Creating in-game "atmosphere"

[NewJeffCT]

Your most valuable NPC is the swamp itself. The marsh is a living amalgamated entity. Its breath emerges as dank air afoul with the stench of rotting flesh. It reaches out with twisted tree branch fingertips draped in a cloak of sphagnum moss. When it speaks, you are mesmerized by the cacophonous melody of leaves rustling in the distance, water cascading over hidden river stones, and whispering winds sharing secrets in the distance. How will the adventurers travel, within the darkness of the woods? Do they dare travel on foot within the perilous marsh? Will they instead travel by boat, a ready source of curiosity to the indigenous alligators, snakes, and unnaturally large catfish.

Hags are notoriously fond of the taste of human flesh. Such creatures see humans as naught by cattle; dumb animals to be deceived, demoralized, and destroyed. Her lair would thusly be strewn with the skeletal remains of past victims, her cauldron bubbling as flesh falls from the dismembered limbs within. Her root cellar would be filled with earthen pots containing the pickled remains of fingers, toes, ears, and eyes. Her attic adorned with strips of human skin drying by the smoke of the central fire. Ever resourceful, the greenhag would use the skulls of past repasts to mark the edges of her territory; warding away the weak while beckoning the foolhardy to their inevitable deaths. Wind chimes made from bleached finger bones echo eerily in the treetops.

Her lair would no doubt be near a ready source of water, as the greenhag is comfortable therein. Envision a massive beaver lodge, it’s submerged entrance hidden beneath stagnant waters emerging within a hollowed thicket of thorns and ivy. Her innate powers of mimicry would serve her well, here, luring the innocent into a maze of inescapable roots and branches.

great stuff - I especially like the dried bone wind chimes. I wonder if I could pick up some wood chimes at a Michael's or a Wal-Mart to mimic the sound at the table?

And, yes, her lair was going to be kind of at the intersection of two streams within the swamp/marsh, and there was a good several rows of bog type ground in the non-stream area that would prevent any sort of charging or fast movement (shallow bogs cost 2 squares of movement, deeper ones cost 4 squares) The ogres are actually merrow, the aquatic ogres who would normally guard the streams.

I have the Dragon magazine CD somewhere that had issues 1-250 on it, but I'd have to dig it up - it's been years since I used it.

 

[Aeolius]

The ogres are actually merrow, the aquatic ogres who would normally guard the streams.

In my campaigns, the offspring of a greenhag and merrow is a sea hag, just as the offspring of a greenhag and ogre is an annis. In earlier editions of D&D, the greenhag spent a bit more time in the water, per the encounter tables. In 3e, I decided to take the alternate name for greenhag, the shellycoat, and make her a truly amphibious greenhag, much as the storm giant has an aquatic variant.

 

[Random Axe]

Description matters. Don't call things by name, describe the monsters. In swamps seeing ripples in the murky water as something slips underwater is nice as they know something is down there but not what.

This is the key to creating your creepy (and memorable) atmosphere. Monsters don't matter. PRESENTATION matters.

In your descriptions, use ALL the senses. What does it smell like? What do you hear when walking through the swamp? Make lots of use of rolling clouds of mist, which obscures clear vision across long distances. Throw in a random REF save when wandering around as one or another stumbles across a hidden sinkhole below the mud; if they fail they get a mouthful of swamp sludge.

 

[NewJeffCT]

This is the key to creating your creepy (and memorable) atmosphere. Monsters don't matter. PRESENTATION matters.

In your descriptions, use ALL the senses. What does it smell like? What do you hear when walking through the swamp? Make lots of use of rolling clouds of mist, which obscures clear vision across long distances. Throw in a random REF save when wandering around as one or another stumbles across a hidden sinkhole below the mud; if they fail they get a mouthful of swamp sludge.

Thanks - I thought of that today at work during some down time, and wrote some descriptors for each sense - salty, brackish air; the sucking sound of a boot stuck in mud; cracks of stiff tall grass or small branches being broken; the movement out of the corner of your eye when your cracked branch you just stepped upon disturbs some birds off to your right, who go flying off into the sky, squawking as they go; the heavy feel of the warm, humid air; the constant noise of insects, frogs and birds;

 

[Aeolius]

...the constant noise of insects, frogs and birds;

I live on several acres in North Carolina. My backyard has woods and a creek. We get deer, raccoons, possums, skunks, wild turkeys, and bobcats wandering through here at night, as well as the occasional barred owl. Walking down to the creek at about 11pm or so can be very inspirational.

 

[Piratecat]

It’s a genuine pity that WotC never finished the environmental series with a rainforest/swamp/jungle/coniferous woods supplement, as one is sorely needed.

Peni Griffin meant to reply to this, but he (she) accidentally reported the post instead!

Here was their post:

The thing about swamps is this - they are full of life. Most of that life is invisible due to the natural cover, and although it's hard to walk quietly in them, swimming is noiseless, and there's lots of sounds to cover up the thing you're trying to hear. Birds, for instance - birds are everywhere. Wetlands are the best places for birding, and in a preindustrial area where birds haven't been squeezed out of habitat, they'll be in every tree and bush and waterway, calling, flapping their wings, leaving white droppings and drifts of feathers and making it completely impossible to tell whether that noise you just heard was dangerous or not. Emphasize this and make them make listen checks periodically. When they say: "No, dammit, it's probably just another bird," that's the time to drop the snake down their necks.

In summer - mosquitoes. Treat them as an insect plague only slightly worse. They reduce visibility and dex, and once the welts start up the itching disrupts sleep, with attendant problems. Make them blow spell slots on Repel Vermin.

Water gets into their boots, slowing their movement. In some areas, people over a certain weight will require a strength check to draw their feet out of the mud unassisted (I've been in this situation!).

Don't forget the humans in the area - close-mouthed and suspicious, or garrously fond of telling strangers about the Skunk Ape and the Swamp Witch and the Galliwampus. Throw in some local color, like bullfrogs big as dinner plates and birds that look reptilian (cormorants are freaky-looking, and don't get me started on pelicans).

Most of all, don't let them see the threat clearly till it's in melee with them.

 

[Clueless]

I live on several acres in North Carolina.

You gonna be at NC Gameday?

 

[Jhulae]

Thanks - I thought of that today at work during some down time, and wrote some descriptors for each sense - salty, brackish air; the sucking sound of a boot stuck in mud; cracks of stiff tall grass or small branches being broken; the movement out of the corner of your eye when your cracked branch you just stepped upon disturbs some birds off to your right, who go flying off into the sky, squawking as they go; the heavy feel of the warm, humid air; the constant noise of insects, frogs and birds;

That's silly. PCs don't have a sense of taste, smell, or touch. They just have vision and hearing... (Yes, having only spot and listen instead of a 'perception' skill that covers all the senses *really* irks me about d20.)

 

[LostSoul]

I would say...

Make all choices risky, and provide little information as to which choice is safer. Which choice is the safest one can be figured out, but it takes time, and that might make things worse in the long run.

Something like:

You're standing at the entrance to the swamp. You can only make out a trail to the northeast because it's marked with a skull on a pike and a board etched with one faded word: Death. To the west, the water is deep and buzzing with life. Who knows what lies there?

On the trail, an encounter; in the waters, another encounter. One encounter is easier for the party based on their makeup. Taking time to cast Augury provokes a roll on the wandering monster table.

 

[Hussar]

Concealment is your friend. A bit of mist and that 20% miss chance means that you can make your players very, very nervous. Have stuff rush in at them, only to back away before they get a good look at it. Pace the party for a couple of miles - shadowy forms that never get close enough to see, but, are obviously not friendly.

Remember to use your terrain modifiers during combat too. Emphasize that this isn't just another dungeon. Rough terrain carries all sorts of penalties - no five foot step, no charging. If you use creatures with a climb score, they can avoid the terrain penalties and still bring the fight to the party.

Bull rush can also be used to great effect here. Dumping PC's into water deep enough to make them swim, or at least wade, can really highlight a fight. Since you have lots of trees, you can make your fight three dimensional without relying on flying creatures. I've found that 3d fighting can really throw players off balance.

Depending on the creatures used, you can actually use the swamp as well. Assassin vines can animate the undergrowth for example. Things like that.