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Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > Adventure Hooks  > Real World Adventure Hooks for D&D — The Bones Await You

Real World Adventure Hooks for D&D — The Bones Await You

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When you hear “Chapel of Bones” you probably think nercomancer. It’s at least in your surface thoughts. But there is a real Chapel of Bones in Portugal where the interior walls and columns are covered and decorated with human skulls and bones. The 16th century Franciscan monks who built the place meant to represent the concept of life being transitory best summed up by the motto memento mori. The bones of the chapel are very literal reminders of death. But I don’t see any animated dead or other signs of necromantic shenanigans.

Chapel of Bones adventure hooks D&D grave cleric

The Capela dos Ossos, or Chapel of Bones, in Évora, Portugal

D&D adventure hooks from real life

Naturally, you could look at the Chapel of Bones and take some D&D inspiration for description. Necromancers, demons, death cultists and the like might be apt to decorate their inner sanctums with the bones of their enemies or victims. Heck, Matt Colville mentions more than once in his videos how Kalarel the Vile from the Keep on the Shadowfell adventure in his campaign builds a growing tower built on bones. The inscription above the entrance to the Capela dos Ossos might be construed in such a way.

“We bones that here are, for yours await” — inscribed on the entrance to Capela dos Ossos 

Chapel of Bones adventure hooks

Just because it’s a structure built of bones doesn’t mean Kalarel the Vile is behind it! But it wouldn’t be terribly shocking though, would it?

But I like the idea of turning things around, and just like the Capela dos Ossos isn’t a stronghold of evil, it’s worthwhile to consider how a location like this can be a positive place in your D&D campaign world. The first thing that comes to mind is a temple dedicated to a deity with the Grave Domain. Clerics of these gods are keenly aware of the relationship between life and death. Living in, worshipping at and ministering to the spiritual needs of those around from a temple like the Chapel of Bones sounds perfectly sensible to me.

In a case like this I could see adventurers misunderstanding or misinterpreting the situation. Imagine the players trepidation as a Grave cleric — presenting as nothing but friendly and welcoming — leads characters through the Chapel of Bones. Every room is stacked floor to ceiling with bones and skulls, and as the party moves further into the inner chambers, or underground levels, the bone decorations become more chaotic and close-packed (not unlike being buried?). In the public areas of the temple, the clerics keep everything cleaned and well maintained. But the private sanctums are older and less organized. And then the party realizes how deep the temple goes, and wonders just how long its been here, and how many bones there are…

But we’re here to find some adventure hooks, so let’s get into some of these ideas.

  • The holy aura spell requires a tiny reliquary worth at least 1,000 gp as a material component, and the cleric must travel to this temple as a pilgrimage to receive or borrow the bone of a legendary cleric.
  • Thieves broke into the Chapel of Bones and stole an important artifact, and the priests request the adventurers to find and return it.
  • A researcher entered the catacombs but never came out and the old priest with their skeleton (haha) crew of acolytes ask the party to search for them.
  • A rival sect of religious zealots (Orcus cultists maybe?) seeks to discredit the Chapel of Bones and causes undead troubles nearby, making it look like the temple is the cause.
  • Cultural misunderstanding leads adventurers to believe something sinister is going on, like a religious observation for the faithful. Maybe the clerics prolong people’s lives so they can fulfill one final goal like seeing a loved one, visiting a special place and so forth. But afterwards they present themselves at the Chapel of Bones to die and have their remains added to the structure. But the adventurers only see people coming to the temple on a holy day with all the accoutrements and coming before the priest, who whispers over them before they drop dead and are carried inside by hooded acolytes.

However you might use something like the Chapel of Bones in your campaign setting, it’s fun to flip things on their side and see what happens. I really like the idea that characters might see something like this and assume it’s a place of evil, but find out it’s nothing of the sort. Or maybe it’s both. I’m thinking about the gods of Lankhmar, from the awesome Fritz Leiber stories of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. The founders of the city are considered gods who dwell deep underground. Local myths say they will rise and protect the city in times of danger. Perhaps the D&D grave clerics tending the temple aren’t even themselves aware of such a thing, until these gods emerge one day. The city doesn’t appear to be in danger, so what gives? Were the myths completely wrong, or is there a hidden danger?

D&D adventure hooks are everywhere we look. This one comes from a real world place that looks creepy but I like the idea there more to it than a monster lair decorated with bones. I mean, it’s not a seat of evil power in our world so why shouldn’t it be more interesting in our fantasy settings? By putting a place like this in a place surrounded by normal folks, like a bustling city or rustic village, it might intrigue the players and characters a little more. It certainly adds a new layer to the culture and beliefs of the people who worship there.

How would you use the Chapel of Bones in your game? Have you ever visited the place in Portugal? I’d love to see something like this in person. Would it feel downright unsettling or is there a sense of reverence in the place?

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Doug Vehovec

Nerditor-in-Chief Doug Vehovec is a proud native of Cleveland, Ohio, with D&D in his blood since the early 80s. Fast forward to today and he’s still rolling those polyhedral dice. When he’s not DMing, worldbuilding or working on endeavors for Nerdarchy he enjoys cryptozoology trips and eating awesome food.

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