WHO is Vecna in Dungeons and Dragons
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 มิ.ย. 2024
- For nearly 50 or so years Vecna has been an evil to contend with. Today we dive deep into this lich to determine exactly WHO is Vecna in Dungeons and Dragons!
From the Hand of Vecna, to the Eye of Vecna, to the Sword of Kas, to Kas himself, and Vecna of course, we cruise through the years to Vecna's past and his future.
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0:00 Vecna ODD
2:03 ADD Vecna
4:29 2E Vecna
6:09 Vecna Lives!
12:27 Book of Artifacts
13:00 Ravenloft
13:58 Die Vecna Die!
14:46 3E Vecna
15:50 4E Vecna
17:17 5E Vecna
What other secrets about Vecna are YOU aware of?
Let me know in the comments below!
Oh, and please give this video a thumbs up 👍!
Thank you kindly for watching!
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#gamemasters #vecna #swordofkas - เกม
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I love this video, please do more historical videos about important cannon characters to Dungeons & Dragons! I feel like I'm in grade school at story time 😁
it's so much fun for me to go back and research too. I ate all this stuff up when it first came out and while I'd visit it over the years, MUCH has been forgotten so getting that memory jog is cool. I've got a few more planned but that's the neat thing.. there is SO much history of D&D out there, I'll never run out of ideas haha!
But no one asks how is Vecna?
heh, i think vecna is doing just fine... at least until Eve of Ruin comes out lol
I’m gonna end the jerk
Ive been researching D&D lore specifically on vecna so i can get as much knowledge on him before he comes to dbd and also because i love fantasy
Honestly hoping for that 5-6 hour video . Appreciate all you do! Amazing information!
it is being worked on :)
_"By the time 3rd Edition... "_ You can just stop there.
ROFL fair point!
A 5-6 hour video would be awesome!
i am tempted!
Love the 5e reprint of temple of elemental evil behind you
oh yes! That thing is a BEAST of a tome (two parts actually) you can see a sneak peek at it here : th-cam.com/video/sXl2-YGYnsM/w-d-xo.html
I own it and I love how well they recreated it.
I've read a few write-ups on Vecna that mentions him describing the voice as a Serpent. I agree with the people who theorize that it's Dendar the Night Serpent.
5th edition has cited this? Or a previous edition?
Pretty sure it’s pre-5e considering the first time I saw it mentioned was on a Ravenloft fan site.
I really like the hypothesis that Tharizdun is the one who whispers, which fits quite well with Allips whispering whispering his story.
Now, as the Eye of Vecna used to be described as somewhat looking like a cat's eye, I like to imagine Vecna as a Tabaxi or Catfolk Wizard.
one of the more prevailing theories is that it's Vecna himself, as his future self, whispering to his past self to ensure success.
I run a variation of that. Vecna was so smart, even as a mortal, that his own subconscious was plotting while he slept, feeding him informations and in time developing a semi real separate persona as "The Serpente" which only grew more prominent as he ascended to lichdom First and then godhood.
Thank you for a great video you must have put a lot of work into.
A good amount of research and memory jogging for sure! It was fun strolling through the ooold stuff looking for references to Vecna. I didnt go through old issues of Dragin magazine, but there is quite a bit about Vecna in those too.
Great work!
this was SUPER fun to go down memory lane and research again. Among one of my more favorite videos to make.
The hand of Vecna going through different holders was 100% inspired after the ring of power
Well sure.. question tho... do you think it's been trying to make it's way back to vecna?
Fantastic video, subscribed :p
thanks! I've been getting on a "history" kick as of late.. Today, for example, we dive back in history to see where we were first able to play as monsters.. th-cam.com/video/AFbZqo-bCM0/w-d-xo.html
Very informative video on my favorite D&D villain of all time. I can't wait for this adventure. Fingers crossed that it's good...
You and me both!
I suspect that the voice was Vecna himself from the future, ensuring his rise to power ala Kang or Xeahnort.
a few folks have speculated that as well.. could be VERY easy seeing as we know that "time travel" of sorts in involved in this adventure..
It is
Loved the video!!! I was thinking about using the Ravenloft Vecna adventures after Curse of Stahd for my players and link them to Eve of Ruin at the end, and my players would roll new PCs to start it as a new campaign. Also, nice shirt, where did you get it?
got the shirt at amazon : amzn.to/3PnIRjj
Aye, I think we are going to use the Phandelver and Below Shattered Obelisk adventure as the prequel to Vecna Eve of Ruin.. It goes to level 12.. but I think with a couple of minor adjustments it should be fine.
Thank you for your videos
thank you for watching!
Came across this video whike going down the Vecna rabbit hole. Subscribed immediately. Great video and awesome history lesson!
Welcome aboard and thanks for watching! In the new Vecna adventure the task is to find all of the pieces to the Rod of Seven Parts.. I did a similar video for that one as well : th-cam.com/video/Cf2S-eY4vwo/w-d-xo.html
@@gamemasters watching that one now.
Vecna looks like the kind of guy who could snap his fingers and get whatever he wants.
well.. he is a god of sorts..
@@gamemasters The hand in the thumb nail reminded me of Thanos. Yeah I didn’t even know who this guy was before seeing your video.
A bit of lore I picked up... Vecna is an anagram for Vance. As in Jack Vance, the science fiction author that Gygax used for inspiration for alignment.
sound correct :)
It seems like the backstory for Vecna used in the 5e dossier is taken from the graphic novel Hand of the Revenant (2002).
I never read that book.. I'll look it up!
Vecna has been in the background of our last three campaigns. I plan on weaving 'Eve of Ruin' with our homebrew as the finale... As far as the voice Vecna heard centuries ago.. I'm going to use Cyric.. who will serve as the ultimate big bad for our entire arch.
yeah.. I miss Cyric.. I remember the novels and when all that took place, we were pretty blown away.
I think I remember a video from Jorphdan analyzing the new Planescape book, and how at the base of the Spire there is a mistery that may point to Vecna. I don't remember the details tho.
(SPOILERS HERE)
the planescape book states this in the section concerning Dendradis : "Dendradis is notable not only for its size but also because the slowly growing, lattice-like city works to cover a massive body entombed within the Spire. The rilmani who settle here know the massive corpse’s identity but keep this knowledge secret, leaving outsiders to speculate whether the corpse is a dead god, a visitor from beyond the multiverse, or something else entirely." One speculation is that it (the corpse) might be that of Dendar BUT.. as best I can recall Dendar was associated with Forgotten Realms and not Planescape.. but.. it's ambiguous at best from that given description. HOWEVER...
And this is pretty cool.. in the adventure itself, there is a baernaloth that players will encounter inside the Spire, and it will impart unto one of them a secret; one is that the corpse is the god Aoskar (but isn't really dead), but the other... and I'll quote it is : "The Whispered One is coming, but there’s still time to prevent him from claiming power over the spokes of the Great Wheel." Vecna is known as 'The Whispered One'.. PLUS.. If that baernaloth is defeated, searching around it's area will reveal the Book of Vile Darkness..
I read somewhere that the voice you are talking about that talked to Venca, was an entie known as the Serpent. Otherwise known as the embodiment of magic. I don't remeber where I read this, but I remeber the Sperent being tied to Vecna.
Dendar is likely who would be referred to. He is a serpent god, and an Elder Eternal Evil.
I have a theory of three possible choices.. Tharizdun, Dendar, or Pandorym.
It could have been asmodeus. I remember there beeing lore about him actually beeing a giant god killing serpent@@gamemasters
@@gamemasters Unfortunately it's not Dendar, but an ancient being known as Mok'Slyk, one of the Ancient Brethren, a circle of immortal beings alongside the likes of the Lady of Pain and Asmodeus.
@@nicholasp.2563 I'm almost.. now wondering if the whisper is coming from... The Great Old One... Cthulhu... But then again.. I'm not sure that Cthulhu would even care, I mean "he" is beyond time and space and power that the likes of Vecna would be even below that of an ant compared to a human.. PLUS, while we have had a small mention of Cthulhu in 5E, for the most part, he doesn't exist.. Tho wow.. this would be one hell of an introduction...
I am not buying either one, but I am sure one of my group will end up running one of these systems.
Vecna is, of course, all the rage at the moment.. but likely will pass.. for ME the bigger question is.. who (or what) is pulling _his_ strings? My bet is on Cthulhu.
Nice history lesson
I plan to use some of this for my 3.5 game
The voice is an ancient evil
aye, my 1st pick for the voice would be Tharizdun, 2nd would be Dendar. 3rd would be Pandorym.
This is a good enough d&d historical view of Vecna to than read Eve of Ruin coming up shortly. It sounds like 6th edition and 5th edition are not that much different. This book will still be 5th edition?
even the new version will be 5th edition. I suppose on a technical level it could be considered 5.5? But overall, mechanically, it's still going to be 5th edition.
My headcanon is that the evil voice in his mind is himself in the future sending messages to the past to influence him into becoming more powerful
A LOT of people are leaning this way too.. I'm secretly hoping that it's Cthulhu whispering to him..
i've heard in other videos that vecna learned lichdom from orcus, but you didn't mention it. is that something that the lore generally supports? or is that something that there is contradiction about? if i had to guess what the voice was, orcus wouldn't be a bad candidate.
In all of the lore that I read across, I never once saw any mention of Orcus and Vecna interacting with each other. I can't dismiss that it never happened (there is A LOT of material out there), but I did not scour any issues of Dragon Magazine and I did not include any canon from Critical Role in this video (nor did I include any fan-fiction or homebrew world creations), but in everything that I did research, I never saw anything mentioned in any book specifically that cited Vecna learned how to become a lich from Orcus.
HOWEVER... if you visit WotC's website here: dnd.wizards.com/lore/vecna
it does have this passage : "Orcus, the demon prince of undeath, taught Vecna a ritual that would allow him to live on as a lich." (but DO note that that is not mentioned at all in the Dossier).
what do you think happens when vecna puts on his hand and eye? does he gain the same powers as the books say, or does he gain more? and why wouldnt he go kill iuz as a stepping stone to power? also, did he know iggwilv?
all good questions! Based on some of the images (and the book cover for the regular edition) it does appear that his eye and hand are back on him (although they are kindav a "spirted purple" color).
Regarding Iuz : In 2nd edition they were very well aware of each other and in Die Vecna Die! and in many respects Vecna Eve of Ruin is largely inspired from that adventure as it takes players across 3 different realms; Planescape, Greyhawk, and Ravenloft. (Also, big reveal if you read hte final bit in the book as I suspect the exact same thing could potentially happen with Eve of Ruin).
As far as Iggwilv goes.. I've no idea if there is a connection there or not..
I think is Vecna from the future as a god, writing his own story/destiny to become the powerful being that he is…
there are MANY people seeing it this way too.
The order of cool AD&D 2nd edition settings goes:
-Dark Sun
-Forgotten Realms
-Planescape
-Spelljammer
-Dragonlance
-Ravenloft
-Council of Wyrms
-Greyhawk
-Mystara
You are welcome (lol).
I almost agree with this list line for line.. tho some did shift around, for example, when Red Steel came out, Mystara shot to my number one spot.
Heh I noticed that Birthright didnt make your list either haha
A legendary play set that I had imagined long ago involved Drizzt becoming mortally wounded losing and eye and hand in a fight only to have them both restored with Vecna’s parts.
This made Drizzt become chaotic evil and gave him 18 STR, see invisible, unholy reflexes extra modifier to his dexterity roll and the ability to make his summoned creatures a undead version with enhanced abilities armor, speed and resistance.
Needless to say no one wanted to play this set… shame.
while.. as a player I wouldn't.. I'd 100% run that as an NPC for the players to encounter
My theory is that Vecna traveled to Barovia or maybe Barovia was on Oerth, years before Strahd arrived, maybe killed the wizards from the temple, and made a pact with the vestige from the amber temple who can teach lichdom, helped Kas make a pact with Vampyr, eventually after kas betrayed him, vecna's spoul would be traped on the amber temple like the other dark entities, with only a weakened part o him existing through the hand and eye of Vecna in the adventures of past editions, finally at some moment during 5e, someone entered Barovia and released Vecna, the broken amber sarcophagi in the amber temple was Vena's, this is why is sorrounded by Nothics, the eye the night hags have is not a normal eye is the eye of Vecna, and Vecna was waiting somewhere on Barovia not wanting to reveal his scape until the adventurers defeated strahd so the mist would disapear and could make his scape.
hmm.. interesting!
I can't help but think there is a connection between The Hand of Vecna and The Hand of Fear - a Doctor Who episode released the same year (in which the severed hand of an ancient evil master is found buried in a quarry).
hmm... it makes me want to research what was going on at the time. I looked up that episode, looks like it was a multiple part episodic adventure but came out in October of 1976, Eldritch Wizardry came out that same year.. Because we didn't have the internet, I cannot fathom that EW would have made it over to England.. so that's what I'm more curious about, what inspired the Hand of Vecna and what inspired the Hand of Fear?
@@gamemasters they didn't have internet, but they did share a lot of film & television. E.g Star Wars was being filmed in the UK at the time. Maybe someone from USA played DnD with a writer from Doctor Who? Or maybe the writers of both programs saw the same movie? Might just be a coincidence, but the similarities are uncanny.
@@chrisVNZ oh, i agree 100% they are similar to the point where it does make one go.. hmmmmm...
Its that evil Elder God from the Far Realms, Whot-Cee...
That's whats gone back in time and changed his history so that now his evil is because of a sound in his head...
.
..
...
Wait a minute, thats the backstory for The Master during the David Tennant Doctor Who era!
LOL on the Doctor Who mention, that's exactly what they did there!
In the 5E Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, Kas is still noted for being present on his side of their shared domain, but Vecna's presence is mysteriously overlooked in that book. Is Vecna missing or already freed? Spoilers.
The mysterious voice that has been communicating or guiding Vecna is his mother's (the tale's true BBEG from behind the scenes). Clearly, unresolved mommy issues are at play as he likely didn't get enough praise or attention from her. It seems she's been on his mind as a driving factor. Hmm? A simple moment of maternal approval and there'd be no Eve of Ruin. Maybe.
Also, didn't Vecna already have seven unspecified magic items intended for his ascension in 2E. Maybe he already has the rod of seven parts and is trying to put them inside the mystery towers set across the multiverse or they are used as keys needed to start them.
Also, was Acererak once his disciple or pupil? If so, what is his role?
Thanks for the video. Maybe they do need to be used in a specific order or even removed in a set order to stop Vecna's machine for universal dominance.
by the time 5e came about Vecna was already a god, thus he had already "escaped" the domain in ravenloft.
Would be interesting if it was his mother... a - la jason voorhees...
the 7 items from 2e were never specified as to what they were just that he used them in an attempt to block other god's worshiper's prayers from getting TO those gods and that only HIS worshiper's whispers could be heard. He felt that that would allow him to ascend from demi-god to full on god status.
I think Acererak wasn't associated with Vecna until.. 4th edition? I think it was in Tomb of Horrors that it explains that Ace "rescues" Vecna at one point but Vecna finds out that it was a setup just so that Ace could attempt to gain favor (but it's been a loooong time since I've read that so don't quote me on it).
The voice is obviously Gary Gygax.
Heh
Hmm i mixed up die vecna die and vecna reborn's cover art. Its vecna reborn that they're using the art for the vintage miniature in the july 50th anniversary Wizkids release.
Aye, it is based on the Vecna Reborn cover.
the d4 on your shirt is wrong
It is.. I didn't make it, it was purchased for me.. oof.. perhaps 5 years ago now? I can't speak to the ones who made it, but it's a cool shirt regardless of a misplaced digit.
Sounds like they just read Moorcock and copied the story of the hand of Kwll and the eye of Rhynn that Corum acquires in the Knight of the Swords.
it is VERY possible as they (gygax and arneson) were big into fantasy and drew inspiration from a lot of places in the early starts of D&D. I'm fairly sure the moorcock books were out at about the same time so yep, I'd say it's likely that is where they might have drawn inspiration from.
I read Moorcock before 1st ed, so always considered the hand and eye as a direct ripoff.
He had some magic items in the DMs guide (2.0e)…..
Why?
those same items were in the original version of the game, they kept it moving forward. Unless I'm not understanding what you mean by 'why?' ?
vecna is soon to be a killer in dead by daylight! came here to learn about this man and his lore! with how mysterious he is his power will definitely be horrifying thank youuu!!❤️
aahhhhh yes.. May 14th... :)
I just started the video but ayyy I have that shirt
It's a neat one! I get asked about it all the time.
I think the voice whispering to Vecna is Asmodues. Asmodeus is older, more patient, more intelligent and far more sinister and diabolical than any other.
i'm going with Cthulhu...
@@gamemasters I like that one, well done😁👌
@@gamemasters what sort of purpose do you think cthulu would have for doing this? Just to simply spread madness or something more sinister?
that is where I get a hang up about it being Cthulhu. Cthulhu simply wouldn't care enough I don't think. I mainly want to see it be Cthulhu only for reason to get him back into D&D as being "officially" a part of it again.
@@gamemasters Perhaps he would care, Vecna is definitely obsessed with destroying the multiverse. So perhaps Cthulu has slowly been driving Vecna mad over the centuries in order to groom him as some sort of harbinger of Cthulu's great return. Just simply using Vecna as a pawn, a means to an end.
I'm currently running a 3.5e campaign where a lich is trying to become a deity like Vecna did and the party may or may not need to get assistance from Vecna to stop this ascension.
oddly.. I can see Vecna wanting to help... but you gotta let the twist be that somehow Vecna will use that lich's body in the future against the party..
@@gamemasters evil deities never give without also taking. Usually they get far more than they give, even if it isn't obvious at first. Bwhahahahaha
@@graywolfdracon exactly :)
Didn’t arkhan steal the hand of vecna during a critical role run? Is that cannon?
yup. VERY odd that it is, but yes, that's what happened.
"Steal" has negative connotations. It was more of a fair trade and more importantly, nothing personal, just business.
Wouldn't want to slander the good name of Arkhan the Cruel. A noble paladin merely seeking to carry out the divine will of his goddess. Not unlike Elminster, who also had fun adventures in Avernus.
Loved the vid. I used Vecna in one of my campaigns. Your knowledge of the lore is quite good. One thing. Sigil is pronounced like Siggle. Not Sijil. That aside, I always enjoy a good Vecna vid.
I'd say... check this video out.. th-cam.com/video/CHZwP3ej7B0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=OIe6--QGTlHEj1ys
@@gamemastersOh dear, I can't believe there's an opposing pronunciation for that word.
On another topic, is the follow up to your DM screen video in the works?
@@potterfanz6780 aye, it's there in the works. I'm doing a few different things with how I film it, kinda.. artsy.. kinda.. not at the same time. Attempting something a bit new, but I've redone it 3 times so far.
Everytime someone says "Vecna," I think of a dirty word in Spanish, it makes everything funny.
funny part is google translator says that it's close to the word 'neighbor'
Whats the difference between vecna and acererak?
in earlier editions not much, both were a lich, however, in later editions (AD&D) Vecna became a god and Acererak remained a lich.
@@gamemasters Thanks for the reply :)
If I remember correctly, Acererak was Vecna's apprentice, and branched off to create the Tomb Of Horrors to garner souls for him (Gygax created it from what I understand to kill his characters in his game)
Tharizdun is the voice?
some theorize that. I keep going with Cthulhu.. but... as much as I'd like that to be the case.. I just don't think it will be C.
@@gamemasters I could see that. And I don’t know the history of Cthulhu and Oerth. I just know Tharizdun has the tendency of ultimate chaos and talks to people in their dreams.
15:43 20d12 + 20d12
yes
Hey it's the guy from for(coughs) I mean dbd
LOL
Maybe that voice is the Taos Hum 🤔 ... Nah 😂 I was just watching a video about that earlier.
LOL or maybe it's the Shining!
👍🏻
Very sad that portuguese speakers won't have D&D translated books anymore, nor MtG new translated cards. In the age of inclusion, we were excluded 😢
Could this be used as an opportunity for a company to license and translate?
Galápagos Jogos was doing that since 2018 to 2022 with DnD, when WotC decided to end the partnership and translate and distribute on their own. Since then, we got almost zero new books, and this "critical hit" when our beloved game reach its 50 aniversary...
Sigil not Sijil.
lol for every Sigil not Sijil I see, I also see a Sijil not Sigil.
So Eve of Ruin Vecna is searching for all the parts of the Rod of 7 parts. But the whole adventure is about the players characters gathering the 7 parts of the Rod....sounds fishy to me. A- pcs refuse to gather the parts which is obviously a trap, why would they do Vencas job for him? Seems the easiest way to beat Vecna.
i may be a little off on this surmise.. it might be that Vecna is not looking for it but that the characters are in order to stop him.
Any DM worth his salt can do the same thing, a globe trotting campaign and hunting for certain items. Too easy. Anyway, if WotC did not hate straight white men, I really might have bought this module, if for nothing else, too see how they do this campaign.
regardless.. should I have not upset them and get a review copy.. I'll be checking it out to let you all know if it is worth it or not. I've a BIG concern on the price.. $60.00.. for what one will ultimately be getting.. but we shall see..