d100 - Sacred Shrines & Alien Altars

Strange Shrines or other quasi-Religious Fixtures are sometimes useful for dressing up Dungeons or Wildernesses. This table has a hundred ideas for them, broadly decorative in nature on the surface. However, should you prefer to make these a bit more interactive, I often find that assigning them a Spell, usually from the Cleric List, and preferably one of the Reversible ones, can be quite fun. If attempts are made to disturb or desecrate, it might cast the Reversed Version of the Spell, targeting the intrepid interferer. If proper supplication or careful consecration takes place, perhaps the Shrine will deign to grant a boon (in the form of the Positive version of the Spell in question.)

Some common Candidates come to mind for this:

1. Cure/Cause Light Wounds
2. Light/Darkness
3. Purify/Putrefy Food & Water
4. Remove/Cause Fear
5. Bless/Blight
6. Cure/Bestow Blindness
7. Cure/Bestow Disease
8. Remove/Bestow Curse

As a lark, I recently took a stab at providing Reversed versions of all the Cleric Spells in B/X (with some BECMI Padding for symmetry) so there might also be some amusing ideas here:

In my ancient Shrines Series I mention that repurposing the Turn Undead Check can also be useful for this function: The Cleric (perhaps more familiar with such things than other Classes) may be able to make a Turn Undead roll (target = level of the Spell) to successfully activate or deduce the function of a given Shrine/Altar. Failure could trigger consequences of course.