OSR Sword & Sorcery Undead Encounter Tables with Rumors, Relics and Boss Monsters For Especially Castles & Crusades & Other Old School Games

In the tradition of Howard, Leiber, and Smith, undead in a Sword & Sorcery setting shouldn't just be "stat blocks"—they should be atmospheric, grotesque, and often tied to ancient, forgotten sins.

Here is a D100 Random Encounter Table designed for grim, low-fantasy grit.

D100 Sword & Sorcery Undead Encounters

Roll	Encounter Description
01-05	The Salt-Caked Rowers: 2d6 skeletons of galley slaves, still chained to an oar-bench that has washed ashore. They "row" rhythmically in the sand, attacking anyone who breaks their pace.
06-10	The Laughter in the Mist: A pale, translucent youth (Ghost) follows the party. He does not attack but laughs hysterically whenever a PC takes damage or fails a check.
11-15	Ghouls of the Ossuary: 1d6 Ghouls feeding on a "fresh" pile of ancient, sun-bleached bones. They offer the party a "sweet marrow" (actually a finger bone) as a sign of neutrality.
16-20	The Copper-Eyed Sentinel: A single Wight in rusted bronze armor guards a bridge. It demands a "toll of memories"—the player must sacrifice a proficiency or a piece of lore to pass.
21-25	The Shambling Mound of Men: 3d6 Zombies sewn together into a singular, rolling mass of limbs. It moves with surprising speed and reeks of vinegar and old blood.
26-30	The Shadow of the Peak: A Shadow that looks exactly like one of the PCs. It attempts to "steal" the PC's actual shadow, leaving them unable to cast one in the sun.
31-35	The Hanging Revenant: A man hanging from a tree by a silver chain. He is undead but sentient; he will grant one secret in exchange for being cut down with a magical blade.
36-40	The Wine-Drunk Lich: An ancient Sorcerer-King who has lost his mind. He sits in a ruined gazebo drinking "wine" (dust). He is non-hostile unless the "wine" is insulted.
41-45	The Crawling Carpet: Hundreds of severed, animated hands (Crawling Claws) carpet the floor of a corridor. They don't bite; they try to trip and drag the party into a pit.
46-50	The Mournful Chariot: A skeletal horse pulling a black carriage. Inside is a Mummy who believes they are still being driven to their wedding. They demand the party act as bridesmaids/groomsmen.
51-55	The Blood-Slicked Wraith: A Wraith that can only manifest inside a pool of fresh blood. It goads the party to kill each other so it has a larger "body" to inhabit.
56-60	The Hollow Legion: A phalanx of 10 Skeletons marching in perfect silence. They ignore the party unless a light source is brought within 5 feet of their commander.
61-65	The Cannibal Priest: A Ghast dressed in tattered high-priest robes. He is performing a mock "blessing" over a pile of corpses. If interrupted, he attempts to "baptize" a PC in filth.
61-70	The Frozen High-King: A Wight encased in a block of magical ice. If thawed, he immediately demands to know if "The Great Serpent" has been slain.
71-75	The Banshee of the Well: A spirit trapped in a dry well. Her wail causes the party's water skins to turn to sand and their rations to rot instantly.
76-80	The Jar of Eyes: A floating crystal jar containing 1d12 preserved eyes. The eyes belong to a Beholder Zombie; they fire random rays if the jar is shaken.
81-85	The Plague-Carrier: A bloated Zombie that radiates a 10-foot aura of disease. Every time it takes damage, it sprays a cloud of necrotic bile (Dex save or poisoned).
86-90	The Bone-Naga’s Riddle: A skeletal serpent guarding a treasure. It offers a trade: it will give up its hoard if the party can tell it a story it hasn't heard in 1,000 years.
91-95	The Mirror-Possessed: A Ghost trapped inside a hand-mirror. It offers to scout ahead for the party by "jumping" into the reflections of their eyes, but it slowly drains their Charisma.
96-99	The Eternal Duelists: Two skeletal warriors locked in a duel that has lasted centuries. If the party intervenes, both turn and attack the "interlopers" with uncanny coordination.
100	The Titan’s Hand: The massive, skeletal hand of a dead god rises from the earth. It creates a localized earthquake and summons 2d10 skeletons to its "palm."

Tips for Running S&S Undead:

The "Why" Matters: In Sword & Sorcery, undead are usually the result of a curse, a foul ritual, or a refusal to die. Mention the smell of old spices, the rattle of bronze jewelry, or the specific "wrongness" of their movement.
Avoid the "Meat Shield": Even a basic skeleton should be scary. Give them a special trait, like "Brittle Rebirth" (the skeleton reforms 1 round after being "killed" unless holy water or salt is used).

To complement the horrors you've just rolled up, this loot table focuses on items that feel heavy with history, slightly cursed, or decadently macabre. In a Sword & Sorcery world, treasure should be as much a burden as it is a reward.

D100 Gothic & Macabre Loot

Roll	Item Description
01-05	The Widow’s Weeds: A heavy black silk veil. Wearing it allows the user to see into the Ethereal Plane, but they hear the constant, deafening weeping of the previous owner.
06-10	Opium of the Grave: 1d4 vials of a grey powder. When inhaled, it grants "death-trance" (mimics Feign Death), but the user ages 1 year per use.
11-15	The Aristocrat’s Dentures: A set of teeth made entirely of carved ivory and small rubies. Worth 300gp, but the wearer finds they can only swallow liquids.
16-20	Shattered Saint’s Finger: A mummified finger wrapped in gold wire. It acts as a one-time Scroll of Protection from Evil, crumbling to ash after use.
21-25	The Blood-Wine Decanter: A crystal bottle that turns any water poured into it into a thick, metallic-tasting wine. It provides nourishment but causes vivid nightmares of the abyss.
26-30	Silver-Tipped Funeral Stakes: 1d6 stakes carved from rowan wood. They deal an extra 1d6 damage to vampires and ghouls.
31-35	The Ledger of Sins: A book bound in human skin that lists the names and crimes of everyone in the nearest city. Half the pages are still blank.
36-40	Black Salt Pouch: A small bag of volcanic salt. When sprinkled in a circle, no low-level undead can cross the line for 1 hour.
41-45	The Raven-Headed Cane: A heavy ironwood cane. The raven’s eyes are obsidian. It can be used as a club; on a critical hit, it emits a terrifying croak that may frighten foes.
46-50	Locket of the Departed: Contains a lock of hair that stays warm to the touch. It vibrates when undead are within 30 feet.
51-55	Jar of Grave-Mold: A pungent fungus. If thrown as a grenade, it creates a 5ft cloud that obscures vision and causes living creatures to retch.
56-60	The Inquisitor’s Monocle: A cracked lens. Looking through it reveals if a person is "tainted" (diseased, cursed, or possessed), but it causes a splitting headache.
61-65	Censer of Pale Smoke: A bronze burner. When lit with funeral incense, the smoke takes the form of the last person who died in the room.
66-70	The Executed Man’s Rope: A 10-foot coil of hangman’s hemp. It is preternaturally strong and knots itself automatically when it senses a "guilty" soul.
71-75	Ornate Bone Dice: Carved from the knuckles of a gambler. They always roll high, but if you win money with them, you lose an equal amount of "luck" (Disadvantage on your next save).
71-80	Vial of Liquid Night: A pitch-black ink. If smeared on a blade, the weapon becomes "Ghost-Touch" for 1 minute, hitting incorporeal spirits.
81-85	The Music Box of Macabre Melodies: Plays a tune so depressing that listeners must make a Will/Wis save or be Slowed for 1 round.
86-90	The Taxidermied Bat: A stiff, preserved bat. If fed a drop of the user's blood, it flies for 10 minutes to scout before crumbling into dust.
91-95	Ring of the Catacomb: A heavy lead signet ring. It allows the wearer to "speak" with a corpse, but the corpse can only answer with questions of its own.
96-99	The Ancestral Blade: A rusted longsword. It deals +1 damage for every dead relative of the wielder currently in the room (including those the wielder killed).
100	The Death-Mask of a Sorcerer: A cold, silver mask. Wearing it sets your Charisma to 18 for social checks with the undead, but to 3 for the living.

Flavoring the Loot

In a Sword & Sorcery game, Gold is Boring. Give the treasure a story:

Instead of "100 Gold Pieces," describe them as "100 stained coins from a dead empire, stamped with the face of a king who was eaten by his own court."
Instead of a "+1 Sword," call it "The Dirge-Blade, a rusted iron falchion that hums with the sound of a funeral bell."

In a world of Sword & Sorcery, a piece of loot is rarely just sitting in a chest. It's usually the subject of a tavern-shouted warning, a dying man’s last words, or a cryptic inscription on a tomb wall.

Here is a D100 Rumor Table to provide hooks for the items and encounters previously generated.

D100 Loot & Legend Rumors

Roll	The Rumor...
01-05	They say the Widow’s Weeds wasn't woven; it grew from the hair of a queen who watched her city burn for forty days.
06-10	The Opium of the Grave is actually the ground-up dreams of those who died in their sleep. Inhale too much, and you'll never wake up.
11-15	A merchant in the southern docks is buying Aristocrat’s Dentures. He doesn't want the gold; he wants the secrets still "stuck" between the teeth.
16-20	The Shattered Saint wasn't a saint at all—he was a thief who stole a god’s favor. The finger still points toward his hidden stash.
21-25	Don't drink from the Blood-Wine Decanter during a full moon. They say the wine turns back into the blood of the man who owned it last.
26-30	The Rowan Wood Stakes were carved from the tree where the First Vampire was pinned. They hunger for the heart of his descendants.
31-35	If your name appears in the Ledger of Sins, the Ink-Wraiths will find you before the month is out.
36-40	The Black Salt isn't salt at all—it's the ashes of a burned library of necromancy. It doesn't repel undead; it reminds them of their own death.
41-45	The Raven-Headed Cane was the only thing that didn't rot in the tomb of the Blind Vizier. Some say the bird’s eyes blink when you aren't looking.
46-50	The Locket of the Departed only vibrates near undead because it’s trying to find its way back to its original corpse.
51-55	That Grave-Mold is a living thing. If you drop the jar, the fungus will eventually cover the entire dungeon in a century or two.
56-60	The Inquisitor’s Monocle was cracked when the owner saw his own reflection and realized he was the monster he was hunting.
61-65	The Censer of Pale Smoke requires the tongue of a liar to be burned inside it if you want the ghosts to tell the truth.
66-70	The Executed Man’s Rope has a mind of its own. If you sleep with it near your neck, you might wake up gasping for air.
71-75	The man who carved the Bone Dice died penniless. He gambled away his soul, and now the dice are trying to win it back, one gold piece at a time.
76-80	Liquid Night isn't ink; it's the blood of a Shadow. It hates the light and will slowly eat through any wooden scabbard.
81-85	The Music Box was a gift for a child who never grew up. If the song ends, the child’s ghost comes to reclaim the toy.
86-90	That Taxidermied Bat was once the familiar of a sorcerer who was trapped in a mirror. It’s looking for a new master to "possess."
91-95	The Ring of the Catacomb makes your skin grow cold and grey. Eventually, the living will treat you like the dead you speak to.
96-99	The Ancestral Blade is thirsty. If it hasn't tasted blood in three days, it starts to nick its wielder's hands during practice.
100	The Death-Mask of the Sorcerer is still warm. They say the sorcerer isn't dead, just waiting for a face to wear so he can walk the earth again.

How to use these Rumors:

The Tavern Hook: A drunkard stammers a rumor (Roll D100) before passing out. He happens to have a map to the location of that specific item.
The "Half-Truth": Only give the players the first half of the rumor. Let them discover the "Cursed" second half after they've already attuned to or used the item.
The Rival: Another adventuring party has heard the same rumor and is racing the PCs to the site.

To make the environment feel as oppressive as the monsters and the loot, here is a D100 Dungeon Room table. These are designed to be "set pieces"—rooms that tell a story through decay, architecture, and environmental storytelling.

D100 Sword & Sorcery Dungeon Rooms

Roll	Room Description
01-05	The Hall of Failed Ascensions: Dozens of stone alcoves contain mummified priests sitting cross-legged. They all point their desiccated fingers at a single empty pedestal in the center.
06-10	The Chime Chamber: Thousands of tiny glass shards hang from the ceiling on silver wires. Any sudden movement or loud noise causes a deafening, dissonant chime that can alert the entire dungeon.
11-15	The Scriptorium of Dust: A library where the "books" are slabs of salt. A single Ledger of Sins sits on a desk made of fused human hip-bones.
16-20	The Oubliette of Echoes: A deep pit room. Anyone who speaks in this room hears their own voice whispered back 10 minutes later, but with subtle, malicious changes to the words.
21-25	The Feast of the Worm: A banquet hall where the food is remarkably preserved but composed entirely of painted clay and lead. A Wine-Drunk Lich may be found slumped at the head of the table.
26-30	The Weeping Walls: The stone walls of this corridor slowly "perspire" a thick, black ichor. It makes the floor incredibly slick and smells of ancient funeral pyres.
31-35	The Gallery of Ancestors: High-quality oil paintings line the hall. The subjects' eyes are cut out, and actual wet, blinking eyes (see: Jar of Eyes) peer through the canvas from the other side.
36-40	The Vestibule of the Hook: Chains hang from the ceiling, ending in rusted meat hooks. One chain holds the Hanging Revenant, swaying gently in a draft that shouldn't exist.
41-45	The Mosaic of Regret: A floor mosaic depicting a beautiful city. As the players walk across it, the tiles shift to show the city being destroyed. Walking back shows the city as a graveyard.
46-50	The Cooling Forge: An ancient armory where the furnace burns with a cold, blue "Ghost-Flame." Here, one might find an Ancestral Blade being quenched in a vat of old tears.
51-55	The Conservatory of Night: A room filled with black, sunless plants that pulse like hearts. A Taxidermied Bat might be perched on a branch of petrified wood.
56-60	The Clockwork Torture Suite: A room of whirring bronze gears and sliding blades. It was designed to keep a body alive while being dismantled. The gears are jammed by a Shattered Saint’s Finger.
61-65	The Bath of Vermin: A sunken marble pool filled not with water, but with millions of dried beetle husks. Digging to the bottom reveals a Ring of the Catacomb.
66-70	The Shrine of the Severed: A small chapel where the altar is a pile of hands. The Crawling Carpet encounter often begins here when the "altar" begins to disperse.
71-75	The Observatory of the Void: A telescope points at a patch of "solid" darkness in the ceiling. Looking through it reveals a star-map of a galaxy that died before the world was born.
76-80	The Map Room of Skin: The walls are covered in stretched, tanned hides. They form a map of the surrounding lands, but the "cities" are marked with fresh scabs.
81-85	The Chamber of Masks: Hundreds of porcelain faces hang from wires. In the center, on a velvet cushion, lies the Death-Mask of the Sorcerer. All the other masks turn to watch whoever picks it up.
86-90	The Defiled Well: A dry well in a courtyard. The Banshee of the Well haunts the depths, surrounded by the discarded Silver-Tipped Stakes of those who failed to kill her.
91-95	The Apothecary of Ash: Shelves of jars containing the ashes of specific people. One jar contains Liquid Night; another contains the Opium of the Grave.
96-99	The Throne of the Unbroken: A massive throne carved from a single diamond-hard meteor. A Copper-Eyed Sentinel sits upon it, refusing to move even if the dungeon collapses.
100	The Heart of the Crypt: A room that pulses with a rhythmic thud. The walls are made of calcified bone, and the floor is a giant, unblinking eye that looks toward the surface.

Making the Rooms Interactive:

Sensory Overload: Before they enter, tell them what they smell (cloves, rot, cold iron) or hear (the scraping of bone on stone).
The "Weight" of the Past: Sword & Sorcery is about the ruins of greatness. Every room should feel like it was once beautiful before a dark god or a mad sorcerer moved in.

In a Sword & Sorcery world, a Necromancer shouldn't just be a "wizard with skeletons." They should be a walking blasphemy—someone who has paid a physical or spiritual price for their dominion over the grave.

Here are five unique Necromancer archetypes, complete with their Grim Hook and Mechanical Twist.

1. Xul-Thal, The Carrion-Architect

Xul-Thal does not see the dead as servants, but as building materials. He is obsessed with geometry and the "sacred shapes" of bone.

The Look: He wears robes made of tanned human skin and carries a "staff" that is actually a living spine that still twitches. He has replaced his own jaw with one made of black obsidian.
The Lair: A tower built entirely of calcified corpses, where the walls scream if you touch them.
The Twist: He doesn't cast spells; he "reconfigures." He can fuse two skeletons into a multi-limbed horror mid-combat or turn a PC’s own calcium against them, causing their ribs to grow inward (Con save or be restrained/suffocating).

2. Mother Marrow

A blind, hunched hag who treats the dead like her "naughty children." She believes she is saving them from the "loneliness of the soil."

The Look: She is perpetually covered in grave-dirt and carries a large sack on her back. The sack is a "Bag of Holding" filled with thousands of loose teeth that chatter incessantly.
The Lair: A damp, earthy burrow beneath a battlefield, decorated with "dolls" made of bone and hair.
The Twist: The Tooth-Swarm. She can dump her sack, creating a localized "sandstorm" of biting teeth. Additionally, if she tastes a drop of a PC's blood, she can "command" their body as if they were one of her undead children for one round.

3. Prince Valerius the Pale

A decadent aristocrat from a fallen empire who refused to stop partying when his city died. He is a "Lich" but looks like a perfectly preserved, if incredibly gaunt, nobleman.

The Look: Wears exquisite silks and smells of heavy lilies and formaldehyde. He is always followed by a "string quartet" of skeletal musicians.
The Lair: A grand ballroom in a ruined palace where ghosts are forced to dance in an eternal loop.
The Twist: Dread Elegance. Valerius cannot be harmed while his "guests" (the undead in the room) are dancing. To hit him, the players must either destroy the musicians or pass a Performance/Athletics check to "break the rhythm" of the dance.

4. The Nameless Cenotaph

Not a man, but an ancient suit of plate armor filled with the "grudge" of a thousand executed soldiers. It is a collective consciousness of the vengeful dead.

The Look: A hulking, 7-foot suit of rusted, black iron armor. Greasy, green smoke leaks from the visor. It speaks with a thousand voices at once.
The Lair: A bridge over a river of liquid shadows, or the center of a mass grave.
The Twist: Legion Soul. Every time the Cenotaph is hit, it "sheds" a ghost or a shadow that immediately joins the initiative. It doesn't have a traditional health pool; it has "souls." You must banish the spirits leaking from the armor to finally make the iron suit collapse.

5. Ka-Horet, The Solar Mummy

A necromancer who uses the power of a "Black Sun" (an eclipse) rather than the dark of night. He believes the living are "unripe" and the dead are "perfectly cured."

The Look: Wrapped in bandages soaked in alchemical gold. He radiates an intense, sickening heat rather than cold.
The Lair: A glass-domed observatory in the middle of a scorching desert.
The Twist: Desiccation Aura. Instead of necrotic damage, Ka-Horet deals fire and dehydration damage. Any PC within 15 feet must drink water or take a level of exhaustion every 3 rounds. He can "flash-dry" a corpse to create a Plague-Carrier zombie instantly.

To make a final encounter feel legendary, the lair itself must act as a secondary combatant. These actions occur on Initiative Count 20 (losing ties).

Here is a D10 Final Boss Lair Action Table designed to fit any of the Necromancers previously discussed, followed by a specific "Signature Action" for each.

D10 Universal Necromantic Lair Actions

Roll	Lair Action
1	The Floor is Teeth: The ground becomes a churning mass of grasping skeletal hands. The area is difficult terrain. Any creature starting its turn on the ground must succeed on a Strength Save or be Restrained.
2	Necrotic Miasma: A cloud of tomb-dust billows from the vents. All living creatures must succeed on a Constitution Save or be Blinded until the next lair action.
3	Soul Siphon: A ghostly tether connects the boss to the healthiest PC. The boss heals for 2d6, and the PC takes an equal amount of necrotic damage (no save).
4	Echoes of the Slain: The spirits of those killed by the party manifest as flickering shadows. Every PC must succeed on a Wisdom Save or be forced to use their Reaction to make a single melee attack against an adjacent ally.
5	Gravity of the Grave: Gravity increases fourfold. Jumping is impossible, and all flying creatures are pulled to the ground. Ranged weapon attacks have their range halved.
6	The Bell Tolls: A spectral funeral bell rings. All "dead" piles of bones in the room stand up as 1HP Skeletons. If there are no bones, 1d4 Shadows emerge from the corners.
7	Blood Geyser: A crack opens in the floor, spraying ancient, pressurized blood. A 10ft radius circle becomes slick (as the Grease spell) and anyone inside must save or be Poisoned by the stench.
8	Temporal Decay: Time rots. The boss may immediately move up to their speed without provoking opportunity attacks, or they regain one spent legendary resistance.
9	Whispers of the Void: The room goes pitch black, even to those with Darkvision. Only a 5ft radius around the boss is dimly lit by their own profane energy.
10	The Final Door: The exit doors slam shut and are sealed by a wall of bone. To open them, a creature must deal 50 damage to the bone-wall or the boss must be reduced to 0 HP.

Signature Lair Actions (Unique to the Boss)

If you have chosen a specific Necromancer, replace the "Roll 10" above with their Signature Action:

Xul-Thal (The Architect): Structural Collapse. Xul-Thal commands the bone-walls to shift. One PC is targeted by a falling pillar of fused skulls (Dex Save for half). On a fail, they are pinned and Prone.
Mother Marrow: The Cradle Song. She begins a low hum. Any PC who can hear her must succeed on a Wisdom Save or fall Unconscious as they are overcome by a magical, death-like slumber. They wake if they take damage.
Prince Valerius: The Grand Finale. The spectral orchestra hits a crescendo. Every creature in the room must succeed on a Charisma Save or be forced to "Dance" (cannot move, Disadvantage on attacks) for 1 round.
The Nameless Cenotaph: Iron Rain. Rusted blades and armor fragments fly off the Cenotaph’s form and swirl around the room. All creatures within 20ft take 3d6 slashing damage (Dex Save for half).
Ka-Horet: Black Sun Eclipse. The room is plunged into a freezing, magical darkness that deals 1d10 cold damage to everyone except Ka-Horet. Light sources (torches/spells) only illuminate a 2ft radius.

Strategy Tip:

Use the lair actions to split the party. If the fighters are crushing the boss, use the "Floor is Teeth" or "The Final Door" to create obstacles that the casters have to solve while the fighters deal with the environment.

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