We shipped When the Stars Cried Despair on Saturday, meaning this starter adventure at the end of the world is days away from your post box, bookshelves and gaming tables.
And that means your Descent of the Ancient Faneand the secret history of Castle Whiterock is about to begin!
We'd hoped to psych you up for Descent of the Ancient Fane and Castle Whiterock in April by having you able to play the Descent's funnel, When the Stars Cried Despair, from now until April. We're thrilled to fulfill that mission!
We hope to hear your feedback soon, as we're especially proud of When the Stars Cried Despair. It's excited and terrified gaming groups at conventions thanks to Judge Bahasa Ingeris - including the upcoming Castle Con in Rochester, MN, from January 22 to 25! Now this one-of-a-kind funnel will be yours.
But as we were assembling the shipping boxes, reviewing each name on the labels with gratitude, we came to a sad conclusion: So many of you are missing out on The Mouth of Mentius!
You have to check this dungeon zine out! Whether you're a Dungeon Crawl Classics fan or a Dungeons & Dragons 5e afficionado, The Mouth of Mentiushas a unique adventure for you - ancient Roman ruins mixed with weird fantasy. This full-fledged, old-school-style dungeon abounds with excitement:
Like hand-drawn art by Faith Murphree!
And our new format that makes it easier for judges to run! This is the Old-School Essentials version, but just imagine it in Dungeon Crawl Classics or D&D 5e font and styles.
And as you can guess, it's not just available for DCCand D&D 5e - it's also for Old-School Essentials (B/X, AD&D). Each version has distinct variations that empower the kind of tale those systems are best at telling.
Why the urgency?The Mouth of Mentius is available for $11 for a print edition,only during BackerKit's Zinetopia (Feb 2-27). That's $11 for:
73 rooms over 4 levels
18+ unique monsters from Roman myth and weird fantasy
20+ unique magical items
3 warring factions you can RP with
Danger, drama and intrigue in the Sunken City of Sublime Sin!
Don't miss out on Mentius! Hop on over to BackerKit, follow it now, and be there to grab it at the BackerKit-only price of $11!
Beyond that, my friends, we have so much planned: Descent of the Ancient Fane erupting onto Mega Dungeon Month as our Castle Whiterock tie-in. A remaster of A Tale of Two Sisters with the goblin megadungeon mentioned throughout fully detailed and tools to craft a true "sandbox" story from your campaign. And, in 2027, the full-fledged campaign setting for Northern Lohre.
We're so grateful to have you on this journey. You survived the crunchy, early-level adventures of our team's growth. Now, it's off to some jaw-dropping mid-level action. Thanks for being an important part of our party.
Now watch those mailboxes and count your blessings, for it's When the Stars Cried Despair!
Updates ahoy! We've used the excellent Pirate Ship service to purchase the postage for all of your packages.
This means that shipping starts super soon, as we assemble all your boxes of books this weekend and take them to the post office early next week.
We're thrilled to be able to deliver your print editions of When the Stars Cried Despair soon enough for you to get some game sessions in before Descent of the Ancient Faneand Castle Whiterockhit the scene in April!
And of course, if you've yet to followDescent of the Ancient Fane, hop on that now! Especially since we've confirmed that Stefan Poag will do the cover art for Delicious in Whiterock- our guide to hunting and cooking the monsters of Castle Whiterock, including real recipes, available only for backers in the first 48 hours!
Another project that's soon to smash onto the BackerKit scene that we wanted to mention is The 10th Doomstar by Julian Bernick, released by Dragon Peak Publishing and arriving on BackerKit January 19th.
This module is insane. Not only because Julian and Dragon Peak do superb work, and it has amazing art by Ben Marra, Peter Mullen, Boson Au and Dax Hammon.
It's especially insane because it's a Level 10 DCC adventure. Having run a fistful of Level 7 DCC adventures, I can assure you that the gameplay is nothing less than epic. It's edgier, crazier and more intense than any other fantasy TTRPG play I've experienced.
So, if that kind of off-the-chain experience is also your jam, check it out before it collides with our favorite crowdfunding platform on January 19.
Lastly but not leastly, you have to check out The Mouth of Mentius by the all-female team of my wife, author Gina Marie Funk, and the amazing artist, Faith Murphree!
Coming to BackerKit for Zinetopia, this old-school dungeon Zine is ideal for any gamer who's been craving Ancient Rome's gods, monsters and mythology - all mixed with weird fantasy inspired by Burroughs' Barsoom novels!
It's a great fit for just about any gaming group - Old School Essentials (B/X, AD&D), Dungeon Crawl Classics and even D&D 5e. We've crafted this 73-room dungeon and its unique magical items and monsters for all those systems.
What's more, The Mouth of Mentius will be available for only $11 for a print copy, only for its time on BackerKit! It'll retail at $20+ given that it's packed with art and entries, but you can snag it for the magical number of $11 from February 6 to the end of the month!
Follow The Mouth of Mentius now, and you can immediately download a PDF of a free intro adventure for Dungeon Crawl Classics - a gritty encounter with Mentius' guardian, a construct colossus, The Man of Bronze!
We hope you find this all as exciting and inspiring as we do. Terrific things are on the way in 2026, friends, starting with When the Stars Cried Despair arriving in your mailbox soon! Thank each and every one of you so much for making it happen!
When the Stars Cried Despair arrived during a rainy day this weekend, so we're all ready to send them out to you!
The remaining step, of course, is charging for shipping. This already happened for a handful of you. It's happening now for some of you. It'll happen soon for a pinch of you.
It's a bit of a drawn out process, but we wanted to repeat that these charges for shipping are ongoing, so that you're not surprised. As our recent updates indicated, we hope to assemble and ship most packages this weekend.
All to say, keep an eye out for those charges. For your convenience, here's the listing of the charges, also found in our project's FAQ:
Final estimates are:
Domestic: $8 for a single item, $10 for two or more items Canada/Mexico: $30 Overseas: $40
Thank you all for your support! We can hardly wait to hear of the mayhem this module causes in your gaming group, paving the way for Descent of the Ancient Fane in April.
Most importantly, happy New Year, friends! We know it'll be full of awesome adventures together.
We have celebrating to do, my friends, for we wish you a very happy New Year!
You've helped pave the way for an amazing 2026. Check out the links to new projects coming VERY soon, the update to When the Stars Cried Despair, and the art below for those who want to scroll!
For D&D 5e, Dungeon Crawl Classics and OSR (AD&D, B/X, OSE) Fans: We've got an Ancient Rome/Barsoom inspired Dungeon Zine for Zinetopia on BackerKit - The Mouth of Mentius! This 73-room, old-school style dungeon zine is available in February for BackerKit's Zinetopia at a backer-exclusive price of $11 for print (it'll be $20 retail)! Follow now!
For D&D 5e and DCC Fans: You CANNOT MISSDescent of the Ancient Fane! It is truly the most hellish dungeon ever (Level 1-9 DCC), at over 200,000 words, and tells the secret history of the upcoming Castle Whiterock from Goodman Games! Follow now!
More for Castle Whiterock Fans: Delicious in Whiterock, with cover art by Stefan Poag is your guide to hunt and cook 20 monsters over Castle Whiterock's 15 main levels, with art on every page and recipes you can enjoy with your gaming group - exclusive to those who back Descent of the Ancient Fanewithin the first 48 hours!
When the Stars Cried Despair print rewards are shipping soon! The printer's shipment shows that it hasn't left yet, but we expect it this weekend. We're locking orders and charging for shipping now.
When the Stars Cried Despair Backer PDFs are SENT! Check your inboxes for any PDFs you pledged for, like All Roads Lead to Conquest, Bride of Baal, Champions of the Goblin Market, Old John Stuart's Mill and When the Stars Cried Despair itself!
All to say, 2026 will be epic! Our largest adventures yet, Witch Pleas Publishing fans, with more for D&D 5e than ever, and content like you've never experienced in gaming before.
Wow! 86% of you have completed your surveys. This means one big thing:
We can lock orders tomorrow and charge for shipping on 12/26, allowing us to send out your books right when they arrive, on the first Monday of January.
In the meantime, we have more exciting news - a dungeon Zine for BackerKit's Zinetopia event, available for a limited-time, Backer-exclusive print edition price of only $11 - The Mouth of Mentius!
The Mouth of Mentius is an old-school style, grid-map dungeon. You know the type: Short room descriptions, high action, lethal monsters and lots of loot. And in Witch Pleas fashion, it's heavily inspired by historical myth; Ancient Rome, in this case, crossed with the weird fantasy you'd find in a setting like Barsoom.
The Mouth of Mentius is written by my wife and co-founder, Gina Funk. She's detailed 73 rooms, with over 15 unique magical items and over a dozen new monsters. Her intention is for the action to be epic, so it's for 4-7 level in Dungeon Crawl Classics. It features art by the awesome Faith Murphree, and comes in print at a limited-time, Backer-exclusive price of $11.
Plus, all followers receive a free intro encounter, downloadable instantly as a PDF. So follow now!
Back to the matter of When the Stars Cried Despair:
For those who appreciate a full breakdown of details, here's our thinking behind charging on 12/26:
BackerKit funds take up to 3-5 business days to arrive, though this is sometimes shortened to 1-3.
If we charge on 12/26, this means the latest that the funds for shipping arrive is on Friday, 1/2
This means we can buy the postage and materials that day, and pack everything up over the weekend
Leading to shipping on Monday, 1/5!
As for recent shipping estimates, they are as follows:
Domestic: $8 for a single item, $10 for two or more items Canada/Mexico: $30 Overseas: $40
We hope that you agree with this approach. We welcome your feedback either way.
We're eager to get your books to your gaming tables as soon as possible, so that you can dive into the world of epic stakes and rich backstories within When the Stars Cried Despair, setting the stage for our contribution to the Castle Whiterock BackerKit campaign in April,Descent of the Ancient Fane!
Meanwhile, may you have a magical holiday season. We'll be toasting your support and aglow with gratitude for how you've helped us create amazing gaming experiences.
Thank you, happy holidays, and may you have a very happy New Year!
