“Try Before You Buy” is an occasional segment of Astral Projections. It spotlights free (or nearly free) supplements, quick-start rules, and modules for various RPGs.
Since I am staying home–like most everyone else–I have spent some of my extra free time finding new gaming and reading material. So I had to take a look when my colleague Kim Frandsen mentioned his Fifty Swamp Encounters PDF was free at DM’s Guild.
This is a short (5 pages of content, plus credits and cover) and simple document – but quite useful. It is a table of random encounters for D&D 5e parties journeying through swamps or similar terrain. Just add percentile dice and Monster Manual or the rules for your favorite fantasy RPG. The PDF doesn’t have stats but simply refers DMs to the MM, so the table is easily usable regardless of the system. In fact, I can see it being used for other genres. Pulp, Star Wars, and other SF/space opera come to mind.
So, what kind of encounters will you find? All kinds and a variety of difficulties. As Kim warns in the short intro on the credits page, not all of these are going to be suitable for all groups, so you need to use your best judgment. Not all, or even most of these are combat encounters. Some are as simple as noises or disturbed birds, great for adding some flavor as the PCs slosh from Point A to Point B. Others do set up the party for a full encounter.
Some of these, a clever DM could even string together to lead to something bigger. Several entries involve gas bubbles. Just natural swamp gas or could something more sinister be going on?
Finally, this is an attractive little PDF, art-wise. It’s got a lovely cover, as you can see above. The interior pages have a subtle but appropriate backdrop. It, like a swamp, is full of mist…and there’s that creepy hand reaching up from the bottom of every page.
I reccommend this one. It’s useful if you need encounter ideas, or just some atmospheric inspiration. And if you like swamps, the PDF points out a couple of Kim’s other sourcebooks that are under US$5. You know, I just might be up for more swamp exploration.
Linda Whitson
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