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My campaign began as a swamp-based sandbox with hints of Golarion in the process of 'moving on' ala the Dark Tower books. Possibly culminating in a stand off with The King in Yellow. Following a few adventures, I am considering offering the PCs the opportunity to turn the small village of Baton Morte into a new kingdom in the Sodden Lands.
Does anyone want to offer suggestions about the kingdom building rules for a disease infested marsh? Do I drain swamps for farming? Or have them farm algae that can be pressed into food? Fish farms?
Or is the unforgiving swamp just too much to build a kingdom around.
Swamps can provide a lot of food - think Cajun cuisine in the Mississippi delta, or the Nile valley -- but most of it will be fish or marsh animals. Also, road construction should be really difficult, or sending tax collectors. :)
Can I assume that roads can be substituted by secured pirogue (or kayak) routes? More challenging for a caravan though I suppose. Barges?
I would make it very difficult to build roads through swamps. Clearing boat routes is possible but requires considerable upkeep (the plants grow back); if you're just building boats and support structures that would be buildings in the game map, not roads. There's a reason why most swamp areas are considered primitive backwaters -- Cajun Louisiana, the Wash in England, etc. -- unless major engineering happens (cf. the Netherlands).
I generally assume that the rules are for wood buildings -- brick buildings would be x2 the cost, stone buildings probably x3 or x5, and underground ones x10 unless you have a major cave system already in place.) This doesn't much affect the game rules but may make a difference when it comes to dealing with disasters (fire, earthquake) or war (brick would have a slightly increased defense, stone a considerably increased one). But now we're well into house-rule territory.