So... how 'bout that Vecna article!

[TarionzCousin]

"Aggravated by the fact that..."

Does that sound better?

Yes. Or you could have gone with "But with the aggravating factor that...."

Anyway, WotC is sure as heck pumping out a lot of articles about evil folks with PC abilities for a game ostensibly about "heroes." Not that I mind, I just find the constant dissonance of "Okay, dudes, here are awesome rules for how you can be a necromancer-priest of death and zombies! Just remember, save the orphans, okay?!" to be kind of hilarious.

Unless they are zombie orphans.*

*See the most recent D&D comic.

 

[catastrophic]

Indeed, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm some pureblood sleeper agent, programmed to subconsciously stand up for Zehir under the guise of a gamer ...

I guess I don't feel Zehir has yet been presented as cool enough to make me want to kill him and take his stuff, so right now he seems irrelevant to me (I may also be hung up by my conceptions of real-world darkness/forbidden lore/serpent gods).

Perhaps someday Zehir will get the Torog treatment and I'll be able to stand him a little better.

I think there's plenty of room for zehir to be a god of assasins, secret cults, ancient crumbling ziggurauts in the jungle, ect.

Anyway, WotC is sure as heck pumping out a lot of articles about evil folks with PC abilities for a game ostensibly about "heroes." Not that I mind, I just find the constant dissonance of "Okay, dudes, here are awesome rules for how you can be a necromancer-priest of death and zombies! Just remember, save the orphans, okay?!" to be kind of hilarious.

One of the funniest bits of good/bad gming I ever saw was one of my friends pestering my other friend who was DMing for us, to run an extra session for his evil necromancer pc while the rest of us were busy.

The DM replied that he would run a solo game for the guy, if he could figure out a good motive for why his evil necromancer would help a small group of dirt poor farmers fend of an attack by scarecrows. They had nothing to offer him, and the risk was great. It was an interesting thought experiment to say the least.

 

[caudor]

I liked the article. I liked the Kord article better though.

In my campaign, Vecna is so secretive that most ordinary folk have never heard of him.

However, one particular idea presented in the article was Vecna's interest to protect the world from those that would destoy it. There were lots of good bits in there.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Yeah, I'd look at Vecna as being so obscure that his creed is not even really understood. I think this angle has been played up before. So the cleric of Vecna isn't hated by the Paladin of Pelor, he just says WTF? Vecna? Who's that? Whether or not the worshiping PC has a clue about the nature of his patron god or not is hard to say. Obviously he knows some sort of creed, but it need not include the WHOLE truth.

If I were going to go with this angle in my game I'd just rename Vecna. Kind of annoying, but it would work. Then I can keep my players in the dark. That or actually just recast Vecna somehow, but then you'd need something to take his place, etc. At the very least I'd leave some easy to find lore around giving Vecna a better rep. Seems like that kind of disinformation is right up his ally.