The Crypt

Version 0.13: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A huge repository for the ancient dead. The air is chill and fetid, the walls cold and damp. Bones are strewn liberally everywhere and the whole place resounds with the keening of the tortured souls of the unquiet dead. The Crypt is five levels deep and can be found between Vault:2 and Vault:3. It contains the entrance to the Tomb.

These stairs lead to an ancient crypt. Unfortunately, not everything that was buried there had the decency to stay dead.

The Crypt is a side-branch located under the Vaults, haunted by all manner of undead.

Useful Info

The Crypt is 5 floors deep, its entrance found between floors 2 and 3 of the Vaults, populated by all kinds of undead monsters, the Crypt can be dangerous to the unprepared. The near-absence of living foes makes finding chunks (let alone clean ones) difficult, so watch your food clock. It contains the entrance to the Tomb and significant treasure on the lowest floor, but no rune.

The Crypt is also a very silent place (one might even say "dead quiet"), so noises will carry farther than you're used to. While the majority of the Crypt's inhabitants attack you in relative silence (flying skulls are one of the few forms of undead capable of alerting others of your presence), even the noise made by your weapons striking your foes will be attracting attention. See the page on noise for more details.

The most dangerous monsters you can find in the Crypt are:

• Khufu: A unique greater mummy. Like all the greater mummies, Khufu has ridiculously large HP and can torment. Can be generated with a band of greater mummies.
• Ancient liches: The last level usually contains a few of them. The cast very powerful conjurations, or summon greater demons.
• Vampire knights: They can cast paralyse, invisibility and haste. Good magic resistance and see invisible will be very useful.
• Vampire mage: Can summon undead.
• Ancient champions: Stronger than skeletal warriors. Most of them can haste themselves.
• Flayed ghosts: They have a powerful smite attack which deals "illusory" damage. Not too dangerous if they are alone.
• Deep elf mages: They cast bolt of draining, and will summon lost souls.
• Bone dragons: Best melee fighters found in the Crypt.
• Ghouls: They can be generated in small groups (usually with some necrophages or plague shamblers), can use weapons, have high hp, and two rot-inducing melee attacks.
• Jiangshi: One of the few monsters in the Crypt faster than normal speed.
• Curse skulls: Very good resistances, can torment and Summon Undead. Immune to silence.
• Silent spectres: These emit wide auras of silence. Although harmless to non-casters, they can disable any character who relies on spells.

Recommendations

Weapons with the holy wrath brand are extremely useful here. If you're a spellcaster, Dispel Undead deals very high, irresistible damage that ignores AC.

Crypt:5

Below is one of the various Crypt endings, typical of what lurks on the last floor:

Eye to Eye With the Devil

This Crypt end is notable in that it only features a small vault, which is however quite dangerous.

##############################################################################
#       eye to eye with the evil
#
# XXX: Undiggable glass has been converted to grates.
NAME:   david_glass_crypt
ORIENT: float
TAGS:   no_item_gen no_rotate
PLACE:  Crypt:$
MARKER: m = lua:portal_desc {wall_phase = 1}
KFEAT:  m = iron_grate
MONS:   patrolling lich / patrolling ancient lich
MONS:   bone dragon / curse skull / curse toe
MONS:   flying skull / skeletal warrior / w:40 nothing
WEIGHT: 10
KFEAT:  ^ = alarm trap
SUBST:  F = G:99 F:1
KMONS:  F = orange crystal statue / silver statue / ice statue
{{
lua_marker("|",
           Triggerable.synchronized_markers(
             function_at_spot("crypt_drop_grates", { trig = false },
                              true, { only_at_slave = true,
                                      listen_to_slaves = true })))
}}
MAP
.....................
.....................
..vvvvnnnnnnnnnvvvv..
..vlllllllllllllllv..
..vlllllllllllllllv..
..vllll..|||..llllv..
..vll...|||||...llv..
..vl.....|||.....lv..
..vl.............lv..
..vmm..F.vvv.F..mmv..
..v1m...^^^^^...m1v..
..vvvvvvv+++vvvvvvv..
...vv..2.....2..vv...
 ..vv.333333333.vv..
 ...vvv.......vvv...
   ...vv+++++vv...
    .............
ENDMAP

Note the potential curse skulls/toes in the first room and the two liches behind iron grates.

If you are daring enough to ignore the liches and walk straight for the treasure, the iron grates will break as soon as you step into one the squares that has treasure and they will come after you. This is however quite dangerous, as you can quickly get crowded. If you try this simple strategy, use Haste and read a scroll of teleportation before picking up the last item you want.

If you have apportation, you can get the treasure without releasing the liches, but you will need to deal with the summons. If they don't summon fast monsters like Executioners or Hellions, this can be as simple as running away until the summons disappear.

Alternatively, summon an army, cast Silence, approach one lich, and free him with a wand of digging. Melee fighters may want to zap a wand of digging at the iron grates and melee the liches.

With teleport control you can just teleport to the treasure (which will free the liches). Then you could teleport out before they come for you and lure them out one by one.

Monsters

• Eidolon
• Wraith
• Freezing wraith
• Phantasmal warrior
• Shadow wraith
• Skeletal warrior
• Ancient champion
• Flaming corpse
• Ghoul
• Plague shambler
• Vampire
• Vampire mage
• Vampire knight
• Jiangshi
• Necromancer
• Silent spectre
• Flayed ghost
• Reaper
• Soul eater
• Bone dragon
• Deep dwarf death knight
• Deep elf death mage
• Unborn
• Revenant
• Lich
• Ancient lich
• Shadow
• Wight
• Flying skull
• Hungry ghost

Placed by vaults:

• Curse skull
• Curse toe
• Guardian mummy
• Mummy priest
• Greater mummy
• Khufu
• Dancing weapon
• Iron golem
• Crystal golem
• Hell knight
• Profane servitor

History

Prior to 0.13, the Crypt had another monster set. Zombies, skeletons and skeletal warriors were by a very large margin the most common monsters. It also was more quiet.