Bog Trog 5E Tactics

Ah, bog trogs... the Deep Ones or near thereabouts of Immoren. Maybe. Or maybe not given they only live in swamps and not deep saltwater. These guys are more like standard lizardfolk in some ways than gatormen but play quite differently. I still like the concept of them as degenerate Immorese Deep One equivalents however this would require a fair bit of reworking to fir the usual tropes and stories.

In the Pendrake Encounters News post "Bogged Down on the Bayou", a braver than usual mist speaker is trying to free his tribe from the oppression of the stronger local gatormen by involving the party of adventurers... this article should help you run those encounters.

Bog Trog

Although these standard-sized neutral evil humanoids might well look like sahuaghin, they are quite a bit weaker with only half the Hit Dice of their possible "cousins". Their natural AC is decent even without a shield, so presumably, their fishing gaff is used two-handed and with a high DEX only ability contour and no ranged attack, these guys are shock-attackers, using their superior swimming movement of 50 ft. to make good use of any nearby water. 

There's really no reason for them to attack unless a deep enough body of water to strike from or flee back into is nearby - on land these fishmen are easily overpowered and gutted. Darkvision, Stealth proficiency, Amphibious, and Swamp Camouflage all combine with swimming to make them nocturnal amphibious ambushers that leap from the water and then dive back in again to safety, using Disengage to avoid opportunity attacks to Hide back underwater on the next round. Bog trogs aren't strong enough to be particularly good grapplers, so when encountered in small bands can't drag opponents underwater to gain an advantage in aquatic combat. 

These guys are weaker than farrow in terms of raw staying power, but their specified Multiattack gives them a slight edge in terms of piercing only damage-dealing potential if combined with effective hit-and-run tactics. The ability to force an opponent prone with their fishing gaff helps this somewhat and they can utilise advantage if they gang up on the victim, but they otherwise lack Pack Tactics or the intelligence to encourage this approach except by accident. Unlike farrow (and perhaps gatormen),  bog trogs don't seem to have an affinity for technology or ranged weapons, often serving as front-line cannon fodder or unreliable auxiliaries for the more powerful gatormen.

Bog trogs aren't particularly sophisticated and without a smarter leader to yell at them, their sub-par INT and WIS allow them to realise when a fight is going against them and flee when they take any significant damage (down to 5hp or less), with the whole band routing by diving back into nearby water if they lose sufficient members. 

Bog Trog Trawler

These guys are a different story, however. 

For a start, they are Large and have a brute physical ability contour, with over twice as many Hit Dice. The only major differences are one fewer Hit Dice and slightly lower STR, which somehow results in a significantly lower CR 1/2 compared to CR2 for a merrow. The bog trog trawler has  Stealth, Swamp Camouflage, and above-average DEX, however, so rather than simply closing with an enemy, they can synergies with their lesser cousins using similar hit-and-run tactics. Although their DEX is above average, their mental abilities are the same, so they are similarly instinctive and not particularly tactically gifted. Given the rest of their stat block traits are identical apart from their signature weapon, it really comes down to how they utilise their harpoon gun.

I'd note these guys are essentially reskinned merrow (MM5E, page 219), with a swamp flavour, better land movement (30 ft. compared to a merrow's woeful 10 ft.), and the above traits that help them function as ambush predators. If you haven't read Keith's article on merrow, I *strongly* suggest you do as it covers a lot of how aquatic creatures even the odds on land dwellers by pulling them into the water and I don't want to repeat it in full here. 

Go on, I'll wait...

Back now? OK, so these guys usually accompany their standard cousins like in the Pendrake Encounters adventure, so how exactly do they syergise with their weaker companions?

So there's a slight difference where the harpoon gun is given separate melee and ranged attack damage (1d6 + STR vs 2d6 + DEX) compared to a merrow's harpoon (2d6 + STR) for melee or ranged damage for the same range, perhaps because the gun is bulky and unwieldy in melee combat, but otherwise, both allow dragging a struck opponent 20 ft closer on a successful opposed STR check is the same. The intent is also the same - drag opponents into the water where the other bog trogs, although weaker are able to make the most of their hit-and-run tactics and ability to prone a target with a successful fishing gaff attack. Prone opponents underwater still RAW have their movement reduced to 0, inhibiting their ability to escape from the water, and promoting the need to use Dash to escape. 

"When making a melee weapon attack, a creature that doesn't have a swimming speed (either natural or granted by magic) has disadvantage on the attack roll unless the weapon is a dagger, javelin, shortsword, spear, or trident. A ranged weapon attack automatically misses a target beyond the weapon's normal range. Even against a target within normal range, the attack roll has disadvantage unless the weapon is a crossbow, a net, or a weapon that is thrown like a javelin (including a spear, trident, or dart)." - PHB, Chapter 9

Once the first attacked opponent is in the water, the trawler then moves onto another opponent, aiming to repeat the same trick. It is just smart enough (WIS 8) to choose opponents that are more inhibited by water such as obvious spellcasters with low STR (unable to vocalise to cast spells), or front line warriors in heavy armour but low STR / no Athletics skill - technically there is no penalty for wearing heavy armour in water, but I'd suggest using these homebrew rules that strongly encourage doffing the armour to avoid drowning by requiring the wearer make a "rough waters check (PHB, page 182).  

There's no particular reason for a trawler to keep fighting past the usual triggers to flee, but they are able to tank for longer so only flee when they drop to 40% hit points (17 hp or less) or over half their band of fellows have suffered damage and fled.

Conclusions

Compared to the larger gatormen that usually dominate them, bog trogs are weaker but have some interesting tactical options once you add a bog trog trawler into the mix, which I would strongly suggest.

The "Bogged Down in the Bayou" adventure gives some ideas for this and the usual Hordes faction lists that find them working as press-ganged fodder or at most reluctant auxiliaries. A mixed force of bog trogs and gatormen is worth considering at some point as well given their potential synergies, particularly near water...

Bog trog shamblers used as minions by some bokors are basically the equivalent of gatorman husks, roughly approximating risen thralls (MN:5E, page 145), but with swimming speed and Swamp Camouflage like their living counterparts. I'll do a stat block for them as a variant of the standard undead when I do those tactics. 

I'll deal with their "shaman" variant, the bog trog mist speaker, and how that shifts the group tactics in a future post. A bog trog warlock, like "Rask" from the Hordes lists, is something I'll deal with in due course as well when I cover lesser warlocks for the "wild" Immorese races.

   

   

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