" A solitary fox watches from behind iron railings. Anyone watching it for long may detect that it is not what it first seems..."
Simple encounter tables for cemeteries and tombs in any fantasy setting. Tables for Combined Tomb Encounters, Port Tomb Details and Port Tomb Locations.
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
The cemeteries and tombs are where the dead are buried and remembered. A graveyard where people don't enter at night, an underground crypt of a noble family or a walled area outside the city.
Mourners dressed for a funeral by an ornate fountain, a watchful spectral dog on high alert atop a pile of coffins or a necromancer performing a ritual under a belltower.
It's also a place of gargoyles, acolytes, candles, statues, ghouls, bones, tombstones and spirits.
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.
Cemetery and Tomb Combined Encounters
These reference Cemetery tables for Encounter Prompts, Hazards and NPCs
Use 1d6 for normal cemetery, or 1d6+4 for more danger
| 1d10 | Cemetery & Tomb Combined Encounters | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | an obvious (or grim) omen of a death soon to come or roll on Hazards | |
| 2 | a solitary (or ghostly)... d10 (1-2. flock of crows 3. guard dog 4. pony (or rat swarm) 5. feral cat 6. fox 7. bat (or firefly) swarm 8. giant owl 9. vulture 10. animal spirit) | |
| 3 | a nature priest, tending the area and talking to spirits or roll on NPCs | |
| 4 | several (or a pair of)... d10 (1-2. acolytes 3. mourners 4. thugs (or skeletons) 5. stonemasons 6. smugglers 7. locals 8. restless spirits 9. refugees 10. guards) | |
| 5 | a family loudly remember a dead relative or roll on Enc. Descriptions | |
| 6 | a watchful (or talkative) protector, a(n)... d10 (1-2. priest 3. guardian statue 4. old warrior 5. undead guard 6. spectral dog 7. watch ghost 8. gargoyle 9. poltergeist 10. dryad) | |
| 7 | potent protective glyphs that warn and then harm or roll on Hazards | |
| 8 | a few (or many)... d10 (1-2. specters 3. giant rats 4. tomb robbers 5. animated objects 6. cultists 7. giant spiders 8. ghouls 9. wisps 10. undead guardians) | |
| 9 | a pious warrior looking for guidance for their future or roll on NPCs | |
| 10 | a potential (or signs of a) danger, a(n)... d10 (1-2. necromancer 3. shadow demon 4. wight 5. hungry spirit 6. group of skeletons 7. wraith 8. were-creature 9. mimic 10. revenant) |
Cemetery and Tomb Encounter Details
Use 1d6 for beasts or non-sentient creatures.
| 1d10 | They are... (or one is...) |
|---|---|
| 1 | on high alert or bearing the mark of a deity of death |
| 2 | waiting for... d10 (1-2. death 3. a friend 4. something impossible 5. a priest 6. a spirit 7. the party 8. the end of something 9. guidance 10. a lover) |
| 3 | harassed by spirits or cursed to stay in the area |
| 4 | wary of (or attracted to) holy symbols; or serving another creature |
| 5 | digging up (or burying something); or able to extinguish open flames |
| 6 | not what they first seem or the source of an important clue |
| 7 | currently... d10 (1-2. weeping 3. reading 4. praying 5. possessed 6. injured 7. making repairs 8. on patrol 9. chanting 10. thinking) |
| 8 | performing a ritual (or a burial rite); or spying on someone else |
| 9 | dressed for a funeral or screaming at something only they can see |
| 10 | studying inscriptions (or carvings); or not meant to be here |
Cemetery and Tomb Encounter Locations
Use or 1d6+4 for indoors or underground.
| 1d10 | Area, a(n)... | Feature, a(n)... | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | fenced mausoleum (or garden) | burning torch or rusty grate | |
| 2 | grove (or line) of trees | patch of ferns or pool of water | |
| 3 | boundary wall (or fence) | memorial plaque or bone shrine | |
| 4 | grey belltower or huge yew tree | pile of coffins (or bones); or graffiti | |
| 5 | cobbled (or overgrown) pathway | lifelike statue (or bust) of the dead | |
| 6 | mossy tomb (or monument) | story told in carvings or cracked slab | |
| 7 | foreboding temple (or statue) | stone altar (or bench); or trapdoor | |
| 8 | ornate fountain (or stone arch) | metal (or secret) door or bronze bell | |
| 9 | stairway down or iron railing | line of candles or book on a chain | |
| 10 | line of graves (or grim statues) | decorated column or sarcophagus |
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 Generators at Chaos Gen and a monthly random tools Newsletter. Or find us on the Rand Roll Discord or an instagram of Random Tables.
