😷 Skeletons

This is a reverse of a classic dungeon crawl scenario. You are the skeletal guardians of an ancient tomb. Only conscious when roused to defend the tomb, you can only remember and converse with your fellow guardians then, recalling fragments of memories as the ages pass.

Long Description

Years fly by like dead leaves. Everything is darkness. Everything is silence. You stand vigilant before the sarcophagus without thought or breath-such is your compulsion. You do not remember your name and still you watch. The flesh has fallen off your bones and still you watch. And then one day there is light and motion and you weigh your bearded axe and raise your shield, lusting for the fray, eager to measure your skill against these tomb-robbing children so full of blood. You’ll never be alive again, but in this moment-in the chaos between violation and destruction-you truly live, and you remember what you once were, and you taste the sun.

This is the reverse of a classic TTRPG fantasy gaming trope, as this time you are the skeletal guardians who bound to defend a tomb against maurading adventurers, tomb raiders, and other intruders. It will invoke feelings of ages passing, loss, and memories fragmented.

Players will choose a skeleton, initially knowing little aside from their appearance, and the fact that they are bound to defend the tomb and drive off invaders at all costs. When the tomb is not threatened, the skeletons are silent and still, but when the tomb is violated the skeleton’s mind become their own for as long as they battle the intruders. The skeletons can speak telepathically during these times, and can coordinate their actions against the intruders (such as remaining still in order to ambush them), but cannot ignore or aid an intruder.

The players will also collectively create a map of the tomb they are bound to defend, each one adding details. The map will change as the ages pass, and the players will get to decide how that affects them.

Each player will get a chance to detail the different intruders that threaten the tomb, adding to a short prompt given by the game-runner (such as grave rats, amateur tomb robbers, giant spiders, or other things).

After every tomb invasion, there will be a period of darkness and silence as time passes, anywhere from seconds to minutes, representing days, months, years, or even longer. The room lights will be dimmed during this time. As time passes, there will be changes to the tomb and to the skeletons themselves, and the players will alter the map and their character sheets accordingly.

Each skeleton has a number of questions about their past on their sheet that can be answered during play. During a tomb invasion, when the skeletons can converse telepathically, time can run strangely; there can be flashbacks, lengthy conversations and arguments, and surprising revelations even as the skeletons fight off the invaders. A tomb invader may remind a skeleton of a long-gone loved one, a symbol on a shield may remind a skeleton where they once lived, a name shouted by the invaders may bring to mind who they once served or who bound them to this undead existence.

After the skeletons have finally been defeated, or put to rest, or the tomb has crumbled, the group will sit in silence one last time to reflect upon the memories and stories they have made. Then the group will share snacks representing grave goods as we discuss what everyone has experienced.