The Giant Toad was a species of large amphibian.
Description[]
Giant toads were warty beasts, about one and a half metres high when crouched on all fours, and typically coloured with mottled patches of yellow, green and brown.[1] This made them around the size of a pony, with huge webbed feet.[2] They were slimy, with a gaping mouth, and bulging eyes.[3]
Unlike spit toads, giant toads did not need constant contact with water, but their surroundings had to be fairly moist or their skin would dry and crack.[1]
Origins and Distribution[]
A Giant Toad from Shaggradd's Hives.
Giant toads could be found in many places, from the depths of the moist southern jungles to a chill pool far beneath the ground.[1] However, their most common habitat would appear to be rivers and lakes, as these are the only places that they were often encountered in Allansia.[4]
Their range extended across all three continents. Giant toads had been found in both the sewers of Port Blacksand[5] and Shaggradd's Hives[6] in Allansia, to an abandoned well north of Gundobad[7] in what could be Khul, to the desolate land of Lupravia in the Old World.[2]
The closest relatives of giant toads were rock toads and spit toads, as well as their smaller, normal toad brethren.[8]
Special Abilities[]
Giant toads had powerful hind legs that allowed them to hop up to ten metres in a single bound, which can often surprise an opponent. For even greater reach, the things have an extendible tongue, up to four metres long, with which they will attack. Because of the size and strength of much of its prey, however, a Giant Toad will first disable or kill, before attempting to swallow a victim.
At the end of its sticky tongue there was a poison gland which means that the toad's blows will do large amounts of damage to their prey. Once its prey is dead, they could reel it in on their tongue and swallow it whole before moving on in search of more food.[1]
Note that this seemingly only applied to giant toads from Allansia, as there appeared to be some minor variation amongst the different continental populations. For instance, giant toads found near Gundobad, which was in northern Khul, were larger but lacked the poisonous tongue and instead did larger amounts of damage when hitting.[7]
Giant toads from the Old World, such as the principality of Lupravia, were also large, and whilst they did have a poisonous tongue, it was less effective, hitting only sometimes. The rest of the time it did average damage.[2]
The giant toads of the flying Pangarian island of Altos above the Ocean of Tempests are found in swamps, and spit a sticky slime in an attempt to disable their prey, similar to spit toads. They can waddle out of their swamp to attack.[9]
Further Notes[]
A Giant Toad from Lupravia
- A giant toad found in Shaggradd's Hives was incubating two eggs on a nest of rotted straw. One egg was solid, with an outer shell merely disguising a solid gold tree goose egg worth 23 Gold Pieces. The other egg was dangerous, and would hatch into a cockatrice if touched.[10] Whether this means that Giant Toads play some role in the life-cycle of the cockatrice (as in real-life folk-tales) is unknown.
Further Information in Canon[]
More information can be found at:Source[11]
Out of the Pit
(Large) (pg114#*, pg127)
Allansia
(pg172)
The Warrior's Way
(para74, para108#)
Dungeoneer
(pg317#)
Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-playing Game
(pg199*, pg200#)
Return to Firetop Mountain
(para291)
Howl of the Werewolf
(para280#*)
See Also[]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
Adventures
- Clash of the Princes
- Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-playing Game
- Howl of the Werewolf
- The Warrior's Way
Sourcebooks
- Advanced Fighting Fantasy – The Roleplaying Game (mentioned)
- Créatures de Titan
- Dungeoneer (book)
- Out of the Pit
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Out of the Pit - 114/??
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Howl of the Werewolf - 280
- ↑ The Warrior's Way - 74, 108
- ↑ Allansia - 172
- ↑ Dungeoneer - 317
- ↑ Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-playing Game - 199-200
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Warrior's Way - 108
- ↑ Non-canon
- ↑ Crystal of Storms - 7
- ↑ Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-playing Game - 200-201
- ↑ Complete list of references catalogued by FF Titan Bestiary