With the 50th anniversary of D&D just around the corner, the TTRPG giant has revealed our best look yet at its next campaign – and it feels like Avengers Endgame for Dungeons & Dragons.
Following on from decades of stories across a whole host of diverse campaign worlds, Vecna: Eve of Ruin (which is set to launch in May) has some pretty big boots to fill. Luckily, the 256-page D&D adventure seems poised to contain the most all-encompassing, multiverse-hopping adventure we’ve seen so far. Not only will it pit players against a legendary baddie in the form of the titular archlich (who you may remember getting the spotlight in Stranger Things), but it will also send them on a whirlwind quest across the game’s most beloved settings. Judging by the cover artwork, this includes the castle of iconic vampire villain Strahd Von Zarovich, whose adventure is often held up as one of the best D&D books.
We’ve already been granted glimpses of where else adventurers are set to stop and as it turns out, long-time fans are seriously in luck. In Vecna: Eve of Ruin, we’ll see the return of iconic settings like Planescape, Ravenloft, Dragonlance, Eberron, Spelljammer, and Greyhawk.
Here’s the cover in question.
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Each of these settings will hold a fragment of the Rod of Seven Parts, a powerful artifact that is deeply interwoven with classic D&D lore. As well as that, if the item’s in-game history is anything to go on, the pursuit of the final piece of the Rod could send players to a desolate layer of the Abyss.
Given you’ll be faced with an almighty villain like Vecna, this high-stakes adventure promises to present a healthy challenge for characters at levels 10 through 20. He’s certainly not called the Undying King for nothing.
Not to mention, the revival of all these epic settings seems to spell the return of their associated baddies. This is no doubt an exciting prospect. It only seems fair that my party should get the chance to face off with the infamous Strahd von Zarovich one more time.
So, get ready to roll a formidable fighter or a stalwart sorcerer. You’ll need all the luck you can get to save the multiverse when Vecna: Eve of Ruin drops on May 21, 2024.
Shortly after Vecna returns, the next edition of D&D arrives in September… but there’s a catch. To tide yourself over until then, you can keep busy with the best tabletop RPGs and the best board games via our guides.