Sentient, poisonous frogs that live in trees. Truly, the gods hate us.
—Volo
Grungs are aggressive froglike humanoids found in rain forests and tropical jungles. They are fiercely territorial and see themselves as superior to most other creatures.
Tree-Dwelling Amphibians.Grungs live in trees and prefer shade. A grung hatchery is maintained in well-guarded ground-level pools. About three months after hatching, a grung tadpole takes on the shape of an adult. It takes another six to nine months for a grung juvenile to reach maturity.
Castes and Colors.Grung society is a caste system. Each caste lays eggs in a separate hatching pool, and juvenile grungs join their caste upon emergence from the hatchery. All grungs are a dull greenish gray when they are born, but each individual takes on the color of its caste as it grows toAdulthood.
Green grungs are the tribe’s warriors, hunters, and laborers, and blue grungs work as artisans and in other domestic roles. Supervising and guiding both groups are the purple grungs, which serve as administrators and commanders. (Use theGrungstat block to represent members of the green, blue, and purple castes.)
Red grungs are the tribe’s scholars and magic users. They are superior to purple, blue, and green grungs and given proper respect even by grungs of higher status. (Use theGrung Wildlingstat block to represent members of the red caste.)
Higher castes include orange grungs, which are elite warriors that have authority over all lesser grungs, and gold grungs, which hold the highest leadership positions. A tribe’s sovereign is always a gold grung. (Use theGrung Elite Warriorstat block to represent members of the orange and gold castes.)
A grung normally remains in its caste for life. On rare occasions, an individual that distinguishes itself with great deeds can earn an invitation to join a higher caste. Through a combination of herbal tonics and ritual magic, an elevated grung changes color and is inducted into its new caste in the same way that a juvenile of the caste would be. From then on, the grung and its progeny are members of the higher caste.
Naturally Toxic.All grungs secrete a substance that is harmless to them but poisonous to other creatures. A grung also uses venom to poison itsWeapons.
Slavers.Grungs are always on the lookout for creatures they can capture and enslave. Grungs useSlavesfor all manner of menial tasks, but mostly they just like bossing them around.Slavesare fed mildlyPoisonedfood to keep them lethargic and compliant. A creature afflicted in this way over a long period of time becomes a shell of its former self and can be restored to normalcy only by magic.
WaterDependency.A grung that fails to immerse itself in water for at least 1 hour during a day suffers one level ofExhaustionat the end of that day. A grung can recover from thisExhaustiononly through magic or by immersing itself in water for at least 1 hour.
Variant: Grung Poison[]
Grung poison loses its potency 1 minute after being removed from a grung. A similar breakdown occurs if the grung dies.
A creaturePoisonedby a grung can suffer an additional effect that varies depending on the grung’s skin color. This effect lasts until the creature is no longerPoisonedby the grung.
- Green.ThePoisonedcreature can’t move except to climb or make standing jumps. If the creature is flying, it can’t take anyActionsor reactions unless it lands.
- Blue.ThePoisonedcreature must shout loudly or otherwise make a loud noise at the start and end of its turn.
- Purple.ThePoisonedcreature feels a desperate need to soak itself in liquid or mud. It can’t takeActionsor move except to do so or to reach a body of liquid or mud.
- Red.ThePoisonedcreature must use its action to eat if food is within reach.
- Orange.ThePoisonedcreature isFrightenedof its allies.
- Gold.ThePoisonedcreature isCharmedand can speak Grung.
