Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Platstud 04-17-07, 02:18 PM	I'm planning on running a swamp-based adventure for 4-5 level 10 characters. I'm looking for some interesting ideas. The adventure is stand-alone, not part of an ongoing campaign, so I want the characters to have a chance to involve social skills and other things that don't often get used outside of towns/cities. The final enemy is going to be a black dragon, and I was thinking there would be a dragon shaman who lives in the swamp and worships the dragon. Anyone have any other ideas about what the PCs could face?
krichaiushii 04-17-07, 02:43 PM	Will o' Wisps that lead unwary people into traps - either quicksand or into combat with something hard to beat, like black puddings or dragons. Follow this up with a Lantern Archon requesting help, and the PCs might balk at this, fearing another Wisp trap. If the swamp is foggy by nature, vampires that appear in gaseous form in the fog while the PCs are resting; kill a PC then drift away. Lizard men either working for, against, or around the dragon. Perhaps led by the dragon shaman, or led by a druid who would like the dragon killed. Half-dragon dire crocs or other swamp beasties. Swarms of bugs and stirges. Environmental effects could result in fatigue, exhaustion, or loss of resources. Shockers nesting near shambling mounds. Perhaps this is where the Wisp leads the PCs. Ghosts and other sentient undead. Lacedons jumping up out of the water; paralysis + prone in water = dead. Vampires leaping up out of STILL water (in contrast to moving water). Forbidden, ruined temples rising up out of the mists, full of cursed magic and terrible... things.
Platstud 04-17-07, 02:56 PM	Wow! Thanks. These are all great ideas. I like the lizardmen working for another force. Gives the PCs the chance to have an ally or more enemies, depending on how they handle it(knowing my group, it'll be more enemies).
Return of the Flumph 04-17-07, 02:59 PM	Decrepit, undead beings who live in the swamp that need the PC's to avenge them. Make them super creepy, but not neccesarily enemies.
krichaiushii 04-17-07, 07:57 PM	Decrepit, undead beings who live in the swamp that need the PC's to avenge them. Make them super creepy, but not neccesarily enemies. A ghost treant druid. From the time before the area flooded and turned to swamp. Perhaps he can provide information regarding a lost treasure of the past. A neutral(evil) hag or covey of hags; they'd like to see the dragon gone for their own reasons. They may not actively ally with the PCs, but may provide information and/or potions and/or a scout from among their lackies.
yellowdingo 04-17-07, 08:41 PM	5. A Leech problem "Selmak?" Trajen's voice drifted through the swamp. "Ya?" Selmak paused. What was the problem now? "Theres a leech on my leg." "Sprinkle some salt on it." "I dont think I have enough." Selmak turned to look at the problem. It was big. DM Briefing: The party is attacked by leeches the size of horses.
taradusis 04-17-07, 10:13 PM	An aquatic troll,a scrag might be an interesting challenge.I once used a "fart"spider.These spiders could walk on water,and ate small amounts of skunk cabbage.The spiders had a natural defence against wasps that involved releasing a gaseous cloud when damaged.Worked against adventurers as well.:)
GoriceXII 04-18-07, 07:51 AM	Also there might be villages on stilts or disguised that are around that are of marsh folk. they are considered sly and suspicious and possibly part amphibian (they might be!) by outsiders of the swamp, but possibly are the best guides in the area--maybe they have a ranger or two who are experts in swamp terrain. They might have a side quest they require for their services. these folk wear skins made from marsh creatures and camouflage themselves with various reeds; they use nets and forklike spears when hunting.
Platstud 04-18-07, 08:59 AM	Thanks everyone for the great ideas! I will definitely be using some of these. Feel free to keep more coming. :D
tankschmidt 04-18-07, 10:41 AM	Try slapping on some templates for your monsters. I'd recommend Savage Vampire and Drowned One.
Harkle 04-18-07, 11:22 AM	Definitly use carnivoreous plants, Swamps, bogs and the like are thier primary habitat because of the poor nutrients in the soil. Have them risk hypothermia if they can't keep dry even fairly warm water can cause hypothermia, check StormWrack for more details about hypothermia in water. Monsters that grapple the party and pull them underwater. Natural Traps swamps and bogs are the best place for these to exist. A lot of the land in this kind of terrain is actually floating plant mass, if the "ground" gets to thin you can fall through and become trapped in a water filled chamber, where the only way out is you fight your way back through the plants that make up the ceiling. Make the party check to see if they get lost, swamps aren't exactly easy to navigate. Poisonous plants, basicly another kind of natural trap, use plants that have a contact poison, Poison Sumac is a particularly common poisonous swamp plant. Misquitoes, everywhere, have the players randomly make fort saves to avoid contracting a minor disease, may as well have the players fight giant misquitoes as well so they can get some of that hate for misquitoes out of thier systems.
CryoSilver 04-18-07, 02:01 PM	Diseases that are resistant to magic are always fun. Not totally immune, but with spell resistance. It really messes with the players' heads when they have to roll caster level checks to get rid of swamp rot.
krichaiushii 04-18-07, 02:49 PM	A sizable treasure lies in recognizing and harvesting a rare swamp-growing plant. It might be a cure to a disease, a spice for your food, a component for a magical item, or a drug of some sort. Knowledge: Nature lets the PCs recognize it for what it is and harvest it. It could be these plants that the Dragon keeps as its primary horde; the dragon works through half-dragon (his kids) agents to sell some when cash is needed. Let's see the PCs cart THAT wealth away in a bag of holding!
Darth Sephiroth 04-22-07, 07:27 PM	Look at the campaign creation articles on the site, there are some interesting ideas for a swamp adventure. There is also the articles with magic, monsters, and items of swamps
Mazaron 04-29-07, 09:37 AM	I'm planning on running a swamp-based adventure for 4-5 level 10 characters. I'm looking for some interesting ideas. The adventure is stand-alone, not part of an ongoing campaign, so I want the characters to have a chance to involve social skills and other things that don't often get used outside of towns/cities. The final enemy is going to be a black dragon, and I was thinking there would be a dragon shaman who lives in the swamp and worships the dragon. Anyone have any other ideas about what the PCs could face? Lizard men working for the black dragon, maybe worshipping it. Maybe they have African style drums they play in the distance, perhaps making the PCs uneasy, maybe drivig them towards the black dragon, summoning it, or even are magical and charm the PCs. Kuo toa and some ancient, dark cyclopean ruins, worshipping Things That Must Not Be Named. You know, Lovecraftian stuff. Aboleth might also have a home in the deep areas. Eblis, a type of killer stork. Stirges. Lots of insects. Crocodiles. Giant snakes. Giant spiders. Maybe dinosaurs if the climate allows it. Zombies seem to be a good choice for swamps. Maybe they caught "undeath" from stirges or some sort of insect. Oozes and slimes. Worm creatures, slugs, and leaches should abound. So should fungus creatures like myconids and campestri.
Mazaron 04-29-07, 09:39 AM	Diseases that are resistant to magic are always fun. Not totally immune, but with spell resistance. It really messes with the players' heads when they have to roll caster level checks to get rid of swamp rot. Great idea. Don't forget parasites too. One of the 3E monster books in the apppendix had some unusual parasites. Some real world ones are odd. One infests insects, and as part of is life cycle has to get into rats. The parasite changes the behavior of the beetle to make it much more likely a rat would find it and eat and thus, dead beetle and parasite is now happy and healty inside a rat. Something maybe for the PCs, making them dragon chow?
Mazaron 04-29-07, 09:43 AM	Also there might be villages on stilts or disguised that are around that are of marsh folk. they are considered sly and suspicious and possibly part amphibian (they might be!) by outsiders of the swamp, but possibly are the best guides in the area--maybe they have a ranger or two who are experts in swamp terrain. They might have a side quest they require for their services. these folk wear skins made from marsh creatures and camouflage themselves with various reeds; they use nets and forklike spears when hunting. Part bullywug? That is very Lovecraftian, maybe they are becoming less human. They probably make use of leeches in their medicine. Feed crocs under neath the town to keep out unwary intruders. Some of the older Dragon magazines had some good swamp creatures, like the bichir and the sind. I used the swamps of Orbrekh for a time in my campaign, the northern half was ruled by a great wyrm black dragon named Shadowfiend, who had a number of lizard men under her thrall. Each tribe was different, some painted their bodies with dyes and pigmens to blend in, some had magical drums. I thought about grippli or bullywugs with skin poisnous to the touch like real world poison arrow frogs but never used them. I also had to the south of them Maya-type civilizations.
Zazel 05-03-07, 04:22 PM	An adventure I once ran. A small town, close to a big swamp. the town is mostly known for it's fishing community. It has a small harbor and once in a while a merchant ship stops here. In the past (a very long time ago) gold was discovered in the swamp. The inhabitants of the town wanted to "mine" the gold, but a tribe of lizardmen stopped them. This lead to a little war, untill both groups signed an agreement not to disturb the swamp any more than what was needed to survive. (in the present) A group of pirates found out about the goldmines and they want to mine it all. For this they needed slaves, so they enslaved the inhabitants of the town. They also enslaved some lizardmen. The pirates are formed by four groups. 1 > the pirates who "patrol" the sea. They attack a ship once in a while. they also create bonfires on the coast when it's stormy. ... 2> the pirates who took over town. They "protect" what's left of the town. If adventurers manage to come here, these men will try to convince the adventurers that the lizardmen are the reason for the attacks. 3> a group of pirates who control the mines and the slaves. 4> a group of pirates who patrol the roads through the swamp. These men could be dressed like lizardmen. (maybe add some charmed lizardmen to this group) In your case the leader of the pirates could be a dragon in human form who only wants the gold to enlarge his treasure.