History TabletopGame / VecnaTrilogy

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.