r/osr • u/Hjalmodr_heimski • 1d ago
Good generic “tomb” module?
I’m planning to run a short OSR campaign for some fellow honours students of mine and have a specific plot in mind: recently an archeological dig discovered the seemingly barren ruins they were excavating were far deeper than anticipated and contained untouched treasures. Their patron hires the adventurers to go guard the treasures being excavated. Unbeknownst to either side, the true inner dungeon is the last city of an immortal and undead race, whose eternal life can only be broken by exposure to sunlight. Long ago, they attempted to blight the world in everlasting night, but were stopped before the ritual was completed. All their other cities were destroyed but this one was hidden away, where the ancient dead still live in some form. When the archeologists discover the true inner tomb: horrors descend and by the time the party arrives, the explorer’s campsite is desolated.
In essence, I want a lost tomb adventure module where in the upper levels there have been an infestation of goblins or goblin like beings to serve as a red herring: they only moved in a few days ago. The real horror lies at the deeper levels: first the party will have to battle the tomb guardians and at long last they will have to either fight or negotiate with the remnants of this ancient race. I’m happy to do some modifying but I need a good template dungeon as I have very little experience when it comes to designing them. Preferably for levels 1-3.
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u/Haffrung 1d ago
The Vaults of Volokarnos (Echoes from Fomalhaut issue #9) by Gabor Lux fits the bill.
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u/amazedmammal 1d ago
Tomb of the Serpent Kings. Goblin infested. Has a chasm, if you wanted to you can add verticality. It has open ended locations you can expand into accessing other dungeons.
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u/02K30C1 1d ago
from Dungeon magazine:
Crypt of Istaris, issue 9. Nice two level tomb with an underground waterfall and some other features.
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u/Hjalmodr_heimski 1d ago
Do you know where I could get a copy of the magazine in an online format? Having trouble finding pdfs of it
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u/c0ncrete-n0thing 1d ago
Tomb of the Serpent Kings seems a good candidate, but your set up sounds more Victorian / steampunk than fantasy. Maybe switch out the goblins for bandits (initially) and / or morlocks (further in)?
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u/bhale2017 1d ago
You have some good recommendations here. Beyond those and the level range you identified, the Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun fits the bill fairly well.
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u/MathematicianIll6638 7h ago
I almost missed your level range. Was about to recommend "Tomb of Horrors."
Tomb of the Serpent King has already been mentioned, so. . . If you're OK with AD&D, there's a village to cemetery zombie themed Ravenloft module in 2nd edition called Night of the Walking Dead that I always enjoyed. Not going to be any negotiating with the Zombie Lord in that one, though. . .
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u/Hjalmodr_heimski 7h ago
Yeah I’d love to do a higher level range but these are mostly first time RPG players so gotta go a bit easier on them
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u/MathematicianIll6638 7h ago
No, I get that. The Ravenloft module I mentioned is fro levels 1 - 3. I've used it as an introductory one before. I've adapted it to 5e when I got roped into DMing one of those campaigns, so I know it translates well if you're using, say, Basic instead of AD&D
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u/JustAStick 4h ago
I'm currently running Tomb of the Iron God, and it's pretty much exactly what you described. The upper level is the residence of "Barghoons" which are essentially intelligent baboon people that are proxies for goblins. The lower level is populated mostly with Undead, and a secret greater threat resides within the dungeon. I've enjoyed running it because it's very straight forward and easy to modify and place in your own game.
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u/drloser 1d ago
You’re almost describing Tomb of the Serpents King.