Friday Fantasy: DCC Day #6 DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack

As well as contributing to Free RPG Day every year Goodman Games also has its own ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day’. The day is notable not only for the events and the range of adventures being played for Goodman Games’ roleplaying games, but also for the scenarios it releases specifically to be played on the day. For ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day 2025’, which took place today on Saturday, July 19th, 2025,* the publisher is releasing not one, not two, but three scenarios, plus a limited edition printing of Dungeon Crawl Classics #108: The Seventh Thrall of Sekrekan. Two of the scenarios, ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ and ‘Balticrawl Blitz’, appear in the duology, the DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack. The third is DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock. Both DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock and ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ are written for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, whilst the other, ‘Balticrawl Blitz’ is for use with the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game, the ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics’ adaptation and upgrade of the earlier Xcrawl Core Rulebook for use with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, which turns the concept of dungeoneering into an arena sport and monetises it!

* The late international delivery of titles for DCC Day #6 means that these reviews are also late. Apologies.

As in past years, the DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack contains two adventures. The first and longest of the two is ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ are written for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. It is designed for a party of four to six Player Characters of First Level and begins with them in an enchanted forest, come to a grove where a rose bush whose petals are known to have healing properties is known to grow. When they attempt to pick them, a ghost of a knight appears and begs for their aid. Introducing himself as Al-Razi, he was once a great knight, but in an accident, he fell from his horse, but then a fairy queen caught him and stole him from death. He asks that the Player Characters free him from his torment. The opportunity for this will come at fairy parade through the village of Taribat, which takes place only once every seven years. Al-Razi will ride at the head of the parade and if the Player Characters can catch him when he falls from horse, he will be freed. Unfortunately, in order to be able to see past the veil of the fairy, the Player Characters need water from an enchanted pool to wash their eyes in. Fortunately, Al-Razi knows there is such a pool—beyond the Twilight Cave.

The thrust of the scenario is for the Player Characters to enter the Twilight Cave and search for the pool. This is a race against time to the pool and back again to the village of Taribat. There are fun encounters here, such as the giant kittens playing with a giant mouse, a chance to make some purchases from a ‘Ye Olde magic Shoppe’ in what is actually a scenario befitting cliché, and some not entirely unhelpful witches. The second part of the scenario is the parade itself, which will lead from one stone outside the village to another on the opposite side. The whole of the village will turn out to watch and celebrate with costumes, drinks, and music, completely unaware as to the true nature of the parade. Only the Player Characters will have any idea as what the parade is and will only be able to see who really is in the parade by wiping their eyes with the enchanted water. This is a rolling combat as the parade will constantly be on the move and the members of the parade will take action if they realise what the Player Characters are trying to do. The Queen will respond with an array of deadly illusions, backed up with her paper handmaidens, and the Fey Riders encircle Al-Razi.

The scenario requires a bit of staging upon the part of the Judge in order for the Player Characters to get past the Fey Riders and be with Al-Razi at the right time to catch him as he falls. One thing to be avoided is fighting the fairy queen, as she is a very tough opponent for First Level Player Characters. It is also possible to fail—though the consequences are quite minor, as well as do very well. Otherwise, this is a raucous climax to an entertaining scenario.

The second scenario is ‘Balticrawl Blitz’, which is designed for the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game and again for party of four to six Player Characters of First Level. In the Player Characters are invited to participate in the annual Division III Balticrawl Blitz. As this title suggests, this event takes place in the rundown and corrupt city of Baltimore. The Player Characters get a taste of the latter when someone knocks on the door of their hotel room and are offered a bribe to throw the Xcrawl in a particular room! The event itself is very much themed around the city of Baltimore and its history. This starts with the DJ, or ‘Dungeon Judge’, ‘DJ Nevermore’, a thin sallow moustachioed man in Victorian dress with a raven on his shoulder, who has designed the event and will be running it. So, quite literally inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, this scenario has Gothic streak as wide as a white one running through a Goth’s hair. The other inspiration for the adventure is the city’s love of crabs, but this is mainly because the event’s main sponsor is the Elder Bay Spices Company, whose blend of spices is popular with seafood all along the east coast.

At just five locations, ‘Balticrawl Blitz’ is a small scenario. It is playable in a single session if paced right and some of the encounters are tough for Player Characters of First Level. A Player Character Messenger will be needed to provide healing. Another issue is that it is a very American scenario and not everyone is going to be fully aware of Baltimore’s history, and having to explain some of the references will break the immersion. Otherwise, a solid scenario for the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game that is easy to slip into a campaign.

Physically, DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack is as well done as you would expect for a release from Goodman Games. The artwork is decent, but a little cartoonish in places—which actually suits the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game—and the cartography is definitely better for the Dungeon Crawl Classics scenario than the Xcrawl Classics scenario. Similarly, the cover is very cartoony, but it still works.

DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack delivers two good scenarios for two different games, but of the two, ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ is the more inventive and interesting. Both are easy to add to a campaign though and both could be run as Character Funnels, though ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ is probably the better of the two for that as well.

Friday Fantasy: DCC Day #6 The Key to Castle Whiterock

As well as contributing to Free RPG Day every year Goodman Games also has its own ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day’. The day is notable not only for the events and the range of adventures being played for Goodman Games’ roleplaying games, but also for the scenarios it releases specifically to be played on the day. For ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day 2025’, which took place today on Saturday, July 19th, 2025,* the publisher is releasing not one, not two, but three scenarios, plus a limited edition printing of Dungeon Crawl Classics #108: The Seventh Thrall of Sekrekan. Two of the scenarios, ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ and ‘Balticrawl Blitz’, appear in the duology, the DCC Day 2025 Adventure Pack. The third is DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock. Both DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock and ‘The Fall of Al-Razi’ are written for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, whilst the other, ‘Balticrawl Blitz’ is for use with the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game, the ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics’ adaptation and upgrade of the earlier Xcrawl Core Rulebook for use with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, which turns the concept of dungeoneering into an arena sport and monetises it!

* The late international delivery of titles for DCC Day #6 means that these reviews are also late. Apologies.

DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock does come with a bit of backstory. It is a preview and adventure for Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told published by Goodman Games, which is the subject of a forthcoming crowdfunding campaign. This crowdfunding campaign brings back and updates Dungeon Crawl Classics #51: Castle Whiterock, originally published in 2007. It received its own preview for Free RPG Day, in 2007, in the form of Dungeon Crawl Classics #51.5: The Sinister Secret of Whiterock, and Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told has already been given a preview in the form of The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock, published for Free RPG Day 2025. Both Dungeon Crawl Classics #51: Castle Whiterock and Dungeon Crawl Classics #51.5: The Sinister Secret of Whiterock were written for use with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, but both Castle Whiterock: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock and Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told are written for use with two separate roleplaying games. These are the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock differs in that it is solely written for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game.

DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock is designed for a party of First Level Player Characters and designed to introduce Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told. If completed, the adventure will provide the Player Characters with a map of part of Castle Whiterock, details of one of its secrets, and some treasure, as well as some surprising allies. In doing so, they will go all the way back to Castle Whiterock’s origins as Clynnoise, a monastery that was home to the Order of the Dawning Sun, over a thousand years ago. Since that time, it has been sacked multiple times and been occupied by Orcs, cultists, a Red Dragon, and more recently, a band of slavers. In doing so, they will go all the way back to Castle Whiterock’s origins as Clynnoise, a monastery that was home to the Order of the Dawning Sun, over a thousand years ago. Since that time, it has been sacked multiple times and been occupied by Orcs, cultists, a Red Dragon, and more recently, a band of slavers. The Player Characters have set out to explore the dungeon of Castle Whiterock, but due to good fortune have come into possession of another map. This shows the location of a lone tomb in the Ul Dominor Mountains near Castle Whiterock. Deciphering the text on the map reveals that the tomb is the burial place of Reglee Callim, famed architect of the Clynnoise, and that she was buried with “[H]er wisdom, plans, and keys”. It suggests that she might have gone to her grave with notes about the building and layout of Clynnoise as well as the means to access the ancient ruins.

The adventure itself begins at the entrance as marked on the map, high up a circuitous path overlooking a valley. Beyond the entrance lies the Callim family tomb complex, a simple, two-level complex of tombs, chapels, and more, marked by sarcophagi, burial niches, and the like. There are undead and there are ghosts, just as you would expect in a tomb complex. There is also some treasure to loot, but not a great amount and barely a handful magical items. All in keeping with the low treasure rates to be expected of a Dungeon Crawl Classics scenario. However, the scenario is not just a tomb to be looted and there are a couple of good story strands to what is quite a simple dungeon. The first is that the dungeon is not infested with evil monsters, rather that the resting dead tends towards Law rather than Chaos. The second is that despite being dead for over a thousand years, the Player Characters can talk to Reglee Callim and gain some clues as to what to expect on the second level. However, whilst the third and final strand of the scenario is to be found on the second level, it is wholly unexpected. This is that the Player Characters are not the only invaders to the tomb. As the Player Characters have entered from above, a band of Goblins, lead by a would be Hobgoblin warlord, has entered from below and as the Player Characters discover, are looting from below.

The scenario offers two options in terms of how the Player Characters might react to the goblinoid presence. In classic style, they could slaughter the lot, though the band is quite large for a group of First Level Player Characters to defeat. Alternatively, the Player Characters could negotiate and even enter an alliance with the Hobgoblin warlord. For a share of the treasure, the warlord even provides several Goblins to fight alongside the Player Characters as well as to make sure their Hobgoblin boss gets her share. It brings a degree of co-operation to play that is not normally present in this style of roleplaying and often not at First Level as well as an unexpected element of roleplaying. The Hobgoblin warlord and her Goblin cohorts are nicely detailed, helping the Judge to portray them as they interact with the Player Characters.

Physically, DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock is as well done as you would expect for a release from Goodman Games. The artwork is decent, but a little cartoonish in places, whilst the cartography is not as interesting as that usually found in Dungeon Crawl Classics scenarios. The cover is very nicely done, showing the moment the final confrontation in the dungeon.

DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock has a lighter, though a not humorous, feel than most adventures for Dungeon Crawl Classics. If the Dungeon Master was willing, it is easily adapted to Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition as per the guidelines given in Castle Whiterock: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock. If the scenario is lacking, it is perhaps a good hook to keep the players and their characters interested to want to explore Castle Whiterock, but as a prequel to the campaign and if a playing group has set out to play Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told, then DCC Day #6: The Key to Castle Whiterock is a solid addition to the campaign and sets the Player Characters with an advantage or two in readiness.