Crypt of the Pale Knight
A moonlit graveyard above a black mere, its crypt standing open and the dead rising.
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The place
Setting: Night, moonlight on the gravestones, mist between them
A graveyard on a low mound above the Black Mere: rows of old stones and slabs, open graves of black mud where the dead have clawed their way out, a broken mossy wall round it all and a lychgate where the lane comes up. At the crown stands the crypt, mossy stone under a slate roof on a raised plinth with steps, sconces either side of its door. Lift the roofs in Play and the nave is there: the Pale Knight's tomb on a dais before the altar under a cold light, four ancestors in sarcophagi along the walls, columns and statues. The gravedigger's plank hut leans against the corner of the wall with its hearth lit.
The light is the point: lanterns on posts throw warm pools across the plots, grave-candles burn on the newest graves, and mist lies low between the stones and thick on the water, with corpse-lights drifting over it. The dead are rising among the graves, zombies and ghouls with one of each still in the ground, a giant spider and a wolf prowl the edges, and the Pale Knight waits in the crypt, hidden from the players. A party of five stands at the lychgate: a fighter, a dwarf fighter, a cleric, a sorcerer and a warlock.
What the recipe places
- 1 floor and road ops
- 1 wall runs
- 82 props, lines and scatters
- 16 lights and effects
- 15 miniatures
Encounters it was built for
- The dead rising among the gravestones, one per round, while the party races up the path to the crypt door.
- Inside the crypt: the Pale Knight's tomb opens on initiative count 20.
- A negotiation at the altar that goes wrong, with the crypt door as the only exit.
- Five tombs, one knight: roll a d6 each round, re-rolling a 6, to see which lid moves, and let the others hold zombies.
- The grave robber: the spade by the open graves belongs to someone, and the gravedigger in his hut knows who.
Tips
- In Play, press U to lift the roofs and fight inside the crypt; it lifts for you, not for the players.
- Heights count for the ruler: an archer on the crypt steps has the high ground over the graves.
- A ghoul's claws can paralyse in 5e; put the condition on the token so everyone sees it, and note when it ends.
- The Pale Knight is already in the crypt, Hidden from players; show the knight when the lid moves.
- Gravestones, slabs and sarcophagi are on the shelf under Structure; scatter more of them with the brush.
Other starter scenes
The Weary Traveller
A roadside inn at dusk: bar, hearth and long tables, a stranger in the corner.
Hollowdeep Cells
Torchlit stone corridors, a guard room, cells and a treasure vault.
Ambush on the Forest Road
A felled pine across a forest road at dawn: goblins in the trees, a ford ahead.
Castle Gate at Dusk
A moated castle at dusk: gatehouse, wall walk, bailey and the keep's great hall.
Smugglers' Cove
A golden-hour beach: smugglers' bonfire, a boathouse, a sea cave, a ship at anchor.
Neon Alley
A rain-soaked neon street at night: a noodle bar, a corporate checkpoint and a warmech.
Rooftop Run
A cyberpunk heist across rain-slick rooftops: stairs, a gangway, a gap to leap, a mech.
Sunwell Caravanserai
A desert caravanserai by a palm-ringed spring, its market raided by gnolls off the dunes.
Ashgrave Cemetery
A walled cemetery in a storm: a necromancer's circle, ghouls, the dead clawing up.
The Witch of Blackfen
A foggy swamp at dusk: wisps over black pools, a witch's hut, spiders in the dead wood.
Wolf's Tooth Bandit Camp
A bandit palisade in the pines: the chief's hall, campfires, captives, a watchtower.
The Drowned Tower
A wizard's tower on a misty lake isle: standing stones, a drowned causeway, a jetty.
Market Day at Millbrook
A cobbled market square on a bright morning: stalls, a fountain, a church, a smithy.
Frostfall Hamlet
A snowbound hamlet at dusk: a mead hall, a frozen pond and wolves at the palisade.
Raiders' Fjord
A fjord at cold dawn: a longhouse on the shingle, raiders running their longboat ashore.
Free top-down battle map
A flat, gridded version of Crypt of the Pale Knight for any other tabletop: straight down, north up, 46 by 42 squares at 70 pixels per 5-foot square, with no miniatures on it. Set your tabletop's grid to 70 px and it lines up.
Free under CC BY 4.0: use it, share it and change it, in paid work too, as long as you credit TerrainTale. Some buildings in it are other artists' CC BY models, credited on the About page.
Questions
Can I change Crypt of the Pale Knight after loading it?
Yes. A template is a normal scene once built: paint, drag, delete and add to it, then save it as your own project.
How long does it take to load?
A few seconds. The recipe compiles instantly and the models it uses download from the built-in library on first use, then stay cached.
Can I make my own template?
Write a recipe (see Build with AI) and import it with File ▸ Import Scene JSON, or save any scene as a project and reopen it from the welcome screen.
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