Legendary Resistance (5/Day). If Vecna fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Special Equipment. Vecna carries a magic dagger named Afterthought. In the hands of anyone other than Vecna, Afterthought is a +2 Dagger.
Rejuvenation. If it has a phylactery, a destroyed lich gains a new body in 1d10 days, regaining all its hit points and becoming active again. The new body appears within 5 feet of the phylactery.
Turn Resistance. The lich has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.
Undying. If Vecna is slain, his soul refuses to accept its fate and lives on as a disembodied spirit that fashions a new body for itself after 1d100 years. Vecna’s new body appears within 100 miles of where he was slain. When the new body is complete, Vecna regains all his hit points and becomes active again.
Multiattack. Vecna uses Flight of the Damned (if available), Rotten Fate, or Spellcasting. He then makes two attacks with either Afterthought or Paralyzing Touch.
Afterthought. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4 + 5) piercing damage plus 9 (2d8) necrotic damage. If the target is a creature, it is afflicted by entropic magic, taking 9 (2d8) necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns. Immediately after taking this damage on its turn, the target must make a DC 20 Constitution saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Until it succeeds on this save, the afflicted target can’t regain hit points.
Paralyzing Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 10 (3d6) cold damage. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Flight of the Damned (Recharge 5–6). Vecna conjures a torrent of flying, spectral entities that fill a 120-foot cone and pass through all creatures in that area before dissipating. Each creature in that area must make a DC 22 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 36 (8d8) necrotic damage and has the frightened condition for 1 minute. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage only. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Rotten Fate. Vecna causes necrotic magic to engulf one creature he can see within 120 feet of himself. The target must make a DC 22 Constitution saving throw, taking 96 (8d8 + 60) necrotic damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. A Humanoid killed by this magic rises as a zombie at the start of Vecna’s next turn and acts immediately after Vecna in the initiative order. The zombie is under Vecna’s control.
Spellcasting. Vecna is a 20th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 24, +14 to hit with spell attacks). The lich has the following wizard spells prepared:
At will: Animate Dead (as an action), Detect Magic, Dispel Magic, Fly, Lightning Bolt
Cantrips (at will): mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost
1st level (5 slots): charm person, magic missile, ray of sickness, shield
2nd level (4 slots): acid arrow, blindness/deafness, detect thoughts, invisibility, hold person
3rd level (4 slots): bestow curse, counterspell, haste, fireball
4th level (4 slots): blight, banishment, dimension door, wall of fire
5th level (4 slots): cloudkill, hold monster, negative energy flood, scrying
6th level (3 slot): disintegrate, circle of death, globe of invulnerability
7th level (3 slot): finger of death, forcecage, plane shift
8th level (2 slot): dominate monster, feeblemind, power word stun
9th level (2 slot): meteor swarm, power word kill
Vile Teleport. Vecna teleports, along with any equipment he is wearing or carrying, up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space he can see. He can cause each creature of his choice within 15 feet of his destination space to take 10 (3d6) psychic damage. If at least one creature takes this damage, Vecna regains 80 hit points.
Vecna can take up to three reactions per round but only one per turn.
Dread Counterspell. Vecna utters a dread word to interrupt a creature he can see that is casting a spell. If the spell is 4th level or lower, it fails and has no effect. If the spell is 5th level or higher, Vecna makes an Intelligence check (DC 10 plus the spell’s level). On a successful check, the spell fails and has no effect. Whatever the spell’s level, the caster takes 10 (3d6) psychic damage if the spell fails.
Fell Rebuke. In response to being hit by an attack, Vecna utters a fell word, dealing 10 (3d6) necrotic damage to the attacker, and Vecna teleports, along with any equipment he is wearing or carrying, up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space he can see.
The lich can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The lich regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Cantrip. The lich casts a cantrip.
Paralyzing Touch (Costs 2 Actions). The lich uses its Paralyzing Touch.
Frightening Gaze (Costs 2 Actions). The lich fixes its gaze on one creature it can see within 10 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw against this magic or become frightened for 1 minute. The frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a target’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the lich’s gaze for the next 24 hours.
Disrupt Life (Costs 3 Actions). Each non-undead creature within 20 feet of the lich must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw against this magic, taking 21 (6d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Description
On countless worlds, his name evokes tales of terror and cruelty: Vecna, the Undying King. Vecna, the Whispered One. Vecna, the Lord of the Rotted Tower. But Vecna had humble beginnings on the world of Oerth, where an order of wizards used him as a bootblack and scribe. He spent the better part of his childhood secretly educating himself in his masters’ arts. Once Vecna learned all he could, he massacred the wizards. He then recorded his every foul thought and dream as he started to write his Book of Vile Darkness.
Vecna forged a kingdom on Oerth, but he grew bored with it after several centuries. He started inflicting suffering on other worlds. In this adventure, Vecna has risen to godhood on Oerth, but he seeks to become the most powerful god in existence and bend the multiverse to his will. By the time the characters are involved, Vecna’s master plan is almost complete. He has funneled a significant amount of his energy into weaving his ritual. Therefore, when the characters finally confront Vecna and try to save the multiverse, he is in his archlich form and not his divine form.
Lair and Lair Actions
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the lich can take a lair action to cause one of the following magical effects; the lich can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Vecna rolls a d8 and regains a spell slot of that level or lower. If it has no spent spell slots of that level or lower, nothing happens.
- Vecna targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. A crackling cord of negative energy tethers the lich to the target. Whenever the lich takes damage, the target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the lich takes half the damage (rounded down), and the target takes the remaining damage. This tether lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round or until the lich or the target is no longer in the lich’s lair.
- Vecna calls forth the spirits of creatures that died in its lair. These apparitions materialize and attack one creature that the lich can see within 60 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 52 (15d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success. The apparitions then disappear.
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