D&D 5E Get The Vecna Dossier Free At D&D Beyond

WotC is offering a free product which you can claim by signing into D&D Beyond, including Vecna’s 5E statistics.

The dossier includes the stat block plus a half page or so of lore. Vecna's stat block is a CR 26 undead wizard, prior to the fallen paladin (and former bodyguard to the lich) Kas's betrayal. That means he still has his hand and eye, although he is a time traveller and can appear in different worlds and eras.

The archlich Vecna is one of the most iconic villains of Dungeons & Dragons lore. And now you can bear witness to his necromantic magic with the Vecna Dossier! Available at no cost with your D&D Beyond account, this thrilling supplement details the legacy and statistics of the Undying King himself!

This claim unlocks the contents of this promotional supplement for use with D&D Beyond, including the supplement in digital format in the game compendium and in the searchable listings, character builder, encounters, and digital sheet.

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[OB1]

Love this Vecna! A few thoughts on some of the arguments running through the thread.

• Would probably be a good idea to add "Vecna is immune from effects that prevent him from using Reactions" under the Reactions section. On the one hand, it's a great tactic to help try and turn the battle in the party's favor (if you have the one spell or the one sub-class that can do it), but on the other hand, he's way scarier if that tactic doesn't work.
• While the encounter math for a group of 6, 10th level PCs might say this is an appropriate challenge, that is the one area where CR is actually useful. With a monster over 2x the party level, he's going to be able to take out 1 PC a round, and that's going to change the encounter math in his favor very quickly.
• If you start assuming magical items for PCs, encounter math and CR doesn't mean much. If the PCs have exactly the right magic items for the job, it doesn't mean anything. Magic items in 5e are a pure benefit, and not assumed in monster design.
• Just want to point out that Fell Rebuke works against any attack, not just melee or even a weapon attack
• In the adventure they published along side it, Vecna in his lair is absolutely brutal. Might have to run this as a one shot with the 5 lv 20 PCs from the campaign I just finished up just for fun. I'm honestly not sure which side would win.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

The fact that a CR 26 needs minions and lair actions speaks volumes on design issues, and design philosophy. And if he is low in the Initiative chain, he dies. No CR 26 should have to need to be win Initiative to survive.

Not really. He can counter pretty much everything they do before they get to him.

We can do a simulation if you want. I have everything ready other than a party for him to fight. Though I should make a new thread for that.

 

[Shardstone]

That's the sorcerer who was killed by an army of skeleton archers before he ever got close to Vecna. That's what you get for trying to play "I know your exact stats and will use all my resources to exploit them" against the DM.


Since the monk, unlike the sorcerer, is using reasonable tactics that a sane monk might actually employ in battle, okay. Vecna doesn't pull out the DM cheese. However, the monk still has to close to melee range before Vecna's turn, and the only PCs who get to take advantage of this window of vulnerability are those whose initiatives fall between the monk and Vecna. On Vecna's turn, he darts behind cover where he can't be seen (to avoid counterspells), and dimension doors away to let the effect wear off. He will then engage from a different angle at long range.

The shocking grasp argument doesn't even stand up. Vecna starts the fight 80 feet away from you, in an 80 by 30 feet hallway in the adventure. He uses a lair action to put a 20-foot cube doom trap in the middle of the hallway, so you have to move within 15 feet of the walls, which are made of zombies and will try to restrain you, deal damage to you, and automatically give you exhaustion if you start your turn grappled by zombies.

All the while, he is still slinging his spells at you from a distance, and next round he's summoning a swarm of shadows for his lair action. You can't teleport to Vecna because he can counterspell it (which damages you), and he can cast globe of invulnerability on himself and keep using his spellcasting or his multitue of teleports to keep going in and slashing at you with Afterthought and blasting you with his Rotten Fate and regaining 80 hit points every turn.

Where's the shocking grasp coming in? Nowhere! White room theory crafting fails once again!

 

[dave2008]

Sorcerer quickens Shocking Grasp or Subtle Spells it. The End.

as far as I can tell quickening a spell doesn't do anything to prevent from being counterspelled. Not the End.
Subtle Spell is a better option, but your spending resources and it is a DM judgement call. Still not likely the End.

Open Hand Monk shuts down Vecna's Reactions for TWO turns. The End.

That is a best way to stop him using reactions, but why do you say 2 turns? Also, it doesn't stop him using his Lair actions, or Action.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Uh huh...and The Sorcerer Quickens Shocking Grasp. Vecna is going nowhere, and is toast.

How does that change anything he can still counterspell it.

 

[Nikosandros]

No, what they talked about was a free to play service for all the rules, and monetizing aesthetic stuff, not subscriptions.

I just re-watched the video. They talk about making characters for free, accessing rules through a subscription and purchasing cosmetics.

 

[Parmandur]

I just re-watched the video. They talk about making characters for free, accessing rules through a subscription and purchasing cosmetics.

I took the survey at the time: they were definitely talking about a Magic: Arena sort of approach. Which is probably more profitable than a straightforward subscription model.

 

[dave2008]

• In the adventure they published along side it, Vecna in his lair is absolutely brutal. Might have to run this as a one shot with the 5 lv 20 PCs from the campaign I just finished up just for fun. I'm honestly not sure which side would win.

If you do, let us know how it goes!

 

[dave2008]

I just re-watched the video. They talk about making characters for free, accessing rules through a subscription and purchasing cosmetics.

So a free subscription then?

 

[Nikosandros]

I took the survey at the time: they were definitely talking about a Magic: Arena sort of approach. Which is probably more profitable than a straightforward subscription model.

As I said, I just watched the video. I downloaded it back then.