I just watched the Season 4 finale of Critical Role's "Vox Machina" on Amazon Prime. Don't like Critical Role? Here's 50 cents; call someone who cares. I enjoyed the hell out of it. They set up their Big Bad for Season 5, The Whispered One. Or, as most of us who followed the stream, Vecna.
Vecna is getting some solid multiversal play. He is threatening Exandria; this winter, he was threatening Hawkins, IN, in the final season of Stranger Things. He even had a new multi-versal adventure arc for D&D 5e. He even had some hits in AD&D 2nd Ed. His name dates back to Original D&D.
Vecna is a bad dude.
So it seems really strange that I have never run an adventure where he is the Big Bad. I have never even run one where he has been featured to be honest. Oh, I have started some, but by the time they went from idea to notes to something written to the table, it changed. Usually the Vecna "bits" are given over to The Necromancer. Given his importance to the history of D&D, and in-world history too, it feels like I am missing out.
Trouble is, Vecna, as a threat, is an order of magnitude (or more) above most threats your typical AD&D/D&D5 character would face. Strahd's motivations are easy to grasp; that's what makes him a great villain. Even Iuz has an understandable point of view. Same with Szass Tam, Lord Soth, Areelu Vorlesh, or the myriad other bad guys that litter the D&D multiverse.
What does Vecna want?
Once I can answer that question, I know what my adventure needs to be. Because whatever it is Vecna wants, it will not be good for the worlds the PCs live in.
It can't be something as mundane as control. Or even godhood. Casting down all the other gods would get the entire multiverse up in arms against him. No. It has to be qualitatively different.
What do I want?
That is also a good question. I want something that feels epic in scope and in play. I really don't want a MacGuffin hunt. I mean, it works, yes, but if Vecna has a plan to gather all the Dragon Balls Vestiges Artifacts, then why hasn't he done this already, quietly?
When I say epic, I mean EPIC.
I want it to cross universes, to cross genres, something when the players are done they feel like this was the best adventure of their lives.
What Features Would I Like?
This is a slightly different question. Vecna, as a topic, needs epic gestures, grand plans, multiversal-changing events. Or...more to the point. I need that. I have done hundreds of "small" adventures. Clear out the goblin nest, stop the orc raids, and then escalate. My players have fought Vampire Lords, Demon Princes, Dukes of Hell, and Witch Queens. I can do grand. But this needs to be bigger. I owe that to myself. A grand opus.
1. There needs to be world hopping.
I said no MacGuffin hunts, but that does help here. I want to sample the worlds of D&D and I want to do it in a quality way. Vecna: Eve of Ruin does this, but I want to do it differently.
2. I want a Tour of Editions
I have always wanted a campaign where the characters and players switch editions. Start out in OD&D or Basic and work your way up to 5th edition. Each major "Act" is a different edition. That would require me to be extra clever about the characters used and how to structure leveling up. Some pragmatic concerns include different leveling assumptions, i.e., max 20th level in AD&D 2, D&D 3 and 5, but 30+ in D&D 4 and BECMI. Also, class and species. Starting out in OD&D has limits on what classes people have access to. Want to play a Tiefling Warlock? Best I can do is a human magic-user. That being said, I would make allowances. If someone REALLY wants to play a Tiefling Warlock, sure, rules-wise maybe they start out as a human magic-user, but as play (and editions) progress they become that Tiefling Warlock. Which gets me to my next point.
2a. A Guided Tour
I *might* consider grabbing an iconic adventure from each edition and trying it out as part of this epic quest. It's just a thought.
3. I want the Players to have options
I want the players to feel invested in this campaign. I want them to care. The best way to do that is let them play what they want and leave it to me to figure out how to make that happen. SO I am not saying "No" to any reasonable request. So want to play a Teifling Warlock? Great! You can do that. I just need to figure out how to that in the BECMI part of the adventure arc.
4. The Stakes need to be High
None of this works unless what Vecna wants is so cosmos-altering that stopping him is never a question of "why do it?" but instead "how to do it?" The PCs need to stop him. The Players need to want to stopp him.
What does this all add up to?
No freaking idea.
But it is a fun thought experiment. And it is certainly something I will do one day. I just have to keep picking at it.
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