[Free RPG Day 2025] The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

—oOo—

Castle Whiterock: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock is a preview and adventure for Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told published by Goodman Games. It comes with a bit of backstory and 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. Further, Dungeon Crawl Classics #51: Castle Whiterock received its own preview for Free RPG Day, in 2007, in the form of Dungeon Crawl Classics #51.5: The Sinister Secret of Whiterock. Now 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.

Castle Whiterock: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock is an adventure for Second Level Player Characters for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and is an adventure for First Level Player Characters for Dungeon Crawl Classics. It is written for use by the Judge in Dungeon Crawl Classics and the Dungeon Master in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, so there is a lot of technical phrasing and terminology for both games throughout the adventure. This begins with a conversion guide between the two roleplaying games, which covers Level ranges and attribute, saving throw, difficulty class, and damage descriptor equivalents between the two, as well as an explanation of how Advantage and Disadvantage are handled in both. It is an interesting read which explores the differences between the two and how they handle various aspects of similar game play.

The scenario, Castle Whiterock: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock, opens with news that a beacon of light has been seen shining out of a suddenly revealed watch tower, known as Swornlight Tower, over Galena Pass in the Ul-Dominor Mountains. The Player Characters may be simply travelling through the pass and want to investigate or look for refuge; they may have been sent by the Merchant-Lord, Nigel the Bald, to look for some missing merchants; or a monastic order of scholars, the Order of the Dawning Sun, seek to claim the watchtower, and so employ the Player Characters to clear it out of any dangerous creatures which have made their home within the walls.

The adventure begins with the Player Characters outside a crack in the rock below the watchtower. They can either explore the crack or make the difficult climb up the rock to the top of the exposed watch tower. Inside, they will find signs that the watchtower has long been abandoned, covered with rock and debris, some of it filling the windows and flowing into rooms, as well as signs of recent occupation. This is by a lone monk of the Order of the Dawning Sun, who will be more than felicitous in his welcoming the adventurers, apologising for the traps he has laid to protect himself against intruders, and offering them food and ale. The Player Characters may have some idea that there is something wrong in the watchtower, depending upon their means of access. If they climb to the top and descend down through the floors, they will discover hints that something weird is going on, whereas if they enter from below via the crack, they will certainly pick up hints from the monk’s demeanour… There are some nice moments of horror in the tower and the monk is ever so slightly creepy.

Ultimately, the secret of Swornlight Tower will be revealed to the Player Characters in the antechamber below the tower following a tough little combat puzzle. This also sets them up for the scenario’s final confrontation and if successful, prepares for further exploration of Castle Whiterock when Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told is published. There is potential that the Player Characters may suffer a curse during the adventure, but lifting it lies outside of the scope of the Castle Whiterock: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock.

Rounding out Castle Whiterock: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock is a pair of appendices. The first contains stats and descriptions for the monsters and NPCs in the adventure. The second details the two new magical items available in the campaign and two handouts which help lay the groundwork for the final confrontation and the puzzle before it.

Physically, Castle Whiterock: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock is cleanly and tidily laid out. The look of the scenario feels like a blend of the two layout styles used by Goodman Games, one for Dungeon Crawl Classics and one for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. The cartography is very clear though is done in an overhead view rather than the isomorphic view normally used for Dungeon Crawl Classics. The artwork has some creepy moments that are very appropriate to the scenes they accompany.

Castle Whiterock: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock can be run on its own, inserted into a Judge’s or Dungeon Master’s own campaign, or it can be run as a prequel to Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told. Either way, this is a creepy, slightly horrifying scenario that works as intended, but better as a prequel to Castle Whiterock: The Greatest Dungeon Story Ever Told.