In Vecna: Eve of Ruin, D&D’s final 5th edition adventure, stack your bodies
Vecna: Eve of Ruins is unlike anything published to date for the modern incarnation of Dungeons & Dragons. The final campaign for the original 5th edition ruleset begins at level 10, much higher than some other published adventures throughout their entire run. It then reaches the system’s highest level cap, which is 20. That much experience will turn you and your party into magically infused, professionally trained killing machines. Believe me when I say there will be plenty of opportunities to put those skills into practice.
The campaign as a whole is excellent, and that’s because Vecna: Eve of Ruin leans into 5th edition D&D’s most successful format: the adventure anthology. Such as Wizards of the Coast, which is critically acclaimed Traveling through the shining citadel, Candle mysteries, Keys from the golden vaultAnd Stories from the gaping portal, the campaign could have easily been sold as a collection of disparate but unrelated adventures. But it takes that variety of experiences and combines them into a unique, compelling storyline. The result is a masterful series of encounters, assembled into a 256-page product that reads as well as it does at the table.
However, keep in mind that even for a game of D&D, this is a collection of extremely violent encounters. The campaign features dozens of high-level, end-game quality battles, so everyone involved should be prepared for long, combat-heavy sessions on the road to saving the multiverse.
But god, are they ever worth it?
(Ed. remark: This review contains spoilers of key elements in Vecna: Eve of Ruins.)
The central conceit of Vecna: Eve of Ruin focuses on the nearly 50-year-old legend of a greedy undead sorcerer who ascends to divinity, only to desire even more power. From his throne on Oerth, one of D&D’s original settings from the 1970s, Vecna (not the one from Stranger things, mind you) has devised a plan to destroy the entire multiverse and then restart it with himself as its sole ruler. But an early miscalculation irrevocably connects the characters at the table to his evil plan through magical bonds that transcend time and space.
The opening chapter of the book is the ultimate introductory D&D adventure, but elevated for the abilities of 10th level characters. A focused series of encounters that can easily be completed in two sessions. It’s a classic dungeon crawl with several memorable characters, including a bespectacled gnome historian eager to provide some necessary backstory. But the opening also has its own internal story, making it a satisfying romp in its own right.
Surprisingly, that’s something that can be said of almost every other chapter in the book.
Characters travel to every plane of the multiverse introduced thus far in previously published 5th edition adventures. That includes The Forgotten Realms and its mirror, known as the Underdark; Gary Gygax’s own plane from Oerth; Spelljammer’s mystical astral plane; the war-torn lands of Eberron; the clinging, gothic mists of Barovia; and Krynn, where the mighty Dragon Lances were forged. Each adventure has its own setting-specific flavor and internal logic, and for the most part, lead designer Amanda Hamon uses them all to great effect.
My favorite adventure by far is Chapter 4, ‘The Ruined Colossus’. In it, players try to extract a necessary part from an ancient bipedal war machine, as it is needed to defeat Vecna. The adventure contains both a nuanced moral dilemma And a running battle against skilled assassins. Both take place inside the giant robot, a setting that feels more like an exotic spaceship than anything yet revealed in modern D&D. It’s a standout series of encounters that should give everyone a chance to play, regardless of whether or not they commit to completing the entire campaign from start to finish.
There are also some low points. Fans of Curse of Strahd will probably be the most disappointed. Not only does the campaign reuse a map called Death House from that 2016 book, but the setting’s protagonist, legendary vampire Strahd Von Zarovich, is used as little more than a particularly nasty bag of hit points. I find it amazing that one of D&D’s most charismatic villains got so little stage time, but you can’t have everything, I guess.
Some fans can have is a triumphant, multi-chapter climax that puts players at the forefront of a demonic war with thousands of frantic warriors. In this titanic battle, players must cut a wide swathe through enemy forces on their way to defeating Vecna itself. These final few battles, including one that resulted from a very personal betrayal, are a fitting end to the most successful edition in D&D history.
Finally, for such an over-the-top adventure, I was thrilled to discover that Hamon and the many other designers, writers, and artists working on Vecna: Eve of Ruins also leaves plenty of room for Dungeon Masters to put their own unique spin on the campaign. They even offer a way to increase the difficulty by adding The Sword of Kas, a mythic sentient weapon first introduced in 2014 with the original. Dungeon Master’s Guide. In this way, the campaign closes the door on the incredibly popular, ten-year fifth edition. At the same time, it also opens a window into what comes next, as everything in the book is promised to be compatible with the next version of D&D coming out this summer.
Vecna: Eve of Ruin is now available for those who pre-ordered from Wizards of the coast or through them local game store. The mass market release is scheduled for May 21. The book was reviewed using a retail copy of the physical book, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. You can find Additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy can be found here.