Swampland (Dungeon Fantasy Biome)

Wetlands are, generally speaking, defined by their humid atmosphere and frequent damp weather. Fantasy wetlands often include warm, wooded lowlands of the Steamy South and chilly, foggy bogs in rainy countrysides. Swampland is sometimes found in the wetter backwater areas of rain-catching jungles, along large rivers, or in the lowland basins near plains. 
== Travel ==
Travel in swamps tends to be difficult at best. Wet, muddy ground prevents moving at full speed on foot, horseback or carriage. Often, it's more efficient to travel upriver in a shallow-draft boat. With the right contacts (or Animal Handling), you may be able to enlist the help of swamp-adapted creatures who swim or have terrain adaptation for mud.
=== Hazards ===
* Quicksand -- Survival roll (possibly at a penalty) to notice, and Swimming to get out, also at a penalty if they've failed a Fright Check.Roughly adapted from rules from Cliffhangers, p.38See also, Quicksand entry in Dungeon Fantasy 16: Wilderness Adventures, p.33
* When cold wetlands thaw, the ground softens, letting anything heavy sink into the earth until it cools down again. There may be half-buried castles or churches that were built and abandoned when the tenants realized they'd sink a bit more each summer.
* Visibility
** Colder wetlands can be foggy
** Swamps can have lots of cover, but mires tend to only have cover in the form of reeds and grasses
** Wetlands fed by rain can be rainy (of course), but river-fed ones might have clear skies
* Swamp Rot -- Long-term exposure to moisture can take a toll on a non-native creature's feet
=== Non-Hazards ===
* Swamplands tend to have slower rivers than the flooding areas of mountains or plains, so at least you aren't in the rapids.Adaptations, p.18
== Creatures ==
=== Hot to Temperate Wetlands ===
Niche 	Description 	Examples
Buffalo 	Large herbivores common to the savannas and floodplains, but also migrate / live in the wetlands. Even lions and crocodiles have trouble with healthy adult buffaloes. Buffalo are likely the inspiration for the catoblepas (see below in Wetland Weirdies).	African buffalo
Buzzing Insects 	 	Regular mosquitoes, as well as stirges / strix, more fantastical creatures with the leech ability.
Crawlers 	Crawly things. They're probably eaten up by birds and fish. 	You could probably include crayfish and crabs in here.
Crocodilians 	Ancient amphibious carnivores with tough skin and a monstrous bite. These likely inspired tales from non-swamp-dwellers 	Crocodiles, alligators, gharials. "Swamp drakes" may also be in this general niche, but would have other magic attacks or abilities.
Slimes 	Oozy, blobby creatures that have replaced areas that would normally be puddles. 	
Snakes 	Vermiform reptiles and other danger noodles. 	
Swimmers 	Fish in swamps can get very big and very strange. 	
Waterfowl 	These waterproofed birds are in lots of biomes, but can thrive in wet areas. 	Ducks, geese, swans--waterproofed birds.
Watertop Creatures	Insects or more supernatural creatures that live and/or hunt on top of the water. 	Water-skimmers, certain types of spiders. Consider these to have a "Walk on Water" effect.
Fey 	Swamp fey are likely more amphibious, with skill in hiding in reeds or diving between tree-roots.Fey creatures in exist in all biomes, but tend to change according to the traits of the biome itself. 	
=== Cold Wetlands ===
Cold wetlands are sometimes formed by a Great Warming, when the previous Ice Age faded and countless glaciers melted, leaving behind smooth basins where water would naturally pool. Cold wetlands are, cinematically, often peat bogs--anything lost there is preserved forever. Stunted trees grow in cold wetlands, their seeds are still spread by birds and small, forgetful rodents.
Niche 	Description 	Examples
Curious Birds 	Birds that don't quite act like the avians in the forests. Some are stubby and live on the ground. Some whoop with immense ferocity. 	Grouses and land-dwelling birds
Bears, but smaller	Powerful omnivorous creatures who are generally big and tough enough to not be bothered by anything except humans or other monsters. 	Black bears in general
Beavers 	Large, semiaquatic rodents who see running water and think "Absolutely not." They're often hunted (overly so) for their pelts and butt-glands. 	North American and Eurasian beavers, but a Dire Beaver could be an unnatural threat to a biome!
Bog Undead 	Those who die sinking into a bog sometimes stay mad about it after death, becoming restless dead. 	There are ordinary Restless Dead from the mires, as well as "Bog Mummies", which can range from accidental to purposeful.See examples in Monster Hunters 3: The Enemy, p.6see preservation / disposal in GURPS Mysteries, p.34
Slimes 	Slimes are less common in cold climates, but not absent. They are likely slower but more robust. Furthermore, "Mold" in particular may have replaced some mosses. Perhaps some are even medicinal, like Spanish Moss.	
Wading Birds 	Also seen along shorelines and in warmer climes, wading birds hunt at the water's edge. At least there aren't crocs waiting for them in colder climates. 	
Waterfowl 	Waterfowl live in lots of areas, and should be included here. Nothing quite like seeing a frosty lake populated by shimmering swans. 	
== Sapients in Swamplands ==
Culturally, humans and human-like creatures tend to avoid wetlands for sanitary reasons--there's seldom enough flowing water, there's usually biting insects, and it's hard to keep one's boots dry. That being said, creatures with special skin might find it easy to live there (see below), and colder bogs have less (but not zero) insects.
=== Crops and Cultivation ===
There are cultivated wetlands, such as cranberry bogs and rice paddies. These areas work like wetlands, even hosting wetland-preferring creatures like water buffalo (who are often also domesticated)! Wet-farming rice fields was developed around 300-400 ADLow-Tech Companion 3, p.10, making it a fairly old (TL2 or so). There are technically two different types of water chestnut grown in slow-moving water.
=== We Just Live Here ===
Wetlands are often written as strange and exotic, but the sapients who live there might find other biomes (such as the plains) just as unusual. "Doesn't your skin get dry?" they might ask, "do you ever worry about wyverns flying overhead, without trees and water to duck into?" 
==== Reptilians ====
* Dinomen have tough scales that resist insect bites, and a natural resistance to diseases, making swamps less dangerous for them--and an ideal territory that other species will be less likely to claim.
* Likewise, Lizard Men have particularly hard scales, even having protected eyelids, and are found in particularly hot wetlands, as well as jungles and sandy oases in deserts.
== Wetland Weirdies ==
These are monsters with their own mythological placement in a given biome.
Creature 	Description 	Native To
Blister Worm	Huge predatory / scavenger worms whose toxic bodies can poison waterways. Likely considered a Dire (mutant) animal, but is listed as a Mundane Dragon. 	Nordlond setting
Catoblepas 	A vaguely buffalo-like creature that seldom holds its head up from the water. Its gaze is supposedly lethal. 	GreeceLikely inspired by animals from Northern Africa, such as the cape buffalo and wildebeest
Ívidia 	A witch-of-the-woods, also found in forests and blasted wastelands. An alfar and faerie class. 	Nordlond setting
Kappa 	Bowl-headed amphibious humanoid. Gets stronger when bowl is full. Eats sapients, but is surprisingly formal. Loves cucumbers, which sate its hunger. Kappa consider themselves to be gods, not spirits, and are rather offended when not addressed as such. Excellent wrestlers. 	Japan
Kelpie 	Shapeshifting spirit inhabitating lochs and wetlands in general. Looks like a wet, dark, uncanny horse. These creatures can supposedly mate with ordinary horses, producing stubby-eared, remarkably well-swimming swamp-horses.Remind me to add this to a list of Cool Mount ideas! 	Scotland and Ireland
Kikimora 	Perhaps the originator of the archetypal "swamp witch". Kikimora is good or bad depending on how well-behaved a homeowner is, and usually gives nightmares to the wicked. 	Slavic Europe / Eurasia
Leshy 	Originally a singular entity, but in some fantasy settings, leshies are plural, and are more spirits than deities. They are fey at heart, having vastly different behavior depending on how well a mortal has respected their land. These are woodland dwellers but are sometimes in swamps. 	Slavic Europe
Mýrartröll 	Swamp Troll or Miretroll. They're alfar-faeries who like drowning wanderers. Has a cadre of trolls (usually grendelkin or thurs) as companions and/or partners in crime. 	Nordlond setting
Nuckelavee 	A saltwater-dwelling creature with a nasty, veiny-like body, as if it lacked skin. It's usually seen as a humanoid rider fused to a horse's body. Another singular entity that's pluralized in fantasy settings. Possibly evil fey representing the unforgiving seas around the island. Likely seen also on coasts and islands.	OrkneyNorthernmost Scottish Islands
== See Also == 
* Dungeon Fantasy Settings
** Dungeon Fantasy Biomes!
== Notes ==
== References ==
* Fanon