Goodman Games

I could be mistaken, but I believe the idea is to have a finite number available for sale at GenCon in August, then it is actually released in the month or two following, much like how they handled DCC #35.

Glad to see you're interested in Castle Whiterock - I'm sure you'll be happy with the final product - and welcome to the boards!

Adrian's right; we'll have a limited number at Gen Con, and then it will hit stores around November.

500 pages you say?!! Man did I ever pick the right time to start up sn Aereth campaign! The cover art rocks just by itself! Can't wait to see the final product!

Not to mention my first character ever in D&D was named Darien Whiterock so I like the name very much LOL

Oh. Oh, you tease. You naughty, naughty, "I won't be making it to Gen Con" tease. November is sooooo far away.

Anticipation is 50% of the fun, innit?

That's actually kinda cool.

MEGA DUNGEON CAGE MATCH TITLE BOUT!

ROUND 1:

wizard's UNDERMOUNTAIN



versus goodman's WHITEROCK



and the wheeeenar by decision! goodman games, WHITEROCK with points for creativity and cooler looking levels.

next round, the champion WHITEROCK vs.

contender "castle black(no the levels don't connect, why do you ask?)moor"

Now THATS a map that will make the players go "Oh #%#!^!! Its gonna be a long night!" or nights from the look of it...

You know, I would have been much more interested in the 2E Ruins of Undermountain and the Expedition to Undermountain if TSR/Wizards had actually developed it more... as many others have said about those products, too many empty rooms. I would have rather seen Expedition to Undermountain as a 320 page book vs. a 224 pager that had just the entire first level mapped out with room descriptions (leaving a few small areas for the DM to thow in some ideas of his own is one thing but when most of the dungeon is empty.... bad juju).

I hope whiterock is not like Undermountain... it would definitely keep me from buying it. From the page count though, it sounds like Castle Whiterock will be a fully fleshed out megadungeon much like Rappan Athuk. I can only hope...

Don't worry, Rath. Don't worry at all.

From what I've seen of it, "fully fleshed-out megadungeon" is the perfect way to describe Castle Whiterock.

I'm glad to hear that

The idea that a whole campaign can be run in one huge underground labyrinth full of strange, bizarre and deadly encounters always gets my attention.

I always thought it a little odd that more playable megadungeons haven't been produced over the years. Some of those that have been produced that come to mind include...

1. Undermountain (Basically unplayable without a huge investment in time by the DM)

2. Greyhawk Ruins (I had high hopes for this one but it ended up striking me as uninspired)

3. Rappan Athuk (This is my current favorite megadungeon... great traps, flavor and atmosphere. My only minor quibble is that it's not designed for 1st level PCs so they can start their careers there)

4. Tegel Manor (Great maps but still basically unplayable without a lot of fleshing out by the DM)

5. Worlds Largest Dungeon (I heard mixed things about this one but never owned it or even paged through it. I heard there were many empty areas in this one too... which killed it for me immediately. I don't need another undermountain)


Anyway, can't wait to get my hands on Whiterock. I have the feeling it might end up being my new favorite

Considering the amount of resources that have gone into Castle Whiterock, I guess I'm not really surprised. My involvement began in early February and I was still working on final (!?!) edits yesterday -- and that's not counting the weeks that Adrian and Chris spent creating it beforehand. It's been a massive undertaking! It consumed the attention of most of Goodman Games' staff of ... um, hundreds. Ironically, a bigger company like WotC might have a tougher time pulling off something like Whiterock because they might have to justify the use of so many resources to Hasbro. (I honestly don't know how financial approval works over there -- I'm just guessing based on my years in the corporate world.)


It's awesome. I think you'll be happy.

--Ken

Well, we have Ruins of Undermountain, Rappan Athuk and WLD here, and we think that Rappan is actually the best, because it is almost complete. I mean, it has not as much empty rooms as Undermountain and WLD. Nevertheless, WLD is far better than Undermountain, IMHO, because there are empty rooms that need to be filled by the DM but nos as much as Undermountain, especially at deepest levels.

Here you can see WLD among other books from our collection:



We have many many more...

One the most important things concerning MegaDungeons of any background and setting is it's believability! It should make SENSE! And yes, that's even in a world populated by impossible creatures and magics. Everyone can cobble together dozens of rooms and areas, place treasures and monsters, and call it Dungeon.
In the case of CASTLE WHITEROCK I am very positive that I will get this sort of sense and believability. Because I got it in all the DCCs I currently own. Castle Greyhawk and it's ruins were lacking a bit in this.

Gentlemen, this is unacceptable. I want it now.

Now.

NOW.

NOW!

Thank you.

Bah. The faster you rush it, the lower the production values.

I say, take your time, get it right.

Besides, anticipation and yearning are half the fun.






...Wait, are we talking about girls or the DDC?

I wanted to mention that I finally took the time to read over the short but sweet module, Sinister Secret of Whiterock last week. It may only have 12 or so encounters but it is a quality module nevertheless that is full of action, unusual encounters and surprises.

One thing I thought was kind of strange... if the dungeon becomes flooded at the end of the adventure, won't that effectively cutoff the entrance to castle whiterock? Not that I mind but it just seems kind of funny since the module is supposed to sort of be a lead in to the bigger adventure.

If you guys didn't get a chance to get this one at free RPG day, I highly suggest you pick up a copy for $2 when it becomes available again later this year. It's top notch all the way.

Rath,

I just checked my original manuscript and you are correct. It needs to include the part about the waters receeding after 24 hours ... but Sinister's writer left it out.



//H

That's funny Normally I don't even notice stuff like that. Either way, it's one of my favorite modules from any edition of the game.

Funny, but this part read totally fine to me during the editing process. I'll try not to give too much away to those who haven't read it. As the text says, the waters rise only up to the end of the you-know-what (assuming the PCs lowered it). The area we're talking about is a little lower than that.

I envisioned that the PCs might encounter the entrance on their way down, think "Hmmm, dark, interesting... wonder where this goes ... but we must deal with the immediate threat first!" and then continue with the module. After the big finale, they would see that the waters rose to a level just above that intriguing passageway. After getting any innocents safely home, they could make some decisions about further exploration.

It's a long passage, so you as the GM could say that after a certain distance, it rises above the water level. But the PCs wouldn't know that.

Hey, it's the Sinister Secret of Whiterock. Exploring it shouldn't be easy!

Thanks for the praise, Rath. Harley did a great job with this adventure. Like my parents' toy fox terrier, it's small but has a vicious impact!

Heh. Well I'll happily defer to Ken's reading.

And if Sinister is a toy fox terrier, Whiterock is a pack of starving dire wolves.



//H

If you own Castle Whiterock, who would have time for those silly girls anyway, hm?

Or, to put it in another perspective: for a hundred bucks, which girl could give you the amount of long lasting pleasure that a megadungeon from Goodman Games would? Hm? See.

that's pretty high praise........

Yeah. I can think of only one girl. And she doesn't like that I'm already married--she won't give it up.

Better to stick with the DCCs.

It's a great little adventure... good enough to make my top ten list.

I can think of at least one or two girls... possibly more...