D&D: Today’s the Last Day to Snag ‘Vecna Dossier’
Today’s your last chance to snag your free, updated statblock for Vecna in D&D Beyond’s Vecna Dossier. Grab yours while you can!
Wizards of the Coast recently updated one of their most infamous villains, the archlich Vecna himself. With bold new artwork, a new stat block that comes with some truly powerful abilities, and a bonus adventure with a stat block and lair actions, Vecna is back, baybee. And better than ever.
This bold new Vecna is only around for free for a limited time, though. Today is your last day. But, any and all players with a D&D Beyond Account can claim a free copy of the Vecna Dossier. And if you want a little more, you can also snag Don’t Say Vecna, a free level 20 adventure that pits you against the archlich.
New Vecna Dossier – D&D Beyond
In the Vecna Dossier, you’ll find updated lore for the archlich, as well as connections to magical artifacts, and of course, an all-new CR 26 statblock. We won’t walk you through the entirety of his new story. The main beats are still mostly the same:
Vecna’s mother was exiled for practicing necromancy, and the order of Wizards behind it made Vecna their scribe. Eventually, Vecna heard a voice in his head tempting him to give into the hatred brewing in his heart. Naturally he kills everyone and begins to write the Book of Vile Darkness.
From there he goes on to forge an empire on Oerth and eventually gets betrayed by his former lieutenant, Kas the Bloody-Handed, in an incident we all know by now.
New Statblock
But in the dossier, though, Vecna gets a CR 26 form. This represents Vecna as he was before Kas cut off his hand and eye. As such he has some truly terrifying abilities. In some cases, literally, as with his new signature move, Flight of the Damned.
As Vecna can fly, it’s worth pointing out he can cast the spectral cone straight down, meaning that any creature in the widest end of a 120 foot cone is potentially affected. Which means Vecna could scatter whole armies with a single move (assuming they don’t die outright).
He also can’t be permanently killed. If you slay his body, his soul lives on as a disembodied spirit for 1d100 years until a new body can be fashioned. But most importantly, Vecna doesn’t have legendary actions. That said, he does get to take three reactions per turn.
So it’s a sort of trade-off. He has two different reactions available:
- Dread Counterspell – Shut down a spell of 4th level or lower (no slot needed) or roll for 5th level or higher, deal 3d6 psychic damage to the caster no matter what
- Fell Rebuke – After being hit by an attack, deal 3d6 necrotic damage and teleport up to 30 feet
All of this supplements his main mode of attack, a multi attack that gives him up to three different actions to choose from plus two bonus attacks with his magical dagger. Rotten Fate in particular is mean:
On top of this, he has a ton of spells. Including at will animate dead, dispel magic, fly, lighting bolt, mage hand, and fly, and 2/day castings of dimension door, invisibility, and scrying. And once per day, Vecna can dominate monster, plane shift, or surround himself with a globe of invulnerability.
On top of all of that he can, as a bonus action, teleport 30 feet and damage creatures within 15 feet of his destination. And he regains 80 hit points if any creature is damaged by it.
But if that isn’t enough for you, he’s also got some lair actions, available in the free adventure, Don’t Say Vecna, linked below. He can summon shadows, drain life, and summon a swarm of spirits that works suspiciously like Spirit Guardians.
Claim Your Copy of the Vecna Dossier
Check out Don’t Say Vecna
