Now toads? Oh, they're much worse.

Quote Originally Posted by Frough-Gee
“Watch out for anything out of the ordinary,” whispered one of the sellswords behind me. “Any broken branches, any loose fur.”

“F-f-f-f-fur?” replied his younger friend. I could practically hear his eyes widen with fear. “Why fur?”

“They say she picked the bear as her totem animal when she first came here. They say she was so devoted to the bear, that she became one.” The sellsword paused. “A giant. Angry. Dire. Bear.”

I sighed.

“Got anything to say, dwarf?” Asked the sellsword, more than a hint of anger in his voice. I guess I ruined his show.

“Yes actually.” I replied. “Everything you just said is wrong.”

“Excuse me? I’ll have you know, I heard it from a very, very reliable source, you little savage. A cleric of Tiamat, in fact.”

“I’m sure you did.” I replied. “Thing is, people think Dwarven and Wild Dwarven are the same language. They’re not. They’re very similar, but they’re not. It’s all a translation issue.”

“What do you mean?” Less angry than confused, now.

“The story you told, it’s all true. Except for the name of the animal. She’s not a bear.”

“Well, what is she, then?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but the words turned to a scream on my tongue.





A green flash of death.



Spoiler: Frough-Gee, The Toad of Wrath
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NG female wild dwarf dragonborn of Bahamut (Heart). Ranger 1/ Barbarian 4/ fist of the forest 1/ deepwarden 2/ warblade 2/ primeval 10.
Ability scores: Str 17/ Dex 6 (8)/ Con 22 (18)/ Int 11/ Wis 8/ Cha 6 (8).
All level advancements go to Con.

Spoiler: Table
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Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1st ACF (see below) Ranger 1 +1 +2 +2 +0 Knowledge (nature) 4, knowledge (dungeoneering) 4, handle animal 4, survival 4, heal 4, concentration 4. Power attack Trapfinding, fast movement, Favored environment (jungle), spiritual connection.
2nd Toad (bear) totem Barbarian 1 +1 +4 +2 +0 Knowledge (nature) 4, knowledge (dungeoneering) 4, handle animal 4, survival 4, heal 4, concentration 4, jump 4. B: toughness Rage
3rd Barbarian 2 +3 +5 +2 +0 Knowledge (nature) 4, knowledge (dungeoneering) 4, handle animal 4, survival 4, heal 4, concentration 4, jump 4, climb 4. Improved unarmed strike, B: improved grapple -
4th Barbarian 3 +4 +5 +3 +1 Knowledge (nature) 4, knowledge (dungeoneering) 4, handle animal 5, survival 5, heal 4, concentration 4, jump 5, climb 5. B: Great fortitude. -
5th Fist of the forest 1 +5 +7 +5 +1 Knowledge (nature) 4, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 5, heal 4, concentration 4, jump 5, climb 5. - Fast movement (+), AC bonus (con) Feral trance 1/day, Unarmed damage.
6th Barbarian 4 +6 +8 +5 +1 Knowledge (nature) 4, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 5, heal 5, concentration 4, jump 7, climb 5. Endurance Rage 2/day
7th Deepwarden 1 +7 +10 +5 +3 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 5, heal 5, concentration 5, jump 10, climb 5. B: track Trap sense +1
8th Deepwarden 2 +8 +11 +5 +4 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 8, jump 11, climb 5. - Stone warden
9th Warblade 1 +9 +13 +5 +4 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 12, jump 11, climb 5. Self sufficient Maneuvers, Weapon aptitude
10th Primeval 1 +10 +15 +5 +4 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 13, jump 12, climb 5. - Primeval (dire toad) form, Toad empathy
11th Primeval 2 +11 +16 +5 +4 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 14, jump 13, climb 5. - Regression 1, low-light vision
12th Primeval 3 +12 +16 +6 +5 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 15, jump 14, climb 5. Steady concentration Feral power 1
13th Primeval 4 +13 +17 +6 +5 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 16, jump 15, climb 5. - Primeval form 2/day
14th Primeval 5 +14 +17 +6 +5 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 17, jump 15, climb 5. - Regression 2, scent
15th Primeval 6 +15 +18 +7 +6 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 18, jump 15, climb 5. Defensive Sweep Feral Power 2
16th Primeval 7 +16 +18 +7 +6 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 19, jump 15, climb 5. - Primeval form 3/day
17th Primeval 8 +17 +19 +7 +6 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 20, jump 15, climb 5. - Regression 3, fast movement
18th Primeval 9 +18 +19 +8 +7 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 20, jump 16, climb 5. Reckless rage Feral power 3
19th Primeval 10 +19 +20 +8 +7 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 20, jump 17, climb 5. - Primeval form 4/day, primeval shapechanger
20th Warblade 2 +20 +21 +8 +7 Knowledge (nature) 5, knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, handle animal 5, survival 7, heal 5, concentration 23, jump 17, climb 5. - Uncanny dodge


Spoiler: Build information
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Ranger ACFs:Frough-Gee is a variant (wildshape) ranger with the trap expert, favored environment, and spiritual connection ACFs. The sources for all of those are given in the sources tab.

Maneuvers and stances: At level 9, Frough-Gee takes the Diamond Mind maneuvers Moment of Perfect Mind and Insightful Strike, and the Stone Dragon maneuver Mountain Hammer. She also takes the Stone Dragon stance Crushing Weight of The Mountain.
At 20th level, she takes the Diamond Mind maneuver Greater Insightful Strike.

Spoiler: Snapshots
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Level 5: Frough-Gee, at this point, is a pretty run of the mill frontline. She’s slightly more skilled than most, and she can find some moderately hidden traps if she gets very lucky. She has a LOT of HP, a theme that’ll stay relevant throughout her life, and as a fist of the forest her AC is fine. She has Feral trance and rage to get her through the day, and her Str is pretty good at 17. She has a breath weapon for appropriate circumstances.
She’s also pretty quick, at 40 feet as a small creature, and she grapples OK despite her size.

Level 10: ALL HAIL THE TOAD OF WRATH
All of the ingredients are now online. Constitution can be very high - starting at 22, and getting boosted through levels, The toad form itself (+4), and rage. Not all of those count for HP, but they all count for fortitude saves, the breath weapon save DC, the toad poison save DC, and Concentration checks - which can be used as will saves or as damage. Since the toad form’s full attack is just one attack anyway, always using a strike makes perfect sense.
With the stance online as well, a typical melee attack by the toad of wrath will look like a strike+grab+constrict, with swallow whole as an option for small creatures. She can do all of that with a standard action, meaning she can reposition whenever. Against some foes, attacking and moving away may be a superior option - leaving them unable to perform a full attack.

Level 15: 6th level of primeval. Regression and Feral power have joined the party, increasing the all-important Con, among other things. Steady concentration gives a lot of breathing space for saves, and could be useful for insightful strike. Defensive sweep is always useful, and gives another chance to use poison and constrict.

Level 20: 4 primeval forms per day, 2 rage uses per day, and greater insightful strike. When the toad of wrath is in full capacity, she has a Con score of 44 without any items. That means a DC of 37 for her poison or breath weapon, and a reliable roll of 50 on concentration - which can translate to a 100 damage on a greater insightful strike. It also means an AC of 51, and ungodly amounts of HP - even without rage or primeval form, her Con stands at a very respectable 30.
Not having rage makes those numbers drop very slightly - though it should be mentioned, her rage lasts for 20 rounds when in her true form. Not having Primeval form is significantly worse, but still manageable, and should be pretty rare.

Frough-Gee can leap around doing respectable damage, grappling enemies and constricting them/swallowing them whole while being nearly untouchable and having a moment of perfect mind for cases of emergency. If there happens to be a good position for a line, well, she can always belch acid instead. If and when she runs out of maneuvers, she’ll just power attack - but even then, constrict and poison follow.
Fear the Toad of Wrath.

Spoiler: Sources
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Complete Champion: Spiritual connection ranger ACF. Fist of the forest.
Dungeonscape: Trap expert ranger ACF.
Frostburn: Primeval.
MM II: Dire Toad.
PHBII: Defensive sweep.
Races of Faerun: Wild dwarf.
Races of the Dragon: Dragonborn of Bahamut.
Races of Stone: Deepwarden, steady concentration, reckless rage.
Tome of Battle: Warblade, maneuvers.
Unearthed Arcana: Variant ranger, bear {toad} totem barbarian, Favored environment ACF.