WotC Vecna Eve of Ruin: Everything You Need To Know

WotC has posted a 19-minute video telling you 'everything you need to know' about Vecna: Eve Of Ruin.

• Starts at 10th level, goes to 20th.
• Classic villains and setting, famous characters, D&D's legacy.
• Vecna wants to become the supreme being of the multiverse.
• Vecna is a god of secrets and secrets and the power of secrets are a theme throughout the book.
• A mechanical subsystem for using the power of secrets during combat.
• Going back to Ravenloft, the Nine Hells, places where 5th Edition has been in the last 10 years.
• It would be a fun 'meta experience' for players to visit locations they remember lore about.
• Finding pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts, pieces throughout the multiverse.
• Each piece in one of seven distinct planes or settings.
• Allustriel Silverhand has noticed something is wrong, puts call out to Tasha and Mordenkainen, who come to her sanctum in Sigil.
• The (10th level) PCs are fated to confront Vecna.
• Lord Soth and Strahd show up. Tiamat is mentioned but doesn't appear 'on screen'.
• Twists, turns, spoilers.
• It's a 'love letter to D&D'.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

What in the actual modules supports your theory?

I6 Ravenloft and I10 The House on Gryphon Hill. You know, the original ones, written by the Hickmans.

You like what you like and I like what I like, but it’s simply a fact that what I like came first.

 

[Reynard]

The following is my subjective opinion.

D&D-branded fiction (including setting books) is different from D&D the game. At least, I've always treated them separately. Fiction follows the rules of story, because...it's a story. Game rules should follow the setting they are based on, in that the way something works in the setting (like how easy or hard magic is) ought to be reflected in the rules for that thing. That's simulation, which is my gaming philosophy.

Inspiring works often follow the rules of narrative. Games, even those based on such works, IMO shouldn't.

I am not talking about fiction derived from the game, I am talking about the fiction in and of the game. Raistlin exists in the game, with his body wecked by his own lust for power. There is literally no mechanism in the game rules to make this true. Therefore, if Raistlin is a viable character in the game, we must allow that the rules and the fiction are not required to line up perfectly.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I6 Ravenloft and I10 The House on Gryphon Hill. You know, the original ones, written by the Hickmans.

You like what you like and I like what I like, but it’s simply a fact that what I like came first.

Hickman, whose opinions on this issue are on record and not in dispute, came first. How either of us feel about that is irrelevant. What I'm asking for is evidence in the product, particularly I6, that supports Hickman's and your opinion that Ravenloft is dreamy and doesn't care about continuity. I agree it doesn't directly dispute that opinion. I don't agree that it directly supports it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I am not talking about fiction derived from the game, I am talking about the fiction in and of the game. Raistlin exists in the game, with his body wecked by his own lust for power. There is literally no mechanism in the game rules to make this true. Therefore, if Raistlin is a viable character in the game, we must allow that the rules and the fiction are not required to line up perfectly.

Are you talking about the Dragonlance modules here? Where is the game evidence that Raistlin's body was "wrecked by his own lust for power"? There are novels about that, certainly.

And his stats show a pretty low CON, which to me is more than enough to represent physical frailty because, that's what CON is for.

And if that's not enough representation for you, and fair enough, then the rules should change to allow for it. Perhaps some kind of magical disease?

 

[Reynard]

Are you talking about the Dragonlance modules here? Where is the game evidence that Raistlin's body was "wrecked by his own lust for power"? There are novels about that, certainly.

It's right there in the pregen background.

And his stats show a pretty low CON, which to me is more than enough to represent physical frailty because, that's what CON is for.

But that low Con did not come from tampering with magic more powerful than he could handle. Unless (again) we allow the in game fiction to tie those things together without demanding that the rules do.

And if that's not enough representation for you, and fair enough, then the rules should change to allow for it. Perhaps some kind of magical disease?

For me? I'm not the one saying the fiction must in all accounts reflect the rules and vice versa.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It's right there in the pregen background.

But that low Con did not come from tampering with magic more powerful than he could handle. Unless (again) we allow the in game fiction to tie those things together without demanding that the rules do.

For me? I'm not the one saying the fiction must in all accounts reflect the rules and vice versa.

Well, I am the one saying that, and I want the rules to reflect the fiction. You're welcome not to care about that, but we're not going to agree.

 

[Reynard]

Well, I am the one saying that, and I want the rules to reflect the fiction. You're welcome not to care about that, but we're not going to agree.

In the current circumstances, even with A5E as far as I can tell, the mechanics don't match the fiction in regards to the nature, difficulty and danger of learning and using magic. So how do you, someone that thinks it is important, square that?

 

[mamba]

But that low Con did not come from tampering with magic more powerful than he could handle.

how do you know? The stat represents a char’s Constitution, it gives no explanation for why it is a certain value

 

[Reynard]

how do you know? The stat represents a char’s Constitution, it gives no explanation for why it is a certain value

My point is there is no mechanism in the rules for that to happen, so it is a conflict between the fiction and the game mechanics.

 

[mamba]

My point is there is no mechanism in the rules for that to happen, so it is a conflict between the fiction and the game mechanics.

no mechanic is needed, that is just character backstory. He is an ambitious mage who took on a lot and his health permanently suffered for it, reflected in the low Con. A different char could have a different explanation for their low Con value