Vecna and the World of Greyhawk

by Brian Patterson

The Eve of Ruin may be upon us, but across the storied history of Dungeons & Dragons, the malicious entity known as Vecna (the Whispered One, the Master of the Spider Throne, the Undying King, and the Lord of the Rotted Tower) has haunted the nightmares of countless campaigns for decades.

For my fellow lore nerds, Vecna originated in the original World of Greyhawk campaign setting. For some, Greyhawk is the Granddad, the originator, the OG, and the benchmark for the origins of D&D, iconic characters, and the methodology for how campaign settings are presented in TTRPGs. Many (many) campaign settings, worlds, books, and adventures fill the shelves of the FLGs around the world, but if you trace the family tree to the source, you arrive at the World of Greyhawk and you arrive at Vecna.

The rise of Vecna began from humble origins as two of the most infamous artifacts in the history of Dungeons & Dragons: The Hand of Vecna and the Eye of Vecna, appearing in some of the earliest publications. The artifacts were pure evil, and their inclusion brought chaos to any campaign, but at this point in history, Vecna is merely named as a lich from the distant past, destroyed and mostly forgotten.

This would change with the arrival of the second edition Dungeon Master’s Guide, as the Hand of Vecna appeared again as an artifact of power, but with far more details on the infamous lich and namesake of the hand presented in the items text. At this point in the history of D&D, Vecna is akin to an original Grimm’s fairy tale. Vecna is a cautionary tale. He is the Boogeyman. The Hand of Vecna and Eye of Vecna bring dark themes and the fear of something lurking in the shadows, but the threat of Vecna as an entity is still believed to be a memory or myth.

The narrative of Vecna takes a turn with the release of the adventure Vecna Lives! in 1990 and sets Vecna on a path that will lead him to becoming one of the most iconic villains in the history of Dungeons & Dragons. In Vecna Lives! Vecna returns to the world of Greyhawk as a demigod and sets forth a path of destruction that sees the Whispered One hell bent on retrieving his lost Hand and Eye. The adventure features luminaries or the World of Greyhawk setting like Mordenkainen and the Circle of Eight, with the ending of the adventure seeing the demigod Vecna banished from Greyhawk (if the players are successful) and cast into the unknown for a time.

In 1997, Vecna and his betrayer Kas appear in publication again in the Domains of Dread supplement for the Ravenloft campaign setting. The Whispered One appears here within his own domain of dread and machinations within the mists, tormented by the proximity of his former ally and betrayer, Kas. This would be a fitting place for a being of nightmares, undeath, and dark secrets to dwell in the pages of D&D history, but Vecna is a character that (both in and out of fiction) refuses to be caged, even by the mists of Ravenloft.

In 1998, the Ravenloft adventure Vecna Reborn presented a dark, epic scenario where player characters are drawn into the mists of Ravenloft and the Domains of Vecna and Kas as their war escalates. During the adventure, Vecna thrashes against the dark powers of Ravenloft that hold him prisoner in a plot that involves ancient magic and a twisted approach to his own rebirth to escape. This is considered the second installment of the Vecna trilogy of adventures as well.

In 2000, Wizards of the Coast released Die Vecna Die! An epic finale of the three-part adventure series that sees Vecna ascend from demigod and former Dread Lord of Ravenloft to lesser god among the pantheons of D&D. It is through this ascension that the trilogy of Vecna adventures comes full circle for the World of Greyhawk as one of the main protagonists and icons of the setting, Iuz the Evil, launches a scheme to destroy an imprisoned Vecna for a grim and terrible purpose. The adventure takes player characters to horrific and wondrous locations, including threads that lead directly to the Planescape campaign setting.

The Vecna trilogy of adventures did something that few adventure series did in the earliest editions of D&D, by weaving crossovers and what we know today as old school, multiverse world hopping into the meta narrative of Vecna. Each of the adventures could be played as stand-alone experiences, but when connected, the ascension of Vecna plays out in front of the players eyes.

It is this world-hopping narrative that feels like a love letter in Vecna: Eve of Ruin, as the adventure brings together threads and breadcrumbs laid across supplements from 5th edition to culminate in an epic, world-shattering adventure where the Whispered One seeks to shake the foundations of the D&D multiverse to its core and brings player characters face-to-face with a rogues gallery of iconic NPCs from the lore of Dungeons & Dragons.

Prepare yourself to battle the evil of Vecna alongside luminaries from the history of Dungeons & Dragons with the Vecna: Eve of Ruin bundle in the Roll20 Marketplace. This adventure includes:

• Vecna: Eve of Ruin digital rulebook + the Nest of the Eldritch Eye adventure
• Token and Portrait pack with 428 pop-out tokens for use in any Roll20 game
• NPC Character Sheets, pre-filled with one-click rolls, including famous figures from D&D's storied history
• 30 Maps with pre-set Dynamic Lighting for Plus and Pro subscribers
• Adventure handouts for you and your players to easily stay organized on your adventure
• 65+ Gorgeous Art Handouts to set the scene
• 13 Premade Macros to make rolling from tables quick and easy

History attempts to repeat itself again and again, and Vecna (as it has been said by others) is inevitable. Once again, his evil rises and it is time to fight for the multiverse and stop the Eve of Ruin before it is too late. 

Gather your friends, build your party, and get to work! 

Interested in learning more about Vecna? Pick up the D&D Classics: Vecna bundle on DMsGuild!

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