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Crypt · Medium · Medium

Barrowdeep Crypt

The dead were meant to rest here, but something in the deep halls refuses to keep the peace.
Rooms
11
Foes
18, CR 1/4 to 4
Traps
3
Treasure
820 gp
1234567891011Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Threshold of the Dead

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

A corpse-bound jailer called the Dread Warden has taken control of the crypt's remaining wards and animated the dead to defend the sealed vault.

Wandering monsters (1d4)

  1. 1

    1d4× Mournful DeadCR 1/2

    When: When the party spends too long in silence or after a loud battle.A drifting burial dead that seeks out warmth and sound, then moans to draw others.
  2. 2

    1d2× Grave BailiffsCR 1

    When: When doors are forced or locks are tampered with.Half-rotted attendants carrying rusted keys and snapped manacles, still enforcing old rules.
  3. 3

    Lantern GhoulCR 2

    When: After the party triggers a trap or leaves obvious tracks.A bound corpse carrying a lantern of corpse-cold light, sent by the warden to scout intruders.
  4. 4

    2d6× Bone SkitterersCR 1/4

    When: When the crypt's wards are disrupted or shattered.Skittering skulls animated by residual ward magic, often rolling ahead of larger threats.

Rooms

11
1

Threshold of the Dead

2 foestreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

The entry chamber is a square of cracked flagstone and leaning sarcophagi, with stale incense trapped under layers of dust. Fresh scrape marks cross the floor toward the deeper halls, and the west wall hides a narrow seam for those who know where to press.

Features

  • Fallen bronze censor
  • Dusty sarcophagi
  • Scrape marks in the floor
  • A hidden seam in the west wall

What the GM knows

Monsters

2× Skeletal ServitorsCR 1/4

Restless burial attendants wrapped in rotten linen, animated by the crypt's fading ward magic.Tactics. They shamble to block the central passage and fight until destroyed, trying to drag intruders toward the prison corridor.

Treasure

Funerary Token25 gp

A tarnished silver token stamped with a noble crest, useful for opening old locks or persuading local historians.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

Use this room to establish the crypt's chill and to foreshadow the prison and shrine corridors branching deeper inside.

4 doors: W (normal), S (locked), N (archway), E (normal)

The place

What it is

Barrowdeep is an old burial crypt turned into a half-collapsed maze of prison cells, shrines, and sealed vaults.

Atmosphere

Cold damp stone sweats under a skin of mold and old incense.

The threat

A corpse-bound jailer called the Dread Warden has taken control of the crypt's remaining wards and animated the dead to defend the sealed vault.

History

Barrowdeep was raised by mourn-priests for a noble house that feared necromancy in the border wars.

Rumors

1d5
Roll a rumor

  1. 1The crypt was built over a prison where oath-breakers were fed to the dead.
  2. 2A black-armored warden patrols the halls at night, and its chains can be heard from the road.
  3. 3Anyone who takes treasure from the vault dreams of a cold hand closing around their throat.
  4. 4The shrine candles stay lit even when the crypt is sealed from the outside.
  5. 5A hidden passage in the old burial wing was once used to move bodies, and maybe living prisoners too.

Plot hooks

4
RecoveryThe Stolen SignetA local undertaker begs the party to recover a signet ring stolen from a sealed family crypt before the dead start surfacing in town.From: Mira Vale, undertaker of HollowfenReward: 250 gp and a blessed funerary charm
InvestigationChains in the GravesChildren have been hearing iron chains in the graveyard at night, and a priest wants the source put to rest before panic spreads.From: Father Joren, chapel priestReward: 200 gp and sanctuary at the chapel
EscortThe Robber's MapA tomb robber offers to guide the party to a hidden treasure vault inside Barrowdeep if they protect him from whatever still hunts him there.From: Rusk Fen, frightened grave robberReward: A map to a secret passage and a share of loot
ExposéNames in StoneAn old war ledger mentions prisoners sealed alive in the crypt, and a descendant wants proof of what happened to their ancestors.From: Lady Sera Thane, family heirReward: 300 gp and a family heirloom

Corridors

4

  • Between and

    Niches in the corridor walls hold cracked skull-lamps that flare blue when living creatures pass.

  • Between and

    A shallow channel runs along the floor, carrying cold water and the occasional finger bone toward the deeper crypt.

  • Between and

    Faded warning runes are carved into the lintels, but several have been deliberately chiseled away.

  • Between and

    The stone here is unnaturally smooth, as if long scraped by dragging coffins or heavy chains.

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