The froghemoth’s 18‘ long, 10’ wide body is yellow-orange on the belly, shading to a medium green on its back and thick, bowed rear legs. From its shoulder area sprout four tentacles, two from each shoulder, which are green on top and yellowish underneath. The creature’s nostrils are stalk-like, and its three eyes are housed on a retractable protruding appendage which is withdrawn when danger threatens the optics. The froghemoth will often submerge its body several feet beneath the water, trail its tentacles ashore, and watch with its eye appendage at water level - this, along with the nostril stalks, appears to be a plant growth of some sort.
The frog-thing is also able to capture prey with its long, barbed tongue. This member can be flicked out to a distance of 10’. Unless the creature caught by the tongue is able to hold fast to something quickly - such as a tree, rope, etc. — it will be drawn that very round to the froghemoth’s gaping jaws and torn to shreds. It will swallow prey whole on a “to hit” roll of 19 or 20.
The froghemoth made it's first appearance in AD&D Module S3 – Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, and was fittingly illustrated by Erol Otus.
I don't know if anyone has ever commented on how the froghemoth resembles the monster on the cover of Planet Comics 42, but somehow I don't think it's a coincidence.
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| Planet Comics, May 1946 |
The tadhemoth is described in the AD&D Monster Manual II as the juvenile form of the froghemoth, and it is possible there are other growth stages of the monster if these models created by David S. Sutherland are any indication of things.
The creature has been updated in the latest edition of D&D, but there is only cursory information about the life cycle for this new version.
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| 5th Edition Froghemoth |
The first froghemoth miniature that I bought was the pre-painted Froghemoth from the DDM Icons of the Realms line (Dungeon of the Mad Mage #25).
The model was much larger than I expected, measuring almost 90mm tall to the top of the eyes. It does not have the nostril stalks from the original description, and looks a bit like the 5th edition version of the monster. As such, I would have liked it better if it was sculpted standing upright like in the artwork.
An unpainted version of this model is available from Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures, but seems to cost twice as much as the painted version. Some larger models from Reaper and Pacesetter Games & Simulations are also available, but they're not particularly useful for 1/72 scale gaming.
The most faithful rendition of the froghemoth in my opinion, is the resin model from Gale Force 9.
I was originally hesitant about buying the model because of the price, but I changed my mind because the DDM model was so underwhelming.
The kit is cast in light gray resin, and consists of 12 parts.
The model goes together fairly easily, but there is definitely work to be done with respect to cleaning mold lines and filling seams. In addition, the two lower tentacles do not align well with the base, and will need to be adjusted using heat to get the ends to line up.
The GF9 model measures 70mm to the top of the eyes, and is fairly close to the dimensions of the froghemoth in 1/72 scale.
A comparison of the two froghemoths.
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