Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Thought I would ask for help building a dynamic world. In my DND campaign the party is vising a cursed town in the middle of a swamp that has overtaken the roads. The swamp itself is something they frequently travel through and I want it to feel draining, massive, and full of secrets and situations. I just don't want them to "OK we go to this spot." I want them to actually feel like traveling means something while in the swamp.

Background
Swamp is full of mycena mushrooms which glow and brighten when exposed to arcane magic. These mushrooms are often used in achemy to amplify arcane magic. The swamp itself is knee high water with the rare mossy clearing. There is a must that causes hallucinations when inhaled that hovers over the water and above the tree line. The sun is mostly blocked by the trees and spider webs that canopy the trees.

I have a few encounters or events already:

Encounters
- Random encounters with crocodiles, giant crocodiles, giant spiders (with paralysis poison), and giant toads.
- Bullywug encounter/talk as they at war with crows (mage faction)
- You hear the sound of tapping in the distance closing in on you.
Perception DC16: You look above you along the tree cover and notice a spider the size of a house making his way over your head followed by an army of small spiders.
Nature DC10: They pay you no attention as they skitter past you.
- Hallucinations from the fog
Undead horde
- You hear the sound of crickets, Perception DC10: They seem to be calling your name.
- Perception DC12: The waters around you have turned black as hundreds of dead fish float on the surface and litter the shores.
- A massive Tree Covered in strange symbols which seem to have grown naturally in the bark. The roots have a space beneath which house a detailed granite frog statue. Elder Frog Druid “Korrinnor of the Pond”
- Find flowers in the swamp but they are actually Witches Flower.
- Giant statue of Grumbar covered in moss and vines, looks like stone.
Stone is actually an Ivory metal that is 22x heavier than steel.
Find different limbs, eventually one has a dagger in its hand with the fingers opened.
The chest section left a crater that the Auburndale was built on.
- You see another small clearing, only this is a mound of dirt and mud. At the center is a huge blackened circle of scorched and burnt earth. In the center of the circle are the charred remains of what looks to be a paladin on her knees, hands at her side looking towards the heavens. Through her chest from behind is a long black blade of a sword. Holy Avenger awakens when you speak its name: Aure’Grief. (Light in Darkness – Elvish)
- There is a dead bones of a giant creature which once was a basilisk with lots of dwarf statues scattered around. This is located somewhere in the northern end of the swamp only. Dwinbar’s companions died here and he was the only one to survive.
- House in the middle of the swamp, could be a home to a hag or lizardfolk
- Sword in the Pond: You find a pond. 10ft deep in the center of the pond is a glowing blue sword. Inside the pond a water elemental patiently waits. The sword is cursed and changes the characters hair color.
- Cabin with Cats: The group stumbles upon an abandoned cabin. A Colony of Undead Cats have laid claim. Any disturbance causes them to stir. Once the cats are killed an Old Lady (hag) approaches the Cabin claiming the group are a bunch of murderer for killing her little kittens.
- The Well: A lonesome well in the middle of the forest. If you listen closely you can hear screams echo from down below. The screams are hallucinations and the bottom of the well is the home to tentacle beast with poison stingers.

I apologize for the horrible formatting. It did not transfer well on my phone.

I'd recommend actually to find ambiance music. Works best if this face-to-face pnp. But it can also be done over the Web as long as your games are live.

Things like light. Music. Ambiance... all can really affect the experience of the players.

Dim the lights. Find deep bog, swamp, jungle noises.

Also think realistically... if you wander through water all day... it will be wet... there will be bugs. . You will be tired. Your clothes will reek of rotten flora. They won't get far each day... unless you have a road.

Good suggestions.
I have music playing depending on the encounter and area along with a visual of the area with illustrations.

Did not think for the bugs, much, water, and smell factor. Might be worth building off.

Also, consider a tribe of Gripplis with hunting parties and such, cause Grippli are awesome.

https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Grippli_(3.5e_Race)

As for the water...

You must remember that in an environment that humid and sodden, things that get wet don't really dry. If you walk through the swamp your socks and boots will be wet basically until you make a fire to dry them or until you leave the swamp, and wet footwear is a fantastic way to ruin your feet, which can lead to any number of diseases as well as severely limiting one's travel speed. Hell even sweat soaked clothes will still be soaked the next few days (speaking from personal experience training in a swamp).

Spending any extended amount of time in that sort of environment is dangerous and altogether a miserable experience for most people. And even people regarded as tough or outdoorsy (my training was in the USMC for example) they still place a high premium on vigilance against things that can do real harm, like the aforementioned wet feet.

If you are going for realism, and your characters aren't expressing a similar vigilance against things they consider inconveniences, it could lead to very very real complications.

Edit: Just realized the stat page gives a poor visual description of a grippli, so here you go.

What do swamp and sewers have in common?

I hate their levels in video games. No swamps in my events.

Giant constrictor - anaconda, lurching in the waters.
A shrine to Moander, the Rotting God, entrance disguised for example as hermit shack, full of carrion crawlers down below.
Feral plants - shouldn't miss these.

Don't forget these bad boys.

Lamprey eels (big leeches).


Photoshopped fish.


And as mentioned... bugs... swarms of mosquito etc. Mind you.... non of the above are nespecially life-threats... but it's a constant bother if you drag yourself through a bog.

Also. Each brake they take or when making camp. Just making the shelter can be an effort. They need to find high ground and make it stable enough to rest. Then they need to check each other for leeches. Ticks or other bloodsuckers. They need to dry their gear so it don't rot. Maybe patch it up a bit. Then there is food that need to be made...

Swamps are horrid. Especially the fantasy types if you try to mimic some examples like the above.

And hey, yes! Checking each other for leeches could be very fun.

Why stop at little leeches. Maybe some magic mutations made some big fat, monster leeches like in King Kong?