G – Graveyard/ghosts/ghouls/ghasts/grue/tombs

What are the funerary rites? If cremation, then there is not much chance of there being a lot of undead, unless the collapse prevented the cremation of the dead. Some cultures have ritual cannibalism.

Large cemeteries with lots of bodies can make a near endless source of skeletons and zombies, and a haven for other undead.

Will the cemetery/graveyard be a single location, or many smaller ones throughout the city? Will the dangers by any undead be merely a barrier to treasure, or just a short trip to a quick death?

Types of Tombs

• Mausoleum
• Crypt
• Tumulus/Burial Mound/Barrow
• Cist Tombs
• Cave Tomb (Yagura – medieval Japan)
• Cenotaph (“empty tomb” in honor of a person)
• Catacomb
• Burial Vault
• Sarcophagus
• Bier/Catafalque (Platform for a corpse or coffin with a corpse.)
• Tree and Scaffold Burial also called Sky Burial (Native American plains tribes did this.)
• Domed/Thalos Tomb/Beehive Tomb
• Columbarium (Building for storage of cremated remains/cremains.)
• Ossuary for holding bones after decay of the flesh (Jewish and early Christian paractice)
• Bed Burial (an Anglo-Saxon practice)

Will temples have burial vaults under the sanctuary? Are the royals/rulers of the city buried in a grand manner and somewhat on display, from a stone sarcophagus to some form of artwork?

Will there be battlefields where the fallen were buried en masse? Will there be any form of tombs with multiple burials, with multiple platforms, niches, etc., like a catacomb?

If cremation is practiced, is it done with an individual fire built as needed, like on a riverbank, or like a viking funeral? Are they so sophisticated in their technology as to have a crematorium? Do they let the wind scatter the ashes, or do they gather them up and scatter them later? Perhaps they preserve the ashes in urns and place the urns in a special building, called a columbarium?

If mummification is practiced, this is an indication that there will be the possibility for a lot of mummies as monsters. Mummification can happen in various ways, via dehydration of the corpse in a dry climate, like in Egypt or the deserts of South America. Mummification can be more invasive, including removing the blood and major organs to ensure removal of moisture from the corpse. With a more “modern” twist, the corpse can be embalmed, and the process of embalming prevents the decay of the corpse. Would a culture practicing some form of mummification display the deceased for all time? Sort of like Lenin on display in Moscow?

If the culture is a high magic one, or was in ancient times, how many liches are there? According to the AD&D Monster Manual, a lich is at least an 18th level magic user, or a magic user/cleric. If archmages were relatively “common” at some point, how many of them would be of the alignment and mindset to become a lich? Such powerful creatures would be rare and placed carefully. I have an idea for my campaign where the players can find an ancient wizard’s lab with an experiment incomplete, that if they fiddle with it, will complete the process for a long dead wizard to become a lich.

Would players find signs of a vampire infestation where burials involved decapitation, staking, etc?

All known religions or lack thereof, have some form of dealing with the remains of the dead and a ceremonial way to say goodbye to deliver the remains to a final resting place. One need not get too detailed with this, but a bit of thought to how each major group processes their dead will add a bit of flavor to help it come alive for the players.

[Updated] Alternatives to burial:

• Burial at sea
• Funerary cannibalism
• Cremation
• Excarnation (removing the flesh from the bones)
• Hanging coffins
• Sky burial (placing on a mountain top)

See also: Disposal of Human Corpses