Levistus's_Leviathan
5e Freelancer
Okay, so in my world and campaigns, I love having giant conflicts between two-or-more factions that players can get involved in and possibly have an input in deciding the output in. There have been quite a few throughout the history of D&D, most notably the Blood War, and I have several in my world; the Dragon-Giant War, the conflict between Spellcasting and Psionics (Felshen versus Yikkan Goblinoids), and quite possibly my favorite; my own take on the War between Vecna and the Raven Queen. This post is discussing the origin of these two gods (in-game and in the real world), how to implement the conflict in your games, and how I did it in my world.
Vecna and the Raven Queen are both fairly new gods to D&D, however, Vecna is the older of the two. Vecna has been around for decades, most famously from the four artifacts associated with him; the Hand and Eye of Vecna, as well as the Sword of Kas and Book of Vile Darkness. Vecna only became a major deity in Fourth Edition, becoming one of the main deities of the edition due to his inclusion in the Dawn War Pantheon (you can find this pantheon in the 5e DMG's "Gods of Your World" section in Chapter 1: A World of Your Own), but he had been a Demigod/Lesser God for quite some time before this. Vecna's first appearance in D&D was in 1976's Eldritch Wizardry rulebook, and his name is a reference to Jack Vance the fantasy author that inspired much of D&D (most notably in the magic system. "Vancian Magic" comes from Jack Vance's Dying Earth series. However, ever since his first appearance, he has become more and more important to D&D, being one of the most recognizable villainous characters in the game, alongside Orcus, Acererak, Demogorgon, and a few others. In AD&D 2e, Vecna became a Demigod and made his way into the Ravenloft campaign setting, becoming a Dark Lord and gaining his own Domain of Dread, alongside his traitorous lieutenant Kas the Vampire Lord. Then, finally, he eventually escaped Ravenloft, attacked Sigil and was fended off by the Lady of Pain, almost destroyed the Multiverse after becoming a Lesser God (or something like that) in Die Vecna Die! (one of the few AD&D 2e adventures written by Wizards of the Coast), and suddenly became a Greater Deity in D&D 4e, and finally ended up in D&D 5e where he is a god that spans the Multiverse, but is more important in certain worlds (Exandria, Greyhawk) than others (Eberron, Forgotten Realms, etc). Vecna is the god of secrets (such as how to achieve Lichdom and perhaps Apotheosis), undeath (as he is a lich-god), as well as arcane magic (as a skilled wizard).
However, the Raven Queen is a much newer deity, only emerging in D&D 4e, being a completely new concept. In 4e (and Exandria), she took the place of the older gods of death, Jergal, Kelemvor, and so on. She is fairly unique, as no one knows her true name, and she just goes by her title of "the Raven Queen". Furthermore, she is somewhat of a mystery, having different origin stories in different worlds (Forgotten Realms has her as an ascended Primal Elf that got stranded in the Shadowfell due to an apotheosis ritual gone wrong, Exandria having her be a mortal that basically cast Karsus's Avatar successfully on the world's original God of Death and taking his place), and is the queen of a diverse swathe of concepts; Death, the Afterlife, Ravens (like Odin), Judgement, Knowledge, and the Shadar-Kai. Either way, the Raven Queen is a God of Death and Knowledge, while Vecna is a God of Undeath and Secrets. And this is where their rivalry comes in.
See, in any of their origin stories, both Vecna and the Raven Queen began their lives as mortals, ascending to godhood one way or another, and the Raven Queen has been a god for much longer than Vecna. In Exandria, the Raven Queen has had the mantle of Goddess of Death and the Afterlife for more than 1,000 years (predating the Calamity), while Vecna only very recently became a God (during the events of Season 1 of Critical Role). In the Forgotten Realms, the Raven Queen became a god thousands of years ago when her followers completed the Ritual of Apotheosis and accidentally sent themselves into the Shadowfell (whereupon the Raven Queen turned them into the Nagpa), while Vecna only became a god after the events of the Die Vecna Die! module. Vecna is newer, the Raven Queen is older, and their dualistic portfolios bring them into conflict (Vecna as a God of Undeath versus the Raven Queen as a Goddess of Death/the Afterlife, Vecna as a God of Secrets, while the Raven Queen is a Goddess of Knowledge, the Raven Queen as female, Vecna as male, etc). Their own personal histories are exactly what bring them into conflict with one another, especially because of one major reason explained in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes; Vecna wants to kill the Raven Queen and take her place.
Vecna is the God of Secrets and Hidden Knowledge. What better way to get more knowledge than to have access to all of the souls of the dead and be able to read their memories? Vecna is the God of Undeath and is a lich, even though he is a god. What better way to feed your Phylactery than to be in charge of the Afterlife and be able to endlessly send the souls of the dead to their doom, granting you even more power than you already had? Vecna is the God of Necromancy. What better place is there to live in the D&D Multiverse than the Shadowfell if you're a God of Necromancy? It's really easy to understand why they hate each other when you consider all of the power that the Raven Queen has access to that Vecna would tremendously benefit from having access to, if he ever got his hands (sorry, hand, singular) on it.
First off, where does Vecna live? This actually isn't something that is officially stated in D&D 5e, but it's fairly easy to guess where; the Shadowfell. However, his (im)mortal enemy, the Raven Queen, lives in the Shadowfell, so although Vecna probably lives by the saying "keep your friends close and your enemies closer", there is still such a thing as "too close for comfort", and being right next to the Raven Queen's home base (the Palace of Memories within Letherna) would definitely qualify as being too close to your enemy to live comfortably.
This leads us into the Homebrew section of this post; where Vecna lives. In my world, Tor-eal, Vecna lives in the Shadowfell's equivalent of the Underdark; which, according to 4e lore, is called the "Shadowdark". The Shadowfell is already dark and gloomy, but the Shadowdark is even darker, with dark-gray stone caverns, native Sorrowsworn and hungry undead (Ghouls, Ghasts, Shadows, etc), and an eery darkness that cannot be rid by (nonmagical) light (although Darkvision works fine here). In other words, this is the perfect place for Vecna to set up home base and begin amassing his unholy armies!
Secondly, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes says that Vecna battles with the Raven Queen, but it doesn't say what forces are battling. This is pretty obvious, but I wanted to make it clear; the Raven Queen's armies are of Shadar-Kai, and the Vecna's armies are Undead. Mostly Zombies, Skeletons, Wights, Ghouls, Ghasts, and stuff like that, but also Specters, Wraiths, Banshees, Sword Wraiths, Allips, and so on. I like to think that Vecna's commanders are primarily Skull Lords, Vampire Warlords, and Death Knights, and maybe even Mummy Lords, Deathlock Masterminds, and Liches/Dracoliches. If you want to go all-in on the Raven Queen being a divine goddess, you could even have her promote some of her most devout Shadar-Kai, causing them to become Angels (mostly Devas and Planetars) that deal necrotic damage instead of radiant (but ignoring undead's resistances/immunities to those damage types) that look like Angelic Shadar-Kai with black-ravenlike wings instead of the normal white/gold angel wings. And if you subscribe to the idea that the Kenku's previous master was the Raven Queen, you could also include some redeemed/risen Kenku in her armies (with wings and their voices back).
If you really want to lean into the homebrew, you could do something like I do, and have Vecna have a breeding program of deathtouched humanoid races in order to generate bodies (for his undead armies) and souls (to feed to his Phylactery). I personally have two of these race; the Vezyi and the Fehntüm, which are connected to corporeal and incorporeal undead respectively. However, if you want to use more official options, you could use the Reborn and Dhampir lineages from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and apply the same theme of "followers of Vecna that are used to generate bodies and souls to fuel Vecna's war with the Raven Queen".
Third, and finally, how to involve characters in this conflict. This is fairly easy if your characters come from the Shadowfell, you can just have them be a Shadar-Kai or deathtouched (Reborn/Dhampir or Vezyi/Fehntüm) whose culture typically follows Vecna, but you broke away or was sent on a mission. Or, you could have a necromancer/Death Domain Cleric follower of Vecna be raising undead and killing innocents in hope of travelling to the Shadowfell and aid Vecna in his war against the Raven Queen. Or you could have a Shadar-Kai be sent by the Raven Queen to retrieve some item or spell that could aid their side in the war, possibly trying to keep Vecna from getting ahold of the Hand and/or Eye of Vecna or the Wand of Orcus/Book of Vile Darkness, or trying to find the Sword of Kas to use it against Vecna, or just get some Sunblades to aid them in battle against the undead hordes of Vecna's armies.
tl;dr - Vecna and the Raven Queen hate each other due to conflicting godly portfolios, send their armies of followers/servants to attack the other, and both live in the Shadowfell.
What do you think? Have you implemented this conflict before in your campaigns/worlds? How would you do it if you were to? Any thoughts on the ways that I recommended?
Who Are They?
Let's start with some background on these deities to explain where they came from, because that will help us understand why they hate each other.Vecna and the Raven Queen are both fairly new gods to D&D, however, Vecna is the older of the two. Vecna has been around for decades, most famously from the four artifacts associated with him; the Hand and Eye of Vecna, as well as the Sword of Kas and Book of Vile Darkness. Vecna only became a major deity in Fourth Edition, becoming one of the main deities of the edition due to his inclusion in the Dawn War Pantheon (you can find this pantheon in the 5e DMG's "Gods of Your World" section in Chapter 1: A World of Your Own), but he had been a Demigod/Lesser God for quite some time before this. Vecna's first appearance in D&D was in 1976's Eldritch Wizardry rulebook, and his name is a reference to Jack Vance the fantasy author that inspired much of D&D (most notably in the magic system. "Vancian Magic" comes from Jack Vance's Dying Earth series. However, ever since his first appearance, he has become more and more important to D&D, being one of the most recognizable villainous characters in the game, alongside Orcus, Acererak, Demogorgon, and a few others. In AD&D 2e, Vecna became a Demigod and made his way into the Ravenloft campaign setting, becoming a Dark Lord and gaining his own Domain of Dread, alongside his traitorous lieutenant Kas the Vampire Lord. Then, finally, he eventually escaped Ravenloft, attacked Sigil and was fended off by the Lady of Pain, almost destroyed the Multiverse after becoming a Lesser God (or something like that) in Die Vecna Die! (one of the few AD&D 2e adventures written by Wizards of the Coast), and suddenly became a Greater Deity in D&D 4e, and finally ended up in D&D 5e where he is a god that spans the Multiverse, but is more important in certain worlds (Exandria, Greyhawk) than others (Eberron, Forgotten Realms, etc). Vecna is the god of secrets (such as how to achieve Lichdom and perhaps Apotheosis), undeath (as he is a lich-god), as well as arcane magic (as a skilled wizard).
However, the Raven Queen is a much newer deity, only emerging in D&D 4e, being a completely new concept. In 4e (and Exandria), she took the place of the older gods of death, Jergal, Kelemvor, and so on. She is fairly unique, as no one knows her true name, and she just goes by her title of "the Raven Queen". Furthermore, she is somewhat of a mystery, having different origin stories in different worlds (Forgotten Realms has her as an ascended Primal Elf that got stranded in the Shadowfell due to an apotheosis ritual gone wrong, Exandria having her be a mortal that basically cast Karsus's Avatar successfully on the world's original God of Death and taking his place), and is the queen of a diverse swathe of concepts; Death, the Afterlife, Ravens (like Odin), Judgement, Knowledge, and the Shadar-Kai. Either way, the Raven Queen is a God of Death and Knowledge, while Vecna is a God of Undeath and Secrets. And this is where their rivalry comes in.
See, in any of their origin stories, both Vecna and the Raven Queen began their lives as mortals, ascending to godhood one way or another, and the Raven Queen has been a god for much longer than Vecna. In Exandria, the Raven Queen has had the mantle of Goddess of Death and the Afterlife for more than 1,000 years (predating the Calamity), while Vecna only very recently became a God (during the events of Season 1 of Critical Role). In the Forgotten Realms, the Raven Queen became a god thousands of years ago when her followers completed the Ritual of Apotheosis and accidentally sent themselves into the Shadowfell (whereupon the Raven Queen turned them into the Nagpa), while Vecna only became a god after the events of the Die Vecna Die! module. Vecna is newer, the Raven Queen is older, and their dualistic portfolios bring them into conflict (Vecna as a God of Undeath versus the Raven Queen as a Goddess of Death/the Afterlife, Vecna as a God of Secrets, while the Raven Queen is a Goddess of Knowledge, the Raven Queen as female, Vecna as male, etc). Their own personal histories are exactly what bring them into conflict with one another, especially because of one major reason explained in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes; Vecna wants to kill the Raven Queen and take her place.
Vecna is the God of Secrets and Hidden Knowledge. What better way to get more knowledge than to have access to all of the souls of the dead and be able to read their memories? Vecna is the God of Undeath and is a lich, even though he is a god. What better way to feed your Phylactery than to be in charge of the Afterlife and be able to endlessly send the souls of the dead to their doom, granting you even more power than you already had? Vecna is the God of Necromancy. What better place is there to live in the D&D Multiverse than the Shadowfell if you're a God of Necromancy? It's really easy to understand why they hate each other when you consider all of the power that the Raven Queen has access to that Vecna would tremendously benefit from having access to, if he ever got his hands (sorry, hand, singular) on it.
How to Use This Rivalry in Your Games
Now that we've covered why Vecna and the Raven Queen hate each other and the fact that Vecna wants to kill and usurp the Raven Queen as the God of Death and the Afterlife, it's time to see how Vecna could go about trying to accomplish this task.First off, where does Vecna live? This actually isn't something that is officially stated in D&D 5e, but it's fairly easy to guess where; the Shadowfell. However, his (im)mortal enemy, the Raven Queen, lives in the Shadowfell, so although Vecna probably lives by the saying "keep your friends close and your enemies closer", there is still such a thing as "too close for comfort", and being right next to the Raven Queen's home base (the Palace of Memories within Letherna) would definitely qualify as being too close to your enemy to live comfortably.
This leads us into the Homebrew section of this post; where Vecna lives. In my world, Tor-eal, Vecna lives in the Shadowfell's equivalent of the Underdark; which, according to 4e lore, is called the "Shadowdark". The Shadowfell is already dark and gloomy, but the Shadowdark is even darker, with dark-gray stone caverns, native Sorrowsworn and hungry undead (Ghouls, Ghasts, Shadows, etc), and an eery darkness that cannot be rid by (nonmagical) light (although Darkvision works fine here). In other words, this is the perfect place for Vecna to set up home base and begin amassing his unholy armies!
Secondly, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes says that Vecna battles with the Raven Queen, but it doesn't say what forces are battling. This is pretty obvious, but I wanted to make it clear; the Raven Queen's armies are of Shadar-Kai, and the Vecna's armies are Undead. Mostly Zombies, Skeletons, Wights, Ghouls, Ghasts, and stuff like that, but also Specters, Wraiths, Banshees, Sword Wraiths, Allips, and so on. I like to think that Vecna's commanders are primarily Skull Lords, Vampire Warlords, and Death Knights, and maybe even Mummy Lords, Deathlock Masterminds, and Liches/Dracoliches. If you want to go all-in on the Raven Queen being a divine goddess, you could even have her promote some of her most devout Shadar-Kai, causing them to become Angels (mostly Devas and Planetars) that deal necrotic damage instead of radiant (but ignoring undead's resistances/immunities to those damage types) that look like Angelic Shadar-Kai with black-ravenlike wings instead of the normal white/gold angel wings. And if you subscribe to the idea that the Kenku's previous master was the Raven Queen, you could also include some redeemed/risen Kenku in her armies (with wings and their voices back).
If you really want to lean into the homebrew, you could do something like I do, and have Vecna have a breeding program of deathtouched humanoid races in order to generate bodies (for his undead armies) and souls (to feed to his Phylactery). I personally have two of these race; the Vezyi and the Fehntüm, which are connected to corporeal and incorporeal undead respectively. However, if you want to use more official options, you could use the Reborn and Dhampir lineages from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and apply the same theme of "followers of Vecna that are used to generate bodies and souls to fuel Vecna's war with the Raven Queen".
Third, and finally, how to involve characters in this conflict. This is fairly easy if your characters come from the Shadowfell, you can just have them be a Shadar-Kai or deathtouched (Reborn/Dhampir or Vezyi/Fehntüm) whose culture typically follows Vecna, but you broke away or was sent on a mission. Or, you could have a necromancer/Death Domain Cleric follower of Vecna be raising undead and killing innocents in hope of travelling to the Shadowfell and aid Vecna in his war against the Raven Queen. Or you could have a Shadar-Kai be sent by the Raven Queen to retrieve some item or spell that could aid their side in the war, possibly trying to keep Vecna from getting ahold of the Hand and/or Eye of Vecna or the Wand of Orcus/Book of Vile Darkness, or trying to find the Sword of Kas to use it against Vecna, or just get some Sunblades to aid them in battle against the undead hordes of Vecna's armies.
tl;dr - Vecna and the Raven Queen hate each other due to conflicting godly portfolios, send their armies of followers/servants to attack the other, and both live in the Shadowfell.
What do you think? Have you implemented this conflict before in your campaigns/worlds? How would you do it if you were to? Any thoughts on the ways that I recommended?
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