Ancient Tombs & Crypts

ELEMENT │ PLACE

Ancient tombs and crypts are ancient locations where an important historical person was interred. In fictional worlds, ancient tombs often serve as game dungeons. They also provide narrative opportunities for designers to showcase fictional histories. Tombs and crypts are often located in deserts or on mountaintops, and are often found beneath temples, churches, or ruins. To deter graverobbers, these locations may feature traps, false treasures, locked doors, and hidden chambers. Ancient tombs are home to mummies, living skeleton guards, and tomb-raiders.


Synonyms: burial chambers
Example Mythonyms: The Lost Tomb of the Laughing King, Lorem Crypt
Places

Designing Ancient Tombs & Crypts

Archetypes

Foundations

Overview

Structurally, ancient crypts may be in ruins, and may feature collapsing chambers, flooded rooms, and treacherous floors. They may contain altars, obelisks, or statues. They may connect to the catacombs.

In game oriented worlds as well as adventure narratives, ancient crypts often are protected by traps. These are often pitfall traps, boulder traps, or blade traps. There may be labyrinthian corridors designed to confuse and obstruct intruders. False walls with hidden doors and hidden chambers may be present.

Important people may be buried alongside treasure, powerful artifacts, or ancient knowledge they acquired in life. Because of this, ancient tombs are often the end point or beginning to a treasure hunt.

Ancient tombs may contain the graves of important people – kings, queens, lovers, poets, religious figures, and in fictional worlds, perhaps dead gods. Servants, guards, and others may also be buried at these sites.

Ancient tombs can be used to explore the culture, and particularly the burial rituals, of a civilization or ancient civilization.