Tombs & Crypts - The Dungeon Alternative or Grave Robbing For Fun & Profit

 Today was one of those days where reaching back into the stacks & archives looking across the early Dragon magazines especially issue The Dragon Magazine, Issue 9 Single Issue Magazine - January 1, 1977. 
And the reason for this quick run through is 'Tombs & Crypts' by James M. Ward; " The mystery, challenge and pleasure of any wargamer in discovering and opening a tomb of some unknown being is well known to those that have done it. The creation of these tombs can be a very drawn out, head scratching process for the judge"

'Tombs & Crypts' presents a random generator for creating your own random tombs & crypts. And theres are several reasons that these are important. 'Tombs & Crypts' are not dungeons they present a rather interesting dungeon alternative to the larger dungeons. They can be easily trapped, they could have guardians, & could belong to an older order of beings then the PC's. Tombs & Crypts are also offer an interesting alternative to the ususal dungeons. And even the crypt's wiki definition offers even more insight into crypt itself; "A crypt (from Latin crypta "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics.

Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a church, such as at the Abbey of Saint-Germain en Auxerre, but were later located beneath chancel, naves and transepts as well. Occasionally churches were raised high to accommodate a crypt at the ground level, such as St Michael's Church in Hildesheim, Germany." 

Visigothic crypt of Saint Antoninus Palencia Cathedral (Spain) 
Photo by Valdavia 

Tombs & Crypts were once the old school alternative to dungeons for several reasons: 

1. These adventure locations can be played in a few sesssions
2. There are logical reasons for treasures & artifacts connected with the dead 
3. Monster guardians can easily be connected with modern or ancient religions allowing the PC's to get themselves in scads of trouble. 
4. Cults & religions are going to mantain these tombs & crypts allowing many NPC's to be on the PC's trail. 
5. Tombs & crypts could pop up just about anywhere from country grave yards to full on urban cityscapes. 
6. Tombs & crypts are the bread & butter of grave robbers. And they present a new opportunity for PC's. 

The grand daddy of all old school tombs is of course Gary Gygax's s1 'Tomb of Horrors '.  This adventure module is the exception & not the rule. The design goal here being the death of any high level PC that runs across it. But the village of Hommlet itself is equally important as it presents an adventure frame work & support for S1's tomb. 

 The tomb itself is a grand grave or it can be according to the tomb wiki entry; "A tomb (Greek: τύμβος tumbos^[1]) is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called immurement, and is a method of final disposition, as an alternative to cremation or burial." 
So there are all kinds of places of burial that can be used by the dungeon master to screw with their player's minds. 

Even primitive tombs can be the remains of far more then the players bargained for as ancient sorceries & magicks remain able to create all manner of havoc on the PC's. And if we look back into 'Tombs & Crypts' by James M. Ward then the DM can present all manner of randomly generated tombs & crypts in ancient grave yards, or even mantained graveyards where the tomb of a rich wizard presents a very tempting target for PC's on the look out for loot. 

Amazingly Exploiting S1 Tomb Of Horrors By Gary Gygax

"In the far reaches of the world, under a lost and lonely hill, lies the sinister Tomb of Horrors. This labyrinthine crypt is filled with terrible traps, strange and ferocious monsters, rich and magical treasures, and somewhere within rests the evil Demi-Lich. "

While the Gilded & Brass age explodes across America & the dark eyes of corruption rear its head in the far fringes of the world. Another ancient tomb in deepest & most remote parts of the world takes on all challengers for the amusement of its 'immortal' owner. He's lay in the deepest parts of the world & time has passed him by as blood & amusement have been his only companion. You know the official history of S1 Tomb of Horrors; "S1: "Tomb of Horrors" (1978), by Gary Gygax, is the first "Special" adventure for AD&D. It was likely published in fall 1978." But what if S1 was real & has been attracting adventurers since before the sinking of Atlantis. 


During the  "Great Game" period of Kazakhstan the clock began to tick for the Great demi lich in his dungeon; The Tsars were getting very tired of upstart adventurers & outlaws coming into their terrority to challenge their mettle against the ancient tomb. 'The "Great Game" period is generally regarded as running from approximately 1813 to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. The tsars effectively ruled over most of the territory belonging to what is now the Republic of Kazakhstan.' The tomb was officially purged in 1920 as a part of a program of the Soviet Union; "Soviet repression of the traditional elite, along with forced collectivisation in the late 1920s and 1930s, brought famine and high fatalities, leading to unrest (see also: Famine in Kazakhstan of 1932–33).^[37][38] During the 1930s, some members of the Kazakh cultured society were executed — as part of the policies of political reprisals pursued by the Soviet government in Moscow." But even that might not have been the end of the tomb & its legendary ruler. There was evidence that while the 'program' may have seemed successful  the evil wizard Acererak continued to be a major world influence right till the end of WW1! 


Agents of his continued to recruit & challenge adventurers, capes, magus, cult heads, heads of state, & countless others. His was a reign that saw cruelty & horror taken to new levels as his 'murder maze' claimed thousands of lives. Many came to challenge their mettle against the tomb & many more died without claiming the glory & the riches that they so thought they deserved.

Miniatures from Renegade who appear to have gone..


S1 Tomb of Horrors is the lynch pin nega dungeon adventure for Pulp adventuring. This is the adventure that has challenged generations of players & its perfectly made to challenge capes, outlaws, & every type of adventurer who comes along. This is the secret that everyone knows among certain circles of tomb raiders & relic hunters. the evil wizard Acererak agents continue to roam the Earth in search of  those who wish to test their mettle against the tomb. the Tsars & officials of Kazakhstan are given treasure to look the other way.
Three books from Castles & Crusades come to mind besides Amazing Adventures!rpg & the AA! companion. Monsters & Treasure for Castles & Crusades, The Haunted Highlands, & Castles & Crusades Codex Slavorum  for doing a much deeper adventure & gaming background to the placement of S1 Tomb of Horrors. 




The wild untamed & horrors of the wilderness is perfectly suited to do the naked frontier town feel of the area of the early Gilded Age & Pre WW1 Kazakhstan. Right now there's giant sale on over at Troll Lords . 

There are couple of reasons for putting s1 Tomb of Horrors into a Pulp campaign:

1. The tomb stands as a direct connection to the 'Time when the oceans drank Atlantis'. So it give the campaign more weight. 
2. The frontier feel of this type of campaign & wilderness could stretch players to their limits. 
3. Perfect timing to give that old Raiders of the Lost Ark feel. 
4. There's a certain amount of Saw style horror lurking around the edges of this module. 
5. the evil wizard Acererak is the unseen hand moving behind the scenes of an AA! rpg campaign is going to be the unknown quality & power in the world. His influence could be very nasty indeed. 
6. Recovering relics & treasures lost by other adventurers could make this one a real issue. 
7. Could the evil wizard Acererak be operating well into the 50's or even 70's having a hand in a new Cold War 
8. Could the Russians actually call in the adventurers to help clear out the tomb. 
9. Several monsters might actually escape the tomb to cause all kinds of havoc. 
10. The evil wizard Acererak twisted & evil soul might make the tomb sentient & it become a hazard & danger to all around it. Perhaps even a world wide horror. .

Beyond S1 The Tomb of Horrors & More OSR Sword & Sorcery Campaign Commentary

'Well the place is cleared out & all of the horrors are gone never to cause the people of keep anymore trouble.' 
'Did you hear that rumbling in here last night?'
'Scary wasn't it'
'Grab the last of the loot will ya?'
'Say that stone door wasn't there before was it?!'
'We'd better go tell the bosses about that'
'Wouldn't want to get ambushed or anything by those demon pig bastards things again!'
'And did you smell those & what was with that weird squealing. And say did you hear that?'



So the PC's have solved the mysteries of  B2 The Keep On The Borderlands but lets talk about the fact that a mysterious door may have opened that leads to a massively long tunnel that pops into one of the most dire places imaginable.
Hopefully the PC's have secured both T1 The Village of Hommlet & B2 The Keep On The Borderland otherwise this adventure path isn't going to work. The evil wizard Acererak is a perfect example of the sort of Clark Ashton Smith style demi god wizard in the mold of all powerful sorcerer Maal Dweb. After recently having read Greg Gorgonmilk's CAS collection I've concluded certain things. Acererak has three things going for him as the vile villain who to maintains several of the dungeons of classic era TSR. He has the time, money, & minions to economically deal with these projects as well as see the resurrection of T1-4.


S1 came out in 1975 when it debuted at the 1975 Origins 1 convention & designed specifically to challenge players & their PC's. It could be used under the moons of Saturn to remove any high level interference for this pet project of Acererak. Also the tomb would have to be within eye shot of the Hyperborean capital to maintain it. Hyperborea is perfect for S1 because of its ironic sense of weirdness & terror. Why would Acererak maintain the caves of Chaos & the dungeons under B10 Night's Dark Terror as well direct his newly hatched orcs & goblins? Sheer boredom & as a project to grow the Temple of Elemental Evil's influence. In other words because he can!

"Natanasna:
I mean but this, that you the king have filled
More tombs than I the outlawed necromancer
Have ever emptied, and detest not idly
The raising of dead men. Would you have me summon
For witness here against you the grey shade
Of Famostan your father, in his bath
Slain by the toothed envenomed fish from Taur
Brought privily and installed by you? Or rather
Would you behold your brother Aladad,
Whose huntsmen left him with a splintered spear
At your instruction, to confront the fen-cat
That he had merely pricked? Yet these would be
Only the heralds of that long dark file
Which you have hurried into death."
The Dead Will Cockhold You By
Clark Ashton Smith

So why open the tomb after B10 Night's Dark Terror & the caves of chaos's monster generators have been cleaned out?! Because the party of adventurers are interesting threats & rivals coming up the long ladder. Its another game played by an insane immortal undead wizard & no doubt he's doubling down on the player's PC's greed.

My question becomes who else is going to wake up once the Tomb of Horrors becomes active?  There are many wizards who may have survived the events of  Ragnarok  & the Green Death. These Hyperborean wizards may have had plans of their own set off by fail safes once the Temple of Elemental Evil becomes active again. This might also help explain the presence of the FORGOTTEN FANE of the COILED GODDESS 
adventure location.




There was suggestions from a friend of mine to place an alternative set of caverns near the Tomb, he suggested the Classic Blue Cavern Tile sets for Dungeon Crafter from Dragon foot.com as a possible side quest. They are free so use them as you like.

I'm by no means done with using classic modules on Hyperborea but for the moment I'm going to wrap this up. Work has been causing my blog posting schedule to change at the drop of a hat. But I do think that the undead horror known as Acererak is an excellent addition to Hyperborea.

For now keep em rolling!

All artwork used without permission for the purposes of this blog post within the bounds of fair use.
All commentary is mine &  North wind publishing nor Dragon's foot.com have any influence upon this blog post. This blog post is for entertainment & educational purposes only.

Commentary On S1 Tomb of Horrors 's Nega Dungeon As Sword & Sorcery Campaign Build Anchor

So last night I put my focus on the excellent Beyond The Black Gate Blog's
Sword & Sorcery Greyhawk entries from 2010. If you haven't read those I would strongly suggest you do. They really do refocus the classic Greyhawk campaign setting into a viable sword & sorcery setting perfect for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. But reading through them got me thinking about the original Tomb of Horrors adventure (1978) by Gary Gygax. Now over the last couple of days I've been rereading a lot of Clark Ashton Smith & turning over in my mind how S1 is put together. Where its placement is and its form and function. This relates to my sword & sorcery version of Greyhawk which doesn't have quite the same style as Beyond The Black Gate's S&S setting because of its relationship with AS&SH.



I've been putting a lot of thought into Acererak the power behind S1 Tomb of Horrors, I've reviewed & made another commentary about S1 a while back.No I've been thinking about Acererak's rise to power & what function the Tomb of Horrors might have on the greater world around it. What got me thinking about this was reading through Wiki on Greyhawk characters;"Acererak first appears in the original Tomb of Horrors adventure (1978) by Gary Gygax as the main adversary. One of the areas in the Tomb is a "Chapel of Evil", described as "obviously some form of temple area - there are scenes of normal life painted on the walls, but the people have rotting flesh, skeletal hands, worms eating them, etc."^[2]:5 The adventure described him as "a human magic-user/cleric of surpassing evil" who took the steps necessary to preserve his life force as the lich, Acererak."  Now supposedly he was/is a half fiend which fits the Howard ideals for villains. So going on that could the Tomb actually be a celebrated right of passage for warriors,adventurers, & kings that have come to a cross roads in their careers or reigns? There might be a bit of the Aztec mythology about it.

Imagine if you will that the Tomb of Horrors is part of a world religion whose form and function is to keep the 'universe' moving. Occasionally it needs the blood of kings & idiots to keep the machinery oiled. Acererak the Devourer is described as a cambion which makes the traps, tricks, etc. all part of the torture & torment of those who enter the Tomb as a part of the machinery of the place. All of this might be part of a grand event where the souls of those who enter are used to keep life moving. Entire economies & infrastructure could be built around this sort of step up. The tomb might not be isolated at all but used as a part of state instituted religion ala some of the set up we've seen in various Robert Howard Conan stories. This could explain who resets the traps, why their maintained,etc. " The player characters must battle their way past a variety of monsters and traps, with the ultimate goal of destroying Acererak." But why?!? Could Acererak the Devourer actually be a sacred king whose a symbolic figure head who for the last eight hundred years has been a title given to various victims?Those who become the next victim of the demi lich's religion? Could the PC's actually be the ones to replace the demi lich as the next rex Nemorensis? Could the soul of the hero or last man standing be the fuel for the spirit of the demi lich? Yeah, I think so. It puts a whole different spin on the proceedings as only the most cunning, dangerous, and intelligent might be able to navigate all those tricks and traps. Acererak the Devourer might be a  "dying and reviving god" whose inner mysteries actually depend upon adventurers,outlaw,& kings being stupid enough to navigate his creation. Given the number of rulers in history whose egos would trap them this sort of an event. S1 would have a waiting list a mile long. In fact this whole thing could act as the center lynch pin for an entire campaign. High level PC's making the journey to the tomb to take on its demi lich ruler for the 'ultimate' prize.



This is a guy whose got eternity to play with so not only can he expand upon his tomb but he's got plenty of time to expand upon his bloodlines, family position, and even role out monsters to guard his domains. So what does all this mean to Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea? Well two possible things, the Tomb & is environs might be a part of one of the far flung outer regions say along the rim of  Diamond Desert making Acererak the Devourer an ancient Hyperborean ruler before the Green Death. Or more interesting the invitation to S1 is announced each year as a part of a festival in which only the bravest (stupidist) rulers are given passage through one of the Borea gates into Greyhawk where S1 The Tomb of Horrors awaits them. 

Commentary On S1 Tomb of Horrors 's Nega Dungeon As Campaign Build For Adventurer, Conqueror, King & Your Old School Campaigns

In the far reaches of the world, under a lost and lonely hill, lies the sinister Tomb of Horrors. This labyrinthine crypt is filled with terrible traps, strange and ferocious monsters, rich and magical treasures, and somewhere within rests the evil Demi-Lich.

Recently I've been thinking about the infamous Tomb of Horrors module, I'm fascinated by it in a number of ways. First a bit of background courtesy of Wiki;"Tomb of Horrors was written by Gary Gygax for official D&D tournament play at the 1975 Origins 1 convention.^[3][5][6] Gygax developed the adventure from an idea by Alan Lucien, one of his original AD&D playtesters, "and I admit to chuckling evilly as I did so."^[7] Gygax designed the Tomb of Horrors modules for two related purposes. First, Gygax explains, "There were several very expert players in my campaign, and this was meant as yet another challenge to their skill—and the persistence of their theretofore-invincible characters. Specifically, I had in mind foiling Rob Kuntz's PC, Robilar, and Ernie Gygax's PC, Tenser." Second, so that he was "ready for those fans [players] who boasted of having mighty PCs able to best any challenge offered by the AD&D game."
So right away this was one of the high level tournament style modules with the special 'S' designation. Once again this is a competition module that was used at the D&D Seventy Five Origins convention. I would have been just a touch young back then to attend. I was about five back then. I didn't get introduced to the infamous tomb until about Eighty One or so. There was one very important influence on how I perceived the S1 Tomb of Horrors Adventure. His name was Indiana Jones. Alright so the family dog's name was Indiana but we didn't get to know that till Last Crusade.

What would the Tomb of Horrors really mean in a campaign setting? I think personally it would be a legendary place a sort of tomb of legend such as the tomb of Alexander The Great or Genghis Khan's final resting place.  Think about it, the demi-lich Acererak has got to be one of his world's most infamous wizards & tyrants. He's not trying to simply keep his treasures & relics, he's trying to kill the adventurers dead with all kinds of tricks and traps. But why? Well because he's keeping himself amused & entertained throughout the centuries. The tomb is one more project ahead of him, he's got eternity ahead of him & possibly to him this is the greatest chess game of all time. He's got one of the greatest egos of all time so why not test your mettle against some of the greatest thieves, cut throats & murderers that society can produce?



The tomb isn't just some nega dungeon to draw PC's to their death; no this place is a giant sink of ego spanning evil that plays a giant game of chess with the campaign setting. I've written about Dwimmermount having earth shaking connections well think about this. You've got a giant animated chess board of a tomb that continues operations & a wizard whose probably at one point in his life conquered half of his world to build this thing. He's going to have entire blood lines running around with all kinds of 'Game of Thrones' style NPC's murdering each other, petty kingdoms ruled by family members, main court murders, affairs of power etc. Perhaps Acererak got tired of court life & ruler ship & simply retired to the tomb? Naw, I think he's ruling from the shadows through a number of proxies.  This is where Dark Albion could come in very handy to set up the types of intrigues & double dealing that the Tomb could inspire.


The thing to remember about Tomb of Horrors is not only the legend & mythology of the place but its fame. This is a competition module & its one that has a reputation that it deserves; the freaking thing is deadly. Could such a place be built in the real world and if so where? I think that China or Mongolia might be the places where this tomb would be built and maintained.
But why?


The dungeon of the demi-lich Acererak is being maintained so that the demi lich can eliminate his potential rivals with little issue to himself. I've been rereading Adventurer, Conqueror, King & Dark Albion this is just the type of tactic that an evil megalomaniac wizard would do. He'd be using his country's GDP to create just such an enterprise and then maintain it. Why? Well in ACK's terms this place would be a 'sink of evil' where magic is going to be easier to cast. He's got a steady supply of sacrifices to the gods that maintain his lichdom & he's got an eternity of bloody murder for entertainment. But to what end?


You've got to think outside the box here. This is a guy whose got eternity to play with so not only can he expand upon his tomb but he's got plenty of time to expand upon his bloodlines, family position, and even role out monsters to guard his domains. Using the ancient China analogy here  Acererak could play this cat & mouse game with his entire country using monsters, lairs, politics to pull his power together. This is something that Adventurer, Conqueror, King's Monsters & Lairs has a ton of rules and systems for just this sort of play.


Tomb of Horrors can be used to build an entire campaign around with the right view point & looking at the long term goals of the players & PC's. The challenge is to create an engaging & pulpy feel to this wonderfully classic nega dungeon. Right now is a great time to pick up any of the ACK's titles. The entire system is well done and offers tons of options, systems, and more for OSR style play!  This bundle is for a great cause & you get some really top draw quality products.

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