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]

If only the game designers accepted that.

I’m sure WotC know it all too well. That’s why they are looking for other ways to monetise the brand. They simply can’t really on only about 20% of the people who play paying.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I don't think this is the "capstone" adventure to end an edition everyone seems to think it is. I feel it's just another adventure in the 5e ecosystem as the others have been.

The things that make it a capstone are:
1) It's the last "AP"-style Adventure book before the new books drop. (Timing)
2) They created a plot that is a "review of what came before" (Plot)
3) It's the first/only 5e adventure to "finish" the campaign at Level 20. (End)

It IS a capstone, IMO, but that word doesn't mean anything quite as strongly as you're thinking. It is ALSO just another adventure, and the game keeps on going.

 

[mamba]

I’m sure WotC know it all too well. That’s why they are looking for other ways to monetise the brand. They simply can’t really on only about 20% of the people who play paying.

they kinda have for 50 years now, and not only are they still around, the last 10 are their most successful decade

 

[Reynard]

they kinda have for 50 years now, and not only are they still around, the last 10 are their most successful decade

Yeah but now Hasbro has noticed and the inevitable corporate driven enshittification has begun.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

On the subject of the 5e Adventures being retreads of older ones:

It's definitely a stretch to say most of them are retreads, but that was true at the beginning of 5e. The designers specifically said that they were.

Princes of the Apocalypse is even called "Elemental Evil" in its branding. Storm King's Thunder was explicitly an homage to Against the Giants. Out of the Abyss was meant to capture the Drow stuff (plus Demons). Dungeons of the Mad Mage is Undermountain, and so on.

As they went forward, they started producing more "original" plots. I think they just switched strategies from shouting out to old Plots to shouting out to old Characters (IP) as the newer adventures have more and more classic IP, even if their stories are new.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It’s been profitable though, that you want to make even more money is a different issue

It would be profitable enough as just one product line amongst many. It’s nothing like profitable enough for a trendy flagship brand that is supporting the company whilst other lines are making a loss. Popularity is fleeting. You have to capitalise on it whilst it lasts.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It would be profitable enough as just one product line amongst many. It’s nothing like profitable enough for a trendy flagship brand that is supporting the count whilst other lines are making a loss.

Yeah. They can barely keep the lights on over at Hasbro!

 

[Reynard]

We know what it looks like when D&D loses its fad status. We've seen it. It will be squeezed of its last cent in value, and then abandoned. The difference this time is that Hasbro probably won't sell it off. They'll keep it in the Vault for the occasional brand monetization (boardgames or whatever).

Now, that could be 10 years away, but it is inevitable regardless. People forget that D&D was wildly popular and a cultural icon before, and still nearly disappeared with barely a whimper.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yeah. They can barely keep the lights on over at Hasbro!

This is exactly correct. Hasbro is in a very vulnerable position at the moment. A hostile takeover is very likely at this point. It has a lot of IP assets that would be worth far more broken up and sold off.

 

[Distracted DM]

That’s why you put points in your deception proficiency. There are lots of ways to get magic in D&D. You don’t have to be a wizard.

Can you elaborate on this? I'm having trouble seeing it.