Vecna’s original manuscript has finally been unearthed. Its whispered secrets worm its way into the unwitting underground organization hell-bent on putting a stop to the Lich King once and for all. Will they succeed in their efforts or will their hubris become their undoing? That is for you and the players to decide!
Prepare to embark on an epic journey where the boundaries between heroism and villainy blur, and morality is but a fragile thread. In this immersive guide, you will unlock the secrets of a multiverse where the darkest corners hold the keys to unimaginable power.
From Runic Press comes Vecna’s Book of Vile Darkness [here], a 5e supplement from the team that brought you the gold best-selling Baba Lysaga’s Nocturnes & Nightmares [here]. Introducing 13 new horror themed subclasses, 6 lineages, 4 backgrounds and more, this is another strong addition to what appears to be a growing lineup of annual spine-chilling offerings.
Coming in at 143 pages, Vecna’s Book offers six chapters of content including 12 brand new spells, 12 curses, 6 vassals of Vecna, several new enemies, and more. The table of contents is fully hyperlinked for ease of navigation, which I always deeply appreciate – especially in volumes of this size.
As with all of Runic Press’ releases, the volume itself is beautifully laid out and supported by an array of diverse and engrossing art. If nothing else, and there is plenty else, it’s a gorgeous book to leaf through. I’ve always admired the work and care that goes into not just the classes, spells, items, etc. but layout (including page textures and decorative elements) and additional writings – be it the overarching story of a given release, or the articles at the end of them which always tie directly to the book itself (this time we’re looking at sliding scales of morality).
I received a steeply discounted copy of Vecna’s Book of Vile Darkness for review purposes and will always be transparent about times where this happens.
First up we’re introduced to six new lineages, most of which are new, exciting flavours of Undeath. I’m big on the Undead, always have been and imagine I always will be. Of the six, Phantasm caught my imagination the most. Is this in part because I’m playing a ghost in a campaign that’s moving to 5e? Absolutely, yes, the timing is quite fortuitous (I’m taking the Phantasm lineage and Banshee Sorcerer Origin from Nocturnes & Nightmares and living my absolute best unlife)!
So, you’re effectively a ghost. Mechanically, what does that mean? Some very cool abilities, that’s what! Ethereal Step allows you to shift between the material and ethereal plane until the start of your next turn – you’re still visible, but cannot be affected by anything on the opposing plane. Also? You can see 60 feet into the ethereal plane while on the material plane, and vice versa. I can see this being incredibly fun in a horror campaign. Are you seeing things you party isn’t? Maybe! Is that for better or worse? Well, that probably depends on your interpretation. Further down the line there’s the option to gain a flying speed which, honestly, was exactly what I was looking for. What kind of ghost are you if you can’t fly?
Lineage determined, it’s time to move onto the subclasses. I’m partial to spellcasters, so of course I was eyeing the Spirit of Vengeance Warlock, but the Path of the Reaper Barbarian had me eyeing a class I’ve never played. I think the Spirit of Vengeance Warlock, armed with two pistols as you are, has a bit of a highwayman feel to it that I appreciate. My brain immediately went to Castlevania and to Percy from Critical Roll in terms of the feeling this subclass gave me. At 1st level you’re granted your guns: Pain and Panic, and most of your subclass features relate to them. Want to be a gun-slinging spellcaster? This has got you covered. It’s neat – I like that Pain can change your damage type at will.
That said, of the two, I’d go with being a Path of the Reaper Barbarian. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t immediately go “ohhhh like the grim reaper” until seeing the associated spot art, but I digress – I think it pairs well with the Phantasm lineage, allowing you to strike fear across the entire battlefield. As you should! That at 10th level you gain access to speak with dead (on a creature you’ve killed) and it cannot lie? I thought that played into the class fantasy of being a grim reaper nicely.
There’s four new backgrounds and several new feats to choose from, some of which are directly tied to the lineages presented earlier in the chapter. I’m looking at picking up the Medium background for my banshee character and if my DM allows it will be wanting to take either the Curse Breaker (admittedly situational in usefulness, but incredibly handy if you’re in a curse heavy game) or Transluce feat – both seem very fun for a ghostly sorcerer, and finding synergy between options is always satisfying. It’s also easy to do with this book, as the options are clearly designed to work to support one another!
Of the twelve new spells on offer, Blood Boil – a third level necromancy spell – immediately caught my attention for its combination fire and necrotic damage. Additionally, this is a concentration spell and on subsequent turns you can use your bonus action to inflict the same damage on a creature initially hit by the attack who is still within range. Touch of Woe (4th level evocation) and Death Knell (Cantrip) pair together for devastating effect, one adding 1d10 necrotic damage to the next time the target is hit, and the other causing the target to take maximum damage from the next attack which hits it. I enjoy playing support type spellcasters, and find both these options exciting as a result!
How the volume handles Curses is interesting. By and large I agree that curses as we tend to see them in 5e are mostly minor inconveniences that can be removed with remove curse or greater restoration, and appreciate that isn’t the approach being taken here. Coming in at different levels of severity ranging from nuisance to lethal, these curses have progression and require investigation in order to help break. Breaking them takes time, and as the curses will progress there’s a fun bit of urgency added into a situation that could otherwise be left on the backburner. Of narrative interest to me is a character not realising they’re cursed and maybe not sharing whatever minor inconvenience they’re experiencing right away. “I’ve had trouble concentrating since that last fight,” might not raise any alarm bells initially, but when those concentration problems ramp up maybe it’s something we’re now taking notice of.
There’s a lot that goes into this chapter not only in terms of the origins and progression of a given curse, but the different stages of investigating it as well. I was concerned about being overwhelmed with the amount of new information being presented, but as soon as I hit an example it all came together and now I’m considering bringing “hey, want to curse my character sometime?” ideas to my various storytellers. This chapter, the third chapter, is also an interesting midway point as it serves as a transition from player-facing content to game-runner content. Curses can be imparted by the PCs onto NPCs, or vice-versa, but moving into chapter four and beyond we focus much more on content for the person running your fright-filled games.
The Vassals of Vecna, powerful figures the great necromancer uses to play his games, each pose a unique and deadly challenge for adventurers. Each of the six has unique mechanics associated with them, and each possess a fragment of Vecna’s power. There’s interesting campaign possibilities to be had with facing off against each vassal before a final confrontation with Vecna himself. With that in mind, I was taken with Seifa, The Eyes of the Grave, who acts as the gatherer of hidden knowledge.
Personable in life and with the ability to communicate with fallen spirits, the cleric heard of particularly vicious behaviour from nobles and sought to have their acts condemned. Unsurprisingly, this resulted in their murder and they’ve been a spirit ever since. Despite their death, they’ve remained friendly and polite making for an interesting villain personality. For parties who love secrets, political intrigue, and rocking power imbalances through back-room deals, this vassal would be a fascinating option to introduce with an encounter designed to take place over two spaces.
On the whole, I think this volume has some fun, refreshing, and frightful offerings. As a player, I’m going to be using some of the options found in this volume pretty soon. As an occasional game-runner, I think the vassals and their respective plot hooks are good creative fuel to get some interesting and engaging plots going. One of the nice things about their being six vassals is that there’s different motivations to speak to the interests of diverse parties!
You can pick up Vecan’s Book of Vile Darkness on DMS Guild for $19.99 [here]. Want to keep up with everything Runic Press? Signup for their newsletter [here].
Stay cozy!
The Cozy Cauldron 