Crypt/shrine dungeon encounters

Classic setting for a dungeon: a family crypt, or an abandoned underground shrine to a forgotten god or hero. Winter’s daughter and the shattered gate are 2 OSR versions of this trope that I ran recently, and in both cases the players enjoyed their experience. Why? Because those are great adventures: there is something to do in every room, a reason for the dungeon to be there and to be the way it is. Still, I couldn’t help but feel the tension sag a little bit in parts, as the player took their sweet time to be careful and figure out the puzzle.

I thought I’d write a wondering monster/encouter table for crypt/shrine dungeons. This is meant to supplement the encounter tables that are specific to your dungeon, without veering into generic undead encounter territory.

The first half of the table are encounters that are not necessarily combat (either see what players do, or roll an NPC reaction roll). In the second half, combat is almost guaranteed.

Roll 1d12!

Dice	Encounter
1	A portrait of the spouse of one of the deceased buried in the shrine. As the players pass by it, the portrait animates, asks their intentions and, if the conversation turns unfriendly, self-combusts to trigger a trap behind it. If they strike up a friendship, it will distract a wandering monster or help in other ways.
2	The ghost of Thessa the priestess, bound to perpetually sanctify the deceased. She is by now bored of it.
3	1d4+1 petty looters, in over their head. Their leader, Faron, has a sack stuffed with brass door handles whom he believes are made of gold.
4	A brazier marked with the words “Touch and feel”. It is filled with embers that are perpetually hot. Stirring the embers will reveal 2 cores used to generate an elemental or power a golem. Handling them with weapons or poles will corrode them, only picking them up with one’s hands (and taking some fire damage) will preserve their integrity.
5	A marble baptismal font. Its holy water is stagnating and covered in moulds. If cleaned with fire or a ritual, it can be used to repel undead. If disturbed, the mould may release spores that can attach themselves to liquids and grow in them, leading to poisoning in 1d4 days. the At the bottom of the vessel lies a bony finger, belonging to a man who cursed while touching the pool.
6	An animated spellbook in a damaged library shelf. It can recount its 1d6 level 1 spells and cast them as it mentions them. It is really eager to talk, and the party should tell it to shut up if they want to use its spells later. Once the spells are cast, the spellbook is spent.
7	A pack of 2d6 wild dogs, howling, feeding on the corpse of 2 dead looters.
8	2 wondering will-o’-wisps, the spirits of twin children of one of the deceased. They pretend to act as bright guides, but will try to lead the party to an ambush or a trap. They feed on souls and are hungry.
9	A statue of noble warrior with a mace and shield bearing a coat of arms, which is actually petrified in place. A basilisk is hiding in a dark corner.
10	An open sarcophagus, overflowing with a locust swarm. The skeleton in the sarcophagus wears a cursed gauntlet .that attracted and fed the swarm.
11	A doppelganger hiding near a loculus, eagerly awaiting to entomb one adventurer and take their place.
12	2d8 vampiric ravens, nested in nooks and crannies in the ceiling.