A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Castle Whiterock

Dungeon Crawl Classics #51: Castle Whiterock by Chris Doyle and Adrian Pommier is a role playing game supplement published by Goodman Games for use with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. This is a megadungeon but one that has a number of different adventures and side quests built in.

The supplement is available from RPGNow at the regular price of $59.99 but was purchased at the vastly reduced price of $5. It is comprised of several PDFs but is also available as the original boxed set from sites such as Amazon.

The Box from Castle WhiterockBox

This two page PDF is simply the bottom and top of the original box.

Index

The Index for Castle WhiterockThis is a sixteen page PDF. One page gives an overview of the entire set. Next is the Index & Glossary. This is probably not what is expected from an index. There are three sections to this, People & Organisations, Locations and Things. Each entry has the term (often the name) the page numbers (the page numbering is unbroken between the four main books) on which it appears and a description. Some of entries are marked with an asterisk; these are entries that are referred to by name but do not actually appear in the set.

Finally, there are two blank pages for Campaign Notes.

Index (No Background)

This is identical to Index but, of course, doesn’t have a background.

Red Book

The Red Book from Castle WhiterockThis 146 page PDF is the first book. One page is the front cover, one page has a quadrant of the map of the town of Cillamar and one page is the Table of Contents and Credits.

The Introduction starts with a summary of the adventure – or perhaps series of adventures – and the background story and history of the castle. There are hooks to get the characters involved and instructions on using the encounter tables.

Also here is a summary of each level and sub-level as well as the related handouts, broken down by book, with a side view of the dungeon levels. The contents of the various appendices are given as well as overviews of the various NPCs and factions, adversaries and allies and some that are not quite either. There are notes on running the castle as a campaign and a short list of rumours. Conjuration is affected in the castle’s vicinity, and this section gives some details.

The Introduction also considers how to introduce new PCs, gaining levels and treasure and learning new spells. There is also a list of sub-quests and the levels they are on. Another section considers not starting with beginning characters and a variety of separate games that can be played from the campaign.

The book then covers levels 1-6, including the sublevels 3A, 4A and 6A.

Each level of the dungeon is aimed at a specific level and party size, but there are scaling instructions for parties that are either more or less powerful than. The GM’s information for each level also follows a generally standard format, covering the background story, a list of encounters, wandering monsters, general construction, what happens if the characters are captured (some foes may attempt to capture them; others do not), tracking and knowledge that characters can gain from interrogation. Not every level has every detail. There are some connections, other than the physical ones, between levels, such as items that are found on one level but needed on another to complete one of the mini quests.

There are additional experience rewards that can be received from completing mini quests and various small tasks that can be completed on each level for an XP bonus.

Level 1: The Upper Ruins of Castle Whiterock. The above ground ruins, these are controlled by slavers.

Level 2: The Slave Pits of Despair. The upper dungeons, these are controlled by a breakaway group of the White Roc tribe, who are controlled by deeper inhabitants of the ruins.

Level 3: The Lower Dungeons of the White Roc Orcs. The White Roc orcs are descendants of a group that inhabited the castle in the past.

Level 3A: The Ruins of the Cloud Giant Tower. The crashed cloud giant tower lair of the giant-touched leader of the White Roc orcs.

Level 4: Between a (White) Rock and a Hard Place. The first of the natural caverns, these are inhabited by troglodytes that were under the sway of the red dragon who laired deep below.

Level 4A: The Clockwork Academy is part of a former gnomish school devoted to clockwork devices. The school was constructed at several sites, and this is the only part remaining intact. It is now mostly inhabited by the gnomish creations. This is also related to the adventure #51.5: The Sinister Secret of Whiterock.

Level 5: The Submerged Ruins of Castle Whiterock is an underwater area that was part of the lower dungeons of Whiterock as well as the lower courtyard until an earthquake resulted in them being flooded. They are inhabited by water-dwelling creatures.

Level 6: Smells Like Trouble is another area inhabited by troglodytes, tougher ones than on Level 4 who worship Bobugbubiliz, and stonebore ants.

Level 6A: Ruined Chapel of Bobugbubiliz is a former chapel to the toad demon Bobugbubiliz that is still inhabited by its, undead, priest, various undead and toad monsters.

Blue Book

The Blue Book from Castle WhiterockThis is a 145 page PDF, of which one page is the front cover, one page has another quadrant of the map of the town of Cillamar and six pages are blank for making notes.

The book covers more levels, set up in the same way as in the Red Book, main levels 7 to 9 and sublevels 6B, 8A, 9A and 9B.

Level 6B: The Halls of Forgotten Lore is not really a combat location, unless characters are quick off the draw, but instead a useful resource for knowledge.

Level 7: The Watery Way is a largely flooded region, although one that requires boats rather than the ability to breathe underwater. It has a derro outpost associated with the duergar deeper down, an elevator connection to Level 2 and other inhabitants, although no dominant one.

Level 7A: The Hidden Fane of Justica was the base of operations for some dragon slaying paladins, but they were all wiped out. The Fane can be made into a useful base for characters.

Level 8: The Far Garden is not actually a level, but another plane – or, at least, part of one – that can be visited. The plane’s residents are various creatures who could be described as woodland, and an invading goblinoid army.

Level 8A: The Glade of Farewell is reached from The Far Garden, and is where unicorns go to die.

Level 9: Denizens of the Immense Cavern is a huge natural cavern occupied by various different creatures.

Level 9A: The Tombs of Anhkhotep is a large Egyptian-themed pyramid that was transported to the Immense Cavern.

Level 9B: The Inverted Tower is a huge, drow-occupied stalactite attached to the roof of the cavern.

Green Book

The Green Book from Castle WhiterockThis is a 170 page PDF, with one page being the front cover, one page has the third quadrant of the Cillamar map and one page is blank.

Level 9C: Peduncle’s Retreat is a small lake just off the Immense Cavern, inhabited by a gnome who has a strange seafaring device constructed by the Clockwork Academy.

Level 10: The Bleak Theater is a duergar-run gladiatorial arena and slave selling operation. The duergar who run The Bleak Theatre have contact with many of the higher levels, and get slaves via Levels 1 and 2.

Level 10a: Koborth’s Tomb is the discovered tomb of the leader of an adventure party that occupied Castle Whiterock at one point.

Level 10B: Money For Nothing is a hidden puzzle tomb created for a halfling member of the same adventuring party.

Level 11: Narborg – Outer Defenses is the outer defences of the duergar fortress of Narborg, the thane of which controls The Bleak Theatre.

Level 11A: The Lightless Gate is a gate blocking the dungeon’s connection to the Underdeep. This is an area of further expansion for a GM. There is also a connection to a derro sage.

Level 11B: Carapace Fissure is a deep crevasse inhabited primarily by large flying insects, and which gives access to the Demonhold, Level 13.

Level 12: Narborg – Inner Keep is the primary part of the duergar stronghold.

Level 12A: The Wizard’s Redoubt is a completely separate location that needs magic to visit. There are no dangers in here, but quite a lot of treasure belonging to a now-dead powerful wizard. GMs are advised to add dangers to the sublevel, if they don’t want characters to have free access to the treasure.

Black Book

The Black Book from Castle WhiterockThis is a 146 page PDF with one page being the cover and one page having the final quadrant of the Cillamar map. This is the final book describing the dungeon itself, and a good proportion of it is appendices.

Level 13: The Demonhold is essentially a prison which entraps all outsiders of extreme alignments. It currently plays host to demons, devils and a good creature from the upper planes (such tend not to last long).

Level 14: The Burning Maze is really comprised of two levels, one inactive (that occasionally fills with lava) and one active, which contains rivers and lakes of lava. There is a gate to the Elemental Plane of Fire and a type of plant that dispels magic auras. Given that most characters will probably be using magic to survive the heat, this makes the plant more than just a nuisance.

Level 15: The Dragon’s Lair is the final level of the dungeon, and is essentially one big cave with multiple encounter areas. Players may believe that they know exactly what they are going to be facing in this final level; there is a good chance that they’re going to be wrong.

Appendix A: The Inn of the Slumbering Drake is a major inn in Cillamar and probably one which the characters will start from or use as a base of operations. The inn’s layout is given, including maps, as well as descriptions of various NPCs, both staff and customers, and services available. There are a couple of games of chance described in a sidebar as well.

Appendix B: Character Options starts with a new NPC class, guard, which is self explanatory. There are new feats, new skills, new spells and some rules on the effects of shrinking in size.

Appendix C: New Monsters has a fairly substantial number of new monsters along with some new templates.

Appendix D: New Equipment/Magic Items starts with a new item of regular equipment followed by new alchemical items. There are two pieces of armour, one magical, new magic weapons and new wondrous items.

Appendix E: New Unique Magic Items has various new, unique, magic items that can be found in the dungeon, including the figurine of the white roc, a figurine of wondrous power after which the castle is named. These have a range of effects and powers, but being unique they tend towards the upper end of power. It looks as if there is a mistake in the description of the intelligent ring Aquil’iya, which is described as being true neutral and just as happy to work with an evil owner as a good one to maintain balance. However, it also says that anyone who wears it who is not lawful good who wears the ring suffers a penalty, which does not match with the ring’s described behaviour. It looks as if this section was copied from another item.

Appendix F: Pregenerated Characters has six characters to use.

Appendix G: Mercenaries has some foes called the Pack of the Night Wolf who will probably be hired to attack the characters. These mercenaries will advance as the characters do as there is a sidebar on their god.

Appendix H: DCC Tie-ins lists all the references which tie into other Dungeon Crawl Classics supplements, which is every one from #0 to #35B, plus #44, #48 and #49 (and probably #51.5 as well, although this is not in the list). The other supplements are not needed to use Castle Whiterock, but they can be used to tie it into the DCC campaign setting.

Appendix I: The Keys is a list of all the keys in the dungeon. What each key opens, where what it opens is found and where the key itself is located is listed.

Appendix J: Third-Party Monsters and Templates lists all of these that are used in Castle Whiterock, and where they are located.

Book of Maps

This 48 page PDF contains maps of all the levels of Castle Whiterock, including a cross-section of the dungeon showing the relative locations of the levels to each other.

Book of Handouts

This 32 page PDF has all of the handouts that can be given to players. the first page has a list of the handouts and where they are found in the dungeon, and there are six blank pages.

The Kingdom of Morrain Gazetteer

The Kingdom of Morrain Gazetteer from Castle WhiterockThis is a 58 page PDF with one page being the front cover, one page a map of the Kingdom of Morrain, one page the Contents and one page the Open Game License.

The Kingdom of Morrain is where the town of Cillamar is located, which is the nearest settlement to Castle Whiterock.

Chapter 1: Morrain Gazetteer Overview gives an overview of the kingdom and details on the major settlements, or former settlements.

Chapter 2: Cillamar gives an overview of the town, common features and the various locations indicated on the map, including a number of adventure hooks and a list of major NPCs.

Chapter 3: The Lay of the Land covers terrain features, legends, rumours and apocrypha, and also what sort of animal companions are common in the area.

Chapter 4: Culture covers government, clothing, idioms and festivals.

Chapter 5: Heroes, Villains and Rulers of the Land has details on major NPCs, monsters and organisations.

Chapter 6: History gives the history of Morrain, both before and after its founding.

Chapter 7: Campaigns Set in Morrain briefly covers races and classes in the region.

The Kingdom of Morrain Gazetteer (No Background)

This 56 page PDF is generally identical to the previous one, except that the pages have no background and it lacks the colour cover and map.

Pregenerated Characters

This is a seven page PDF which has six pregenerated characters and a blank character sheet.

Posters

Finally, there are several posters. There is a four page PDF black and white map of The Dragon’s Lair, a four page colour PDF map of Cillamar and two promotional four page PDFs of Goodman Games’ products.

Castle Whiterock in Review

Some of the PDFs are bookmarked, but the bookmarks only cover each level or sublevel for the dungeon or chapters or appendixes. The Table of Contents is to a similar level of detail. Some of the PDFs completely lack bookmarks, namely the books of maps and handouts. Although the Index PDF does help to a degree, with its listings of various different types of things and where they are located, navigation on the whole is quite poor, especially given the size of the supplement.

The text maintains a two column format, sometimes with and sometimes without a background, and, given the size of the supplement, there are very few errors. There are a number of black and white illustrations, which would all appear to be custom. There are also colour illustrations on various covers and the map of the town of Cillamar is also in colour. Presentation is on the whole very good.

Castle Whiterock, as is mentioned in Appendix H, references quite a lot of other DCC supplements in the DCC setting, as well as #51.5 which is not on the official list in the appendix.

As characters descend into the dungeon, the levels become more challenging, but characters can skip ahead levels, such as going from level 2 to level 7, or level 7 to level 14. Characters who do so will end up facing challenges for which they are not ready; given how much stronger these challenges are, a total party kill is possible in such circumstances. Although the dungeon is generally not as truly lethal as many Old School dungeons can be, it is potentially far more dangerous than players accustomed to completely balanced new games are used to. Not quite a killer dungeon, but definitely with the potential to be deadly.

As well as the various adventures and mini-quests in the supplement itself, there are many places where the adventure can be expanded. There are connections to the underearth realms, plus a number of places where levels can be expanded. There are also a fair number of potential quests that can be developed from the adventure hooks in Cillamar.

The supplement is tied into Dungeon Crawl Classics’ Aerth setting, but not tied so much that it can’t be placed elsewhere. With a few changes, Castle Whiterock can be placed in most settings. With only a little more work, the town of Cillamar can be transported as well; alternatively, a GM could simply move The Inn of the Slumbering Drake to another setting. Some individual portions of the dungeon could also be stripped out and used elsewhere, although many of the levels are tied together. This makes the supplement pretty versatile.

Castle Whiterock is a big, impressive dungeon that is, in some ways, between a traditional Old School dungeon crawl and a new style balanced game, perhaps tending more to the first than the second. There are NPCs to interact with, and some situations can be handled without conflict, but most creatures in the main dungeon are there to be killed. Castle Whiterock can be found by clicking here.

 

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