If I have this right, the DC to track someone through a swamp/marsh is DC 5, DC 10 if they're trying to hide their tracks.
Does this make sense? I thought that due to the water in swamps that it was very difficult to track someone there. But it seems like it's the easiest place to track someone? In those fugitive movies, they always seem to go hide in a swamp or use it to throw people off their trail.
I must be getting this wrong: but how? Is it my assumption about the difficulty of tracking in this location? Did I get the rules wrong?
Depends on the part and type of swamp.
Lots of grasses in water? Well those being bent and broken will leave a bit of a trail that a keen eye can follow.
Mud swamp with trees/ lots of undergrowth? Again same as the above.
Just a lot of water with mud underneath and an occasional tree? Might be harder... if the water isn't clear.
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Most people wandering through a swamp are not going to wade through the water. That is one of the worst places to be. Tracking someone who is using the peat and land masses as they travel through a swamp should be relatively easy. Tracking someone wading through water would be nearly impossible but they probably will be killed by any number of creatures from water moccasins to crocodiles to bullywogs to black dragons to constrictors like the anaconda.
Most people wandering through a swamp are not going to wade through the water. That is one of the worst places to be. Tracking someone who is using the peat and land masses as they travel through a swamp should be relatively easy. Tracking someone wading through water would be nearly impossible but they probably will be killed by any number of creatures from water moccasins to crocodiles to bullywogs to black dragons to constrictors like the anaconda.
You'd be surprised the risks a person will take to elude pursuit if desperate enough.
I mean, didn't escaped slaves and Florida Indian tribes use swamps as a base that was difficult to find them in?
Where do you get those DCs?
Very soft ground (like walking through mud) is DC 5. "Hard Ground" include streambeds (so probably also if you wade through swamp water) and is DC 20.
Most people wandering through a swamp are not going to wade through the water. That is one of the worst places to be. Tracking someone who is using the peat and land masses as they travel through a swamp should be relatively easy. Tracking someone wading through water would be nearly impossible but they probably will be killed by any number of creatures from water moccasins to crocodiles to bullywogs to black dragons to constrictors like the anaconda.
Precisely. If the player or NPC wants to travel through the water instead of the soft ground, it is their prerogative. It will make tracking them nigh impossible, but they will be moving slower, risking attacks from crocs & snakes, and risk ruining their gear. It is assumed for simplicity's sake that they are traversing the less dangerous ground.
I mean, didn't escaped slaves and Florida Indian tribes use swamps as a base that was difficult to find them in?Not that many rangers in Florida. The main reason most took to the swamps because they were a place where most folks simply did not want to go.
Swamps are also very dangerous for those not familiar with the terrain. Natives of the area will know the waterways and hazards. They will also know where the dangerous animals are. Desperate people may risk the dangers, others will assume that the swamp and gators will get them.
Also, most trackers hunting escaped slaves used dogs. Water can screw up scent trails. A good "visual" tracker is slower, but isn't influenced as much by water.
How do waterways affect your ability to avoid being tracked, under the rules?