Oh, the bullywugs and kuo-toa. On the surface, the frog-men and the fish-men seem so similar. Underneath, they are oh-so-different. Bullywugs are just brutish frog-dudes (though in Greyhawk, they were transformed into allies of sort of KKK-ish cultists, but that's another story.) They are weird, creepy and animal-like. Ho-hum.
The Kuo-toa are more my cup of tea. Sure, they didn't originate in the Fiend Folio, but I discovered them in the Fiend Folio before I discovered them in Module D2. The Kuo-toa are inhuman fiends, with strange social specializations in their society, alien motivations, and deep Lovecraftian weirdness in their look and feel. They use strange weapons, they are unpredictable. They're creepy.
They'd be great to find in an underground lake somewhere in Athanor.
You know I really want to love the frog-people, but there's something about them that makes me burst into laughter when I try to use them. Maybe it's because the first thing I think when I see pictures of them is "Mmmm. Giant frog legs." :)
ReplyDeleteIn most of my games, Bullywugs are basically just swamp-dwelling Kobolds. They are the stepping-stone to lizard men, much as kobolds are the stepping stone to goblins and orcs.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to take frog-men seriously. Karl Edward Wagner's Bloodstone is the best shot at it. And even there, it's little dicey.
ReplyDeleteI can't put my finger on the reason why frog men don't work for me. I'd like to blame it all on Rowdy Roddy Piper and "Hell Comes to Frogtown" but I know that's not it. Fish, shark, lizard people all seem fine to me. But there's just no froggy menace.
ReplyDeleteI spent many hours running from frogloks (frogmen) playing a troll in Everquest. They will always strike fear in my heart. Which doesn't preclude me from busting out laughing at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI dont know -- I'd take a step back from this: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/butterfly13/1/1225929120/imagen_005.jpg/tpod.html
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