The Tar Pit Swamp

[Krakenspire]

So part of my 5e DnD campaign is going to take the characters through a Tar Pit/Pond Swamp. Oily black tar and asphalt will be bubbling up from the earth and create hopefully a very sticky situation for a few combats.

Just need a few ideas from the crowd here to flesh out the location, here are some of my ideas

Terrain: sticky gooey tar, thin crust of dried asphalt with tar underneath, spongy terrain where leaves have fallen on top of tar to create a weird mat/waterbed effect, dead trees, weird oil growing trees, small fires that continuously burn in a few spots, nasty gas bubbling up that explodes if hit by fire damage, perhaps a tar geyser

Creatures: - fish creatures (kuatoa type) that secrete slippery slime so they don't get stuck in the tar
- tar demons from the 4th ed Iron Circle mercenaries
- reskinned mud mephits
- vultures or other scavengers to take advantage of trapped creatures for lunch
- black puddings
- tar troll (can't remember where this was from but I'm sure it was a Xendrik expansion in 3.5)
- da tar baby and br'er rabbit
- tar fiend from Kobold Press
- eels with non-stick slime

 

[Connorsrpg]

Not sure on new ideas off the top of my head, but this sounds cool. Have you played it yet?

 

[transcendantviewer]

I did a bit of research; good news is that they bubble due to natural gas escaping and are, surprisingly, somewhat difficult to burn. Strong flames, like those roughly the size of a bonfire, can cause combustion, but only to a limited extent. The tar and other substances in the pits are roughly about 100 or so degrees fahrenheit, so if anybody falls in there, they'll have to worry about sinking in long before they have to worry about burning.

 

[Eltab]

Read Blights (from 5e MM); they seem to fit right in.

3e Unapproachable East had "blightspawned" creatures (a template for a special disease) that might work well, too. Not only do they knock you around, if they make you sick you want to STAY here !

Give the PCs fair warning about the natural gas and combustion beforehand; maybe they'll think of something on their own. Suppose their campfire the night before whooshes up in a fireball once or twice during the night, faint smell of rotten eggs at same time, then gutters almost out before resuming like normal. (Be sure to mention if the air around a battlefield smells funny.)

If there is a druid in the party, the group passes a Sabre-Toothed Tiger stuck in the tar. Does he go rescue it? Why / why not?
The party equally could find a deer trapped in the tar, wolves on the nearest shore are clearly trying to figure out a safe way to get a free meal. Will the PCs interfere?

Near the edges of a tar pit, just reduce speed by 1. Further in, attribute checks and Saves are needed. Near the middle is a nasty mess that somebody might think to blow opponents into.
(During a 4e Dark Sun game, my son's Warlord used a push power and slammed a salt golem into a watering hole. Then my Druid immobilized it there. You can guess what happened on the golem's turn.) Let the PCs do something clever, not just attack with swords / spells until enemy HP = 0.