DCC Bestiary - Boggard


So ... I have a Boggardwine River in my campaign.  So what's a boggard?  Doing a quick search comes up with D&D cute little frog men, legends of fey sprites that cause pranks, and things I don't want a boggard to be.

When I think of a boggard, I want a hulking brute like Ludo from Labyrinth.  I want the terror of the first giant toad my players encountered in our early games of D&D.  I want a flavourful alternative to an ogre or a troll, something that's large, mean, and unusual.

Also, doing some Googling, I came across the Calyptocephalella, or Helmeted Water Toad.  It's a brute of an amphibian that attacks foes much larger than itself.

With all those inspirations in mind, here's my campaign's boggard:

Boggard
     A large, slumping humanoid figure with mottled gray, toad-like features, standing about 12 feet tall.  Boggards are crude predators that hunt wild game, fish, and wayward travellers.  They have claws, but often wield rocks or small trees as clubs.  When boggards are threatened, they can inflate sacs on either side of their mouth and exude a unique and powerful smell to them that causes most folk to become nauseous. 

     Boggard: Init +3, Atk claw +6 melee (1d6+6) or tree club +6 melee (1d12+6) or hurled rock +6 melee (1d8+6); AC 16; HD 4d8+8 (27 hp); MV 30’ or swim 50’; Act 1d20; SP noxious stench, underwater regeneration, vulnerable to fire; SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +1; AL C.
     Bo
ggards can use an action to exude a stench, and any creature within 30 feet must make a DC 14 Will save or suffer a -1d penalty to all attacks, skill checks, casting, attack rolls, or saving throws for 1d6 rounds.
     If a boggard can submerge itself in water, it can regain hit points at a rate of 1d8 per round.  Fire damage cannot be regenerated.

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