The Grung

Grungs

Tree dwelling amphibians, the Grung are often too territorial to be adventurers, Those that do venture beyond their homelands are often outcasts.

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 Colours

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 colour of its caste as it grows to adulthood. 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. 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. 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.

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 colour.

Slavers

Grungs are always on the lookout for creatures they can capture and enslave. Grungs use slaves for all manner of menial tasks, but mostly they just like bossing them around. Slaves are fed mildly poisoned food 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.

Encounters with the Grung

We spent three months tracking the drake before locating the forest in which it sought refuge. On our second day in that place, we woke to find the dragon's head placed in the centre of our camp. Tome told me that the Grung must have claimed the forest, and they wanted to show us we had no further business there. If we lingered, he assured me, our heads would be next.

-Gregorz, Notes from a Treasure Hunter

Grung Names

The Grung often have a birth name, a nickname and their final name is their colour. This convention allows a lot of variation despite names been often very simple with the exception of Red and Gold Grung, who tend towards excessive grandstanding in their titles and names.

Grung Traits

Grung have the following racial traits;

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Age. The Grung mature at around 12 and live up to around 60 years.

Alignment. Grung society, with its clear roles and tasks, has a strong lawful bend. The Grung have been slavers forever, see Grung of a lower caste as inferior and see even the lowest Grung as above all other races. This means all Grung are, what the world at large would see as, evil.

Size. Grung are around 5 feet tall and weigh between 100 and 130 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Amphibious The grung can breathe air and water.

Caste. All Grung of lower Caste are bound by Grung tradition to take orders from you. Likewise, those above you command you and those that deny commands can suffer ostracisation.

Natural Toxin. All grungs secrete a substance that is harmless to them but poisonous to other creatures. A grung can also use venom to poison its weapons.

Sticky Suckers A Grung gains a climbing speed of half its movement.

Water Dependency. A grung that fails to immerse itself in water for at least 1 hour during a day suffers one level of exhaustion at the end of that day. A grung can recover from this exhaustion only through magic or by immersing itself in water for at least 1 hour per level of exhaustion.

Languages. You can read and write Common and Grung.

Roleplaying a Grung

While Party members who are Grung can seem challenging for the rest of the party - since Grung naturally see themselves as better than other races and tether the party to a water source - they can come to trust and respect other party members, becoming stalwart allies as they now see them as paragons of their people.

Grung Poisons

Type	Effect
1	The poisoned creature can't move except to climb or make standing jumps. If the creature is flying, it is paralysed until it lands.
2	The poisoned creature is frightened and must shout for help at the start and end of its turn.
3	The poisoned creature feels a desperate need to soak itself in liquid or mud. It can't take actions or move except to do so or to reach a body of liquid or mud.
4	The poisoned creature must use its action to eat. If no consumables are within reach, the target considers earth, rocks and clothing valid alternatives.
5	The poisoned creature is frightened of its allies.
6	The poisoned creature is charmed and can speak Grung.

Exhaustion

Level	Effect
1	Disadvantage on ability checks
2	Speed halved
3	Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws
4	Hit point maximum halved
5	Speed reduced to 0
6	Death