James Maliszewski calls C2 a "funhouse dungeon," which is more about spectacular, weird, and crazy encounters than about a dungeon ecology that actually works. It includes pre-generated characters, rules for scoring tournament play, and a handful of visual aids which were again some of the earliest player handouts in the industry. C2 was released to the wider public the next year, in 1980.Īlso like its predecessor, "Ghost Tower" was one of the first adventures to show how a tournament was run. That short run was labeled "Collector's Edition II," presumably following the "Collector's Edition" of the "Tamoachan" adventure. It was run as the AD&D tournament at Wintercon VIII (1979) and afterward was sold to con-goers in a limited edition run of 300 copies. The story of "Ghost Tower" is very similar to the story of C1: "The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan" (1980).
There was also an Inverness in Hammack's own campaign world, and that's where this adventure sprang from before it was transplanted to Greyhawk. However, Alabama native Allen Hammack was probably instead referring to the Inverness neighborhood in Birmingham. It has plenty of ghostly towers, most notably in Cawdor Castle. Sources? When most people hear the name Inverness, they think of the real-life county of Inverness in Scotland. " The Ghost Tower of Inverness" (1980), by Allen Hammack, was the second adventure in the competition (C-) series. Also included within are background information, referee's maps and notes, encounter descriptions for players, and a background scenario linked to the World of Greyhawk Fantasy World Setting. It may thus be used for competition among players (or groups of players), or as a non-scored adventure included in an ongoing campaign.
This adventure contains a challenging setting, a scouring system and characters specially prepared for the adventure.
It is the second in the Competition Series - adventures that were used in official tournaments. The module was originally written for the Official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Game Tournament at Wintercon VIII, held in Detroit in November of 1979. Now he has convinced the Duke that an expedition should be organized to go to the ancient keep and recover its greatest treasure - the fabled Soul Gem.
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.D&D Classics: C2 The Ghost Tower of InvernessĪ shadow from the past, the Ghost Tower of Inverness has loomed ever larger in the mind of the great Seer of Urnst. 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.įor 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). 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. For some reason, this My parents got me a copy of Ghost Tower when I was about 13 and sick with the flu. 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.
My parents got me a copy of Ghost Tower when I was about 13 and sick with the flu.