Vecna

Vecna is fucking OG. He was originally a human wizard who, after a thousand years of study, achieved immortality and ascended to godhood using dark magic. He's worshiped as a god across many worlds, such as Greyhawk, the Nentir Vale, the Forgotten Realms, and Exandria.

Vecna is one of D&D's OG villains, alongside the likes of Tiamat, Asmodeus, and Demogorgon.

I've heard Vecna described as the Doctor Doom of D&D, which I kind of like.

Meta

Here's a neat little Easter egg: Vecna's name originates as an anagram of the surname of Jack Vance, the father of the Dying Earth genre of fiction.

Alignment

Vecna is a fantastic example of Neutral Evil.

History

Long story short, Vecna was born in the Flan city of Fleeth on Oerth. His mother was a witch who was burned at the stake when Vecna was young. Vecna fled the city, and vowed revenge on it.

He spent the next thousand or so years learning magic from a variety of powerful masters. He systematically killed almost every one of them after he learned all he could from them, presumably to prevent anyone else in the future from learning the same secrets. We therefore know very little about what arts Vecna has knowledge of, and who taught them to him. The only (alleged) master Vecna couldn't slay was Orcus. In this time, Vecna achieved immortality in lichdom.

At the end of this thousand years of study, Vecna returned to his hometown, Fleeth, at the head of an undead army. A great battle ensued, in which Vecna was nearly killed by priests of Pholtus, but Vecna's boy Acererak saved his life. Vecna then sacrificed the entire city in a grand ritual that would elevate him to godhood.

But at the last moment, Vecna's chief lieutenant, Kas, betrayed him. He attacked his former master, and in the ensuing brawl, Kas cleaved off Vecna's left hand and gouged out his left eye. Vecna vanished, and the ritual was presumed to have failed.

However, hundreds of years later, Vecna returned to the world, revealing that the ritual had indeed succeeded and Vecna had simply been regathering his strength.

Relationships

As mentioned, Acererak was one of Vecna's generals and even saved his life once. Vecna's other underling, Kas, is possibly number one on Vecna's shit list. He is obsessed with getting revenge on Kas.

Vecna was allegedly taught in the ways of magic by Mok'slyk and Orcus, among others.

Vecna is hated by the Raven Queen. He's also come into conflict with the Lady of Pain and Iuz.

Mandate

Edicts	Never reveal all you know. Find the seed of darkness in your heart and nourish it; find it in others and exploit it to your advantage. Oppose the followers of all other deities so that Vecna alone can rule the world.

Power Ranking

Level	40 (Wizard 20, Cleric 20)
CR	~30
DR	10 (lesser power)

See also

• Acererak
• Szass Tam
• Larloch
• Myrkul
• Thulsa Doom
• Braccus Rex
• Voldemort
  
  
• Asmodeus
• Tiamat
• Iuz