A young vampire hunter is patrolling the area with their mentor and a few friends. They discuss their many life problems in life and love.
Simple encounter tables for ports and docks in any fantasy setting. Tables for Cemetery Encounter Prompts, Cemetery Hazards & Distractions and Cemetery Quick NPCs.
Spooky Fantasy - trinkets | tomb encs | all
Fantasy City - all | trinkets | cemetery encs | market encs | port encs | ruins encs | sewer encs | street encs | tavern encs | crowds
[art by Henrik Karppinen]
Fantasy Cemetery and Tomb Encounters
Cemetery and tomb encounters might be a smuggler looking for stashed goods, a meditating mystic or a dog looking after their owner even after they are gone. There might be valuable offerings, a protective ghost or sounds of knocking.
A place of gravestones, bells, and the past, home to nobles mourning lost a lost friend, a death priest carrying flowers and grave robbers. A place of death, memories, eulogies, life, sadness and old smells.
There is a fantasy encounter generator at ChaosGen. There is also a pdf of these and more tables at the DriveThruRPG as Cemetery and Tomb Encounters.
10 Cemetery and Tomb Encounter Prompts
| 1d10 | 10 Cemetery and Tomb Prompts |
|---|---|
| 1 | A destitute family with nowhere else to go shelter here in a tent. |
| 2 | A young vampire hunter is patrolling the area with their mentor and a few friends. They discuss their many life problems in life and love. |
| 3 | A pockmarked smuggler searches for illegal goods a partner hid here. |
| 4 | A pair of devout guards lie in wait for any who dare desecrate the dead. One of them has a hunch that a thief seeks something here. |
| 5 | A lone mystic meditates, seeking understanding among the dead. |
| 6 | A pair of robbers equipped with sacks and digging tools are studying inscriptions, searching for a particular name among the dead. |
| 7 | A mournful dog (or monkey) loiters where their owner was buried. |
| 8 | Several gargoyles watch the area, but feel the pull to go elsewhere. Amongst themselves they discuss politics, rumours and local gossip. |
| 9 | A pair of drunk locals knock on tombstones, searching for a friend. |
| 10 | A handsome priest leads nervous acolytes in a ceremony to reconsecrate the area. They are burning incense and chanting loudly. |
Cemetery Hazards and Distractions
| 1d10 | There is (or are)... |
|---|---|
| 1 | lots of dust, that causes a cloud if disturbed or thunder and lightning |
| 2 | a protection against unwelcome intruders, a(n)... d10 (1-2. warning sign 3. bound ghost 4. alarm bell 5. magical barrier 6. spectral voice 7. curse 8. portcullis 9. unnatural fear 10. spell glyph) |
| 3 | an area animals are afraid to enter or the eulogy of a hero |
| 4 | a headstone with a familiar name or a patch of glowing green mould |
| 5 | there is the strong smell of ... d10 (1-2. incense 3. something dead 4. old flowers 5. mould 6. decay 7. bat guano 8. urine 9. fresh flowers 10. fear) |
| 6 | a disturbance of many bats or a statue holding a magical weapon |
| 7 | valuable offerings here or a cold wind pierced by mournful wailing |
| 8 | sounds of ... d10 (1-2. absolute silence 3. moaning 4. a slamming door 5. knocking 6. chimes 7. rats 8. chanting 9. hissing 10. creaking ) |
| 9 | a luminous candle flame, portent of death or lots of thick webs |
| 10 | a moving statue (or door) which can provide a clue (or cause a curse) |
Quick Cemetery and Tomb NPCs
| 1d10 | Descriptor | Profession | who... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hooded or diseased | warden | carry a heavy tome (or body) |
| 2 | ghostly or desperate | adventurer | is with grim companions |
| 3 | jolly or vampiric | cult leader | recognises (or knows) a character |
| 4 | ghoulish or scared | hermit | is carrying a map and a spade |
| 5 | wary or depressed | necromancer | tends (or searches for) a grave |
| 6 | renegade or undead | fortune teller | carries (or sells) flowers (or relics) |
| 7 | gaunt or singing | grave robber | is marked with a death rune |
| 8 | possessed or hungry | noble | is visiting an ancestor (or pet) |
| 9 | grim or lycanthrope | smuggler | is hunting a spirit (or grave) |
| 10 | cursed or joyous | death priest | is saying goodbye to a friend |
More Encounters
There is a fantasy encounter generator at ChaosGen. There is also a pdf of these and more tables at the DriveThruRPG as Cemetery and Tomb Encounters.
If you liked these there are Fantasy Generators at Chaos Gen, a monthly random tools Newsletter and an instagram of Random Tables.
