D&D 5E Vecna: Eve of Ruin Coming May 21st!

[Parmandur]

Though I should point out that her less evil mood is because she literally removed a good chunk of her nasty personality traits incarnated them as lesser demons and locked them in a room. She becomes more like her old self if those demons are destroyed as the parts of her personality go back into her.

I mean, haven't all been there, at some point in our lives?

 

[teitan]

Kyle Brink? There is no Cox in that.

That doesn't preclude confusion of two names but thanks for understand. :-| I have short term memory issues from long covid so forgive the occasional slip on a name I rarely speak. AKA you don't know me and your comment is rude.

 

[teitan]

And the list of bad guys in official D&D gets smaller. Wonder why they felt the need to redeem Tasha at all?

Yeah that's pretty gross (as in large) change from Iggwilv. Sounds like they were trying to play both sides of the fence. But then people don't get drow culture is bad because they worship and have sex with demons and murder each other. Not DROW are evil, the cultures encountered are evil.

 

[Gravenhurst48]

Saltmarsh was technically their Greyhawk introduction. So it has been touched upon. Weather that's good enough for some or not is subjective.

Don't forget about Princes of the Apocalypse, an expansion adventure based upon Temple of Elemental Evil; Out of the Abyss is a spinoff of Pathfinders adventure path The Savage Tide in Dungeon Magazines, such as the Isle of Dread; Saltmarsh - its a given; and Tomb of Anihilation is a extended expansion spinoff of The Tomb of Horrors.

The upper right one is the symbol for the Curse of Strahd campaign and tie-ins. As they used the Bhaal symbol for the Descent to Avernus and tie-ins, I'm assuming all three are campaign tie-ins. I think the third was the Spelljammer one, but I'm not sure (the DMs Guild has all the symbols up to Icewind Dale). Backing me up on this is that the regular cover shows three scenes in the crystals - the two in the front are (presumably) Castle Ravenloft and a Spelljamming ship, while the one on the back seems to be Avernus. I'm guessing those three are going to be of particular importance in the campaign.

EDIT: Yep, pulling out my Spelljammer set shows that lower symbol on the books. So, Ravenloft, Spelljammer, and Descent to Avernus are going to be important in this adventure.

Hmm, not sure on your Spelljammer assessment. My guess is Baal - no brainer; then Ravenlofts- Curse if Strahd; then
bottom symbol is Lolths or Planescape Factions: Bleak or Anarchists.

 

[Gravenhurst48]

OK, I just compiled a list of all the obelisk appearances in the 5e adventures I could find so far:

Princes of the Apocalypse (in the Temple of Black Earth)
Out of the Abyss (a shattered, but partially rebuilt, obelisk is in the Whorlstone Tunnels under Gracklstugh)
Storm King's Thunder (stolen by cloud giants from the town of Nightstone just before the adventure starts)
Tomb of Annihilation (outside the entrance to the Tomb of the Nine Gods)
Dungeon of the Mad Mage (In Shadowdusk Hold far down inside Undermountain)
Descent into Avernus (on Avernus, surrounded by seven smaller standing stones)
Rime of the Frostmaiden (in the fallen Netherese city of Ythryn)
Spelljammer (one of the random encounters in the Astral is a "Gargantuan floating crystal obelisk of unknown origin")
Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk (it's in the name!)

All these could be used as the 1 - 10 adventure that could then be continued into Vecna: Eve of Ruin, (other than DotMM where the obelisk is in a high-level area), presumably using the featured obelisk in some way to transition from the lower level adventure to the higher. And given that Spelljammer is featured on the covers of both the regular and alt editions, I'm guessing that that mysterious gargantuan obelisk is going to come into play. Oddly, despite Ravenloft featuring on the covers as well, I haven't found any references to an obelisk in either the adventure or campaign sourcebook.

In Greyhawk, black obelisks are linked to Tharizdun. In anything else they are linked to the Far Realm. What references relate Vecna to a black obelisk, and how do any of these monoliths tie to Vecna in unrelated material?

 

[teitan]

Out of the Abyss is a spinoff of Pathfinders adventure path The Savage Tide in Dungeon Magazines, such as the Isle of Dread;

Most definitely is not a spin off of anything Pathfinder. And the Tomb of Annihilation was the one inspired by Isle of Dread. Out of the Abyss is the one that seems to not have a real call back and just because Demogorgon in it doesn't mean it is related to Savage Tide.

 

[teitan]

In Greyhawk, black obelisks are linked to Tharizdun. In anything else they are linked to the Far Realm. What references relate Vecna to a black obelisk, and how do any of these monoliths tie to Vecna in unrelated material?

Perhaps he is trying to free Tharizdun?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yeah that's pretty gross (as in large) change from Iggwilv. Sounds like they were trying to play both sides of the fence. But then people don't get drow culture is bad because they worship and have sex with demons and murder each other. Not DROW are evil, the cultures encountered are evil.

Another thing that's too subtle (somehow) for 2024 optics.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Another thing that's too subtle (somehow) for 2024 optics.

Not really, as mentioned earlier the benevolent fairy godmother look is just an act,

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Don't forget about Princes of the Apocalypse, an expansion adventure based upon Temple of Elemental Evil; Out of the Abyss is a spinoff of Pathfinders adventure path The Savage Tide in Dungeon Magazines, such as the Isle of Dread; Saltmarsh - its a given; and Tomb of Anihilation is a extended expansion spinoff of The Tomb of Horrors.

All of those are Forgotten Realms adventures. Inspired by some old content made for other settings, but not based on it. Saltmarsh on the other hand, is by default set in Greyhawk, with guidelines to place the story in other settings if the DM wants.