History TabletopGame / VecnaTrilogy

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Vecna's biggest enemy is Kas and Kas's sword. Notable because Kas became an undead horror and the sword caapble of destroying him because ''Vecna gave him that power as well as the sword.''

* ActionPrologue: ''Vecna Lives!'' start with a battle between player-controlled Circle of Eighth wizards and avatar of Vecna. It will be a long time since something equally epic happens in the adventure proper, as it is more horror/investigation.

* DeadMansSwitch: Normally Lady of Pain would not be kind for anyone trying to throw his weight around in Sigil or a god even as much as trying to enter it. Vecna ensured that if she destroys or mazes him, it will cause far worse damage.

[[folder: Vecna: The Eve of Ruin]]
* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Vecna's team-up with Lolth feels this way. In exchange for her help, Vecna promised to make her the second most powerful being in the Multiverse after him....but his plan would cause death of all other gods, so he effectively told her she may either get DemotedToDragon or die.

* BroughtDownToBadass: [[spoiler:In the finale, Vecna is so taxed by performing the ritual to remake the multiverse, he uses the same statblock as the one released for his pre-ascension self a year earlier. He is still extremely dangerous, but in this form can actually be beaten]]

* DemotedToDragon: Lolth, who often plays role of the BigBad or SatanicArchetype in other adventures, here is working with Vecna.

* EnemyMine: Mordenkainen and Tasha, who have a notoriously complicated but overall negative history, join forces against Vecna. [[spoiler: Except that's not the real Mordenkainen]]

* GiantSpider: A lot of such monsters, be it Lolth's spider-creatures or [[spoiler: Miska's]]

* MixAndMatchCritters: There's a lot of monsters who are basically spider + x, where x could be anything from a wolf to a freaking dragon.

* NeverTrustATrailer: One of promo images for the campaign shows Vecna opening a portal right into Wizard Three's hideout in Sigil, unleashing hordes of Miska's wolf-spider demons on Alustriel, Mordenkainen, and Tasha. Nothing like that happens in the adventure - the entire campaign hinges on Vecna not finding out the three and the party are working against him until final confrontation, because he could annihilate them with a wave of his hand. [[spoiler: And once Miska is freed, his forces fight ''against'' Vecna]].

* TrilogyCreep: Fourth installment of Vecna Trilogy, published twenty four years after the last one.
* UnexplainedRecovery: Mordekainen is back to normal after [[spoiler: being driven insane in ''TabletopGame/CurseOfStrahd'']] with no explanation [[note]]Ed Greenwood claims Elminster and Storm Silverhand helped him recover, but even then he had a relapse after a failed posession attempt by Laroch[[/note]], which may probably confuse players who finished that campaign. [[spoiler: It's a first hint this is not actually Mordekainen.]]

** More subtle than in classic modules, but Mordenkainen, Tasha and Alustriel Silverhand team up to cast ultrapowerful Wish to cause Vecna's defeat. A wish by a trio of such powerful mages would annihilate most villains, but against Vecna it can only summon [[TheChosenMany player characters]].

In 2000 Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast, having acquired rights to ''Dungeons & Dragons'', has published the final adventure for its 2nd edition, written by Bruce R. Cordell and Steve Miller - ''Die Vecna Die!''. An adventure spanning worlds of Greyhawk, Ravenloft and ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' in which Vecna's ambitions threaten the entire Multiverse. His new plan is not to just escape Ravenloft but to achieve the power of a greater god, take over Sigil and reshape the whole existence in his image.

In 2024, as a part of D&D 50th Anniversarry, Wizards of the Coast announced a campaign ''Vecna: Eve of Ruin'', which serves as a sequel to the trilogy and classic adventure ''Rod of the Seven Parts'', with Vecna now seeking to assemble the Rod in his plan to reshape the Multiverse once more. Aside returning to Greyhawk, Planescape and Ravenloft, the campaign promises Vecna's ambitions will also threaten worlds of ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'', ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}} '', ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms''.and ''TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}}''

* KillerGameMaster: ''Vecna Lives!'' early on dedicates few paragraphs to underline this adventure requires Dungeon Master to get over any fear of killing player characters. This is MetaphoricallyTrue as the only place where the player characters have no chance is the opening where they're playing the HeroOfAnotherStory.

[[folder:Vecna: The Eve of Ruin]]

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Vecna ''again'' - if the party defeats him, the worst they can do to him is banish him to Oerth and cut him off from other worlds. Which is a setback to his plans but ''nothing'' compared to what he deserves]]

* UnexplainedRecovery: Mordekainen is back to normal after [[spoiler: being driven insane in ''TabletopGame/CurseOfStrahd'']] with no explanation [[note]]Creator/EdGreenwood claims Elminster and Storm Silverhand helped him recover, but even then he had a relapse after a failed posession attempt by Laroch[[/note]], which may probably confuse players who finished that campaign. [[spoiler: It's actually a first hint this is not actually Mordekainen.]]

* Dreamteam: WordOfGod actually recommend this - have each player bring their favorite PC from one of the previous campaigns, preferably from one of the worlds the party will be visiting in this adventure.

** After Rod of the Seven Parts was used to defeat him, Miska the Wolf-Spider was trapped in a prison in Pandemonium [[spoiler: upon obtaining the Rod, kas uses it to release him in exchange for aid against Vecna and Lolth.]]

* SpiderPeople: Lolth, as usual, takes the form of a Drow woman from waist up and a giant spider from waist down. [[spoiler: Miska the Wolf-Spider does so, except he adds two wolf heads on both sides of the place where two halves meet.]]

* UnexplaiendRecovery: Mordekainen is back to normal after [[spoiler: spending year being driven insane in ''TabletopGame/CurseOfStrahd'']] with no explanation [[note]]Creator/EdGreenwood claims Elminster and Storm Silverhand helped him recover, but even then he had a relapse after a failed posession attempt by Laroch[[/note]], which may probably confuse players who finished that campaign. [[spoiler: It's actually a first hint this is not actually Mordekainen.]]

* SealedEvilInAnotherWorld: [[spoiler:The party defeats Vecna by banishing him to the realm of Oerth and cutting him off from the rest of the multiverse.]]

[[folder: Vecna: The Eve of Ruin]]
* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Vecna's team-up with Lolth feels this way. In exchange for her help, Vecna promised to make her second most powerful being in the Multiverse after him....but his plan would cause death of all other gods, so he effectively told her she may either get DemotedToDragon or die.
* ArcVillain: While Vecna is overall main antagonist, with Lolth as his ally [[spoiler: and Kas as a secret villain]], several other famous villains can chellenge the player characters over pieces of the Rod, including Strahd von Zarovich, Lord Soth, Acererak, Lord of the Blades and Tiamat.
* BroughtDownToBadass: [[spoiler: In the finale, Vecna is so taxed by performign ritual to remake the multiverse, he uses the same statblock as the one released for his pre-ascension self a year earlier. He is still extremely dangerous, but in this form can actually be beaten]]
* TheChosenMany: The party are the only ones who can save the Multiverse from Vecna, due to gaining unique link to him in their previous adventures, that he is unaware of.

* EnemyMine: Mordekainen and Tasha, who have notoriously complicated, but overall negative history, join forces against Vecna. [[spoiler: Except that's not real Mordekainen]]
* EvilVersusEvil: [[spoiler: In the finale, Kas and Miska the Wolf-Spider join forces against Vecna and Lolth]]
* ExpendableAlternateUniverse: [[spoiler: In the finale PCs will enter several demiplanes that show new version of Multiverse Vecna plans to create and overwrite old one with. If they have Rod of the Seven parts with them, they can shatter every single one of them.]]
* GiantSpider: A lot of such monsters, be it Lolth's spider-creatures of [[spoiler: Miska's]]
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Vecna ''again'' - if the party defeats him, the worst they can do to him is banish him to Oerth and cut off from other worlds. Which is a setback to his plans but ''nothing'' compared to what he deserves]]
* LegendaryImpostor: [[spoiler: Kas impersonates Mordekainen and does such a good job he fools even Tasha, former student and lover of the real deal.]]

* NearVillainVictory: [[spoiler:This time this is exploited - when Vecna is closest to achieving his goal, he is expending so much power to do so he can actually be fought and beaten by the PCs, for the first time in the series.Meaning the PCs have one shot at taking him down, but if they fail, all is lost.]]
* NeverTrustATrailer: One of promo images for the campaign shows Vecna opening portal right into Wizard Three's hideout in Sigil, unleashing hordes of Miska's wolf-spider demons on Alustriel, Mordekainen and Tasha. Nothing like that happens in the adventure - the entire campaign hinges on Vecna not finding out the three and the party are working against him until final confrontation, because he could annihilate them with a wave of his hand. [[spoiler: And once Miska is freed, his forces fight ''against'' Vecna]].
* SpiderPeople: Lolth, as usual, takes form of a Drow woman from waist up and a giant spider from waist down. [[spoiler: Miska the Wolf-Spider does so, except he adds two wolf heads on both sides of the place where two halves meet.]]
* SpiderSwarm: Lolth is involved, what else did you expect? [[spoiler: And it only gets worse once Miska throws in his own swarms.]]

* VillainTeamUp: Lolth allies herself with Vecna. [[spoiler: Kas decided to get his own demonic spider ally.]]

** More subtle than in classic modules, but Mordekainen, Tasha and Alustriel Silverhand team up to cast ultrapowerful Wish to cause Vecna's defeat. A wish by a trio of such powerful mages would annihilate most villains, but against Vecna it can only summon [[ChosenMany player characters]].
** There is also the fact that Vecna managed to force ''Lolth'' into his service.

* TheWorfEffect: More subtle than in classic modules, but Mordekainen, Tasha and Alustriel Silverhand team up to cast ultrapowerful Wish to cause Vecna's defeat. A wish by a trio of such powerful mages would annihilate most villains, but against Vecna it can only summon player characters.

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Vecna's team-up with Lolth feels this way. In exchange for her help, Vecna promised to make her second msot powerful being in the Multiverse after him....but his plan would cause death of all other gods, so he effectively told her she may either get DemotedToDragon or die.

* VillainTeamUp: Lolth allies herself with Vecna.
* TheWorfEffect: More subtle than in classic modules, but Mordekainen, Tasha and Alustriel Silverhand team up to cast ultrapowerful Wish to cause Vecna's defeat. A wish by a trio of such powerful mages would annihilate most villains, but agaisnt Vecna it can only summon player characters.

In 2024, as a part of D&D 50th Anniversarry, Wizards of the Coast announced a campaign ''Vecna: Eve of Ruin'', which serves as a sequel to the trilogy and classic adventure ''Rod of the Seven Parts'', with Vecna now seeking to assemble the Rod in his plan to reshape the Multiverse once more. Aside returning to Greyhawk, Planescape and Ravenloft, the campaign promises Vecna's ambitions will also threaten worlds of ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'', ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}} '' and ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms''.

That changed in 1990 with the publication of a high-level adventure ''Vecna Lives!'' by David "Zeb" Cook. In it the party was desperately trying to first stop Vecna's, who had been elevated to a demigod status, return and, failing that, to find a way to defeat him. The adventure's intended ending is Vecna being banished from Greyhawk to an unknown world.

* ExcitedShowTitle: Each part of the trilogy has an exclamation point at the end of its name.

* WouldHarmAChild: Vecna plans to be reborn in the body of a newborn he possesses.

* BeyondTheImpossible: Vecna manages this in the final adventure by escaping the Demiplane of Dread. Doing so had never been accomplished before, and never happened again until 5th Edition.

* BodyguardBetrayal: Vecna was ultimately undone by Kaz's betrayal at the height of his power.

* TheDragon: Kaz is one of these, serving as Vecna's chief enforcer.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Vecna's biggest enemy is Kaz and Kaz's sword. Notable because Kaz became an undead horror and the sword caapble of destroying him because ''Vecna gave him that power as well as the sword.''
* EvilVersusEvil: Kas and Iuz can aid the party against Vecna in ''Vecna Lives!''. By the time of ''Vecna Reborn!'' both Vecna and Kas are each ruling his own domain of Ravenloft and each openly trying to destroy the other. The first part of Vecna's plan in ''Die Vecna Die!'' is to steal Iuz's power for himself.

* SorcerousOverlord: Vecna used to be one of these back in the day but lost it when Kaz betrayed him. He becomes this again in Cavitus but considers it a major step down from where he was.

* EvilVersusEvil: Vecna hates his "Imposter", Kaz, and Iuz. Iuz and Kaz hate Vecna too.

* UngratefulBastard: The [=PCs=] will find Kaz inside Vecna's prison of Cavitius on the Elemental Plane of Ash. If they give him back his sword, he uses its secret teleportation power to get away and forgets about them.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Kaz is theoretically this despite being a fascist dictator and vampire. Just because Vecna is that bad.

* TheDictatorship: Oddly enough, not Vecna's land (which is more like Hell), but Tovag. Kaz is a brutal military dictator who abuses his subjects horribly but leaves them alive.

* NotWorthKilling: If Vecna successfully reincarnates himself, he doesn't bother killing the [=PCs=]. They are beneath his notice. He does eradicate Kaz with a wave of his hand, though.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Vecna ''knows'' that Kaz is beneath his notice and only there to draw his ire but he just can't ''help'' himself.

* UngratefulBastard: If Kaz finds out the [=PCs=] prevented Vecna's reincarnation, he will interrogate them harshly and then forget about it.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: The people of Tovag age at twice the normal rate to become soldiers for Kaz's regime faster (like ''Film/StarWarsAttackOfTheClones''). However, none of them are old enough to have lived a single generation since the entire Burning Peaks Cluster was made a couple of years ago.

* CardCarryingVillain: Vecna actually reveals in his Dark Lord persona and doesn't hide his evil. How evil is he? Citadel Cavitius is an enormous ''skull shaped castle.''

The name Vecna is nearly as old as ''D&D'' itself. At first, it would appear merely as a mention in ''Eldritch Wizardry'', one of the supplementary books for the original edition of the game, a name of a powerful lich who has perished but left behind him two powerful artifacts. Hand and Eye of Vecna could grant the user immense power, as long as they were willing to sacrifice their corresponding body parts.

With the dawn of the Second Edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', the story has been expanded. In the world of TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}} name Vecna is shrouded in legend and whispered in fear. Vecna was a lich who created his own [[TheEmpire evil empire]] and sought not only to conquer the whole world but to ascend to godhood. He was, however, betrayed and destroyed by his right-hand, the vampire Kas. His artifacts were all that was left of him and without them, he cannot return to the material world. Vecna could be an evil influence, trying to corrupt wearers of his artifacts, but had not made an appearance in any of the official D&D supplements.

* ColdBloodedTorture: The PCs may be subjected to this for the crime of being foreigners.