The Ghost Tower of Inverness

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Module #C2

by Allen Hammack

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons module.

Genres: Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Fantasy, Games, Gaming

20 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Matthew Iden · Rating 4 out of 5]

My parents got me a copy of Ghost Tower when I was about 13 and sick with the flu. Since they'd already become concerned with how much time I was spending on D&D at the time--setting time limits and curfews on READING--this will tell you how sick I must've been.

I had never heard of tournament play, so didn't appreciate the reasoning behind the (even for a D&D dungeon) contrived encounters, but the artwork and backstory enticed me to read this thing until the cover fell off.

For some reason, this is one of the "loneliest" feeling modules TSR ever put out, probably precisely because, as a tournament adventure, it wasn't supposed to fit into a neat storyline or milieux (though vaguely shoe-horned into Greyhawk, I never believed it).. But I've always loved the mod anyway, and am ever-thankful to my parents for grabbing me this apparently difficult to find D&D gem.

[Francisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great example of a funhouse competition module, this was first played in 1979 in the AD&D competition at WinterCon VIII, at the time a limited edition for players attending the event was made available, but in 1980 we got this commercialized version of the module. Although this was now directed for people to play at home they did something cool with it making it a hybrid between a play at home and a competition module. TSR did this by distinguishing elements for use in the competition but adding optional encounters for use if you were playing casually which would extend the adventure.

The adventure needed extending because the competition was meant to be finished in 3 hours, a bit short for a module. So in 1980, when you bought this you could choose how to play it. You get all the competition instructions as well as scoring and pre-made characters to make the whole thing fair, but if you just wanted to integrate it into your ongoing campaign you could also do that and use loads of extra encounters purposely created for that.

As a dungeon this is pretty much a puzzle-solving funhouse, you start off having to collect key parts to open a central door and each key is behind a puzzle that you need to solve to progress. After solving the key puzzles you go into the titular ghost tower which you need to ascend to get your prize. You go through levels representing the four elements and when you get to the top you get the Soul Gem you came here to find. Full of little games to solve, like the iconic reverse gravity fall into an upside-down sea, this is a real classic.

[Pádraic]

The idea of playing D&D in a tournament setting, with scoring and all that entails, seems totally foreign and incomprehensible to me, but I guess it really did happen. Bizarre. Anyway, this is a funhouse dungeon with indeed some fun ideas, the reverse gravity and the chess room in particular, but most of it didn't spark for me in the way that something like, let's say, White Plume Mountain did, working in a similar mode. If you're looking for a dungeon to insert into your campaign, or a neat contained thing for a one-shot, there are better options than this.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the great TSR tournament modules, and probably best run as such. The encounter variety is outstanding, and some of them are quite memorable; especially the fire level. Note that run in non-tournament mode, it is a bit harder because there are more fights, and for a larger party the ending needs to be beefed up a bit more. I also think that when one typically thinks of ghosts, they think of humans who are no longer with us, so the very concept of a ghost building is kinda neat.

[Louis Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of the "tournament" modules which I can really see running for a group of players. It consists of a funhouse dungeon adventure, with some brief setup and a simplified quest; however it is not overly long and its challenges are more reasonable than other tournament modules such as the A-series and C1. I think players would have fun trying this module as a one-shot; in a campaign setting, there would definitely be some TPK risk but also a decent amount of reward.

[Ross Kitson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's great to be 40 years into the hobby and read modules that I never had chance (or money) to back in the day. Oddly I recall C2 now being one of the first modules I physically saw around a friend's house whose older brothers played DnD. The elemental layers were the ones I recognise from the card cover, although at the time (1982) it meant little to me.
C2 is similar to S2 in the fact it's a so-called 'funhouse' dungeon. The rooms contained within have no purpose other than to injure, delay, or impair the characters. There's a flimsy 'out of time' narrative to justify this, and some background shoe-horning it into Greyhawk (the default setting of AD&D at the time). This is forgivable as the adventure is good fun. Essentially the dungeon level is based around four routes into the dungeon towards a central chamber unlocked by pieces of a 'key' that the PCs collect.
Once through the challenge to get the keys, which include bugbears frozen in time, a chess room, pop up monsters, an umber hulk, and a manticore, they then access the upper tower levels. Each of these is a huge room based on an element, with a cool use of mass reverse gravity in one. The final room is a brutal almost computer game -like dodge and rush to grab a Soul Gem before it drains all your magic items or indeed your soul. Although at the start it says the adventure isn't just combat, there's not a vast amount of problem solving or traps to get past.
The module was designed for tournaments (C is 'competition') and was originally played 1979 and released 1980. Theres a fair amount of stuff for tournament play-- 5 pre-gen PCs of level 7to10, a big equipment list and budget for the team, and a bespoke introduction in which most of the PCs are criminals and being sent by the Duke of Urnst and his wizard Seer into the deadly ruined tower (I'm assuming the Ghost in Ghost Tower refers more to the spectral out of time nature of the ruined tower versus any actual undead, of which there's none). A scoring system is provided, a time limit of 3h (which given the speed of some combats is tight), and rooms relevant to tournament Vs non-tournament play clearly labelled.
Finally, the art is great-- most of the early greats are here: Jeff Dee, Erol Otus, Jim Roslof, David Laforce, and a great medusa by Willingham. My personal favourite is Dee's umber hulk (page 9) which I'm sure I've seen elsewhere. Just great. The cover is cool, but nothing to do with the actual adventure, and Dee's Fire Giant with rainbow sword on the back cover is awesome- should have been the front!
Overall, a fun throwaway dungeon which might seem a little vanilla to modern tastes but would have ticked the boxes for my teenage DM brain.