For the first time since I started going to Free RPG Day in, I believe 2018, I wasn’t particularly interested in picking up the Goodman Games submission.  Castle Whiterock, which is apparently a setting from the earlier days, before Goodman had created the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG.  It seems that they’re planning to crowdfund a new version of it, for both D&D 5e and DCC, later in 2025.  Not only do I not do crowdfunding, but I’m not looking for yet another DCC setting, and I’m not really into mega-dungeons, which is what I believe Castle Whiterock is.  Yet, at one of the stops, I had an opportunity to pick it up, so I figured, what the hell.

I’m glad I did.  I really enjoyed this module, and I’m definitely going to seed it into the little Fantasy Land sandbox world I’ve been stitching together over the last couple years.  

The scenario is quite short, at about eleven pages, plus some appendices, handouts, and some brief 5e/DCC conversion notes.  Set in a mountainous region near Castle Whiterock, it takes almost no effort to shift it over into the mountains of whatever setting you might be using.  In fact, I have two different mountainous regions in the previously mentioned sandbox, and I could keep this scenario in my back pocket to drop into either one without much problem.
The basic opening premise is that a tower that was buried for a thousand years has started to be revealed by some landslides.  A corruption within is beginning to wake up and spread its influence.  The PCs might be sent there, might investigate some disappearances, or might simply stumble upon the site while doing something else.  

Overall, it’s fairly simple.  Though there are some complications that could make things more confusing and strange.  I’m not sure, for example, that I’d bother with a lot of the stuff about the Orcs, especially as they’re not actively involved in the scenario.  Or, conversely, I might have them still present, or soon returning.  Perhaps an oncoming hoard could create a time pressure.

So yeah.  I like this one.  I look forward to throwing it in the path of my (hypothetical) players.  I’m still probably not going to grab Castle Whiterock when it comes out.  Or at least, it’s not any sort of priority.  But this was cool. 

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