Fantasy Encounters, Hazards and NPCs for Swamps

A stinking ghoul is dressed in rags and pretends to be a hermit. It is a stealthy scavenger, looking for a lone target to ambush and consume.

Simple encounter tables for swamps in any fantasy setting. Tables for Swamp Encounter Prompts, Swamp Hazards & Distractions and Swamp Quick NPCs.

[Photo by Carlo Lisa on Unsplash]

Fantasy Swamp Encounters

Swamp encounters might be a plant with infection spores, a lizardfolk herbalist searching for a ruin or a group of hunters collecting frogs. There might be a thick shimmering mist or an area of tar pits.

A place of snakes, boats, mud, disease and dancing lights, home to witches, miserable outlaws and frog-people.

There is a fantasy swamp encounter generator at ChaosGen. There is also a pdf of these and more tables at the DriveThruRPG as Swamp Encounters.

10 Swamp Encounter Prompts

1d10	10 Swamp Encounter Prompts
1	Several hooded figures are talking to excited frog-humanoids, exchanging heavy sacks for baskets of insects (or mushrooms).
2	A constrictor snake is having trouble digesting something large inside.
3	A trio of mismatched oracles are playing a complex game of cards. Will offer anyone interested to pick a card. Any card...
4	A group of frightened refugees are packed into two boats along with their animals. They fear that something dangerous is following them.
5	A polite, well-dressed ogre is a scholar researching history of the area.
6	A semi-sentient plant with yellow spores infects creatures that serve it in spreading more spores. One 'zombie' is known to a character.
7	the ghost of an ancient warlord is friendly and helpful, but bound here for another century. Giving all troops of a battle a burial
8	A stinking ghoul is dressed in rags and pretends to be a hermit. It is a stealthy scavenger, looking for a lone target to ambush and consume.
9	A group of hunters are well equipped for swamp terrain. They specialise in collecting frogs and know the local area quite well.
10	A distressed pony is caught in mud, slowly dragging it down. A predator is nearby, feasting on it's dead companion.

Swamp Hazards and Distractions

1d10	There is (or are)...
1	a diseased boar (or ape) corpse or waters infested with leeches
2	there is a thick mist which is... d10 (1-2. flammable 3. shimmering 4. sticking 5. whispering 6. poisonous 7. ghostly 8. enchanted 9. noxious 10. sentient)
3	a sign depicting quicksand and tentacles or a shimmering rainbow
4	an area of thick webs or a bush with poisonous bright berries
5	there is the strong smell of ... d10 (1-2. something acrid 3. tar 4. fish 5. something rotten 6. burning 7. death 8. brine 9. sulphur 10. something sweet)
6	an old shrine which can cause a curse or a submerged body
7	an area of tar pits or a stone marker for an ancient city
8	sounds of ... d10 (1-2. frogs and toads 3. shouts for help 4. howling 5. slurping 6. a loud hum 7. nothing at all 8. moaning 9. music 10. splashing)
9	a patch of quicksand (or brown mould); or continuous dismal rain
10	flickering lights float around the area or a snare trap

Quick Swamp NPCs

1d10	Descriptor	Profession	who...
1	nervous or snake-kin	hunter	is fishing (or singing) from a boat
2	lizardfolk or feral	shaman	is growing mushrooms (or mould)
3	playful or goblin	hermit	hunts frogs (or snails);
4	orc or hallucinating	warrior	searches for a ruin (or spirit)
5	talkative or wererat	vagabond	is harvesting poisons (or reeds)
6	undead or miserable	witch	is in (or repairing) a canoe
7	optimistic or merfolk	herbalist	hates mud (or sunlight)
8	frog-kin or polite	assassin	is drinking mushroom ale
9	diseased or oozeling	scout	is digging (or playing) in the mud
10	faerie or learned	outlaw	has many charms (or containers)

More Encounters