Giant Toad

A giant toad on the party's side is a druid's animal companion, a Find Steed for a small-races party, or a swamp guide bound by an oath the local fey extracted in exchange for safe passage. Wild Shape into a giant toad is a real Druid choice for the same reason: 39 HP, Large size, swim speed 30 ft., and a swallow capability the GM can adjudicate from the lore. It is the mid-tier wetland shape.

Run the toad as a swamp specialist. It can carry a Small rider through water, ambush an enemy who steps into the shallows, or hold a chokepoint by sitting in the only ford. Walk speed 30 ft. on land, swim 30 ft. in water, Darkvision 60 ft. for night ambushes. The toad is not subtle (Passive Perception 10 means it gets noticed if it is not actively hiding), but in its element it is much harder to find than a CR 1 stat block suggests.

In combat, lead with the tongue lash. Pull a single enemy into the toad's reach, then have the rest of the party converge on that creature. If the enemy is Small, attempt the swallow on a follow-up attack. A swallowed enemy is essentially out of the fight for two or three rounds, taking damage each turn and unable to support its allies. The toad will not survive a stand-up fight against a focused enemy party, so use it as the opener and let the rest of the team finish.

When the druid drops Wild Shape from a toad mid-fight, describe the toad shrinking and a swallowed enemy spilling out covered in mucus. The image earns itself.

A giant toad is an ambush predator that swallows people. The stat block in SRD 5.2 is sparse (no listed actions, just a Large beast with 39 HP and a 30 ft. swim), but the play at the table is the lore: the toad sits motionless in shallow water or under leaf litter, lashes out with a long sticky tongue, and either drags the target into reach or attempts to swallow them whole. Run that as the encounter even when you have to extrapolate the actions yourself, because that is what a giant toad is for.

Stage the ambush. Passive Perception 10 is bad, which means the toad survives by being a lump in the swamp until something steps within reach. Have the party walk into a wetland that looks empty, then strike on whoever takes point. A failed Strength contest pulls the target prone in the water, and a swallow attempt on a Small target is the dramatic complication every fighter remembers a year later. Reskin the bite as 2d6 piercing plus an opportunity to swallow on a critical or on a bloodied target if your table needs concrete numbers.

The toad fights badly once exposed. AC 11, no ranged options, walk speed 30 ft. and swim 30 ft. mean it cannot escape a party that has decided to kill it. Its win condition is the round one ambush plus the swallowed PC. After that it is just a sack of HP. If the party is high enough level to one-shot it, you have run a CR 1 encounter for a level 5 party and the toad was the wrong choice. Use it at level 1 to 3, in twos and threes when the party is higher.

Describe the tongue before the attack roll. The shape of the threat is the encounter; the damage is incidental.