| Code | C2 |
|---|---|
| Rules required | 1st Ed AD&D |
| Character levels | 5–7 |
| Campaign setting | Greyhawk |
| Authors | Allen Hammack |
| First published | 1979 |
| Linked modules | |
| C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 | |
The Ghost Tower of Inverness is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The module's title refers to an ancient magical tower located in the southern Abbor-Alz Hills. The "C" in the module code represents the first letter in the word "competition," the name of C1 – C6 module series.[1]
Contents |
The player characters go on a quest to find the fabled Soul Gem, a legendary artifact of great power.[2] They must gather the four parts of a key granting them entrance to the Ghost Tower.[3]
The adventure was written by Allen Hammack, with art drawn by Jim Roslof and Erol Otus. The module was originally used for the AD&D tournament at Wintercon VIII[3] which took place on November 1979 in Detroit, MI. The module had an original print run of 300 numbered copies for sale at the convention in 1979 as a set of 40 loose-leaf pages and a zip-lock bag.[3] This version included never-reprinted illos by Erol Otus.[3] A printed version bearing a green monochrome cover without the "C2" designation was made available for sale at the convention, but was never published for general distribution. The version is quite rare and highly prized by collectors.[4]
In 1980, the adventure was officially published as AD&D module C2 as a 32-page booklet with an outer folder.[3] This printing featured a red cover with color cover art by Jim Roslof. Interior artists included Jeff Dee, Greg K. Fleming, David S. LaForce, David C. Sutherland III and Erol Otus. As module "C2", it was the second in the C series of modules, a group of unrelated adventures originally designed for competition play.
The Ghost Tower was also printed as #2 of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebooks line.
The Ghost Tower of Inverness received good reaction on its first release, with Jim Bambra of White Dwarf rating it 8/10 overall and calling it a "thought provoking adventure" in which the final encounter "will have the players sweating in their seats as they struggle to overcome the final obstacle between them and their goal!"[2] In particular, Bambra praised its emphasis on problem solving skills rather than hack and slash combat, noting that "Encounters in the tower are interesting and increase in intensity the nearer players get to their goal." He did recommend that, although the module was recommended for characters level 5–7, higher levels may be needed if the party does not contain eight to ten characters.[2]
Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, called the Ghost Tower "a topsy-turvy dungeon full of interesting (and deadly) problems".[3]
The module's reputation has stood up in the years since its release, and it was ranked the 30th greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004, on the 30th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons game.[5]
Ken Denmead of Wired listed the module as one of the "Top 10 D&D Modules I Found in Storage This Weekend".[6] According to Denmead, "this dungeon has some real consequences, and it’s easy to see why it suggests experienced players. If you didn’t have a passing familiarity with the ways to deal with little things like, say, resurrection, or anti-gravity, you’ll learn the definition of fail real fast. All in all, a rousing little adventure, though it would have been nice to find a few more magical weapons before the end."[6]
The Ghost Tower was also mentioned by full name and location in the 2005 movie Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God. The hero of the movie, Berek mentions that another character, Dorian, a cleric, had helped him there.[7]
The Ghost of Inverness has also been adapted into a setting mod[8] for the Neverwinter Nights online game and less successfully as a Super Endless Quest book.[9]
In 2003 the RPGA Living Greyhawk campaign released the adventure Return to the Ghost Tower of Inverness. Written by Creighton Broadhurst and Steve Pearce, the four-hour adventure advanced the story several years and featured encounters based on what would remain in the tower after the original expedition. Some background elements, such as the motivations of the Seer of Urnst were expanded upon to fit the Living Greyhawk campaign's plot and regional system.[10]