Chardaukan Hexcrawl: Adapting Fever Swamp

In this series of articles, I will guide you through the process of designing a sandbox hexcrawl, illustrating each step with Chardauka, one of the continents of my world. Throughout these articles, I will cover both adventure content creation to populate the hexes and the worldbuilding elements that bring the setting to life.

Portada de Fever Swamp, por Andrew Walter

«The air is moist. The moisture mixes with your sweat—the heat is relentless. The drone of insects gives you headaches, and the fever from the infected wounds has left you delirious. Your raft is damaged, and there are spirits in the trees.You’ve only been here for three days.»

Fever Swamp is an adventure written by Luke Gearing for Lamentations of the Flame Princess and published in 2017. Gearing is also the author of the renowned Wolves upon the Coast. The module in question, which you can purchase here, is a small sandbox hexcrawl set in a swamp. Its content is evocative and original, with descriptions that ignite the imagination. However, I feel that in some aspects, it is overly concise. Many of the locations seem more suited for random encounters than as reusable spaces. For example, a character who throws explosives at travelers might work better as an occasional event rather than a fixed presence on the hex map. Personally, I would have enjoyed the module more if it had explored the swamp’s locations in greater depth. Despite this, it serves as a great starting point to adapt it into my own hexcrawl in Chardauka.

Clink and the Cult of the Drowned

The starting village, Clink, lacks the depth necessary to justify its own hexagon in my hexcrawl, but its elements can be repurposed. For instance, the ideas and characters from Clink fit perfectly into the The Stilts, the poor district of Garampur. Additionally, the Cult  of the Drowned could be tied to the deities of the Scaled Ones.

When adapting The Challenge of the Frog Idol, I mentioned the author's idea, Dyson, of three forgotten Lovecraftian deities dwelling in the swamp, which I adapted to fit the Scaled Ones. Among them, Y’rinriss, the goddess of mutations, already has a shrine near a bullywug village. This new Cult of the Drowned inspires me to create a hidden sect in Garampur devoted to Ul'Gorath, potentially triggering events akin to Against the Cult of the Reptile God / The Evils of Illmire or The Styes (Ghosts of Saltmarsh). My philosophy in designing a sandbox hexcrawl is that every hexagon should contain an adventure, including those that feature settlements. Not all hex-based sandboxes need to follow the Westmarches style, which typically avoids urban adventures.

Swamp Tribes

The table of random traits defining the nomadic tribes in Fever Swamp is a useful tool for expanding the cultures of the Sulfurous Marsh. I plan to use it to add depth and personality to the bullywugs, lizardfolk, and firenewts that inhabit the region. I will select the most compelling traits for these groups, while the remaining traits can serve as sub-tables for random encounters. This approach not only enriches the world but also makes each interaction with these swamp-dwelling factions feel unique and memorable.

The Shipwreck

The shipwreck of a riverboat in Fever Swamp fits perfectly into a river hex near Garampur, perhaps at 04.09 or 05.10. Naturally, this aligns seamlessly with the Blazing Pact. The crew, likely with family ties to Garampur, remain trapped between life and death because their bodies were not returned to the ashes. They wander the wreck in a state of anger and confusion.

The cargo they guard could be a sacred object related to Sulayra, destined for the city’s grand temple. The PCs will have the option to recover these relics and return them to the temple, earning the gratitude of its priests and the goddess’s blessing. Alternatively, they can keep the treasures for themselves, risking a curse that would complicate their future adventures.

This type of adventure location aligns with my goal for hexes situated between the home base and the ends of the vectors driving the PCs forward. Such places should be quick to explore (destroy the crew, recover the cargo, and move on) but capable of repopulation. After all, the sunken ship is not going anywhere, and it could become the lair of a dangerous aquatic creature.

This brings to mind the sharks prowling the shipwrecks and underwater temples in Assassin's Creed Odissey. Similarly, the wreck could house a band of amphibious brigands or serve as a refuge for other swamp dwellers. Introducing some underwater adventuring (and the unique challenges it entails) is a great way to add variety to the sandbox experience..

 

This illustration of the sunken ship by Andrew Walter is just gorgeous

Suicidal Swamp-Witch

Fever Swamp introduces a suicidal witch fused with a tree, seeking release from her suffering in exchange for valuable information. The idea is intriguing, and I plan to link her to the saga of the Alabaster Cave, which I adapted from The Challenge of the Frog Idol. If Y’rinriss, the goddess of mutations, manifests as a pulsating mass of flesh and coral with eyes and mouths, the witch might have been a victim of a similar “blessing.” Her protective demons could be reimagined as hydroloths. Ultimately, I am considering relocating her to the coast, perhaps in a cave open to the sea.

Ur-Corpse Ruins

One of the most fleshed-out dungeons in the module is the tomb of an ur-corpse, a Lovecraftian entity that is neither alive nor dead but exists outside of time and the cycles of existence. This concept could tie neatly into Vaerux’thul, the Scaled Ones’ deity of Undeath (a god literally represented as the colossal skeleton of a sea creature at the ocean’s bottom) and the Chardaukan traditions surrounding the Sleeping God.

This ur-corpse could represent one of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse", whose escape might hasten the awakening of the Sleeping God, heralding the end of the world for the Chardaukans. Moreover, the presence of eight damned sinners, flayed and cursed, could be tied to acts of betrayal against their own people in favor of the Scaled Ones.

The idea of the ur-corpse’s influence gradually seeping out of its prison also connects with the Bone Lord and his Zombie Island, offering a compelling explanation for his madness and weaving a narrative thread between the content of these hexes.

Other Elements

There are additional locations, but for now, I’m uncertain if I want to incorporate them. Perhaps I’ll revisit them later. Moving on to random encounters and other mechanics, there are naturally some overlaps with The Challenge of the Frog Idol. For instance, crocodiles and giant leeches also make appearances here. I will add swamp snakes that disguise themselves as tree branches, dropping onto unsuspecting victims.

The Stilt-Walkers are among the most evocative monsters in Fever Swamp, as seen in the image above. I haven’t decided on their origin yet, but I imagine them as some kind of Scaled Ones’ mutation experiments that linger in the area. The Candlethieves are also highly intriguing: spirits of children who steal candles and lanterns and can be appeased with sweets. However, I am unsure about including them in my random encounter tables. They might work better as unique encounters rather than recurring ones, perhaps tied to a specific location like a haunted house.

The Dredgers, with their stainless metal teeth that cannot rus and their frog-gut nets, could help flesh out the swamp trolls already present in my encounter tables. The Drowning Spirits, Leech-Chewers, and Man-Gore-Groves require no significant changes and fit seamlessly into the swamp environment.

Finally, the Transfiguring Worms could become part of Y’rinriss’s cult, expanding the lore of the bullywugs. I’m also noting down ideas for making the water disease-ridden, though I am unsure if that’s the direction I want to take for now.

In conclusion, Fever Swamp is an adventure full of unique ideas. While it could benefit from greater depth in certain areas, it provides a perfect canvas for creative adaptations. By integrating it into the Sulfurous Marsh, I have expanded its content and given it a meaningful role in my hexcrawl. This process not only strengthens my campaign world but also highlights how even short modules can inspire grand ideas.