" A ghostly guard dog sits in the library, guarding a stained glass window, waiting for someone..."
Simple encounter tables for haunted houses in horror or fantasy. Tables for Combined House Encounters, Haunted Encounter Details and Haunted House Encounter Locations.
Spooky Fantasy - all | trinkets | haunted houses | tomb encs
Fantasy City - all | trinkets | cemetery encs | market encs | port encs | ruins encs | sewer encs | street encs | tavern encs | crowds
[art by Henrik Karppinen]
Haunted House Encounters
Haunted houses, mansions, ruins and castles are homes to creepy families, worrying creatures and things that come out at night. A few ravens near a creepy painting and wary of holy symbols, a pair of smugglers in a storage room who aren't what they first seem, or a suit of animated armour hiding behind an ornate desk.
A place of ghosts, bats, lit candles, mirrors, creaking stairs, restless dead, coffins and fear
There is a fantasy encounter generator at ChaosGen. There is also a pdf of these and more tables at the DriveThruRPG as Haunted House Encounters.
Haunted House Combined Encounters
These reference Haunted House tables for Outdoor Area, Hazards and NPCs
| 1d10 | Haunted House Combined Encounters | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | a deck of game (or tarot) cards, that show top card or roll on Hazards | |
| 2 | a solitary (or ghostly)... d10 (1-2. feral cat 3. fox 4. swarm of cockroaches (or bats) 5. owl 6. guard dog 7. snake 8. badger 9. giant spider 10. goat ) | |
| 3 | a ghostly butler, who insists on seeing to their needs; or roll on NPCs | |
| 4 | several (or a pair of)... d10 (1-2. ghostly children 3. squatters 4. family members 5. urchins 6. smugglers 7. outcasts 8. nonhumans 9. cultists 10. animated tools) | |
| 5 | a door that closes and locks on its own or roll on Hazards | |
| 6 | a lone creepy... a(n)... d10 (1-2. neighbour 3. animated puppet 4. trickster ghost 5. gargoyle 6. monkey 7. floating broom 8. homunculus 9. apparition 10. imp ) | |
| 7 | an old scholar and partner, dressed for a masquerade or roll on NPCs | |
| 8 | a few (or many)... d10 (1-2. ravens 3. giant rats 4. spectral dogs 5. animated pets 6. weasels 7. restless dead 8. gremlins 9. weird dolls 10. skeletons ) | |
| 9 | a luminous candle, which flickers with an image or roll on Hazards | |
| 10 | a potential (or signs of a) danger, a(n)... d10 (1-2. poltergeist 3. spider swarm 4. vampire 5. animated armour 6. wraith 7. mirror fiend 8. doppelganger 9. abomination 10. revenant) |
Haunted Encounter Details
Use 1d6 for beasts or non-sentient creatures.
| 1d10 | They are... (or one is...) |
|---|---|
| 1 | cursed to stay in the area or scared of something |
| 2 | the source of an important clue or host for another creature |
| 3 | not what they first seem or wary of holy symbols |
| 4 | waiting for... d10 (1-2. night / day 3. a character 4. an answer 5. a door to open 6. an ending 7. an anniversary 8. dusk / dawn 9. midnight 10. a friend) |
| 5 | guarding (or watching over) area; or very hungry |
| 6 | trapped here somehow or serving another creature |
| 7 | worried about (or seeing visions of)... d10 (1-2. the past 3. a book 4. the end of all things 5. a spirit 6. a skull 7. one of the characters 8. a lover 9. rats 10. a lit pumpkin) |
| 8 | not meant to be here or performing a ritual |
| 9 | currently... d10 (1-2. scavenging 3. injured 4. hiding 5. lurking 6. diseased 7. scared 8. spying 9. moaning 10. dying) |
| 10 | here for a feast (or other event); or haunted by spirits |
Haunted House Encounter Locations
Use or 1d6 for downstairs, 1d6+4 for other levels.
| 1d10 | Area, a(n)... | Feature, a(n)... |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | lounge or indoor garden | disturbing statue or unstable wall |
| 2 | living quarters or library | high bookcase (or wardrobe) or noose |
| 3 | kitchen or drawing room | sinister altar (or idol); or fragile vase |
| 4 | dining room or messy study | trapdoor or stained-glass window |
| 5 | creaking stairway or bathroom | secret (or sturdy) door or marble bust |
| 6 | storage room or wine cellar | circle of candles or closet with bones |
| 7 | bedroom or locked vault | covered-up mirror (or cage); or coffin |
| 8 | disused room or hidden room | ornate desk (or fireplace); or chadelier |
| 9 | guest room or a dungeon | ironbound chest or chain & manacles |
| 10 | child's quarters or crypt | creepy painting (or trophy); or corpse |
More Encounters
There is a fantasy encounter generator at ChaosGen. There is also a pdf of these and more tables at the DriveThruRPG as Haunted House Encounters.
If you liked these there are Generators at Chaos Gen and a monthly random tools Newsletter. Or find us on the Rand Roll Discord or an instagram of Random Tables.
