D&D Monster Spotlight: Five Editions of Vecna
Vecna has been a big part of The latest season of Stranger Things. But who is he within the works of Dungeons and Dragons?
The latest season of Stranger Things was inspired heavily by the classic Dungeons & Dragons foe, Vecna. But who is Vecna in the fiction of our D&D games? And would your favorite song actually save you from him? Well, the bardic inspiration may help at least.
First Edition
Vecna doesn’t show up in First Edition, but his hand and eye do. Despite these relics being mentioned in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, Vecna is regarded as a myth. At worst, 1E describes him as a long since destroyed lich who’s only dangerous to those who dare to use the power of his hand or eye. But in a fantasy setting, nothing ever has to be truly dead.
Second Edition
First Edition expanded the lore of Vecna with the 1990 adventure Vecna Lives! He appears a few more times throughout 2E, but the final adventure published in the edition was 2000’s adventure Die Vecna Die! Making Venca perhaps one of the most influential foes of Second Edition. He’s now a little more than a mythical dead lich, elevated to the roll of demigod. But seemingly impossible to kill as defeating him sends him to the realm of Ravenloft where he can come back for many more 2E adventures to come.
Third Edition
Still a godlike figure, Vecna is a 3E member of the ‘core pantheon.’ His alignment also shifts from Lawful Evil to Neutral Evil. He was once a king who then became a lich and is now the ruler of the unknown and secrets. His powers are fairly standard for the undead with a wounding unholy touch and the ability to paralyze his enemies with a tap. But he’ll also crate magic items and can use secret and arcane knowledge to his advantage.
Fourth Edition
Also known as The Mained One, The Whispered One, and Master of the Spider Throne, there are definitely a lot of weird and specific aspects of this character that Stranger Things seemed to have pulled from. Still the god of secrets, Vecna targets one victim at a time and aims to isolate and decimate them. But he has no domain of his own. Instead, Vecna prowls the planes in search of secrets and his lost hand and eye. He can also deal out necrotic damage and use it to heal undead creatures and, presumably, himself.
Fifth Edition
Vecna seems like a monster that’s difficult but, with higher level characters, not remotely impossible to defeat. High level spells and heaps of necrotic damage would be a cornerstone of this battle. At some point in his past Vecna’s personal guard, Kas, betrayed him, cutting off his hand and taking his eye. The 5E statblock we’re meant to play off of is supposed to represent Vecna intact without his hand and eye stolen. This raises questions for how a present-day Vecna would look in a battle, but that may just be up to the DM.
Have you encountered Vecna in any of your D&D adventures? How did your party fair against him? Do you think Stranger Things did their character’s namesake justice? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
