Ranking all 7 Multiversal Chapters in Vecna: Eve of Ruin

[@jamesv1243]

I liked the format of this video. Good accompaniment to the Roll20 review. I hope you can do ranking videos like this for future releases. I liked the in-depth discussions on each chapter.

[@RogueWatson]

Thank you! I do ranking videos of all the anthology releases, such as Keys for the Golden Vault, Candlekeep Mysteries, etc. This one just felt appropriate given how different each chapter is.

[@Vancity3]

These are normally my favourite videos where you talk about different chapters/adventures in a book. Liked it when you've done it with keys, etc... BTW any chance you'll do tales from the yawning portal?

[@RogueWatson]

Ha, I probably should go back and do that one at some point. I guess I never ranked Ghosts of Saltmarsh either, tho I'm using half the scenarios in our Call from the Deep campaign!

[@TiberiusX]

I started a campaign earlier this year that started with a one-shot Dungeons and Dragons and Drinking. The setting is a bar called the Interdimensional Inn and it's based on the yawning portal miniature where we keep our PC minis between games. So they made themselves as heroes and we had a barfight. The campaign started as a reveal that II was in Sigil, and the 2 most powerful PC's are missing from thier world and Vecna is doing something. I already planned on it leading from Sigil to Spelljammer and then to the worlds we've played, sort of a fun send off to 5e. (Two of my players are also DMs) When Eve of ruin was announced I decided to get it and see what I could splice into my campaign. Because they started in Sigil I gave them the glitch mechanic from the fortune's wheel campaign. And in the most recent setting I introduced the Orator of Vecna, who goes to the trinym and debates and has won every debate, sometimes even converting them to Vecna's cult. Recently Factol Skall *lost* a debate against the orator and was dead the next day. And wreakers have burned down the hall of records. And the orator claims Vecna is going to unite all planes into one. Next session they're going to get a mission to escort someone from the gate in bedlam to Sigil, and it's going to be Kas, and he's not going to pretend to be a Wizard. He's going to tell them straight up, Vecna is going to destroy reality if he isn't stopped.

[@RogueWatson]

Sounds cool! I do like the idea of just straight-up working with Kas, I think he can be a really interesting NPC with excellent beef/history with Vecna.

[@Ubermensch9240]

A Drinking Game AND DND?

[@TiberiusX]

@Ubermensch9240 yeah. Normally I record my sessions so I have all of the details, but for D&D&D I don't. My players asked me why, I told them it added to the fun, we have to try to remember what we did when we were all drinking last time.

[@Ubermensch9240]

@@TiberiusX Here's a tip. Put something crazy in every session like a Jewelpet and see if that helps the memory.

[@JimJones-666]

good video

[@zero3045]

It probably says a lot that when I look up Vecna eve of Ruin the very first few videos are about fixing it... What the hells Wizards.

[@sjcaustenite]

So, I come not to totally defend the Barovia chapter, but as someone who has run CoS 4 times and absolutely loves that campaign -- and Death House -- what they did here makes a LOT of sense. Spoilers ahead. So, Death House as we see it here is Death House *before* the events of CoS. In CoS, it is a haunted house, essentially. Here, it is a functioning house, the cult members are alive, the village of Barovia (the village is named Barovia just like the land, yes) is more populated, etc. It's all very clearly pre-CoS. We also know that, at some point, Strahd got fed up with the Dursts in Death House and wiped them out. So, this is clearly Death House: The Prequel. They're reusing the building, but everything inside is different BUT will be familiar to players who've done Death House and they might enjoy exploring the place to see how it's different. But it is very much a "just creepy house vibes" chapter. But, I think I know why they did that. Unlike CoS, this campaign is clearly *not* meant to kill the PCs. Both the relative "weakness" of this chapter and the Acererak dungeon chapter (whose easiness compared to the Tomb of the Nine Gods is truly frustrating to me) prove that, I feel. What's more, Domains of Dread are complicated and full of lore and legends, and there simply wasn't space in this anthology style whistle-stop tour to introduce a brand new Domain of Dread only to leave it again quickly -- especially since the whole point of these places is that you can't leave! What's more, WotC has gotten very sensitive about horror (fair enough) and wasn't going to throw a truly horrific chapter into the middle of what is otherwise a pretty non-horrific adventure. So, if they wanted to do Ravenloft (which they clearly did), they essentially had to use Strahd/Barovia because he's familiar and everyone knows him. Death House is convenient because they can play with the time element, and plus, some other areas of Barovia would be challenging even for a Level 14 party who isn't properly prepared for Barovia. So, re-use Death House but make it not very deadly. Get Strahd to show up and scare the party a bit, but allow the party a very easy way to avoid fighting him. Essentially, do horror/Ravenloft safely and without actually ever putting the PCs in jeopardy. I think that's exactly why this turned out the way it did. Also, as for Strahd becoming Professor X, he can essentially do whatever the DM decides...He is the Ancient, He is the Land. We see stories in CoS of him doing *many* things that are not listed on his stat block, so this doesn't phase me at all.

[@RogueWatson]

I like your observation about the prequel, but I still don't think the Death House chapter is very well designed. And maybe it's as you said, WotC is afraid to do horror yet wants to do a Ravenloft chapter! If I designed the Ravenloft chapter, it would be a murder mystery dinner party at Castle Ravenloft, where Strahd has invited all manner of nefarious creatures to gaze at his recent prize - a piece of the Rod of Seven Parts. But somebody dies, the shard goes missing, and the party has to hunt them down while hobnobbing with vampires elites.

[@sjcaustenite]

@@RogueWatson I think that sounds like a better mini adventure, but "Dinner at Ravenloft" is already a super common fan community addition, and they may have wanted to avoid anything that might smack of them stealing community content. That's the last thing WotC needs... But even if they did do something like that, I think there's a real difference between "spooky" and "horrific." Honestly, I think they were kinda doomed when they tried to combine "Ravenloft" with "Not deadly." Horror -- even family horror -- has the spectre of death (or similar awful outcomes) looming over everything. As soon as that is removed, horror becomes kidna ineffective. You can have the trappings -- be spooky -- but there's no bite to make it horrific. I think the baseline I keep coming back to with this chapter -- and the entire adventure, tbh -- is "This was done just about as well as it could be, given the requirements. But why did these have to be the requirements?" I will certainly be modifying a lot when I run it to make it fit my players more, building out the parts they like and know, etc.

[@lebeaumuni6247]

@@sjcaustenite “this was done just about as well as it could be, given the requirements. But why did these have to be the requirements” greatly summarized how I feel like most of the chapters felt like to me. Most of it felt like a filler episode to better stories.

[@aztecace]

Lolth cultists with no Drow!

[@Ubermensch9240]

They Kingdom Hearts it.............. THEY KINGDOM HEARTSED DND THE MOT-

[@DaDunge]

37:30 Shows you don't know Eberron very well. Its a huge world woth loads of complicated stuff and this is just a generic sci-fi thing.

[@demnix6210]

They coulda gone with knock offs for all the cool bosses... Rhadd...Rord Roth, Ria'rat... Raz'Rodeus. "Ruh roh Rhaggy, it's the rord of the rine rells!" hahahah :P

[@RogueWatson]

It's weird that you get to hobnob with actual Tiamat and Strahd, but in Greyhawk, it's "We have Acererak at home. Acererak at home: "

[@redshadowblade13]

Hey will you run this adventure in the future?

[@RogueWatson]

Good question! High level D&D is extra challenging to run, and my players aren't super invested in D&D lore/worlds. Could be a tough sell!

[@redshadowblade13]

@@RogueWatson I would consider it as it may have a good impact on the channel. But thank you for the video.

[@DMGregAdventure]

Good review. Reading through it myself and knowing my party of optimizers-I just don’t think there is much challenge here. Even level 16 characters could probably clear the entire thing. Seeing way too many cultists and cr4 or cr5 creatures…do they understand the power scaling of their own game?

[@RogueWatson]

Balancing high level 5e is just a nightmare, and it's as much a game design problem as an adventure design. But yeah, I was particularly disappointed in the avernus chapter with how "easy" it felt compared to the party's level.

[@joshuakaufmann4081]

After listening to this video I’d say scrap the story and use the maps/ideas for one shots. Come up with some other excuse to put the characters there.

[@RogueWatson]

I mean, there's not much story to scrap. But yeah, I could see using the best chapters in other campaigns and stories.