Ideas for a Tomb

[Miles Pilitus]

My party has just tripped upon a buried tomb. They entered through a buried skylight into a 30x30' room with 4 corridors leading off from each wall. Each Corridor is 100' long with sarcophagi set into the walls.

The east corridor had something sparkling at the end of it, so they sent an animated twig to go retrieve it. It was a giant diamond, as large as a beach ball, radiating a strong aura of necromancy. When it entered the main chamber, it fell apart into coal and a huge surge of Necromantic magics rushed skyward and the party was attacked by shadows.

Each corridor's sarcophagi have a figure painted on them. East: Warriors, North:Wizards, West:Monsters. The south corridor has marble panels instead of sarcophagi.

When the Tigran monk went to investigate the east corridor, he found a statute of a grinning skeleton that had been holding the diamond. As he turned to leave, he saw that the figures on the sarcophagi were no longer warriors, but gaunt humaniods with long claws for hands and sunken eyes (ghouls). And he heard scratching, as if talons against stone.

So anybody have any ideas to help me frighten them a little more, since they've decided they need to investigate this place some more?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

What level are the characters?

I'd bust out Libris Mortis, if you have it and maybe Sandstorm. I'd have the master of the tomb be a dry lich necromancer with the swarm template from Libris Mortis and some of the more flavorful feats.

The wizards could be one of the spellcaster types of undead from LM. I'd have gravetouched ghoul monks (with a bladed monk weapon, to disguise their nature) for the warriors -- and have the weapons be magical and impart the paralysis effect as though it were a touch attack.

For monsters, I'd definitely go with some sort of creepy undead swarm. Between LM, Fiend Folio and MM3, there's now a bunch of good choices.

More importantly, I'd go with atmospherics. Have the monsters be screaming in pain and fear when they attack, and make sure to throw these screams in yourself when describing them.

If they get hit with an attack, be sure to describe it as their flesh turning gray and racing across their body from the wound, and that their mouth is going dry. It'll make them wonder what the heck is going on, and likely spook them pretty badly.

And if you really want to freak them out, once the tomb has been conquered, have some sarcophagi without undead in them -- instead, there are dead versions of the characters, each dressed in ancient armor and embalmed. Never tell them what the heck it means; they'll come up with all sorts of wild stuff on their own.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Oh, and each wing has to be completed, and some sort of switch flipped there, before the master's tomb is accessible.

 

[Land Outcast]

oh... nice...

Of course, make the one walking on the rear make a listen check... when he turns around he sees a pile of dust right behind him. (no, not with a skull on top, just dust)

Something else... make only one of them hear the screams, and tell him to make will saves every so often.
Focusing on that character, also tell him once in a while that between blinking he sees his companions as skeletons covered with dry skin.

If they are searching for something in a sarcophagus, make them find the weapon they thought thy had sheathed at their side.

Be sure to tell them how small spiders go away from their path, for added effect if there are any familiars or animal companions describe them as being fearful of the PCs.

just my 2cp

 

[Miles Pilitus]

What level are the characters?

They're 4th. So your given examples would probably be a very good way to find myself with a TPK. I will look at those books to try and find something to use.
I forgot to mention in my first post the whispering. They are hearing things down there, a voice.

If there is a Lich down there, then he's just escaped.

This tomb is a prison, around 4,000 years old where a bunch of dangerous Necromancers where entombed along with their servitors.

There should be something at the end of each hallway to disturb the players, I hope. I'm not sure if this is going to be a very large dungeon, just big enough to distract them for around half a session or less as they investigate, possibly get ambushed by some undead.

The party's got a lot of access to Arcane Magic and healing, every character's a mage except for the party's druid. I don't think I have to be overly conservative about the energy drain, they can spam the lesser restorations with a good degree of skill.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

If you're trying to give them the creeps...

How about canopic jars that the mummified remains within have become undead. Perhaps the heart slowly beats, or they get attacked by the intenstines. Or the organs just writhe and wriggle, doing nothing else.

Or incoprorating that undead swarm idea, a room carpeted by dead insects. Except, naturally, going back to the necromantic nature of the tomb, the bugs come to unlife when the party is halfway across.

 

[Land Outcast]

Or incoprorating that undead swarm idea, a room carpeted by dead insects. Except, naturally, going back to the necromantic nature of the tomb, the bugs come to unlife when the party is halfway across.

Like it... a lot (Dunno why we got in with the undead swarm, but: who cares?)

Through all the remaining of the crypt bother them mentioning how each step crushes noisily vermin carcasses...
Suddenly, at a given point, mention they aren't stomping upon them any more... but they are in the same place they had previously found carcasses...
Then, well, you know the rest...
You hear how hundreths... no! thousands... no! millions of tiny legs produce a skittering sound all around you

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, Libris Mortis has a low level (I think CR 4 or 5) type of undead spellcaster. I think tossing those at them would be good, especially since metagame knowldge would say "lich" and scare the crap out of them.

I think there's also at least one low level undead swarm, one of the several with low level undead rats.

Brains in a jar from LM aren't very in-keeping with an Egyptian flavor, but you could make it some organ operating out of a canopic jar with the same stats otherwise. They're currently one of my favorite low level monsters, although damned if I can think of how to smoothly slide them into my current campaign.

 

[Land Outcast]

although damned if I can think of how to smoothly slide them into my current campaign.

'cmon, what do you need to add a Brain in a Jar to a campaign???? nothing, BiaJs are the escence of a BBEG, or a minor BBEG, or a 2nd in command of a BBEG, or an advisor and cover ops director to a BBEG...

Everything can be traced back to a Brain in a Jar... specially to an Undead Brain in a Jar...[/rant]


Prision... good... must be kept secret right? then those who built it might lay chained, their escence corrupted by the negative energy of the place, turned into ravenous zombies... (no need to make them anything else, they'll be chained)
Be sure to detail the tooth marks on their wrists... seemingly they tried to free themselves in a most gruesom manner...

 

[Miles Pilitus]

Quick side note here (mostly because my players won't read this, and I've already hinted at it), The tomb was created by a powerful spellcaster who's still around and a major player in the world now, though no one has any idea he's that old.