Hello everyone!

Several fans have asked us "what is this clamshell box you keep mentioning?" So today we are here with some more information on it.

In addition, we've done a couple rounds of "spotlight videos" where the indie Whiterock creators talk about their projects and their rooms in the Lost Level. Two of those videos are at the bottom of this update.

But first: Clamshell Boxes! Many of the stretch goals have the biggest benefit for clamshell backers. Here's why you should back the clamshell edition!

Ever since TSR released the first D&D decades ago, gamers have loved boxed sets. Recently we have been experimenting with this new format for boxed sets. The results are great. Here is a photograph of the clamshell box for a previous project. Note the "hinge" on the spine and the elastic straps on inside cover, plus of course the inside-the-box-top printing:

This is what a clamshell box looks like when stood upright. It can double as a GM screen!

Clamshell boxes are big. From left to right, you see here:

Here you see the printer's mockup of what the Castle Whiterock clamshell edition looks like, with all the contents inside. On the left are books. On the right, held in place with elastic straps, are envelopes that contain handouts, poster maps, pregenerated characters, and so on.

Finally, here is the clamshell edition with "all the stuff" arrayed out in front. There's a ton of material in this box!

Specific to Whiterock, we are including additional materials in the clamshell edition that aren't in the main box. (The full list is on the main project page.)

So that, everyone, is what a clamshell looks like. If you're in doubt, "lean in" to upgrade. You will be glad you did!

Here are two recent videos with indie Whiterock creators highlighting their projects. Enjoy!

So, we added some new stretch goals. Here is the line up:

Check out more details below... (and don't forget, if Dunn the Dwarf survives all 4 rounds, the amount needed for ALL stretch goals is each decreased by 25%!)

With your support we achieved EVERY stretch goal . . . by day 2! And this means backers now get these:

Hello everyone,

Once in a blue moon, reality overlaps with fantasy, and it's a very special moment.

I've actually been holding on to this photo for over a decade. Let's just start with this:

Yes, I really have camped at Whiterock! Photo taken in Southern California in 2015.

Some of you may know the origin story of DCC RPG involved several camping trips with myself (Joe Goodman) and Doug Kovacs. Lots of games, lots of debates, lots of what someone in PR would call "design discussions" (aka arguing over what rule would best capture Elric, or Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, or Cugel the Clever, or Conan). There were many other chapters in the origin story, too, but camping trips were an important part.

Those early camping trips happened long before we had iPhones (i.e. before the era where everyone took 50 photos of every moment). Then kids happened and life got busy. One of the last camping trips was 2015. I did have an iPhone then and we did capture a few photos.

Anyway, somewhere in Southern California there really is a Whiterock. And today seems like the right day to tell everyone: I really have camped at Whiterock!

One more photo while we're at it. You know you're a gamer when... your idea of a good time is playing a vintage edition of Dungeon! in the dark in a rainstorm on a cold stone picnic bench in the middle of the woods.

Believe it or not, this picture of playing board games in the rain and dark brings back a lot of good memories. We hope Castle Whiterock will bring those same sorts of great memories to you and your gaming group!

P.S. "You know you're a gamer when..." - tell us in the comments your anecdotes about "you know you're a gamer when..."

Another milestone hit -- and moar great art! As we post this, a new stretch goal was unlocked. Now backers can expect more poster maps to be included with this project.

Hello fans and followers of Castle Whiterock! As we continue to make progress on hitting those sweet sweet stretch goals, our artists and cartographers have been busy making the fantastic images that will fill this boxed set. Still lots to do, but we'd like to share some of the work they've turned in thus far.

But before we dive in, remember there are other cool creative publishers making great Castle Whiterock content as part of Mega Dungeon Month. Check out Castle Whiterock: An Illustrated Journey, a project by Studio 9 Games. Spend a minute checking out the project page and no doubt you'll back it as quickly as we did.

Hey everybody, a quick update just to say that there are some very cool things you should be checking out if you haven't yet!

First: The fantastic Andy Edmonds' Mutant Spawn of the Toadmother is doing amazing and you'd be a fool (a dang fool!) not to get in on it! I was privileged enough to be one of the very first playtesters and I think about it every night before I go to sleep. And again when I wake up with (very cool) nightmares. PLUS, if you back Andy's campaign (since you're already backing mine) you can get a sticker sheet with art from both of our modules! Monstrous toads and magical giant ants to decorate your water bottles and laptops and car bumpers with–what more could anybody ask for? According to BackerKit, we've got a 70% cross-over going here so I implore the 30% left to go check out this very fun/creepy/cool adventure!

Second: There's a huge DriveThruRPG DCC sale going on that includes all the third-party creators you love! So go there and load up a digital cartload! There's so much stuff–it's a fantastic time to be a DCC fan! Sale ends May 1st.

Third: Finally, Goodman Games is giving us third-party folks the wonderful opportunity to speak to their YouTube audience! I think all of the Castle Whiterock projects are super cool and you can see a selection of them in this video! My project will be featured in an upcoming video alongside others–I'm not going to spam y'all with updates, but it's worth your time to subscribe to Goodman Games' YouTube channel where you can get all kinds of updates on what they're up to with Castle Whiterock and beyond!

Howdy Castle Whiterock & rollers,

We're barrelling towards the end of Week #2 of the campaign and your support has us inching ever closer to our next stretch goal: more awesome poster maps of Castle Whiterock's dungeon depths. As always, we're grateful for your support and we suspect we'll blast through a few more stretch goals before all is said and done.

And while we wait to hear the sound of more stretch goals being broken, let's not forget that Castle Whiterock extends far beyond what you'll get in the boxed set. Numerous other creators are hanging out in the Castle Whiterock playground. Folks like Explore Dungeons who bring us The Carnivorous Cauldron. Whiterock is pretty strange normally, but if you think it needs more three-eyed goblins, psychic vegetation, and a cauldron with an appetite, why not swing on over to their Backerkit page and lend some support their way?

Now, let's hear from Julian Bernick, one of the DCC RPG writers responsible for bringing you this amazing boxed set. Take it away, Julian!

By Julian Bernick

 

I was thrilled to answer the call to work with Goodman Games on Castle Whiterock. I like crazy stuff and Castle Whiterock is over-the-top imaginative (perhaps my favorite being the pharaoh’s tomb that’s teleported into an entire dungeon level of its own!). I love how Whiterock feels at once both classic and full of wild ideas.

 

So, when I was asked to create content for Castle Whiterock, I started with my love for AD&D. Castle Whiterock feels like it could have dropped right into my old 1980s campaigns. It was fun to work on something that felt new and nostalgic at the same time—yet also updating those concepts to DCC RPG (and through the hard work and creativity of others, to 5E as well).

 

Accordingly, the process was fairly simple. But I also asked myself: what would be interesting to feature from those days of yore; items and magic that had a classic D&D bent but at the same time were under-represented in current DCC RPG lore. Because any of these artifacts, gods, patrons, or spells should be usable in any DCC RPG campaign, perhaps with a little re-skinning, or perhaps without.

 

For patrons, a drow patron was the DCC patron that I had always wanted from my AD&D days. I wrote Tororthun, a dark mistress to build whole thieves’ guilds and other secret societies around, and my own foray into the “dark elf” trope that’s been a mainstay of AD&D since some of Gary Gygax’s seminal adventures. Of course, the writeup for Pelltar, the arch-mage of the legendary Company of the Black Osprey, tested the idea that a powerful enough wizard (or elf!) adventurer could eventually become a patron. And Pelltar being present in Castle Whiterock for players to interact with via speak with the dead, invoke patron, patron bond and similar spells is a testament to what DCC RPG can be.

 

Also, I was able to contribute some spells! This was an interesting assignment as we had found that various “guards and wards” type spells of earlier editions were not fully present in DCC RPG, at least not as envisioned in the bounds of Castle Whiterock. So warded walls became our opportunity to establish a spell that should be very helpful to spellcasters who are building out their strongholds (power mad and paranoid spellcasters, you’re welcome!). Lastly—the wish spell. This was a dream come true! A chance to reformulate one of the most powerful Gygaxian spells into DCC RPG. (I originally proposed it as a seventh level spell, but the Supreme Council of Supernatural Patrons and Dark Deities rejected this proposal 5-2, sorry to say. So, its world-bending power remains only slightly out of reach at sixth level). Trying to put such a spell into the DCC RPG spell results table was very rewarding. 

 

All in all, a very fun project. I know that many judges and players are going to enjoy Castle Whiterock for the same reason I did: it marries a classic D&D ethos with everything new we’ve come to enjoy from Dungeon Crawl Classics. Now it’s your turn to make it your own and enjoy!