#int ft. so-ra

[julianrchandlerx]

Julian was not a photographer. Not by trade, anyway — one time while at college he had taken a photography class out of pure curiosity and a need to sneak in something creative among his business oriented schedule. While he found he enjoyed it, it wasn’t an art medium he took very well to. He could capture an image with pencil and paper very well, but cameras kind of lost him. That being said, since moving to Lunar Cove and chasing his artistic dreams, Julian had taken to the exploration of photography as a new hobby to fill some of his free nights. Specifically, he used it to exercise some form of creation while suffering at the hands of his greatest adversary; art block. Filled with a crippling dread as said villain made an unwanted appearance in his life recently he decided to venture out to the beach for a foray into some night photography, hopeful he could produce something that could inspire him back on a canvas.

Setting up a DSLR camera he’d barely known how to use, Julian had fumbled through a few shots of the star filled night sky and the black landscape framing it. From his vantage point the lighthouse stood as a dark figure against the midnight blue sky, its light cutting through the darkness in blinding white streaks. It made an interesting subject, though he wasn’t sure he was capturing it well on his camera. He wrinkled his nose in dissatisfaction as he looked back at shots with that small screen on the camera, growing incredibly unimpressed and thoroughly defeated as he browsed the couple he’d taken. In fact, he was so disappointed in his own work he’d debated chucking the damned thing into the ocean. The softie in him that didn’t want to add something potentially harmful to the ecosystem kept him from following through, instead shoving the digital camera into his messenger bag with a huff. That was enough of that fruitless activity.

He heard the hiss of the sparklers, and the laughter of the other on the beach and frowned at their joy. Julian felt bitterly mocked for a moment, digging his toes into the sand as he flipped down onto the ground and moped. With half curious eyes he watched the other in their enjoyment, momentarily wishing he’d had the inspiration to capture similar emotions in his work. Or maybe to just evoke them — if only his artwork as of late were as electrifying and fun as those sparklers could be. He blinked in surprise as her voice cut through his thoughts, caught a little off guard by the invitation. He’d actually looked around to make sure she hadn’t been talking to someone else on the beach. They were notably the two only patrons in that vicinity. “Who me?” He still dumbly asked. Pushing up from his sitting position to his feet, not bothering to brush the sand off his jeans, he approached her cautiously, as if expecting someone else to pop out from the choppy black waves and take the sparklers being offered. Then a beat later he was flashing an impossibly bright grin and prancing over. “Oh hell yes,” he said, thankful for the break from his self pity and wallowing. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually held one of these before, but I’ve always wanted to,” he admitted with a laugh. “Kinda always feared I’d, like, burn off my brows or something. I don’t think I’d look so good without my eyebrows, ya know?” He waggled his brows at her, knowing full well it was a silly and irrational fear.

Who: Open ( @lunarcovestarters​ ) Where: Lunar Cove Beach When: Late evening 

Skipping down the sand, So-ra took in the roar of the waves as the stars twinkled overhead. It was one of her favourite sights in the town - so what if she had to walk a little further to get away from the city lights? It was so worth it. Tonight would be no exception. She’d found a pack of New Years sparklers in the clearance section while she did a quick grocery shop and they’d instantly gone into her basket. She was nothing, if not easily amused. 

Glancing back at the hazy lights of the town, she decided she’d gone far enough and unceremoniously collapsed onto the sand, pulling out the plastic wrapped package from her backpack. A quick light from her lighter and So-ra’s eyes lit up as a loud sizzling noise filled the air. Laughter bubbled up from her chest as she moved the sparkler through the air, attempting to spell her name, first in English and then Hangul. 

It was on one of these passes that the humanoid shadow caught her attention. “Hey! Do you want to try lighting one of these bad boys?” So-ra called out, the lit sparkler raining harmless drops of light over her body. 

[pathfinderunlocked]

Druid Rabbit - CR4 Druid

Long ago, there was a small rabbit who was very lonely. So she tried to use life magic to create new friends, but she used too much and they blew up. Then she realized that worked really well in battle.

Artwork by Atarai on the Rabbit and Steel discord server.

I played the demo of Rabbit and Steel the other day, and then felt the need to make each of the characters into a Pathfinder stat block. The others will be posted over the next couple weeks, including an original magic item for each of them.

Anyone who complains that anime-style bunny girls aren't a race in Pathfinder gets launched into the sun. Clearly this is a rabbit that had anthropomorphic animal cast on it and made permanent with a permanency spell, as you can see in line 2 of the stat block. As a result, she's very small and dumb and weak, although this doesn't particularly hurt her combat abilities as a full spellcaster.

She has a unique spell called overlife that deals with life energy, and her Staff of the Green Bough allows PCs to cast this spell. It's a nice low level option for life-themed druids, and although staves are an ununsual item for PCs to get at low levels due to their high cost, I kept the cost of this one pretty low. It'll look more like a wand than a staff in the hands of most PCs, since it's sized to work as a quarterstaff for a Tiny creature.

The archetype is actually pretty bad for her, since she doesn't benefit from sneak attack at all, but it simplifies running the enemy by not giving her wild shape.

Druid Rabbit - CR 4

The tiny woman with rabbit features - barely a foot and a half tall - holds a glowing staff, and wears a simple white cotton robe over what looks like leather armor underneath. Her bunny ears are poking out through holes in the robe's hood. She hops through the grass on bare feet at a quick pace.

XP 1,200 Anthropomorphic animal (rabbit), nature fang druid 5 N Tiny animal Init +4 Senses low-light vision; Perception +7

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+2 armor, +4 Dex, +2 natural, +2 size) hp 42 (6d8+6) Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +7

OFFENSE

Speed 60 ft. Melee bough of the green faith +1 (1d3-4) and bite -4 (1d3-4) or bite +1 (1d3-4) Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft. Special Attacks sneak attack 1d6, studied target

Staff of the Green Bough Spells (CL 8th; concentration +11, 10 charges)     4 charges—overlife (DC 15)     2 charges—cure light wounds (touch -1, DC 14)

Druid Spells Prepared (CL 5th; concentration +8)     3rd (2/day)—burst of nettles (DC 16), plant growth*     2nd (3/day)—barkskin* (already cast), overlife (DC 15), overlife (DC 15)     1st (4/day)—entangle* (DC 14), jump, longstrider (already cast), underbrush decoy (DC 14)     0th (4/day)—detect poison, guidance, know direction, light

Domain plant (* indicates domain spell)

BASE STATISTICS

Without barkskin and longstrider, a druid rabbit's statistics are: AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12; Speed 50 ft.; Acrobatics +7 (+15 when jumping)

STATISTICS

Str 3, Dex 18, Con 13, Int 5, Wis 17, Cha 3 Base Atk +3; CMB -3; CMD 11 Feats Run, Toughness, Wind Stance Skills Acrobatics +8 (+20 when jumping), Heal +7, Knowledge: Nature +1, Perception +7, Stealth +16, Survival +7 Languages Common, Druidic SQ nature's bouncing, slayer talent (ranger combat style, elemental, wind stance) Gear Staff of the Green Bough (10 charges), Tiny-sized leather armor, snapleaf

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Overlife As a standard action, as a 2nd level spell, a druid rabbit can cause life energy with a 10-ft. radius in close range (typically 35 ft.) to swell beyond a safe limit, causing living creatures and plants within that area to experience painful deformations. Normal plants (not plant creatures) in the radius swell and explode, automatically killing them. Creatures in the radius that would be healed by positive energy take 1d6 damage per caster level, to a maximum of 5d6 (typically 5d6 damage), and also take 1d2 points of either Strength or Dexterity damage, determined at random (roll once to determine which for all targets). A DC 15 Fortitude save halves the damage and negates the ability damage.

This is a positive energy effect. Creatures that cannot be healed by positive energy (such as undead and constructs) are immune.

This is a 2nd level conjuration (healing) spell. Spell resistance applies. The spell has verbal and somatic components.

Spontaneous Casting: Summon Nature's Ally (Su) A druid rabbit can channel stored spell energy into summoning spells that she hasn’t prepared ahead of time. She can "lose" a prepared spell, other than her domain spells, in order to cast any summon nature's ally spell of the same level or lower.

Studied Target (Ex) A druid rabbit can study an opponent she can see as a move action. The druid rabbit then gains a +1 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks attempted against that opponent, and a +1 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against it. The DCs of her druid class abilities, including druid spells, against that opponent increase by 1. A druid rabbit can only maintain these bonuses against one opponent at a time; these bonuses remain in effect until either the opponent is dead or the druid rabbit studies a new target.

If a druid rabbit deals sneak attack damage to a target, she can study that target as an immediate action, allowing her to apply her studied target bonuses against that target (including to the normal damage roll).

[d30sandscotch]

Stargate as D&D

What if we ran Stargate: SG-1 as a D&D campaign? (I know there was an official RPG but ain’t nobody got time to learn a whole new system.)

So the party are like, Team SG-15 or something. When they were assigned to be a Gate Team, they’d heard stories of the famous Team SG-1 and strive to emulate their heroes, O’Neil, Teal’c, Carter and Dr. Jackson. They go to a different planet via gate for each adventure. 

(You’d have to come up with firearms and rayguns that didn’t break the game, but whatever.)

The overarching story is episodic: you have to find a certain number of artifacts or make a certain number of allies to defeat the Go’a’uld System Lord de jour. Each adventure that is part of the main arc can take place on a different planet and may be interspersed with one-shots. 

These are the PC races:

Human: Regular OG D&D humans.

Subrace: Ex-host. These humans were used as hosts by the serpent-like, mind-controlling neural parasites known as the Go’a’uld, or shared their body with a Tok’Ra, the good-aligned Go’a’uld subrace. As a result, their blood has the rare element Naqada in it, and some sensors tuned to detect Go’a’uld hosts generate false positives when used on them. 

They have the racial ability to make their eyes momentarily flash a bright golden light. This terrifying glare is the way Go’a’uld demonstrate their godhood to the races they enslave. Their eyes are modified in other ways, leading to improved night-vision.

It is dangerous for a symbiont to enter a body that was previously host to a Go’a’uld, as Go’a’uld secrete toxin to make their hosts unusable to other Go’a’uld. Tok’Ra symbionts generally do not toxify their hosts unless they have reason to believe that a Go’a’uld will attempt to enslave the host. They do this with the hosts’ consent only. 

Racial features:

Poisoned blood: When a symbiont, Go’a’uld or Tok’Ra attempts to enter a host that was enslaved by a Go’a’uld, roll a CON save, DC 18 with disadvantage or become sickened and die within the host in 1d4 rounds, after which the human feels no ill-effects and slowly absorbs the symbiont. Tok’Ra typically know before attempting to join a host that they are dealing with an ex-host, and take an advantage on this roll instead, which now has DC 15.

Eye flash:  The ex-host can make their eyes flash six times per day. This flash, when seen by an NPC, gives the ex-host advantage on any persuade check to convince that NPC that the PC is a Go’a’uld, as well as advantage to any intimidate check on that NPC thereafter (must flash again for intimidate advantage). 

Night vision: The same physical alterations to the eyes also give this human darkvision (ten ft.)

Weakened immune system: Ex-hosts gained a slight dependency on the symbionts for their immune system, and so do not have the human’s racial +1 to con, and roll CON saving throws at disadvantage against bacterial or viral disease.

Proficiencies: firearms, light bulletproof armor, dial Stargate, vehicle (choice of ground or air)

Languages: English, Go’a’uld (poorly. Characters with INT<14 have disadvantage on deception, persuasion and intimidation checks involving verbal communication in Go’a’uld.) French available as an option because the show was Canadian.

Jaffa: These enhanced humans are tough, but incredibly blunt and unaccustomed to most normal interactions outside of the military context in which all of them are raised. Also, the symbol tattooed on their forehead marks them as a servant of the Go’a’uld and may cause villagers to fear them. +2 to Con and STR, +1 to WIS, -2 to CHA. They get the same trance abilities as Elves, and advantage on any saves versus disease, due to the immature Go’a’uld symbiont in their stomach cavity and/or the drug Tretonin, based on Go’a’uld Queen secretions, which replaces the symbiont, both of which replace the Jaffa’s human immune system with a far more powerful one. Jaffa also have naqada in their blood and may be detected by scanners set to detect Go’a’uld.

Racial features:

Kelno’rim:  Meditates for four hours instead of sleeping.

Enhanced immunity: the Jaffa has advantage on saves vs. disease.

Intimidate villagers: If a person from an ex-Go’a’uld-colonized planet can see the mark on the Jaffa’s forehead, the Jaffa gets advantage on intimidate checks.

Fearful mark: People from ex-Go’a’uld-colonized planets are likely to be initially hostile to the Jaffa if they can see this mark.

Proficiencies: Staff Weapon, Jaffa Heavy Armor, various combat-related skills

Languages: English, Go’a’uld

Tok’Ra:

The flipside, good-aligned counterpart of the evil Go’a’uld slavers. Rather than invading a host body and using it as a conscious vehicle, unable to do anything or fight back, the Tok’Ra (Go’a’uld-language for “Against Ra”) are symbionts, biologically identical to the Go’a’uld, that enter into this arrangement by mutual consent. The host and the symbiont share the host’s body (or whatever) equally. They live much shorter lives than Go’a’uld, both because of the war against the much stronger Go’a’uld and because they do not use the Go’a’uld healing sarcaphogi, which would allow them to live milennia at the cost of slowly becoming psychopathic and amoral, but owing to the powerful immune system of the symbiont, they live much longer lives than non-host humans, at around 125-140 years. Like the Jaffa, they get +2 to CON, but unlike the Jaffa they only get +1 to STR. They possess the eyes of any Go’a’uld or ex-host, which can flash and also see in the dark.

Racial features:

Dual custody: as there are two minds coexisting in the body of each Tok’Ra, which blend together at times while maintaining their separate identities, each Tok’Ra character/characters is controlled by two players, who decide among themselves which of them, are acting at any given time. If they cannot agree what to do and which one of them will do it, the Tok’Ra stands mute and anyone attempting to do anything to the Tok’Ra has advantage. The human host and the symbiont have different names and different ability scores. Roll DEX, INT, WIS and CHA for both, maintaining separate sheets or separate areas on the same sheet. (The other two are the same for both.) The ability scores used in any given circumstance depend upon which half of the Tok’Ra is acting. The host has +2 to DEX, while the Tok’Ra has +2 to WIS and +1 to INT and CHA, while -1 to DEX. All skills, saving throw and AC et cetera are calculated from the better of the the two ability scores. Hit dice, proficiency bonus and initiative are calculated for both as well. 

Often Lawful Good: Evil-aligned Tok’Ra are simply Go’a’uld; most Tok’Ra are lawful and all Tok’Ra are at least neutral with good tendencies.

Resistance to enslavement: No Tok’Ra can be enslaved by a Go’a’uld, as a body cannot host two symbionts. Any symbiont that attempts enslavement on a Tok’Ra immediately leaves the body and must roll a CON check with disadvantage or die in 1d4 rounds.

Go’a’uld eyes: see “ex-host” subrace under “Human.”

Naqada in blood: see above.

Proficiencies: Go’a’uld technology, intimidation, persuasion.

Languages: Human, Go’a’uld (host and symbiont both)

More races and character classes in Part II

[a-z0-9-i-n-gram-completionist]

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4:    1842 1908 abdo able ably acce acin acru acti actu adep ages ainf ajor akes akin alis allo alls ally almo alog also amil ampl anal anat ance ands andu aneo ange anim answ ants anus aped appa appe area aren arge arki arks arly arms arou arra arsa arte arti arts ased aske atar ated ater athe atid atio ativ atom atte atty atur avit awar aybe babl back ball base bdom bear bedd behi belo betw beyo biof bitt blog bodi body bone boun boyl brat brev bsta bula burr bute call cavi ccen ccyx ceed cent ceps cept cher chiu cial cien ciet cing cles cloa clus cocc comp conn cons cont cosu cret crib crum ctio ctua ctus cula cuta dard ddar deal deed denb denc deos depo dept desc dfis died dies diet ding disp dnes does dome domi dors dula duri eaki eall ears eart ebra ecia ecre ecti ectu edda edin edis eedi eein eems efer egio ehin eing eith elat elet elop elow elvi emal emel emen emor empl emur enbo ence endi ends engt engy enhn enop enor enti entl entu enve eous epos epti eque eral eran ered eres erio erly ermi erru erse ersi erte erti erto erus escr espe esti esty etal etat eton etwe ever evic evid ewha excl exem exte extr exus eyon fami fatt fema femo femu fest fibu fied fift find firs fish form foss frac frog from furt fuse gely geme gest gica gion gird glan glue gold gona gous grea grou gyst hape have head hear heir here hert herz hese hich high hims hind hing hips hird hite hium hnac hole hoto houg hroa hume hyme hymu iall ibed ibio ibul ibut ical icep icks icky icul idea iden ideo ides idfi ienc iety ifes ifie ifth ight ilar ilia illi imag imal imil imse inal incl inde infr ings inky inse insi inst inte into ints inuo iofi ions ious irdl irst isch ishe isop ispo issu ists ites ithe itio ittl itty ivel join jori just juts kele king kink kive knee know ksch land larg larl late lati latu lden legs leng leta leto lexu liar lier life lifi litt llie llow lmos loac logi logo lond loos lope lops lowe lowi lung lusi lvic lymp lypm mage majo make male mall many mark mass mati mayb mely meno ment meru meta mewh mila mili mina mite moot mora most moun mous mple mpli mpri msel murs musc must mygo naci nads nali nalo nato nboy nclu ndee nder ndin ndne ndon ndul nect neit neou ness next nfro ngem ngth ngys nhna nima nnec nopt norm nost note noxi nsec nseq nsid nsis nste nswe ntai nter ntin ntio ntly ntri ntua nuou nusu nvel oaca obab occy ocee ocie odie oesn ofib ogic ogou oint olde olog omat omen omew omin ompr onad ondo only onne onse onsi onta onti ontr oolo oose ooth oped oper opte oral oria orit orma ormo orsa oses osit osso oste osto osty osus otal oted othe otic ough ound ount oups outs ower owin oxio oylo pare part patt pear peci pelv perl phot pica pine plex plif poin pose posi post ppar ppea ppos pred pris prob proc prop pter ptid pubi quar quea quen ques quit ract rain rang rans rapp rate rath rawr rdle real reat rect redi refe regi rela reme rent rest rete reve revi rgel rges rial ribe ribu righ ring rior rise rity rkiv rksc rmat rmit rmou roat roba roce rogs rope rost roun roup rowe rpri rran rrou rrow rruc rsal rsed rsio rstl rteb rter rthe rtic rton ruco sacr sacs sals same save sche schi scie scle scri scul secr sect seei seem self sequ shap shes side sidf simi sion sist siti sits sive size sked skel skin smal smoo soci soft some sopt sori spec spin spos sque ssor ssue stan stea ster stic stin stio stly stom stot stud styl sual subs such supp surp surr swer syno tain take talk tanc tane tars tata tead tebr tend tera tere teri term tern than that thei them ther thes they thig thin thir this thou thro thus thym tibi tica tick ticu ting tinu tiny tion tips tiss tive toma tomy tons tota toti trem trib tsid tter ttle tual tuat tudi ture turn twee tyle typi uall uart uate ubis ubst ucos udie ueak uenc uest uite ular ulat umer unde undi undn ungs unus uous uppo urin urns uros urpr urro urth uscl uscu used usio usiv usua utan utsi velo vely verr vers vert very vice vide vill vity ware ween well were wers what when whic whit whol wing with xclu xemp xiou xten xtre ygol ylou ymen ymph ymus ynos

yond ypic ypmh ysto zool    815/1679616    (813/456976)    (2/10000)

5:    abdom accen acing acrum actio actua adept ainfr ajori aking allow almos alogo amili ample analo anato andul aneou angem anima answe appar appea arent argel arges arkiv arksc aroun arran arsal arter artic asked atars atera ather ation ative atomy atter ature avity aware bably balls based bdome bdomi bedda behin below betwe beyon biofi bitty bodie bound boylo brate brevi bstan burro cally cavit ccent ceedi centu cepti cherz chium ciall cienc ciety cloac clusi coccy compr conne conse consi conta conti contr cosus crete cribe ction ctual cular culat cutan ddard denbo dence depos descr dfish dings dispo dness doesn domen domin dorsa dular durin eakin eally earts ebrat ecial ecret ectio ectus eddar eding edisp eedin eeing egion ehind eithe elati eleta eleto elope elops elvic emale emely ement emora empli emurs enboy endin ength engys enhna enopt enorm entio ently entua envel eposi eptid equen erans erest erior ermit erruc ersed ersio erteb ertic erton escri espec estin estio estyl etata etons etwee evers evice evide ewhat exclu exemp exten extre eyond famil fatty femal femor femur festy fibul fifth first fishe forma fosso fract frogs furth fused gemen gical girdl gland golde gonad great group gysto haped heart herto himse hnaci hough hroat humer hymen hymus ially ibiof ibula ibute icall iceps icept icula ideal idenc ideos idfis ience ifest ified ilarl iliar illie image imila imsel inali inclu indee infro insec insid inste inter inuou iofib irdle irstl ischi ishes isopt ispos issue ither ition ittle ively joint jorit kelet kinky ksche lands landu large larly later lativ latur ldenb lengt letal leton lexus lifes lifie littl llier llowi lmost loaca logic logou londo loose loped lower lowin lungs lusio lusiv lymph lypmh mages major makes marks matid matio maybe menop menti merus metat mewha milar milia minal mites mooth moral mount mplex mplif mpris mself muscl muscu mygol nacin nalis nalog natom nboyl nclus ndeed nding ndnes ndula necti neith neous nfrog ngeme ngyst nhnac nimal nnect nopte normo nosto noted noxio nsect nsequ nside nsist nstea nswer ntain ntere ntinu ntion ntrib ntuat nuous nusua nvelo obabl occyx oceed ociet odies ofibu ogica ogous oints olden ologi omati omewh omina ompri onads ondon onnec onseq onsis ontai ontin ontri oolog operl opter orial ority ormat ormou orsal ositi osits ossor oster ostot ostyl other otica ounde oundi oundn outsi owers owing oxiou oylou paren parti patte pears pecia pelvi perly photo pical plexu plifi point poses posit poste ppare ppear ppose predi prise proba proce prope ptera pubis quart queak quenc quest quite racti rainf range rathe reall rectu redis refer regio relat remel rentl resti rever revic rgely rgest ribed ribut right rkive rksch rmati rmite rmous robab rocee roper rosty round roups rower rpris rrang rroun rrowe rruco rsals rsion rstly rtebr rther rtica rticu rucos sacru scher schiu scien scles scrib scula secre seein seems seque shape sides sidfi simil sists sitio sivel skele small smoot socie somew sopte soria speci spine spose squea ssori stanc stead steri stick sting stion stoma stoti studi style suall subst suppo surpr surro swere synos tance taneo tarsa tatar tebra tendi tends teral teran teres terio termi their there thert these thigh thing third thoug throa thymu tibio tical ticks ticky ticul tinuo tions tissu tomat total totic treme tribu tside ttern tuall tuate tudie turns tween typic ually uarte uated ubsta ucosu udied ueaki uence uesti ularl ulatu umeru under undin undne unusu uppos uring urost urpri urrou urrow urthe uscle uscul usion usive usual utane utsid velop verru verse versi verte verti vicep viden video villi wered which white whole xclus xempl xious xtend xtrem ygold ymeno ynost ypica ystom zoolo    622/60466176    (622/11881376)

6:    abdome abdomi accent action actual ainfro ajorit allowi almost alogou amilia amplex analog anatom andula aneous angeme animal answer appare appear arentl argely argest arkive arksch around arrang arsals articu atarsa ateral athert ations attern bdomen bdomin beddar behind betwee beyond biofib bodies boylou brevic bstanc burrow cavity ccentu ceedin centua ceptid cially cience cloaca clusio clusiv coccyx compri connec conseq consis contai contin contri cribed ctions ctuall cularl culatu cutane denboy deposi descri dfishe dispos domina dorsal during eaking ebrate eciall ecrete ection eddard edings edispo eeding either elativ eletal eleton eloped emoral emplif enboyl ending engyst enhnac enopte enormo ention entuat envelo eposit equenc eresti ermite erruco ersion ertebr ertica escrib especi esting estion estyle etatar etween everse evicep eviden exclus exempl extend extrem famili female femora femurs festyl fibula firstl fishes format fossor fracti furthe gement girdle glands glandu golden gonads groups gystom hearts herton himsel hnacin humeru hymeno ibiofi ically icepti icular idence idfish ifesty ilarly illier images imilar imself inalis inclus indeed infrog insect inside instea intere inuous iofibu irstly ischiu isopte ispose jority keleta keleto kscher landul largel larges latera lative lature ldenbo length letons lifest lified little llowin logica logous london lowing lusion lusive majori marksc mation menopt mentio metata mewhat milarl miliar minali mplexu mplifi mprise muscle muscul mygold nacing nalogo natomy nboylo nclusi ndness ndular nectio neithe nfrogs ngemen ngysto nhnaci nnecti nopter normou nostot noxiou nseque nsists nstead nswere nteres ntinuo ntribu ntuate nusual nvelop obably oceedi ociety ofibul ogical oldenb ologic omatid omewha ominal ompris onnect onsequ onsist ontain ontinu ontrib oologi operly optera ormati ormous ositio ossori osteri ostoti ostyle otical ounder oundin oundne outsid oxious parent partic patter pecial pelvic plexus plifie points positi posits poster pparen ppears predis probab procee proper pteran quarte queaki quence questi ractio rainfr rangem rather really rectus redisp region relati remely rently restin revers revice ribute rksche rmatio rmites robabl roceed roperl rostyl rounde roundi roundn rowers rprise rrange rround rrower rrucos rtebra rtical rticul rucosu sacrum scherz schium scienc scribe scular sculat secret seeing sequen shaped sidfis simila sition sively skelet smooth societ somewh sopter sorial specia sposes squeak ssoria stance sterio sticks sticky stomat stotic studie sually substa suppos surpri surrou swered synost taneou tarsal tatars tebrat tendin terans terest terior termit therto though throat thymus tibiof ticall ticula tinuou tissue tomati totica tremel tribut tually tuated tudied typica uarter ubstan ucosus ueakin uestio ularly ulatur umerus unding undnes unusua uppose urosty urpris urroun urrowe urther uscles uscula usivel usuall utaneo utside velope velops verruc versed versio verteb vertic viceps vicept videnc videos villie xclusi xempli xtendi xtends xtreme ygolde ymenop ynosto ypical ystoma zoolog    446/2176782336    (446/308915776)

7:    abdomen abdomin accentu actuall ainfrog ajority allowin alogous amiliar amplexu analogo anatomy andular angemen answere apparen appears arently arksche arrange articul atarsal atherto bdomina beddard between biofibu brevice bstance burrowe ccentua ceeding centuat clusion clusive compris connect consequ consist contain continu contrib ctually cularly culatur cutaneo denboyl deposit describ dfishes dispose dominal ecially ections edispos eedings elative eletons emplifi enboylo engysto enhnaci enopter enormou entuate envelop eposits equence erestin ermites errucos ertebra ertical escribe especia etatars eversed eviceps evicept evidenc exclusi exempli extendi extends extreme familia femoral festyle firstly formati fossori fractio further glandul goldenb gystoma himself hnacing humerus hymenop ibiofib iceptid icularl idfishe ifestyl imilarl inclusi infrogs instead interes iofibul ischium isopter isposes keletal keleton kscherz landula largely largest lateral ldenboy lifesty llowing logical lusivel majorit marksch mations menopte mention metatar milarly minalis mplexus mplifie muscles muscula mygolde nalogou nboylou nclusio nection neither ngement ngystom nhnacin nnectio noptera normous nostoti noxious nsequen nswered nterest ntinuou ntribut ntuated nusuall nvelope nvelops oceedin ofibula oldenbo ologica omewhat ominali omprise onnecti onseque onsists ontinuo ontribu oologic opteran ormatio osition ossoria osterio ostotic oticall ounding oundnes outside parentl particu pattern peciall plified positio posteri pparent predisp probabl proceed properl pterans quarter queakin questio raction rainfro rangeme redispo relativ resting reverse revicep rkscher rmation robably roceedi roperly rostyle rounder roundin roundne rrangem rroundi rrowers rrucosu rtebrat rticula rucosus science scribed sculatu secrete sequenc sidfish similar skeleta skeleto society somewha soptera special squeaki ssorial sterior stomati stotica studied substan suppose surpris surroun synosto taneous tarsals tatarsa tebrate tending teresti termite therton tibiofi tically ticular tinuous tomatid totical tremely tribute typical ubstanc ueaking uestion ulature undness unusual urostyl urprise urround urrower uscular usculat usively usually utaneou veloped verruco version vertebr vertica vicepti vidence villier xclusiv xemplif xtendin xtremel ygolden ymenopt ynostot ystomat zoologi    297/78364164096    (297/8031810176)

8:    abdomina accentua actually ainfrogs allowing amplexus analogou angement answered apparent arkscher arrangem articula atarsals atherton bdominal biofibul brevicep burrower ccentuat ceedings centuate clusivel comprise connecti conseque consists continuo contribu culature cutaneou denboylo deposits describe disposes dominali edispose emplifie enboylou engystom enhnacin enoptera enormous entuated envelope envelops eresting errucosu ertebrat escribed especial etatarsa evicepti evidence exclusiv exemplif extendin extremel familiar formatio fossoria fraction glandula goldenbo gystomat hymenopt ibiofibu icularly idfishes ifestyle imilarly inclusio interest iofibula isoptera keletons landular ldenboyl lifestyl lusively majority marksche menopter metatars mplified muscular musculat mygolden nalogous nclusion nections ngystoma nhnacing nnection nopteran nostotic nsequenc nteresti ntinuous ntribute nusually nveloped oceeding oldenboy ological ominalis onnectio onsequen ontinuou ontribut oologica opterans ormation ossorial osterior ostotica otically oundness parently particul pecially position posterio pparentl predispo probably proceedi properly queaking question rainfrog rangemen redispos relative reversed reviceps revicept rkscherz rmations roceedin rounding roundnes rrangeme rroundin rrucosus rtebrate rticular sculatur sequence sidfishe similarl skeletal skeleton somewhat sopteran speciall squeakin stomatid stotical substanc surprise surround synostot tatarsal terestin termites tibiofib ticularl toticall ubstance unusuall urostyle urroundi urrowers usculatu utaneous verrucos vertebra vertical viceptid xclusive xemplifi xtending xtremely ygoldenb ymenopte ynostoti ystomati zoologic    189/2821109907456    (189/208827064576)

9:    abdominal accentuat analogous apparentl arkscherz arrangeme articular bdominali biofibula breviceps brevicept burrowers ccentuate centuated clusively connectio consequen continuou contribut cutaneous denboylou described dominalis edisposes emplified engystoma enhnacing enopteran enveloped errucosus ertebrate especiall etatarsal eviceptid exclusive exemplifi extending extremely formation fossorial glandular goldenboy gystomati hymenopte ibiofibul inclusion interesti isopteran ldenboylo lifestyle markscher menoptera metatarsa musculatu mygoldenb ngystomat nnections nopterans nostotica nsequence nterestin oceedings oldenboyl onnection onsequenc ontinuous ontribute oological ormations ostotical particula posterior pparently predispos proceedin rainfrogs rangement redispose revicepti roceeding roundness rrangemen rrounding rticularl sculature sidfishes similarly skeletons sopterans specially squeaking stoticall substance surroundi synostoti tatarsals teresting tibiofibu ticularly totically unusually urroundin usculatur verrucosu vertebrat xclusivel xemplifie ygoldenbo ymenopter ynostotic ystomatid zoologica    112/101559956668416    (112/5429503678976)

10:    abdominali accentuate apparently arrangemen articularl bdominalis brevicepti ccentuated connection consequenc continuous contribute engystomat enopterans especially etatarsals exclusivel exemplifie formations goldenboyl gystomatid hymenopter ibiofibula interestin isopterans ldenboylou markscherz menopteran metatarsal musculatur mygoldenbo ngystomati nostotical nteresting oldenboylo onnections onsequence ostoticall particular predispose proceeding redisposes reviceptid roceedings rrangement rticularly stotically surroundin synostotic tibiofibul urrounding usculature verrucosus vertebrate xclusively xemplified ygoldenboy ymenoptera ynostotica zoological    60/3656158440062976    (60/141167095653376)

11:    abdominalis accentuated arrangement articularly breviceptid connections consequence engystomati exclusively exemplified goldenboylo hymenoptera interesting menopterans metatarsals musculature mygoldenboy ngystomatid nostoticall oldenboylou ostotically particularl predisposes proceedings surrounding synostotica tibiofibula ygoldenboyl ymenopteran ynostotical    30/131621703842267136    (30/3670344486987776)

12:    engystomatid goldenboylou hymenopteran mygoldenboyl nostotically particularly synostotical ygoldenboylo ymenopterans ynostoticall    10/4738381338321616896    (10/95428956661682176)

13:    hymenopterans mygoldenboylo synostoticall ygoldenboylou ynostotically    5/170581728179578208256    (5/2481152873203736576)

14:    mygoldenboylou synostotically    2/6140942214464815497216    (2/64509974703297150976)

Why are rain frogs so round? What's /inside/ of them around such an itty bitty skeleton?

So it turns out this is a really interesting question.

The first thing we must be aware of is that rainfrogs as we see them in videos of them squeaking are not quite the same shape as they are when at rest:

[x]

But you are quite right, they are very round. This is exemplified by the skeletal photo you refer to:

[X]

So what are we seeing?

Well, firstly, note that the body cavity in these frogs actually envelops the femurs, such that only the tibiofibula (fused in frogs) and the tarsals and metatarsals are outside the body. The arms are quite similarly enveloped, but a bit of the humerus does extend outside the body cavity too. This predisposes them to a rounder body shape.

Next, note the ilia - the U-shaped bone in the pelvic region. These in some breviceptid frogs are synostotically fused with the sacrum - that is to say, they are bound by bone-based connections to the bow-shaped vertebra at their tips. This whole joint seems to be quite smooth, and as a consequence, the back of the frog is quite smooth. The other thing we can see here is that the urostyle (i.e. the frog version of a coccyx) juts quite far beyond the ischium and pubis. This extends the body cavity beyond the hips. Note also that the pelvic girdle seems to be largely below the spine, rather than the typical position for frogs behind it and continuous with it. This makes the legs sit below the spine, rather than at its end, enhnacing the vertical roundness of the animal.

Next, let’s talk some soft tissue. Now, I’m not as familiar with soft-tissue in frogs as I am their skeletons, so you’ll have to bear with me a bit (rawr). Beddard (1908!!) studied the soft tissue of Breviceps verrucosus Rapp 1842. It seems that the majority of the body of these frogs is actually muscle. Beddard noted that muscles join the leg at the knee that extend into the body cavity, such that the inclusion of the thigh in the body cavity is further accentuated by musculature. The rectus abdominalis muscle is unusually large, extending from the lower abdomen up and around the sides of the body. Indeed, this large size appears to be the pattern with all of the major muscles, though in the throat the typical arrangement of large and small muscles is somewhat reversed. On the lateral side of the head, there is a substance that is not muscle, but appears to be loose tissue in which sits what is apparently the thymus gland.

There is a very large gap between the end of the urostyle and the anus (one fifth of the total length of the frog), in which there are almost no muscles, save for the one surrounding the lower cloaca. On either side of this area, between the posterior-most muscles of the thigh, lie two large ‘lymph-hearts’, as described by Beddard. These are between one quarter and one third of the total length of the frog. A further lypmh-sac sits between these lymph-hearts and the skin of the femoral region, and they are thus probably analogous to the femoral lymph-sacs of other frogs.

I find it interesting that Beddard (1908) did not mention any glandular formations in the dorsal region. As is evidence from many images (see below), these frogs are able to secrete a white, sticky, noxious substance from their skin (which they actually have to use during amplexus, as the male is too small relative to the female to mount her properly, and so he sticks himself to her with his glandular glue… kinky).

[x]

These glands do not apparently take up a great deal of the cutaneous tissue, and so I suppose are of no consequence to the size of the frog, especially relative to its enormous muscles.

The diet of these frogs consists almost exclusively of hymenopterans and isopterans (ants and termites). Neither of these insect groups are particularly fatty, so it is little surprise that their bodies appear to contain no large fat deposits - fatty bodies extend from the gonads up to the lungs and heart, but these comprise only a tiny fraction of the frog’s mass, and don’t contribute to the round shape. Instead, their bodies are extremely muscular, allowing them to be adept burrowers, ideal for their fossorial lifestyle.

So TL;DR: rain frogs are little balls of muscle (maybe the largest muscle mass relative to body mass of any vertebrate? science just doesn’t know).

Ref:

Beddard, F.E. 1908. On the Musculature and other Points in the Anatomy of the Engystomatid Frog, Breviceps verrucosus. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1908:11-41 [x]