Castle Whiterock Playthrough

Finally finished Castle Whiterock this Friday.  Completing it felt pretty epic and I thought I'd write out some thoughts and observations on it now that I am done.  Spoilers will abound here so if you don't want to know probably should stop read right about now.

Some background: this was a two player game.  I ran the entire party and my wife DMed.  We used Pathfinder rules although if stats were provided by the books those were used.  XP was initially gained using the fast track in the Pathfinder core.  Later this was modified (around level 9 or 10) as the party was starting to outpace the encounters.  At that point CR for encounters was calculated as CR -2.  This seemed to balanced things out a bit.  Additionally the party was allowed to sell anything back for full value so they were probably rather better equipped then their "default" counterparts.  Psionics were allowed and initially handled as entirely separate from magic but later a few tweaks were added.  One creatures immune to magic were immune to psionics and anti-magic fields suppressed psionics as well.  (Null psionics fields in turn suppressed magic.)

Initial party starting out at 1st level were a Half-Giant Fighter, Dwarven Druid, Gnome Rogue, Blue (psionic goblin) Psion, Half-Orc Paladin, and Human Ranger.  The Dwarven Druid died on the 3rd level and was replaced by a Dwavern Cleric.  Due to the fact that the party was all run by me I had no problems with party members acting purely in support roles or withdrawing from fights they were ill-equipped to handle.

Overall feeling on the campaign as a whole: pure awesome.  In general the early levels were probably the most enjoyable.  This was probably due to the fact that they felt quite challenging although this may have partly been due to the lack of a strong healer.  Paladin/druid just don't match up to clerics for healing!  Least favorite levels probably were the later levels of the duergar fortress.  This was due to the fact the encounters tended to be one way pushovers where all the defenders would be dropped in the first round.  It's fun to be able to blow away the opponents once in awhile but do this for 3 levels and everyone just wants something fresh and new.  Unfortunately for the DM the scaling information just added more enemies who died just as quickly.  Kinectist psion == mass destruction.  This was the point where we realized that the party was rather massively overpowered for the scenario as written.  See above for the adjustments made to try and balance this out.

Scariest monster prize goes to the destrachans!   Pathfinder really toned down these beasts from D&D 3.5.  A fair amount of disagreement was had over which edition of the monster to use was had and several pieces of equipment were lost.  In my view at higher levels these kind of monsters can problematic unless the party is very careful or lucky enough to have some who can cast "Silence" a lot! In the end we learned to have the rogue (who did carry anything shatterable) ahead to check for these metal breakers.  Previously I would not have thought much of them but Whiterock has given me a new appreciation on them.

I greatly enjoyed that there were non-hostile NPCs scattered throughout that we could interact and ally with or save.  The party would generally go out of its way to help all sorts of creatures despite the extra trouble it might cause them.  The moral conundrum of what to do when encountering oppressed evil creatures came up several times making for some memorable roleplaying moments.

In the end the party opted to have a couple of the NPCs negotiate with the local king to gain them the deed for Whiterock and intend to use it as their new base of operations.  Sadly as far as I'm aware there are no Dungeon Crawl Classics for level 15+.

Final thoughts: had a blast!  This was totally worth it.  I'm sad it ends at 15 but look forward (after my DM gets a break) to letting the party develop Castle Whiterock into their own!

Castle Whiterock 3 & 4

Returning to the castle the party finally begins to explore the main building. They enter through a broken hole in the wall and carefully avoid a nest of bees. They find several rooms, all that are empty. One of the rooms is filled with rubble with the indications of a trap door buried under it but the party opts to explore one of the guard towers nearby that is collapsed. They determine that while overrun with vines that the vines themselves are not dangerous but that something large appears to be lairing in the tower itself.

Kazmuk examines a corpse from afar and determines that it's probably a giant mantis. Maka and Davor lead the way in unfazed by the threat of a large bug. The mantis obliges and leaps out and successfully clamps onto Davor. The paladin is knocked out and badly injured by the attack. Kazmuk manages to dart in and heal him almost immediately while Maka and the rest of the party lay on the hurt.

Mantis defeated the party explores further. They find the room of the boss half-orc (from session 1) and take a few minor things of his including a key. The also find a secret door leading deeper into the castle.

Exploring through the door they find a dark main room with several side rooms. The main entrance can be seen to be choked with rubble from this end as well. Kazmuk sees several bones lying near it and the party gives it wide berth. In one of the side rooms they find access to the guard tower (from session 2) and opt to not press upwards. Another side room is choked off by rubble. From the looks it used to be a room filled with statues or dummies for holding armor. The group determines it might be a good camping site though.

Finally the party decides to investigate the bones in the rubble. Their investigation is welcomed by a skeletal bugbear raising up and attacking. The fight goes slowly due primarily to the inability of either side to hit the other. Eventually the party manages to shatter the skeleton to bits. Below it they find a chest inside which lies the treasure of the half-orc boss.

A bit weary and beaten up the party decides to rest in the statue hall for the night before proceeding down the stairs to level 2. They also level up.

Moving down to the next level Besh finds two trip wires. She manages to easily disable one but the other she pulls when trying to cut it. Oddly nothing happens. She does hear sounds of movement at the base of the stairs. In attempting to sneak down though Besh isn't quite as stealthy as she believes. An orc jumps out and hits her with a guisarme and pummels Besh. Maka and Davor rush in to protect her engaging the orc and one of his buddies. After healing Besh rolls under the orc that hit her and stabs him in the back. She sees several other orcs hiding behind a low wall with crossbows. Maka finishes off the other orc and then charges the three with crossbows. Apparently these orcs attended the same archery school that Aeryn went to as they can't hit the broadside of a half giant. Aeryn shows a bit of improvement with her bow though and Maka cleaves the other two crossbow-orcs.

Besh hears movement from the room on the right so the party investigates in that direction. Davor gets a spear for the parties' curiosity, thrown by a mini-minotaur. The room is filled with hanging weapons. Maka and Davor wind their way over to the minitaur and proceed to slug it out. It's the toughest thing they've fought yet but Maka pounds on it and it finally falls.

The next room answers the question on where the people captured by the slavers have been going. A ledge goes around the edge of 3 sides of the room. 10 feet below are cages half filled with slaves. The cages are open with wood planks laid out over some of them to allow access to the slaves.

None of the slaves are evil and one was an adventurer previously sent by Lady Chauntessa to investigate Castle Whiterock. Just as Besh is pulling out rope to start hoisting the slaves out an orc guard appears at the far end of the room. He shouts a warning as Davor, Lem, and Maka (in that order) race to engage him. One of the slaves shouts that he will help fight if the party can get him out in time. Besh sends some rope his way and helps pull out prisoners.

Davor gets to the orc just as 7 of his friends arrive. He and eventually Maka duke it out with the orcs while, Besh (who proves surprisingly accurate with her crossbow), Aeryn, and Kazmuk engage in a shoot out with most of the orcs. Lem causes one orc to fall with ectoplasmic sheen but then is unable to it any others with his energy ray. Between Besh's crossbow bolts and Maka and Davor's blade & pick the orcs are whittled down. One flees through a door.

Pursuing Davor is attacked by three dog-like creatures. They have nasty bites forcing Davor to use his remaining lay on hands to keep himself and Maka in the fight. Besh arrives from the far side of the room and adds some crossbow firepower to the engagement. The group needs it as an orc archer adds additional strength to the slavers. The dogs almost have the two melee fighters on the rope before Maka connects with a cleave and clears two of them. The last falls almost right after and the orcs not soon after.

The party opts to leave the mother dog and her pups alone. They find the slaves' old gear and give it back to them before directing them how to escape back to Cilamar. One of the slaves informs the party that her brother is trapped somewhere else on this level in the mines. The party promises to do their best to find and free him.

Castle Whiterock 2

The party makes it through the night without incidence and gathers up most of the remaining fake mining camp supplies (including horses and wagons) and returns to town with the surviving prisoners. They burn a couple tents and the stables to cover their tracks. The prisoners who didn't have much information other then slaves are given to the orcs one level down and there is a watchtower keeping an eye on the approach from the town. The party turns the "monks" over to authorities. The party picks up some healing potions and returns to the castle the next day but stays off the main road to sneak up on the watchtower.

Returning to the fake camp the party manages to find a path above it which leads to a tower. The entrance to the main floor appears to be sealed from the outside but undeterred Maka breaks his way in. A spider looms up from the back of the room and Maka charges in full speed...only to have his armor and dire pick rusted away. Besh attempts to pick her way but fails to see more webs and loses some daggers. Davor is hit by the spider's web attack causing his armor, shield, and weapon. In a stunning display of horrible ranged combat skills the party is unable to kill the spider at a distance. However the spider can only damage metal with its web attack so eventually moves into melee allowing Maka to kill it with his back up weapon.

The next level up is secured by a trap door. Peaking in Besh sees a bunch of large blood raven nests including hatchlings. Using her innate ability to speak with animals she manages to convince the birds that they only want to go up to the next floor. They warily agree and the party sneaks up the next floor. Here they ambush the lone guard and capture him and a caged raven (who doesn't seem to mind the cage). There are indicators that the bird was taking messages back to town. Needing new equipment the party opts to return back to town. They let the guard go outside the town with the hint he should make himself scarce.

In town Besh forges a message and attaches it to the raven which is then released. The message requests a back alley meeting. The party manages to locate where the raven goes, a coffin factory. The party lies in wait in the alley, Besh playing the role of the person who sent the message while Davor and Maka hide behind some barrels. Lem, Kazmuk, and Aeryn hide on a roof to provide fire support.

Soon 5 people appears, a noble looking man and 4 thugs. The man is obviously aware it's a trap and things degenerate almost immediately into a fight. Davor and Maka struggle to land blows but the fire support disrupts the noble's (obviously a wizard) spell. Lem hits the area with ectoplasmic sheen giving Davor and Maka a chance to rough up the guards. The wizard is knocked out by Aeryn before he can use his summoned swarm against the party members on the roof.

The party members relieve the wizard of his equipment (and also some money at his business the coffin factory) and turn him over the authorities. They re-equip and get ready to head back to Castle Whiterock.

Castle Whiterock 1

Out of character background, 1 player running all 6 characters. Using Pathfinder rules and playing Castle Whiterock.

Cast:
Maka, male half-giant fighter 1 (NG)
Kazmuk, male dwarf druid 1 (N)
Besh, female gnome rogue 1 (CG)
Lem, male blue psion [kinetcist] 1 (NG)
Davor, male half-orc paladin of Iomedae 1 (LG)
Aeryn, female human range 1 (NG)

Backstory: The party from a smaller village dominated by an evil lord. Maka and Lem had happened upon the village where they helped Davor rescue Besh from the local jail. This resulted in the evil lord now hunting the four of them. Aeryn and Kazmuk helped them evade some of their pursuers and got lumped in with the group. Still the group worked well together but decided it was time to get out of town. Davor had heard that a Lady Chauntessa in Cillamar was looking for adventurers to go to a Castle Whiterock and that sounded like as good an opportunity as anything.

Our heroes begin entering through the main gates of Cillamar. After some scouting around and interacting with locals Besh and Aeryn determine that Lady Chauntessa to be the owner of Inn of the Slumbering Dragon and the party heads there. A quick word with the bartender insures that the lady is made aware of their interest. The bartender also informs Besh that a group of monks, possibly from order originally based at the castle, has been excavating the ruins. Later that evening she stops by and lays out what she would like the party to do. She has an interest in old books and scrolls that may be contained within the ruins of Castle Whiterock. The party accepts and sets out early the next morning.

After an uneventful half day's travel they arrive at Castle Whiterock. The entrance is a tunnel leading to courtyard. The end of the tunnel is blocked by a wooden door. Besh goes to investigate and is greeted by a guard on the other side who is associated with the monks. The party convinces the guard they have an interest in helping the monks explore the ruins. Davor detects an evil presence in the area but the guard is not the source. He leads them to some tents where the monks have set up their base camp. In the main tent the guard shows some pottery unearthed from the ruins and then asks the party to wait inside while he finds his leader.

Only Davor, Lem, and Besh wait in the tent while Maka, Kazmuk, and Aeryn wait outside (on the pretext of not wanting to fill the tent to overcapacity with people). Besh immediately determines that the pottery is brand new and concludes this is a setup. Lem takes cover in the table while Davor subtly informs the party members outside. Aeryn hides in the stables and everyone casually readies their weapons.

Finally a half orc arrives with several other men. He slowly approaches the party and then pulls his weapon as the tent is collapsed. Several monks begin attacking anything the moves under the tent while the half-orc and his henchmen take on those outside. Maka proves to be a match for any who stand against him initially killing one and knocking another out cold. The half orc manages score a solid hit him while another attacker wound Kazmuk. Aeryn's aim seems to be off as every arrow she looses flies false. Besh slips out from under the tent and attempts to down an attacker but is driven back. Davor manages to fend off several attacks from under the tent and then spears an attacker through the tent with his longsword. The half orc unexpectedly attempts to knock Maka out allowing him a chance to hit him hard with his dire pick. The half orc withdraws giving Maka a chance to finish off the other attackers who are beating away on the tent trying to hit Davor. Meanwhile Lem has been unsuccessfully trying to mind thrust the two monks going after Besh and Kazmuk. Several stink pots are thrown driving back the rogue and druid. Besh eventually manages to help Lem out from under the tent and Maka does the same for Davor after he easily finished off the attackers on that part of the tent.

Of the remaining attackers one flees after his boss (who escaped despite several desperate shots from Aeryn). Now Besh, Kazmuk, and Lem gang up on the remaining attacker who takes refuge in a tent. With Kazmuk and Lem covering the front and Davor the side Maka and Besh move to cut the monk from escaping out the back of the tent. He takes a stab at Maka, misses, and Maka kills him for the attempt. Meanwhile Aeryn finally gets a hit on the last escaping guard knocking him unconscious.

With two monks captured the party confirms the half-orc has fled into the main structure. Exploring the "camp" they find it is obviously a ruse as the digging equipment is dusty and unused. They decide to set up temporary camp in a crumbling guard tower while they recover and interrogate their prisoners. They use the table from the camp and an improvised barricade. Unfortunately right after Maka and Davor set up the barricade Lem, Besh, and Kazmuk stumble upon a nest of monstrous centipedes. Still licking their wounds the party manages to easily dispatch the centipedes without further injury.