This year marks the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, and Wizards of the Coast is poised to get the (adventuring) party started with Vecna: Eve of Ruin, a new campaign book that seems to offer a unique “greatest hits” approach.
Releasing next month, Vecna: Eve of Ruin is the latest premade adventure for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, and one aimed to take players from level 10 to 20 over the course of its ambitious narrative. As the title implies, this campaign is focused on one of the game’s perennial villains: Vecna, once a legendary figure in the game’s first edition lore but later revealed as a lich who had attained godhood and a seemingly unending threat.
As described by D&D Senior Designer Amanda Hamon, adventurers who embark upon Vecna: Eve of Ruin’s quest will find themselves linked inextricably to the nefarious lich and, therefore, the only ones who can oppose his latest plot. However, a legendary threat also brings legendary allies, and some familiar faces from the game’s history will make an appearance to aid the heroes.
In opposition to Vecna is Alustriel Silverhand, making her 5E debut. (Those who are new to D&D through Baldur’s Gate 3 may recognize her mother, Mystra, the Goddess of Magic in Faerûn.) As one of the most powerful mages in the world, she stands as “a bastion of good” and a sort of general amongst those who oppose Vecna and enlists two other powerful allies to help: Tasha and Mordenkainen.
Vecna: Eve of Ruin sounds like an excellent way to bridge the gap between 5th Edition and the upcoming “One D&D” initiative,
These two may be more familiar to 5E players, as both have had a sourcebook named after them and cameos in the game’s recent crossover with Magic: The Gathering. Vecna: Eve of Ruin, however, presents a more traditional version of the archmage Tasha than in her last appearance, The Wild Beyond the Witchlight campaign. Together, the three legendary wizards try to use a Wish spell to turn the tide against Vecna, but it goes awry, with huge implications for the player party. This leads our aspiring heroes on a quest across the planes to gather the pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts, yet another legendary name from the game’s past.
And yet, this is only the tip of the iceberg for the homages to Dungeons & Dragons‘ history in Vecna: Eve of Ruin. The quest for the scattered pieces of the Rod of Law will take players to other settings from 5E, like Ravenloft from Curse of Strahd and Dragonlance from Shadow of the Dragon Queen, and even on a trip across the Astral Sea in a spelljammer.
Depending on the group, this means your D&D group might even run into a villain you’ve already faced in another campaign—if you’ve already dealt with Strahd in that adventure, the book will offer your DM tips on how to deal with him, making a return appearance, given how you dealt with him previously. Other segments, like the Dragonlance one, will have players deal with an agent of the nefarious Lord Soth instead of the man himself, and all have room for some creative solutions.
Though this structure doesn’t require a group to have access to all of the associated tomes, the broad scope of Vecna: Eve of Ruin will definitely provide an excuse to dust the older books off. Likewise, you need not have played the referenced adventures before to appreciate the story, but it sounds like those who have will glean even more joy from the allusions (especially if they’ve been playing with the same group of people all along, in some miracle of D&D scheduling).
Versions of recurring villains like Strahd will have their own stat blocks reprinted and/or adjusted in Vecna: Eve of Ruin‘s 30-page bestiary. Vecna himself will have a massive CR26 stat block similar to the one released for free in The Vecna Dossier, in conjunction with his key role in Stranger Things‘ fourth season. However, Hamon promises the inevitable encounter with the dread lich will be a much more involved and epic showdown than this initial promotional offering.
Vecna: Eve of Ruin sounds like an excellent way to bridge the gap between 5th Edition and the upcoming “One D&D” initiative, which will refresh the current ruleset, as well as a fitting tribute to the game’s history upon the occasion of its 50th anniversary. The game has never been more popular than it has been over the last decade, thanks in part to 5th Edition’s accessible approach, and a jaunt across its various planes rife with iconic references just might be the best way to celebrate before embarking on the next big quest.
Vecna: Eve of Ruin will release officially on May 21st, but will be on sale at friendly local game stores and on D&D Beyond starting May 7th. As is tradition, independent game stores will also have an exclusive variant cover edition available, featuring art by Hydro47.
