Pre-Order/Late-Pledge Store for When the Stars Cried Despair! Witch Pleas Publishing

On the occasion of Thanksgiving, 2025, we want to thank each and every one of our When the Stars Cried Despair supporters. We wanted to thank you.

You dd something awesome:

You've made it so that you and others can start playing the Castle Whiterock tie-in preview months ahead of the campaign's launch in April 2026

And check out the cool art you made, the final puzzle pieces of our interior art from Alexander Moore:




Next week, we get to celebrate the successful completion of When the Stars Cried Despair, together, and that's all thanks to you!

So, thank you for making something epic happen, friend.

In these closing days, keep spreading the word, sending personal messages to friends about the rave reviews When the Stars Cried Despair has garnered at conventions, and pushing for those stretch goals!

 But today, celebrate yourself. You're part of something great. You brought something unique to life. We are so thankful for that.

And we wish you a beautiful day, basking in gratitude, feeling blessed.

- Matt, Gina and the Witch Pleas team

The inimitable Alexander Moore has delivered our art map's final incarnation this week. Here's a glimpse at the battlefield on the edge of oblivion, the ill-fated Fort Saint Veronica from When the Stars Cried Despair!

We always love the detail that Alex brings to this work, and the way the map dissolves as it approaches the abyss on the right - or as the abyss itself approaches - gives us a tingle to behold.



We can hardly wait to drop unsuspecting PCs into its tenebrous embrace!

And, some won't have to wait long. Judge Bahasa, a major contributor and supporter of When the Stars Cried Despair, is running a session of it at Goodman Games' virtual convention, Feast of the Cyclops Con!

We can hardly wait to hear of the unique turns that game takes, features that only When the Stars Cried Despair offer as a funnel:

Speaking of overage, our funding just surpassed $4,000! This means we're well on our way to the first stretch goal, a printing of the up-to-now DCC-day exclusive All Roads Lead to Conquest.

As part of our Funnel Bundle, the exclusive All Roads Lead to Conquest will be available to a general audience for the first time since its free distribution for DCC Day 2025, and it'll be alongside When the Stars Cried Despair, and our smash-hit philosophy-focused funnel, Old John Stuart's Mill, and the funnel that started A Tale of Two Sisters - and started it all - Champions of the Goblin Market.

We can do it! Breaking $4k last night was in large part due to a big effort from one of our lead supporters and finest friends, Bear of Bear Claw Chronicles.

Bear offered to run When the Stars Cried Despair for friends who backed it. The bump in backers broke that all-important millennial mark.

Those kinds of awesome, outstanding efforts from you are what make crowdfunding happen - and make it great! They're why we're so extraordinarily grateful to each and every one of you, because each of you makes a big difference.

So thank you, for your backing, for your sharing, for your personal messages to friends, and to all the cool ideas you come up with to support When the Stars Cried Despair and other Witch Pleas Publishing creations. You're make these fantasies a reality!

As we speed our way to the stretch goals, we have new art to share! These interior pieces by Alexander Moore are the second-to-last installment for When the Stars Cried Despair. The module is all laid out in InDesign and ready to send to the printer once those last sketches arrive and the funds are delivered.

We can say that with confidence thanks to you, who funded When the Stars Cried Despair in less than 36 hours!

Now on to the art. After these images, we also want to share two projects that have supported us and that tie in, either with Castle Whiterock or with the world of Dungeon Crawl Classics.

First, meet the Mercy Blade.


Exclusive to When the Stars Cried Despair, this powerful Lawful artifact doesn't come easy in the module. It requires a ritual to empower, one that's beset by demons as it takes place.

But when empowered, the Mercy Blade serves as a major benefit to Descent of the Ancient Fane, with a special property ideal for detecting its dangers, and has a higher-level ability that's ideally suited for surviving Castle Whiterock's infamous Demonhold!

Now, on to Slayer.


As its name suggest, Slayer is chaos at its most metal. This vicious monster of a battleax also requires a rite to reveal its full epic might, one that demands a roleplay moment that gaming groups won't soon forget - for better or worse!

Both of these badass weapons can be found in When the Stars Cried Despair, but acquiring both isn't easy! We also designed them to be inspiring fixtures in an epic-level campaign like Castle Whiterock and Descent of the Ancient Fane, with powers that grow as the character level does, staying relevant and influential to the very end.

Speaking of Castle Whiterock, one of its many tie-in adventures from a fellow third-party publisher demands mention - Mutant Spawn of the Toadmother.



At the amphibian heart of Mutant Spawn of the Toadmother is the mythology and ecology of Bobugbubilz. Who doesn't adore that leering toad god? Andy Edmonds of Nerdonomicon crafts a funnel (1st to 2nd level adventure for D&D 5e) with the demon lord's presence saturating its pages.

Mutant Spawn of the Toadmother absolutely oozes the gruesome. It's got underground exploration and mutation that evokes the film C.H.U.D. along with demented experiences and surprises that unsettle both the stomach and the soul. Fans of funnel horror, other those who want to kick off their Castle Whiterock campaign with Bobugbubilz at its narrative core, don't want to miss out. It launches in April 2026, so follow now, and get an immediate follower reward - an awesome little hex crawl adventure, Aufgeblaht or Bust!

The other project we've got to mention is Steel & Stone, created by BIG SWORD, an awesomely creative game workshop right here in Reno. As both a personal friend and a hallmark of quality, BIG SWORD can't be beat, as their first Zine, Graves & Groves, boldly proved.


Now they're back with a focus on a Class that I consider one of the coolest in DCC, Dwarves. All archetypes of these diminutive powerhouses are present in exacting detail and imaginative variation within Steel & Stone: architects and inventors, dour militants and vulgar brutes, and masters of the subterranean.

If you think that DCC makes Dwarves a rad Class, or are just a fan of Dwarven culture, check out Steel & Stone. BIG SWORD is always sharp, and having read the massive manuscript, I can guarantee there's something to delight and inspire for you in its many pages.

That's all for now! We'll keep you posted on the last pieces of Alex's art and on our progress toward those stretch goals.

In the meantime, thank you all - each and every one of you - for making When the Stars Cried Despair a reality. Keep sharing it on social, spreading personal notes to friends, and commenting! Stretch goals with some awesome, exclusive items await, as this end-of-the-world adventure is just the beginning!

It is amazing to announce that we've funded just a little over a day from launching.

The support from this community and the devotion of our Witch Pleas Publishing fans - both present and future - is always astonishing and feels like such a blessing.

Thank each and every one of you, When the Stars Cried Despair backers, for being able to say that we will be printing in December 2025, to allow gaming groups to play out the prequel to our Castle Whiterock tie-in before that campaign launches in April 2026.

We're thrilled by the chance to bring this story to life, and to introduce you to some of Castle Whiterock's secret history in the process. 

In particular, we're so grateful to those who have championed this project over the past months:

We know we risk becoming an Oscar speech at this point, and perhaps it's too late for that. So here are next steps now that we've funded!

As other exciting events occur, we'll keep you updated here! In the meantime, take a deep breath of gratitude, friend. You've helped accomplish something awesome and can celebrate When the Stars Cried Despair today!