Some Places in a Swamp
I have started work on a hexcrawl for Delta Green (or a similar modern investigation game.) It's going to take place in a big ol' swamp that is somewhere in the American South. The overarching conspiracies are not clear to me yet but I do want to focus on exploitation of the environment, vice, smuggling, and the kinds of people who get by in the forgotten margins of places. Nothing is set in stone but I want to share some hexes.
1
A truly impressive piece of granite protrudes from the muck. Two smaller boulders and a more oblong rock jut out. The peak is about 8 feet from the surface of the water. The rocks have been spray painted into a crude approximation of a human dick and balls. This is Cock Rock. Some say a crazed sculptor retired here in the swamp (rumor), some say it's a natural geographic formation (rumor), and a few select people say it's the eyes and nose of a petrified giant (true).
Timeline note: Local artists will come here to paint and adorn the cock with appropriate holiday cheer.
2
A plaque rests besides an overgrown bust. The expression is sneering as the man's tiny glasses slip from the bridge of his nose. Growth covers the bronze wig. Benches and flower beds have atrophied into large bushes. 2 in 6 chance that there is a dime bag of stems tucked behind the head.
Peter Maxwell Fairview French Philosopher, American Pioneer. "A duty rests on the shoulders of the educated to chart this inhospitable dampness. To bring society from chaos is Man's true divine purpose." - Letter to wife 1824 In smaller letters "Built by the Blanchet Preservation Cultural Group."
APAB is scratched into the surface of the plaque.
3
Mangroves warped to make a crude cave. Strands of light press into the stretched skin lair of the beast. 20% chance it is there in the dark, dull orbs waiting. Crude fetishes of an enormous lizard stick out of heaping mounds of dung. On a full moon the creature returns to its village to weep.
Ancient beast: Scales over metal, teeth arrayed like scalpels, hands extending from an animal's body. Pleading, holding you. Drowning is a mercy.
4
Fish, birds, and a few bigger lizards float dead in the still water. A sophisticated dispersal apparatus is bolted to an underwater pipe, making the bubble pop before hitting the surface. Blackened vines like licorice crumble off of dying trees. Robust surveillance equipment is set into the trunks and canopy. After 2d6 minutes a pair of men on an airboat will shoot to disperse. To kill if "trespassers" do not flee. Camo pants, NASCAR lightning graphic shirts, and a big ol' dip bucket. Inside the craft are level IV plate carriers, an M249 LMG, and a LAW. An encrypted radio is hidden in a cooler.
Undercover Security 65%
5
Joe's SNO-n-GO in stenciled letters over a cartoon frog gobbling down a Tiger's Blood Sno Cone while also filling up his boat with gas. A bustling floating marina has been shuttered due to local ordinances about food safety(rumor). Fuel reserves still have about a 100 gallons left. Three docks, a canteen, and a maintenance building. Three corpses hang from hooks in the freezer. Ruined beyond traditional methods of identification. Inside the smallest corpse there is a corroded plastic bag with three nearly ruined IDs. One is completely illegible expect for a photo of a bored looking 20 year old kid (Buzz cut, high cheekbones, Black, wire rimmed glasses, silver cross piercing in left ear). Another Wendy Valenzuela, the picture is ruined on this one. The last has all personal information ruined save for Oklahoma State Student ID printed across the top alongside a dumb cartoon cowboy.
6
Two single wide trailers have been lashed to an admittedly elaborate construction of buoys and barrels. A "yard" has been fenced off in the water with chain link fence above and below the water line. A beware of dog sign hangs from a fence post. Violent movement every so often disturbs the still water. Clarke sells parts for boats and is an adept mechanic. He knows about the dumping going on but is worried about reprisals so keeps his mouth shut. Waders, well cared for white dress shirts, and an LSU ball cap are his day to day attire. - Clarke: Best guy to ever know if you have a piece of shit boat. Do not bring up TCU or Alabama around him. Nervous about an end, but not sure which is coming. Boat freak 60%
7
Strands like spun steel stretch around the trunks of trees. Bones, primarily large ones, dangle. Disturbing the web will cause 3d6 bones to fall. Shattering into a mist, the chime like noise will cause the web to twist and bounce.
Come the next night anyone marked by the bone dust will be hounded by tiny spiders. Their bites cause huge boils that fill with stagnant blood. Popping these will bring the attention of the Matriarch. She will wait as long as she needs to until they are completely alone.