We’re getting towards that late end of the season here in the DungeonSports Coliseum. That means the real spook-em-ups are just starting to show up on the scene. The MPMM-revised version of Demogorgon and a green greatwyrm have both made an appearance, and a real impression on player in the last two sessions. Vecna has yet to show up, but I’m going to be bumping him to the top of the list. Players love the name recognition (even if they only recognize it from Stranger Things), and Vecna has a few interesting features that distinguish him from any other published monster.
What Vecna’s Got
I won’t bother talking about all the interesting features of Vecna, instead, I’ll just focus on the reactions and bous actions. The archlich gets 3 reactions, and can either use Dread Counterspell or Fell Rebuke. Dread Counterspell is a souped-up version of counterspell that works on spells up to 4th level automatically, and deals psychic damage to the caster. Fell Rebuke deals damage to an attacker when an attack hits, and allows the archlich gets to teleport up to 30 feet away. He can also use Dread Teleport, which allows him to teleport 30 feet as a bonus action. If there are creatures within 15 feet of where Vecna lands, they take psychic damage and he regains 80 hitpoints. Lots of good fun to be had there
I can tell you though, from previous experience, that Vecna has a serious and surprising shortcoming. No Legendary Actions. There isn’t a single other published creature above CR 26. This is a critical shortcoming. High level PCs can dish out so much damage that a creature that can’t attack and defend outside of it’s turn isn’t likely to survive to take another turn.
That’s all I’ve got for now. If you’re looking for something else nasty to throw at your players, I’ve got a lot of monsters on my Hotlist. Evey single one of them is a blast in a combat encounter.
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