Damnit. Guess now I know who our party will be having to fight after we've defeated Strahd…

I’m surprised there’s no mention of Acererak as an apprentice…

hmm. They need to identify lich minions

Quote from Ghraemlan >>

I’m surprised there’s no mention of Acererak as an apprentice…

 me too. He should be backup in the fight later in.

No legendary actions! A transdimensional god has no legendary actions!

Didn't they "part ways"? Vec and Ace that is.

No mention of legendary actions.  Didn't bother to fill out a full spell list of a high level magic user.
Didn't bother to create his godly stat block after talking about it.

Glad this was kind of free content.  I guess the old saying is correct.  If you want something done right you have to do it yourself even if you are paying a subscription thinking someone else would do it right but doesn't.

Will this appear in the Sources menu?

How do they not have legendary actions? Crazy oversight. Needs a buff.

Incredibly underwhelming, if you ask me. He doesn't have legendary actions, as if they were trying to save physical space on a page and had to cut it for his other abilities, even if he does have 3 reactions per turn. On top of that, I just haven't been too psyched with most spellcasting creatures ever since they dumbed them down. It works for lesser creatures, but this is Vecna, one of the most powerful wizards to have ever lived, he should have a full spell list. If you're running him then you should be prepared for the complexity, you don't just throw this at your players, he's a boss. All in all, I just wish D&D would put out content I could get hyped over again.

Why does this Statblock seem much weaker than Acererak in TOA, he has lower health, lower AC, not nearly as many spells due to the new spellcasting that they're using for monsters, no legendary actions. this statblock actually seems like it would be maybe annoying due to the three reactions, but over all, doesn't seem worthy of the CR 26 compared to Acererak's CR 23.

Quote from ResnepsNrobnogard >>

Will this appear in the Sources menu?

I was thinking the exact same thing

Quote from Jeremonster02 >>

Why does this Statblock seem much weaker than Acererak in TOA, he has lower health, lower AC, not nearly as many spells due to the new spellcasting that they're using for monsters, no legendary actions. this statblock actually seems like it would be maybe annoying due to the three reactions, but over all, doesn't seem worthy of the CR 26 compared to Acererak's CR 23.

I'd actually say that Vecna is stronger; he can literally teleport every turn for free, dealing automatic damage to anything he teleports next to (probably going to be the most vulnerable target) and healing 80 hit-points when he does. This means that the party needs to deal a minimum of 80 damage to him every round, or he'll just whittle them down while continuously topping himself up.

On top of that he has unlimited counterspell that deals damage, and when he isn't using that he's dealing damage while teleporting a second time (so he can teleport a total of 60-feet in a single round), with three reactions per round (one per turn). For main damage he has unlimited finger of death+ (extra d8 + 30 damage) with unlimited lightning bolt (at 3rd-level) as a backup, and that's if he's not using Flight of the Damned (decent area damage, but with a frightened rider effect).

He can also cast animate dead at will as an action, meaning the party is facing potentially unlimited zombies, so he doesn't really need legendary actions to fill his action economy, and that's assuming he doesn't start with a bunch of undead in the first place.

This version of Vecna justifies being CR 26 IMO, don't let the numbers distract you from what it is he can actually do, and in many cases do for free.

Dudes, stop whining. This is obviously a bait for all the Stranger Things S04's casual players who know Vecna thanks to the Duff brothers' blockbuster. Wizards is exploiting the wave of fame and they are doing what a company need to do. That's all.

Chill Touch (vs laughable AC18) and that teleport joke die on spot.
Counterspell 3 times per round is nice but not over the top: a weakling as a Rakhsahsa can resist better and a ridicolous minion as the Spectator can do far more counter-damage than 10.
Fell Rebuke 3 times per round is actually the best defence he has but it works only if an attack is made (but it's fairly powerful in combo with Legendary Resistance 5/d that protect him aginst ST attacks).

Flight of the Damned and Rotten Fate are very nice AoE attacks while Aftertought is an harakiri action since an AC18 undead without any particular strong defence must avoid to go in meele if he wanna survive more than 3 rounds.

At the end ot the day this Vecna is a some sort of legendary glass cannon, nice for a party of no-hardcore players who bingewatched Stranger Things S04 last night and wanna meet the real Vecna without any chance to lose to him.

Quote from Haravikk >>

Quote from Jeremonster02 >>

Why does this Statblock seem much weaker than Acererak in TOA, he has lower health, lower AC, not nearly as many spells due to the new spellcasting that they're using for monsters, no legendary actions. this statblock actually seems like it would be maybe annoying due to the three reactions, but over all, doesn't seem worthy of the CR 26 compared to Acererak's CR 23.

I'd actually say that Vecna is stronger; he can literally teleport every turn for free, dealing automatic damage to anything he teleports next to (probably going to be the most vulnerable target) and healing 80 hit-points when he does. This means that the party needs to deal a minimum of 80 damage to him every round, or he'll just whittle them down while continuously topping himself up.

On top of that he has unlimited counterspell that deals damage, and when he isn't using that he's dealing damage while teleporting a second time (so he can teleport a total of 60-feet in a single round). For main damage he has unlimited finger of death+ (extra d8 + 30 damage) with unlimited lightning bolt (at 3rd-level) as a backup, and that's if he's not using Flight of the Damned (decent area damage, but with a frightened rider effect).

He can also cast animate dead at will as an action, meaning the party is facing potentially unlimited zombies, so he doesn't really need legendary actions to fill his action economy, and that's assuming he doesn't start with a bunch of undead in the first place.

This version of Vecna justifies being CR 26 IMO, don't let the numbers distract you from what it is he can actually do, and in many cases do for free.

 You nailed it. This is a brutal combat encounter. 

Quote from Bigbossduckman >>

Lol, I just look at Acererak's statblock, he has a 27 intelligence while *this* Vecna only has 22 and less than half of Acererak's languages.
Vecna's apprentice is smarter than his master and has better spells.

Vecna wants to be a god of death, so Acerak arguably is more intelligent by being slightly less insane. 😝

Plus the ability scores have little influence on a monster's difficulty; Vecna has more legendary resistances and is just straight up nastier to face.

Quote from teioh8189761>>

Chill Touch (vs laughable AC18) and that teleport joke die on spot.

He can simply counterspell this if used.

It seems some of Vecna's spellcasting is as actions/bonus actions/reactions, and his reactions appear to be a combo of legendary actions and reactions.

So I was incredibly confused by the lack of Legendary Actions, then I looked at the reactions ability. He can take 3 reactions per round, which I think is the replacement for Legendary Actions. I don’t… hate it, considering most rounds a creature’s reaction goes unused, but even then I would still give him a legendary action or two.