AD&D Review - The Ghost Tower of Inverness
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- Review and Dungeon Master tips for the classic 1e D&D scenario The Ghost Tower of Inverness. Written and presented as a Tournament Adventure, it gives us a nice glimpse as to how convention games were scored way back when.
Find it on DriveThruRPG: www.drivethrur...
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Guest starring Jack the NPC.
Seth is being sponsored by the old ones.
The big N has many forms, some more foul than others.... and then there is Seth..... .
Petersen Games may be pawns of dreadful cosmic horrors from beyond the weave of time, but they're still better sponsors than we usually get on youtube vids.
Cthulhu flaghen
You mean he’s a Slann?
If seth is 115, that means he was born in 1905, just in time to enjoy the Roaring 20s. That explains his love of Call of Cthulhu, he was there to experience it as an investigator.
How do you think he got turned into the undead?
... an investigator ...? Or - an agent of the Old Ones ! Dun dun dun!
@@catyear75 well this video was sponsored by the Old Ones, so...
@@catyear75 But of course. Every agent starts off as an investigator of one kind or another.
@@catyear75 Well, there was that story about the magic ring that granted immortality... at the cost of your sanity... and having a demon trying to corrupt all low and slow style.
Between this and the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, I'm beginning to wonder if there are actually ghosts in *any* D&D module.
The real adventure was the ghosts you made along the way.
I almost choose to read that as Seth marsh.
I just assumed that the ghost tower was itself a 'ghost' in its other-plane-ness. :)
@@verticalflats2816 Seth Marsh? Hey now, Seth went to a lot of trouble to change his last name when he moved out of Innsmouth, don't go blowing his cover. Even when you know to look you can hardly see the webbing between his fingers.
What can we say, It's just a Scooby-Doo world out there.
There's actually a 5e sequel to this adventure, "Return to the Ghost Tower of Inverness", that was part of Adventurers League. In it, the players run the same pre-generated characters as in the original adventure, who are tasked with _returning_ the Soul Gem to the tower, because removing it has caused dire unintended consequences.
It's kind of a shame that the Adventurers League stuff gets less notice from the wider D&D discourse.
Its because AL has not been the same in a long time :/
My question would be, did AL do a good job of conversion? A big confusion that players get in retrofitting these old 1W Dungeons is that they are supposed to be designed towards a challenge level. Of course, that may be a good option for you if you opt to run it that way, but in AD&D you were very likely to have enough low challenge encounters to inflate your ego or catch you off guard; then a few competitive challenges to still think "hey, we can beat this". But inevitably, even in B2, Keep on the Borderlands & the Caves of Chaos, as generic as it looked at first glance, the encounter would turn on you on a dime. If you got over confident, total party kill might happen. Honestly, i don't like a single one of the published conversions from 1E into 5E. They all leave me scratching my head as to how to settle certain abilities and treasures that do not directly translate between version. They all have have some smooth, good material, but they all also have gaps as far as what the old module was trying to accomplish. Players have to rethink their chices sometimes, or just be more patient.
It is available for purchase if anyone is interested - DDALCA-01 Return to the Ghost Tower of Inverness designed by Elisa Teague
AL is both less accessible and less marketed than the other stuff. If you already attend to LGSs, it may look the other way around, but most of the players today got into D&D via internet, so AL is kind of obscure and mostly used as guidelines for balance.
I myself live in a country where AL simply does not exist and I just know their modules exist because I watched a group playing some of them in a stream once. And since I'm mostly a DM, I went after them for inspiration and stuff.
@@luisgusta 100% correct
“Back taxes? Here, take Ricky!” ROFL!!!!
Yeah, I busted out on that one too.
Especially if you consider that back in medieval times, THAT wasn't so outrageous!
@@sharkdentures3247 monk 1: shit, the duke's guys are here talking about taxes and shit.
monk 2: We haven't got money, the only thing worth cash we got around is that beer we've been brewing...
monk 1: we're not giving them that!
monk 2: well what are we gonna give him?
monk 1: i know, HEY YOU, yeah you. Hey, you read that bible a lot right? And you're good in the garden too, congratulations, you've just been appointed the dukes personal spiritual advisor and herbalist, pack your shit Ricky you're going to go live in the castle.
I love spoilers that make me go "ooh"
Name one that doesn't.
Definitely my favourite kind
1:46 Seth looks like he is in his 30s despite being 115 years old, the only logical explanation is him being a vampire!
Nah, I think he's one of those immortals from the Highlander movie. Singular. There is only one Highlander movie.
As they say, 'There can be only one.'
Incorrect. Seth is an elf. He just rolled a 10 charisma so decided it'd be funny if he looked like an average human instead of an ugly elf.
@@ratholin Thats what the vampires want you to think!
@@ratholin Seems unlikely, but I haven't ever seen him do a video about Talislanta so I guess it's possible.
You're 115 years old? what's your secret? Elf blood in the family?
All you need is a Dark Crystal, some gelflings, a bit of moral elasticity, and the secret to eternal life can be yours.
Mmmm.... Gelflings.... 🤤
The key ingredient in a potion of longevity is distilled elven bone marrow. (True. Look it up)
@@Colouroutofspace4 Legs grow back right?
@@Captain1nsaneo That's what the Regenerate spell is for.
Why Inverness? It's like having an adventure called "The Shrieking Stone of Detroit" or "The Sinister Cult of Pittsburgh"
Dude, the sinister cult of Pittsburg sounds like a good title for a Call of Cthulhu adventure.
More like Worcester or Plymouth: after all, Inverness is a very old place in the UK, not merely a newer place in the USA.
(Also known as the Pittsburgh Steelers.)
I liked your interplay with Jack in this one. Very creative dialogue.
Hey seth would you ever consider showing your rpg collection, in like the style of some of your older videos where you showed off miniatures?
Would love a video like that!
Yeah, me too!
Yesss!!!! Do it Seth!!!
YES!!!!!!
Lord it has been FOREVER since we talked about D&D here, don't get me wrong I am glad Seth covers other stuff but man the Last D&D review was 7 months ago, and it is kinda what brought me to the channel.
@@Veritas.0 yes, but few reviews are better than his :P also yes, he's basically the only who reviews Call of Cthulhu modules, which I deem very important
As someone who actually lives in Inverness this module is always a source of amusement.
Everyone here knows the soul gem is ACTUALLY at the bottom of Loch Ness guarded by the monster.
Does Thanos know this?
Just wanted to say thanks Seth for changing my mind about Call of Cthulhu. Now Pulp Cthulhu is my favorite game to play with standard Cthulhu a close second.
I just picked up the source books and I'm looking forward to running my first game this Friday.
as soon as Jack mentioned "eviction" I thought "ahhh the Scot Brown approach" then he confirmed with the closing statement
Ah, the good old days, when Scotland was unknown and mysterious.
"No one gets to play jn the same room anymore."
I feel your pain, brother.
VTTs have advantages but I think a physical game with people you enjoy is the best.
I once ran my players through the "Castle free to anyone willing to clean it out" scenario with Tegel Manor. It got a little ugly.
I have many good memories playing through this module back in the Eighties.
Back in the day I used as a campaign: Ghost Tower of Inverness, Palace of the Silver Princess, and Castle Amber, with all of them being set in the Province of Averoigne which I just played as a province south from the village of hommlet. Barovia's to the west if you have to know. If you can't tell the way I made my campaign world was just taking the modules I had and laying their overland maps out next to each other.
AD&D all the way Seth! I have really tried to go 5e since it is so popular, it would give me more player and game options. I just don't enjoy it. Love and respect to all 5e players but it just isn't for me. They are all welcome to stop by my table sometime and get a taste of the older editions. There are still endless tales to be told around the AD&D table!
PC1: The Seer is evil!
PC2: How do you know?
PC1: Red eyes, red eyes!
Hey Seth, I'm really enjoying your book "ashes of onyx." It's no surprise you do world-building so flawlessly. You really do avoid beating people over the head with lore. And make it fun and interesting.
Glad you're enjoying it.
Its not often I get interested by the ads in videos like this, but this one you sold very well.
Not that the rest of the video wasn't great aswell.
Keep up the good work!
I was actually just wondering when there'd be another AD&D of CoC review from Seth. Perfect timing.
Ran it at a con. The author was there. He signed my mod. Was a great game and great the author was there too.
Seth is super salty about not getting to play in person. I think it's because he gets joy out of cramming 6 people around a little table for 12 hours....
Don't pretend you don't miss it, too.
@@SSkorkowsky with all my heart.
You should *still* review GURPS. I love your videos, and I think a review of GURPS from you would really help me wrap my head around the more complex subjects of the game.
9:57 the sigh the every dungeon master does when their players do something dumb
Or when in Dragonlance the Kender character says oops.
Yay more AD&D
I have fond memories of this adventure from way back in the 80's.
Considering you got so many people into Call of Cthulhu with your TH-cam content, it's extremely cool that you literally got sponsored by none other than THE Sandy Petersen.
The AD&D module was the first module I got and played through. Way way way back in the 80s.
I was doing something else and just listening. This is what I heard:
”Long ago a great and powerful wizard had a great and powerful gym, named The Soul Gym. He housed in his wizards’ tower…”
You should voice over trailers, mate. "In this woooorrrlllldddd...." ah ah
If you like pre-adventure shopping you should play Deathwatch at one point. A lot of time there is spent making preparations, taking oaths, formulating plans and requisitioning the appropriate gear (the last portion usually takes longest). Other than that it's mostly an RPG-style tactical shooter, though, unless you play a campaign that's less about missions and/or have players who really work in the role (Space Marines are somewhat difficult to play right).
Also, my personal interpretation of the illusionist: The guy went down there ages ago, didn't get out again (maybe his rogue teammate locked the door behind him) and he created an illusion of himself and infused it with his soul as he was dying (and then you got more or less a ghost in there). Could be an adventure hook to track down the rogue's grave and desecrate it or something to put the illusionist to rest later.
And so was born a new NPC... the Dark One!
I was thinking of playing/running a game of D&D recently,
And even using the old basic rules cyclopedia, not 5th,
Why?
Because of something called "Bardcore" its a thing....(good? bad? i don't know, but its a thing)
Try looking for these tracks on youtube,
Thunderstruck (Medieval Cover)
Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi [Bardcore]
Survivor - Eye of the Tiger [Medieval Style Cover]
You spin me round - medieval style
Shakira - Hips Don't Lie [Bardcore / Medieval Style Cover]
The Final Countdown (Medieval Cover)
And the best
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) [Medieval Style Vocal Cover]
There's a huge OSR community out there, you really don't have to explain why you might want to use Basic instead of 5e to anyone any more. OTOH, if you're a Mystara fan and a 5e fan, there's this fan project: th-cam.com/video/QI0LIUCIYsY/w-d-xo.html
@@richmcgee434
Well, normally I wouldn't touch D&D with a barge pole, But then Bardcore seems to justify it...
@@richmcgee434
Just had time to watch it, Thanks for the link, that was interesting, worth it for the Pug Wizard alone
Can you review the famously unreleased until recently deep dwarven delve?
In a 5e campaign which wrapped up earlier this year, the group had found the Deck of Many Things. Of course, two PCs drew the Void card. I used "Ghost Tower" as the basis for retrieving the PCs' souls. It took about four sessions to get through. So C2 was the campaign finale.
There was a beautiful Dragon Magazine set of images of the cards in that deck which you could photocopy, colour, and stick to ordinary playing cards. I made such a set but, alas, misplaced it long ago.
@@originaluddite I have the Deck still after all these years.
I did the "castle as prize" thing for the players in my Isle of Dread / Against the Slavelords campaign. But I used Baltron's Beacon as the location. I think that went really well and my players really liked it.
I get *UNREASONABLY* happy whenever you review AD&D modules.
Funny enough played DnD in the same room last Friday and may do again on Next Friday.
Zoldof the ANGRY baby.
Also have you thought of doing an RPG philosophy video but on online gaming like roll 20? I used to have a consistent group offline but now I'm forced to game online and I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.
You could easily reskin Tower of Inverness into a Call of Cthulhyu adventure. In the modern times they are called in on an archaeological dig to find an ancient diamon encrusted skull of legend. The rest writes itself.
One of the first modules my dad Dungeon Mastered me through was a 4e module called "Ghost Tower of the Witchlight Fens" (which did indeed have a ghost in it), and was definitely a spiritual successor to Inverness. When my dad played AD&D he went through this module and it was just cool to see more bridging between the old and new generations of D&D players.
Was looking for inspiration how to give players their own HQ, thanks man.
Off subject, but have you seen that the new Highway of Blood for CofC has a Scott Brown reference?
Fun Fact that you probs already know but Inverness is an actual location in Scotland it's nicknamed the Capital of the Highlands it's name means "Mouth of the River ness" from its Scottish Gaelic name Inbhir Nis it's also the home city of famed scottish actress Karen Gillen known for playing Amy Pond in Dr Who and Nebula in the MCU.
I heard from folk that some game store up in Inverness carry copys of this adventure for obvious reasons.
it's also my suggestion that due to this fact DMs should put on a faux scottish accent for NPCs in this adventure just to add to the authenticity.
Also last fact the Gaelic King Macbeth who was immortalized by William Shakespeare owned a castle within the city where he ruled as Mormaer of Moray and Ross.
Might serve as some more inspiration for those planning on running this adventure.
ah final Ads that dont pull me out of the Seth-world :)
Incidentally, the Cenobites are re-skinned in Tome of Horrors Complete as N'gathau. Been using them in a Hell-oriented campaign I'm writing.
Your accent made me think you were trying to retrieve a "Soul Gym" and was wondering how Gymnasiums even exist in the D&D world and how are you gonna steal it? You steal all the dumbless from underneath the noses of some buff Orcs?
Yah, nothing like Manny and Moe the orge magi just wandering around looking for their missing brother Jack...
Congrats for your 2020 ennie!
Thank you. Though I don't know how much I can call it mine. Lot of parts and people went into making that collection, but I can at least say my debut scenario won an ENnie, which is a pretty awesome feeling.
I can't stop myself from looking at your T-shirt. I hate it. It's amazing.
Jack was being brutal to poor Seth this time. It was kinda fun actually ... but that may be beside the point ;) .
I gotta say i am also digging voice-over Seth at the end, not cheesy at all.
Well maybe a little but that is okay.
There is also the 3ED Return to The Ghost Tower of Inverness CORS3 still a competition scenario
I actually found this one in a Goodwill back in 2003! My brother converted it to 3.5 last year, and it ended up being quite a lot of fun.
Hey Seth if I sent you a copy of one of my favorite RPG's would you be willing to give it a look through and if you like it possibly do a video on it in the future? There's a tradition to burn the book after your first campaign is over (don't want to spoil any further) but I figured sending my copy off would be a better use. I have a second copy of the main book coming in with a Kickstarter they did so I wouldn't be missing anything. Hope to hear back!
Well, consider my interest piqued.
@@user-gj7lp5iz6k I thought the same thing and then after reading through this I am more than happy to oblige. The second copy coming in will eventually meet that fate as well. And the one after that lol.
@@user-gj7lp5iz6k morkborg.com
The teacher who hosted the D&D club in my highschool would never play any games, just supervise. When I was a senior, he ended up running one AD&D scenario with us kids to show us how the game had changed from AD&D to 3.5 and 3.75/pathfinder.
It was great... Even though I only remember one encounter. It was a while ago.
The shirt rocks!
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Prisoners sent in to clear the dungeon and win their freedom? Sounds like The Legend of Grimrock. Cool!
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Like many modules, particularly a bunch of the older edition modules, the theme can be saved while reworked to reflect the new reality of how the game runs.
11:29 ironically the leader of the earth cult in Princes of the Apocalypse is also a medusa.
Now there's a classic module.
This episode features my favourite Seth T-shirt ☺️
I live just half an hour away from Inverness. Should I be worried?
my i think very first module i ever bought back in the 80's
The Medusa wiped out our party except me the Ranger FTW...
"Too busy livin' in the moment man." Wiser words have never been spoken.
how many tpks?
I would love a 16 page scenario! It takes me so friggin long to take them through a 32 page scenario! More my fault than my player's fault. They have early work schedules, that are also dictated by their young children. If i can get 2.5 hours out of a session i am immaculate. If i get 2 hours, i still did good. But the other half of the equation is that as a DM, i just can't be rushed. I take my time. Yes it frustrates me that i take so long, but it is they way i have to do it. I have to savor every moment. I've had the 1E version of this scenario for 40 fucking years, but i never had any one to play it with! :)
Something that i may use this one for is to spice up the entrance from the Temple, into the actual pyramid of E3, Pharaoh. My players have already gone through so many treacherous human encounters, screaming Dervishes, Slavers, and a desert that blocks their passage -they need a real monster. I might place the Umber Hulk encounter in front of the actual entrance.
Boulders are always fun. In a dwarven dungeon our thief heard clicking and rumbling, so he threw himself on the ground to avoid any swinging axes etc. It was a pair of boulders tho. The module stated that dexterous characters can leap over them, as the dungeon was made for dwarfs but he was already on the ground.... so... (he did not die, but lost 80% of his HP)
Eviction? Sounds like a call to Ye Olde Scotteth Browne is in order.
I just got gifted a bunch of older rpg stuff including this. Nice to see a review so I have a clearer picture.
Great review. The back catalogue is so huge that younger GMs can spend literal days hunting for a decent module to use. This is an excellent way to cut through the crap.
By the way, Seth: wonderful delivery on that sponsorship. Much better than most.
still playing a 1e/2e combo here. i ever bought 3e or ay later versions. do keep on the borderlands next!
I ran this one already! It was dope!
Use the soul gem from C2 to counter the soul stealing gem from Tomb of Horrors
Now we need a Spelljammer sequel involving Gloryhammer's Spacelords of Inverness. :V
Nice one Seth, enjoyed the interaction between you and your be-chainmailed alter-ego :)
Also lol at the t-shirt
Inverness is just the name of a city in Scotland
It's also a sleeveless cloak with a removable cape.
I live on an Inverness Ave. When I saw that I had to watch this.
Seth looks really good for being 115 years old.
The monk in my party is named Ricky. Lol
So, how do i get into one of your awesome D&D games? :)
A friend of mine, who is DMing one of our online games, needs to see more of your videos. I shared a couple with him back when I was trying to decide if I was going to run a Cthulhu game next (I decided to postpone that for the time being, as I would really prefer to run it with everyone in the same room).
I think he (let's call him Chuck) does a good job overall with DMing and I enjoy playing in Chuck's games, but I've had some nitpicks and one of the other people in the current game who I was talking to (let's say Sara) echoed my thoughts that Chuck needs to ease up on following the module we're playing so closely. It's Curse of Strahd, a fantastic adventure, but there are times when a little flexibility would be much appreciated. And I think Chuck would like it better too. Last session Chuck had us all roll saves to see whether or not we had a nightmare. Only one person failed, Kent, so Kent got to have the nightmare of the fallen party member (formerly played by Sara) screaming to be saved from a torturous dungeon where she was surrounded by her traumatic phobia, the writhing corpses of her kin. And Kent didn't share it with the rest of us (including the other Saras new character, or the characters who had become close friends with the _formerly_ fallen character). Now, I get why Kent's character didn't share it, it isn't the sort of thing he would do, he's more likely to keep it from the rest of us and get into trouble looking into it on his own. But the DM confided in me, afterward, that he was frustrated that only Kent's character had the nightmare and the rest of us only got to hear about it out-of-character. And I told Chuck, "hey, you're the DM, you can just declare that we all have the nightmare. Or, start it, give us the intro, and then let us decide if we try to fight it and wake from it or see where it goes."
I would just like to see Chuck be less reliant on dice rolls as a DM. Sometimes it's a handy thing to help you decide when you're unsure, but as long as you're not just taking player agency away, a DM really should feel free to have stuff like that happen to the characters, to have plot elements unfold as makes sense and not have random chance interfere with player choice. After all, I'd rather have had the opportunity to react to it than to roll a die and have nothing happen. And just allow people to have an out if they would like to avoid it or a "full stop" if it makes them uncomfortable. Dice add randomness, but they can't tell stories.
Hey Seth, have you played or even heard of Gamma World? Specifically the first edition from tsr in 1978, there’s precious few videos talking about it.
OmG ! I remember Gamma World ! Fun game ! I’d love to see a review of that forgotten gem !
I just finished running my bi-weekly gamma world game an hour ago. Based off 4th ed (93 edition, my original copy) use the radiation rules from 2ns ed, lots of house rules and also mutant epoch influence
2nd edition is apparently very similar to first with a few tweaks, and came out soon afterward and might be why there are only a total of 4 1e products. It just hasn’t really grabbed me though, something about the first version has a charm the others don’t. Maybe it’s that it’s drawing from classic 50s sci-fi rather than the sci-fi that became more popular as it developed but in not sure.
I had the second edition of Gamma World! What about Star Frontiers from tsr loved the setting.
Any relationship between this module and the Endless Quest book “Ghost Tower”?
This module is what Ghost Tower is based on. Before I knew this was a module, I actually made an adventure off that book.
Great review on a so-so module, agreed. It always felt like a sort of poor man's cousin to White Plume Mountain.
This was so awesome- great to see a D&D module under discussion and man, a Bonesaw + Scott Brown mashup? Hells to the yes.
I've run this, and recommend it as a beer and pretzels style game.
Some fun 're-skinning' or swapping of monsters into specific themes, and it would be much more fun.
Played this. Only thing I remember is that long dialog in the beginning. 😊
Seth it's so cheering to see you still putting out videos in these tough times! Another great video and when our groups get around a table again it will be amazing.
The first thing I thought of is that the ball should make the victim invisible after it hits them, although how you'd make that known to the player is beyond me.
Pretty cool! I never actually played that module back in the day. It's actually a pretty good value at the moment, too.
I have had more fun running this mod over the years than any other. Well maybe Barrier Peaks.
One of my favorite modules
I misheard "great and powerful gym" at 2:47 and immediately knew what my next adventure idea would be.
The tower was the ghost all along.
I think the penultimate encounter was also used as a room in The Crypt of Lysanred the Mad