra Life. It’s a 4-page PDF devoted almost entirely to stat blocks for characters used in a streamed game session, and finishes with a half-page entry with traits for the Grung as a playable race.
Thematically, grung are halfling-sized humanoid frog people with a rigidcaste system based on the color of their skin. Grung can change their skincolor by being subjected to a ritual, but they need to perform “great deeds”to be invited to do so. Grung also enjoy taking sentient creatures as slavesand keeping those slaves in a perpetual poisoned state. So between a castesystem based on skin color, slavery, and war crimes grung are generally justawful people. But sometimes playing an exception to a race’s published culturecan be fun, and sometimes you want to play villains.
Mechanically, the Grung is a mess. Many traits are copied entirely from themonster entries for the Grung, and those traits were absolutely not writtenfor use as a playable race. While they work fine for a self-contained one-shotgame, they have some issues in a long-form campaign. In general, the race isexceptionally powerful.
Dex/Con is a great combo for any martial class except the Barbarian.Perception is the most important skill in the game and you get proficiency forfree. You get a climb speed which can trivialize many obstacles, especiallywhen combined with the Grung’s ability to long jump 25 feet, allowing you tobypass obstacles like pits or difficult terrain with no effort. PoisonImmunity protects from a very common damage type which is a problem at alllevels. Poisonous Skin offers a small damage boost, and while the DC is fixedat 12 and it’s only 2d4 damage, the target is Poisoned for 1 minute (thoughthey do get additional saves), severely deblitating them. Even though the DCis low, even high-level creatures can still fail the save (even if it’s onlyon a natural 1), and as players gain additional attacks the chances of foesbeing poisoned multiply.
The Grung would need a lot of work to be considered balanced enough to makeit to publication. As some quick fixes, I recommend reworking Poisonous Skinto use a DC equal to 8 + Proficiency Bonus + Constitution Modifier, to workonce per short, once per or long rest, or potentially PB/long rest like manyracial features as of Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes being released. Adjust thedamage to increase by 2d4 at 5th, 11th, and 17th levels to match cantripdamage increases in order to keep the damage relevant rather than relyingentirely on the Poisoned condition. That makes it an occasional tacticaloption similar to the Dragonborn’s breath weapon rather than a persistentmechanical annoyance. You might also weaken Standing Leap to some degree,possibly by duplicating the Satyr’s Mirthful Leaps trait or the Harengon’sRabbit Hop trait.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Disclaimer
- Are Grung an Official Playable Race?
- Grung Classes (Customizable Origins)
- Grung Classes (Default Rules)
Disclaimer
RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.
- Red: Bad, useless options, or options whichare extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
- Orange: OK options, or useful optionsthat only apply in rare circ*mstances. Useful sometimes.
- Green: Good options. Useful often.
- Blue: Fantastic options, often essentialto the function of your character. Useful very frequently.
I will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, even if it is my own, because I can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. I also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and I can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.
The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released and this article will be updating accordingly as time allows.
RPGBOTis unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Are Grung an Official Playable Race?
No. The DMsGuild page for One Grung Above clarifies:
Disclaimer: Outside of a certain surrogate character, this document in no waymakes grung a legal, playable race in the D&D Adventurers League, or anyother campaign where the Dungeon Master hates amphibians with an excess ofapostrophes in their names… and yes if you’re not immune to poison and youmust touch the grung to heal it… you get to make a saving throw.
Between this and the mechanical issues discussed above, I do not cover theGrung in my other character optimization content.
Grung Classes (Customizable Origins)
This section assumes that you’re using the option “Customizing Your Origin” rules presented in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. If you’re not using those rules, scroll down to the next section.
Artificer
Fine for melee builds, but ranged artificers generally use spells rather thanweapons, so the Grung’s poison isn’t useful for them.
Barbarian
Poison added to your attacks and Standing Leap makes difficult terrain mostlya non-issue.
Bard
With the exception of College of Valor, bards don’t get enough attacks tomake the Grung’s poison worthwhile, and while Standing Leap and an extra skillare both nice, they’re not enough to carry a build.
Cleric
Clerics don’t get enough attacks to make the Grung’s poison worthwhile, andwhile Standing Leap and an extra skill are both nice, they’re not enough tocarry a build.
Druid
A circle of spores druid built around Polearm Master to capitalize onSymbiotic Entity’s damage boosts could be a good fit both mechanically andthematically for the Grung, but the Grung doesn’t solve any of the Druid’sdurability issues.
Fighter
More attacks than anyone except the Monk, and unlike the Monk they can all bepiercing damage without jumping through hoops. Go for two-weapon fighting andstab things as often and as quickly as you can manage. The extra skill helpsyou be useful outside of combat, and Standing Leap trivializes difficultterrain.
Monk
More attacks than any other character for the majority of the level range. Remember that unarmed strikes involves enemies touching your skin, which applies your poison just as well as poking them with a spear,
Paladin
Not quite as good at abusing the Grung’s poison as the Fighter, but theFighter doesn’t pull ahead until 11th level, so until then the Paladin is afine choice for the Grung. The additional skill helps you expand beyond Faceskills, and Standing Leap adds some welcome mobility.
Ranger
Not quite as good at abusing the Grung’s poison as the Fighter, but theFighter doesn’t pull ahead until 11th level, so until then the Ranger is afine choice for the Grung. The additional skill helps close the skill gap withthe Rogue, and Standing Leap adds some welcome mobility.
Rogue
As much as rogues seem like they should like poison, the Grung’s poisonrewards numerous attacks to try to make the low DC work, so the Rogue’s singleattack (two with TWF) doesn’t help us. The extra skill and Standing Leap arenice, but that’s just not enough.
Sorcerer
Ability score increases and one skill are really the only things that theGrung brings to the Sorcerer, and you can get that from numerous other races.Aside from the novelty of being a frog person, there’s nother here worthhaving.
Warlock
Grung hexblades work for the same reason that most martial classes work forthe Grung, but the Hexblade can’t match the Fighter’s base number of attacks,they’re not good at two-weapon fighting, and they don’t have something likeReckless Attack to make their attacks consistently accurate. It’s workable,but it’s not a great build.
Wizard
Ability score increases and one skill are really the only things that theGrung brings to the Wizard, and you can get that from numerous other races.Aside from the novelty of being a frog person, there’s nother here worthhaving.
Grung Classes (Default Rules)
This section assumes that you’re not using the option “Customizing Your Origin” rules presented in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything or the updated version of the race published in Mordenkainen’s Monsters of the Multiverse. If you are using those rules, scroll up to the previous section.
Artificer
No Intelligence increase.
Barbarian
No Strength increase and you’re small.
Bard
Nothing especially useful for the Bard, but if you don’t focus on offensivespellcasting you can still be very effective.
Cleric
No Wisdom increase.
Druid
Circle of Spores synergizes nicely with the Grung’s natural poison, but theability scores don’t work and the other racial traits aren’t very usefulcompared to the Druid’s existing capabilities.
Fighter
A great option because the Fighter can make more attacks than any otherclass. Go for a two-weapon fighting or Crossbow Expert build for the extraattacks and attack as much as you can to try to poison enemies.
Monk
The Grung makes a great monk for the same reason that they make a greatfighter: good ability score increases, and multiple attacks to apply poison.Unfortunately, your Bonus Action attacks are almost always unarmed strikeswhich will deal bludgoening damage and therefore can’t apply the Grung’spoison.
Paladin
The Paladin doesn’t get quite as many attacks as the Fighter, so they can’tcapitalize on the Grung’s poison as well. Otherwise, the Paladin is a fineoption.
Ranger
Perfect ability score increases, a bonus skill, helpful movement options, andthe Grung’s poison encourages the same strategies that support Hunter’sMark.
Rogue
The Grung’s ability score increases and most other traits work fine for theRogue, but since rogues generally rely on one attack (sometimes two) per turn,there’s less opportunity to capitalize on the Grung’s poison than the Rangergets.
Sorcerer
No Charisma increase.
Warlock
No Charisma increase.
Wizard
No Intelligence increase.
