D&D 5E Feasibility of rewriting Vecna: Eve of Ruin into an Evil campaign? (Spoilers for Vecna: Eve of Ruin)

[Cergorach]

Why bother changing that much? The actual PCs got a premonition via one of their hag allies that a party of heroes would collect the Rod of Seven Parts to thwart Vecna. They killed the hag, so it couldn't repeat the premonition and they murdered the heroes and took their place, pulling a 'double-Kas'. Just run the adventure as is and now the PCs get a turn to betray Kas... The PCs being evil masterminds will of course want to eliminate high level competition, be it 'good' or 'evil'... Maybe even making some deals with devils in Avernus along the way...

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Never really understood why "make X an evil campaign" necessarily needs to mean "now you're working for the campaign's big bad" or "it's the same story, but now the big bad is a righteous do-gooder you're out to take down".

Just because the PCs are a group of bad guys doesn't mean you can't find plenty of reasons to fight against other bad guys. Vecna's plans ultimately only benefit Vecna himself - there's no reason a group of PC ne'er-do-wells have to be allied with him.

 

[Necropolitan]

The PCs being Vecna cultists is more interesting than the same exact adventure with Evil PCs.

Evil PCs don't have to be murderhobos incapable of having a group patron without planning to betray them.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

By all means, if running an adventure where the PCs are Vecna cultists interests you, then go for it.

I guess all that I'm getting at is simply that every time I see a "turning X into an evil campaign" conversion, it always seems to involve either upending the base story structure or inverting the antagonists' character and motivations, when as often as not, I think you could run an evil party through just about anything by just...giving them reasons to oppose the antagonists.

Members of the criminal underworld have plenty of reason to fight against rival crime lords.
Rebels can overthrow a tyrannical dictator only to then install someone just as bad in his place.
Demons and devils are butchering one another endlessly in the Blood War.

Just because you draw upon the Dark Side of the Force, that doesn't mean you have to serve the Galactic Empire.

 

[Necropolitan]

By all means, if running an adventure where the PCs are Vecna cultists interests you, then go for it.

I guess all that I'm getting at is simply that every time I see a "turning X into an evil campaign" conversion, it always seems to involve either upending the base story structure or inverting the antagonists' character and motivations, when as often as not, I think you could run an evil party through just about anything by just...giving them reasons to oppose the antagonists.

Members of the criminal underworld have plenty of reason to fight against rival crime lords.
Rebels can overthrow a tyrannical dictator only to then install someone just as bad in his place.
Demons and devils are butchering one another endlessly in the Blood War.

Just because you draw upon the Dark Side of the Force, that doesn't mean you have to serve the Galactic Empire.

We already know that.

This thread is about rewriting the campaign so the PCs are Vecna cultists.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Being a Vecna cultist isn’t evil, it’s dumb. I really can’t see players wanting to do that. Kill Vecna to steal his unlimited powah for themselves, sure.