I have a secondary tragic villain who is a vampire and long story short, due to being driven mad by a series of never ending great tragedies in her life, vowed to get back what was stolen from her and invoked Vecna's name. This caused her to sell her soul to the Lich-God and in return, he transformed her into a vampire. When the PC's learn the sad story of how she eventually broke and that her villainy is aimed at trying to bring back someone she loved, I would not be surprised if they decide to try and reason with her, reform, and cure her.
As such, inspired by an obscure independently published dark fantasy book series, I decided that there are only 2 cures for vampirism. Wish or giving the vampire their soul back. But since she sold her soul to Vecna, lorewise where do you think he would keep it stashed? I doubt he'd need to consume it since I'm using the god version of him. Plus, he has no divine realm. So where do you think he keeps souls that he's bought? Also, Vecna was never intended to appear when I initially began writing this adventure. But lorewise, do you think PC's would need to go through him in order to get the Vampire's soul back?
I don't think there's any specific lore, but we have the canonical evidence of souls being trapped in coins (soul coin), gems (demilich (variant)) and cages (soul cage), so an object seems plausible.
To me, the question is why does he want someone’s soul? Does it somehow enrich him or give him power? Is it just him being vindictive? Something else? The why might get to the where. If it’s for some kind of power he pulls from the soul, it will be kept well hidden and possibly guarded.
If he just did it because he could, he might keep it on a shelf in his lair so he can look at and/or taunt it.
A few people on here might be old enough to remember back in the 1990s, just after CDs replaced cassette tapes. Everybody had a CD binder. It was like a big zipper-bound notebook, and each page inside was a plastic sheet that had 9 pockets on each side, into which we would slide the CDs.
That's where Vecna stores his collected souls. He just flattens 'em out, spins 'em til they're round, and slides 'em into his CD binder.
I don't think there's any specific lore, but we have the canonical evidence of souls being trapped in coins (soul coin), gems (demilich (variant)) and cages (soul cage), so an object seems plausible.
Interesting. I'd have to make a dungeon leading to one of those.
To me, the question is why does he want someone’s soul? Does it somehow enrich him or give him power? Is it just him being vindictive? Something else? The why might get to the where. If it’s for some kind of power he pulls from the soul, it will be kept well hidden and possibly guarded.
If he just did it because he could, he might keep it on a shelf in his lair so he can look at and/or taunt it.
I picked Vecna because I needed my Vampire to become one and bypass the Spawn stage. I couldn't bring in the Dark Powers from Ravenloft because this isn't a Ravenloft adventure. And the setting I'm using has only one god associated with undeath and necromancy. Vecna. So he was the only option I had for how she became a Vampire. Where would his lair be though?
He's a full god. He transcends the need for a soul receptacle.
Then who else can make someone a full Vampire and skip the spawn stage? I can't bring in the Dark Powers from Ravenloft because this adventure is not set in the Domains of Dread.
You've presupposed Vecna post apotheosis would have a need for souls, without establishing what that need is. Figure out why would accept the antagonists soul and that will inform if/how/why/where he stores it.
It should be noted, there is official lore to suggest that Vecna can make vampires - specifically his creation of the vampire Kas. That part should not be a problem.
If I were doing this, I would take a step back and look at Vecna's core identity when trying to determine where his lair might be - the domain of secrets, from which his dominion over the secret dark arts of necromancy also partially spreads. This is a god who likes to work in the shadows and whose primary purpose is to hoard knowledge. This is likely not the kind of god that is going to build a single great lair to themselves - they are going to secret away different small patches of knowledge, so, should one be breached, the rest remain secret. To this end, I would focus on building one singular dungeon that is a single repository of Vecna's knowledge, defended by someone loyal to him. This both gives you a defined dungeon that does not have to feel like a home of a god, and avoids the issue of your party having to come into direct confrontation with a god.
There are a lot of different ways you can do that. The most obvious is going to be a cultist lair - evil cultists who are sworn to Vecna in exchange for a taste of the god's secret knowledge, and who are keeping an item safe on his behalf. A dungeon of this nature should lean into the secrets element of Vecna - hidden rooms, traps, dark magics, and probably a couple neat bits of lore and some fun magic items that the party can also discover in the vault.
But that is not your only option. 4e provided some great lore on Vecna that added some depth to his followers, specifically opening up Vecna worship to Good aligned individuals. For example, a Good-aligned revolutionary might worship the God of Secrets to keep their revolution secret from an Evil-aligned tyrant. This opens you up to doing something a bit unexpected - you could have the party have to do a heist at a castle, where that revolutionary is now the king after their successful rebellion, and is paying Vecna back by holding the item in the castle vault.
There also was mention of a Good-aligned cult to Vecna, the Keepers of Forbidden Lore, who basically said "some information is too dangerous for the public to have, so we will find this information and entrust it to Vecna that he might keep it secret." There is likely a fun dungeon based around them where the party slowly discovers "wait, we thought this was another evil cult, but maybe they are the good guys?" but that kind of thing can be hard to pull off with some D&D tables, who might be upset with the DM if they have been killing cultists only to find out they were hurting good-aligned characters.
Souls could be kept in an artifact related to Vecna called The Tome of Shared Secrets , an illustrated bestiary of relic status, with the ability to impart knowledge of dark and evil creatures at the cost of a portion the user's life force.
Another idea might be that some form of high ranking cultist or servant of Vecna took the soul "on his behalf" but the souls are only used by his followers/cults; to attract new followers or wield control over powerful undead, etc. It doesn't have to involve Vecna himself, but could be something that was done in his name or in service to him.
He's a full god. He transcends the need for a soul receptacle.
Then who else can make someone a full Vampire and skip the spawn stage? I can't bring in the Dark Powers from Ravenloft because this adventure is not set in the Domains of Dread.
My first thought is Orcus probably could, but you don’t even need that. You’re the DM. Anyone you want. Homebrew some kind of uber-vampire who can do this. Or some ancient artifact And you can 100% bring in someone from ravenloft, because, again, you’re the DM. Maybe they escaped, maybe you just use that creature and file off the serial numbers and give it a different name.
Another thing to consider is the practicality of this. How big of a side quest do you want it to be, and how willing are you to derail the main story for it? Do you want to throw in some kind of plane-hopping adventure to steal something from a god? Or do you want more of a 1-2 sessions. The harder you make it, the more oxygen it will take from the main story.
The D&D homebrewer, consumed by their craft, meticulously crafts formidable monsters in a cluttered workspace filled with ink-stained quills and well-worn tomes. With furrowed brow, they sketch the anatomy of their creations, imbuing each stroke with vision, seeking to push the boundaries of imagination in under 512 characters.
In the new MM, Liches now use what is called a Spirit Jar to house their own soul. The act of stealing other souls to survive, is no longer in their description. Now they are basically immortal until someone destroys their Spirt Jar and them.
In the new MM, Liches now use what is called a Spirit Jar to house their own soul. The act of stealing other souls to survive, is no longer in their description. Now they are basically immortal until someone destroys their Spirt Jar and them.
It's still in the description:
Inevitable Siphon. Whenever a Humanoid dies within 1 mile of the lair, its soul is immediately consumed by the lich. A Humanoid whose soul is consumed in this way can be brought back to life only by a True Resurrection or Wish spell.
In the new MM, Liches now use what is called a Spirit Jar to house their own soul. The act of stealing other souls to survive, is no longer in their description. Now they are basically immortal until someone destroys their Spirt Jar and them.
It's still in the description:
Inevitable Siphon. Whenever a Humanoid dies within 1 mile of the lair, its soul is immediately consumed by the lich. A Humanoid whose soul is consumed in this way can be brought back to life only by a True Resurrection or Wish spell.
Nope totally different. Says nothing about needing the soul to continue the non-life or anything.
In the new MM, Liches now use what is called a Spirit Jar to house their own soul. The act of stealing other souls to survive, is no longer in their description. Now they are basically immortal until someone destroys their Spirt Jar and them.
It's still in the description:
Inevitable Siphon. Whenever a Humanoid dies within 1 mile of the lair, its soul is immediately consumed by the lich. A Humanoid whose soul is consumed in this way can be brought back to life only by a True Resurrection or Wish spell.
Nope totally different. Says nothing about needing the soul to continue the non-life or anything.
Ah, I thought you were just talking about consuming souls, not specifically to prolong their existence. You're right they've changed it, but they still maintain a risk of turning into a demilich. However that's now more a risk of existential ennui rather than soul starvation, as you've pointed out.
In Baator and the Abyss, souls are currency. So Vecna could be using souls bartered to him as currency for whatever dealing and plots he might have ongoing with the underworld. In this case, you could use an adventure like Paladin In Hell (which is about rescuing a soul from Baator) as the base for rescuing the Vampire's soul which has been bartered to Baator. Vecna could also be using the souls to power some diabolical magic ritual. Or torturing them for fun. In those cases you have to figure the soul, if rescued is damaged. If its been consumed, that would stop your adventure dead in its tracks so not likely the lore you want to use. If you wanted to simplify things, Vecna could have trapped the soul in an artifact as its power source and given the artifact to a cult. Means the character don't have to figure out ways to travel across planes.
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I have a secondary tragic villain who is a vampire and long story short, due to being driven mad by a series of never ending great tragedies in her life, vowed to get back what was stolen from her and invoked Vecna's name. This caused her to sell her soul to the Lich-God and in return, he transformed her into a vampire. When the PC's learn the sad story of how she eventually broke and that her villainy is aimed at trying to bring back someone she loved, I would not be surprised if they decide to try and reason with her, reform, and cure her.
As such, inspired by an obscure independently published dark fantasy book series, I decided that there are only 2 cures for vampirism. Wish or giving the vampire their soul back. But since she sold her soul to Vecna, lorewise where do you think he would keep it stashed? I doubt he'd need to consume it since I'm using the god version of him. Plus, he has no divine realm. So where do you think he keeps souls that he's bought? Also, Vecna was never intended to appear when I initially began writing this adventure. But lorewise, do you think PC's would need to go through him in order to get the Vampire's soul back?
I don't think there's any specific lore, but we have the canonical evidence of souls being trapped in coins (soul coin), gems (demilich (variant)) and cages (soul cage), so an object seems plausible.
To me, the question is why does he want someone’s soul? Does it somehow enrich him or give him power? Is it just him being vindictive? Something else? The why might get to the where. If it’s for some kind of power he pulls from the soul, it will be kept well hidden and possibly guarded.
If he just did it because he could, he might keep it on a shelf in his lair so he can look at and/or taunt it.
He's a full god. He transcends the need for a soul receptacle.
DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
A few people on here might be old enough to remember back in the 1990s, just after CDs replaced cassette tapes. Everybody had a CD binder. It was like a big zipper-bound notebook, and each page inside was a plastic sheet that had 9 pockets on each side, into which we would slide the CDs.
That's where Vecna stores his collected souls. He just flattens 'em out, spins 'em til they're round, and slides 'em into his CD binder.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
He keeps them in an old biscuit jar.
Interesting. I'd have to make a dungeon leading to one of those.
I picked Vecna because I needed my Vampire to become one and bypass the Spawn stage. I couldn't bring in the Dark Powers from Ravenloft because this isn't a Ravenloft adventure. And the setting I'm using has only one god associated with undeath and necromancy. Vecna. So he was the only option I had for how she became a Vampire.
Where would his lair be though?
Then who else can make someone a full Vampire and skip the spawn stage? I can't bring in the Dark Powers from Ravenloft because this adventure is not set in the Domains of Dread.
You've presupposed Vecna post apotheosis would have a need for souls, without establishing what that need is. Figure out why would accept the antagonists soul and that will inform if/how/why/where he stores it.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Souls could be kept in an artifact related to Vecna called The Tome of Shared Secrets , an illustrated bestiary of relic status, with the ability to impart knowledge of dark and evil creatures at the cost of a portion the user's life force.
Another idea might be that some form of high ranking cultist or servant of Vecna took the soul "on his behalf" but the souls are only used by his followers/cults; to attract new followers or wield control over powerful undead, etc. It doesn't have to involve Vecna himself, but could be something that was done in his name or in service to him.
My first thought is Orcus probably could, but you don’t even need that. You’re the DM. Anyone you want. Homebrew some kind of uber-vampire who can do this. Or some ancient artifact
And you can 100% bring in someone from ravenloft, because, again, you’re the DM. Maybe they escaped, maybe you just use that creature and file off the serial numbers and give it a different name.
Another thing to consider is the practicality of this. How big of a side quest do you want it to be, and how willing are you to derail the main story for it? Do you want to throw in some kind of plane-hopping adventure to steal something from a god? Or do you want more of a 1-2 sessions. The harder you make it, the more oxygen it will take from the main story.
Bag of Holding
In the new MM, Liches now use what is called a Spirit Jar to house their own soul. The act of stealing other souls to survive, is no longer in their description. Now they are basically immortal until someone destroys their Spirt Jar and them.
It's still in the description:
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Nope totally different. Says nothing about needing the soul to continue the non-life or anything.
Ah, I thought you were just talking about consuming souls, not specifically to prolong their existence. You're right they've changed it, but they still maintain a risk of turning into a demilich. However that's now more a risk of existential ennui rather than soul starvation, as you've pointed out.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
In Baator and the Abyss, souls are currency. So Vecna could be using souls bartered to him as currency for whatever dealing and plots he might have ongoing with the underworld. In this case, you could use an adventure like Paladin In Hell (which is about rescuing a soul from Baator) as the base for rescuing the Vampire's soul which has been bartered to Baator. Vecna could also be using the souls to power some diabolical magic ritual. Or torturing them for fun. In those cases you have to figure the soul, if rescued is damaged. If its been consumed, that would stop your adventure dead in its tracks so not likely the lore you want to use. If you wanted to simplify things, Vecna could have trapped the soul in an artifact as its power source and given the artifact to a cult. Means the character don't have to figure out ways to travel across planes.