Witches of a certain tradition have a predilection for turning princesses into frogs, however the powers of a kiss can undo this malign magic. However, frogs in ponds and lakes often attract enchantments and become infected with strange sorcerous transformations. This being a common side-effect of witches pouring unwanted brews into meres, and wizard apprentices discarding their illicit and failed experiments into the nearest bog to hide it from stern masters. The foul smells in swamps often originates from these magical malpractices, though no-one would ever admit to such a thing. The consequences cling to frogs, as that is how the gods made them.
A kiss can undo much of such magic, and it can rescue princesses from unwanted transformations. The last is especially common knowledge among adventurers, but who dare kiss a frog? Especially if they know, what will happen, if it is done?
Here is the table for charms and transformations done or undone by a kiss to a frog. Whenever a frog is picked up from an enchanted pond and kissed, something strange may happen. Roll on the table and find out.
The effects below are mostly system agnostic. The few references to mechanics defaults to the most common versions of D&D from past editions to the present. The table can be used for most heroic fantasy RPGs.
| 1d100 | Effect |
| 01-30 | The frog is a frog, and it does not like being kissed. With a loud croak it wrests itself free and jumps away. |
| 31-33 | A loud explosion is heard, and a for a moment a lightning flash blinds everyone. Once the smoke clears a confused young princess/prince (50/50) stands there instead of the frog. The prince/princess comes from a kingdom 1000 miles away. At this moment a frog sits on their throne just as confused. In the distant land kingdom adventurers may be hired to solve this mystery and retrieve the missing princess/prince. |
| 34-36 | Black smoke envelops the kisser and the frog. As it clears the frog is gone, but the kisser is now dressed as a prince/princess (50/50) in expensive and delicate clothing and wearing expensive jewelry. Gone are weapons, armor and regular adventuring equipment (important plot devices are woven into the jewelry or the clothing). The clothing is worth 2000 gold pieces if brought back intact, but it is fragile and not suited for adventuring. The jewelry (necklace, earpieces, rings etc.) have a combined value of 1500 gold pieces. |
| 37-39 | Suddenly the frog begins to molt and change. After several moments a young, pretty prince/princess (50/50) stands in front of the kisser with a confused expression. As a fly flies by, they suddenly lash out with their tongue catching the fly and eating it. The transformed frog retains it intellect and personality. |
| 40-42 | A sweet-smelling cloud of rose leaves and sparkles envelops the kisser and the frog. As the cloud drifts away, it reveals a princess of 90 years of age. She has been waiting for someone to kiss her for decades and has aged in the meantime. |
| 43-45 | A rosy cloud smelling of strawberries and honey envelops the kisser and the frog. As the cloud dissipates, it leaves a two-year old princess wanting to go home to her parents. She is not sure, where home is, but somewhere out in the world a pair of royal parents are missing their daughter stolen away by a witch. |
| 46-48 | The ground shakes and an intense flash blind everybody temporarily. The kisser is gone, their equipment is left on the ground along with a frog jumping away. In a distant country far, far away the kisser finds themselves dressed as a prince or princess. |
| 49-50 | A sudden flash momentarily blinds everybody, a flock of birds rises from the trees, and a gust of wind rushes through the area. Gone is the frog, and it is place stands a young prince/princess (50/50), whose curse have been lifted. They were centuries ago, though for them only a brief moment has passed, but their kingdom has long been forgotten. They will set out to find relatives and reconquer their realm. |
| 51-52 | The air tingles and sparks fly distracting everyone for just a moment, and in that moment the frog disappears, and instead stands a young prince/princess (50/50), who recently was turned into a frog by a nefarious witch serving the royal heir’s scheming relatives. Both the witch and the relatives will try and stop the adventurers and the prince/princess. |
| 53-54 | A rush of air blinds and distracts everyone, and then suddenly the frog is gone, and instead the kisser holds a golden ring set with an elven gem and written with dwarven runes “for my beloved”. It is worth 1000 gold pieces. Somewhere within 1d100x10 miles somebody is missing a ring. |
| 55-58 | A smelly poof of smoke covers the area, and when it finally lifts, the frog is replaced by a bullywug prince/princess. The bullywug is (roll 1d4) 1) in love with the kisser, 2) furious with the kisser, 3) ruler of frogs and bullywugs, and can summon its servants, or 4) desiring to be returned safely to its family, who will pay a reward of 300 gold in the shape of a lapis lazuli necklace. |
| 59-61 | The kisser is charmed by the frog, and believes until dawn, that the frog is a prince/princess. The frog may (ab)use this to have the kisser chase away predators or witches from the local pond or have them invade the neighboring pond. |
| 62 | The frog turns to a prince/princess, and the kisser turns to a frog. Their fates are now tied together. Every time the sun sets and rises, they switch forms, so one of them will be a frog, while the other have their original form. Only by finding the witch, who crafted the curse, can it be lifted. |
| 63-72 | The kisser loses their cool, and lets the frog escape instead of kissing it. |
| 73 | The frog Is poisonous. The kisser must resist the poison or begin to hallucinate. The kisser must succeed a Constitution Saving Throw DC 12 against poison / must make a Saving Throw against poison. If it fails, the kisser begins to hallucinate for 1d6 hours, and then falls unconscious for 2d12 hours. If it is successful, the kisser hallucinates for 1d3 hours. When hallucinating the victim cannot differentiate friend from foe or frog. When in combat treat the effect as a Confusion spell. |
| 74 | The frog panics and it jumps into the mouth of the kisser, when it gets itself lodged. The kisser can neither speak nor bite down, as the frog is stuck in the mouth. It is embarrassing for them both. |
| 75-82 | The kisser gains the ability to speak with frogs until dawn. There is 20% chance, that the frogs in the swamp, knows where a treasure is buried. There is 20% chance, that the frogs know about an enchanted princess/prince. Most frogs, however, believe that information has a cost. |
| 83 | The kisser is transformed into a frog. This effect lasts until dawn. Treat as a polymorph spell. |
| 84 | The kiss is followed by a strange swooping noise. Once it disappears, the kisser and the frog has traded voices. Anything the frog says, comes out as ‘quacks’ from the kisser, and everything the kisser says, comes out as words from the frog. This effect lasts until dawn. If one part dies, the other part is unable to speak until dawn. |
| 85 | A loud boom echoes through the area, and suddenly the frog is replaced with an owlbear. It is hungry. |
| 86 | The frog is a princess/prince of frogs, and kissing it counts as an engagement. The frog agrees to this. The entire frog family expects the adventurer to marry the frog. They may try and hire other adventurers, should the coming spouse attempt to run away from the engagement. |
| 87 | It is not a frog, but a toad. |
| 88 | Another frog appears also wanting to be kissed. Every other minute in the swamp, another frog appears. Outside the swamp a new frog appears every 30 minutes. They will disappear when kissed. |
| 89 | Kissing the frog doubles its size. This happens every time, it is kissed. |
| 90 | The frog kisses back, and suddenly the kissers’ tongues are caught in a twist. As everybody knows killing the frog will result in its death spams, that tear anything caught by their tongue to pieces. Perhaps a bribe of flies or some other trick will let the frog loosen its grip? |
| 91-00 | Just as the kisser is about to kiss the frog, it wrests itself free and jumps away. No frog was kissed in this instance. |
I have uploaded the list as PWYW pdf on RPGDriveThru:
I hope you have fun kissing frogs at your gaming table. If you want more weird and strange elements, in your game, you might also want to take a look at Unstable Potions for D&D 5E and Labyrinth Lord.
The table Kiss the Frog was originally designed for the RPG The Hinterlands (Hinterlandet).
Roles, Dice and Fun 