Vecna stars in major new D&D storyline for 2024

One of the most iconic D&D villains is making his comeback to the game in what's being described as a multiverse-spanning "cosmic horror" adventure.

Revealed via the D&D Direct stream (which you can see below), arch-lich Vecna will return to Dungeons and Dragons books in 2024 after many years away. Fresh off his adaptation in Stranger Things, the character's original - and equally twisted - tabletop version is set to lead a campaign that sounds as if it'll usher in several years of connected storytelling for the game. 

Described as a "reign of terror" by game design architects Christopher Perkins and Jeremy Crawford during the stream, they went on to say that Vecna's adventure will lead to "many more surprising connections" such as a campaign revolving around the Red Wizards of Thay (the ones seen throughout Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) in 2025 and a visit from the D&D cartoon's antagonist, Venger. Indeed, Vecna's "true cosmic horror will be unleashed in 2024 with a world-hopping adventure that both celebrates [D&D's] 50-year history and reveals even deeper plots for years to come... Vecna is just the beginning."

Still, we've got a few D&D books to get through before then... and now we have a better idea of what to expect from them. First up is Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. Set to land in a few months, this will expand on the lore, rules, and gameplay of these monsters much like Fizban's Treasury of Dragons did for drakes a little while back. 

Next up is Phandelver and Below: Shattered Obelisk, which doesn't seem to be a rework of the 2014 starter set adventure (Lost Mines of Phandelver) as some of us, myself included, thought. Instead, it'll see a conspiracy surrounding another one of the strange obelisks that have been appearing  throughout the current-edition books of D&D since its launch nine years ago. More specifically, it seems to be leaking power and causing carnage for the town in which many adventurers get their start, Phandalin.

Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse follows this sometime in the Fall, and it sees the return of fan-favorite setting Sigil - a city that serves as a crossroads between universes. This book (or set of books, if it's anything like the similarly-pitched Spelljammer: Adventures in Space) apparently tees up the stories of 2024. In other words, Vecna's return.

Finally, The Deck of Many Things will be getting its moment in the spotlight at the end of 2023. This classic item has the capacity to upend campaigns, and its place across the multiverse will be explored in greater depth throughout the product. 

These weren't the only announcements from D&D Direct, of course; they were just the icing on the cake. For instance, its first look at D&D virtual tabletop in action is seriously impressive, and Minecraft Dungeons & Dragons promises a 10-hour campaign with branching narratives.

These additions will all culminate with a fresh set of core rules for the RPG in 2024, like the new D&D Dungeon Master's Guide. We don't have an exact release date yet, though.

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