Quote from Daton >>

Huh, he has his Hand back.
That means canonically, Arkhan The Cruel is dead since severing the hand kills the host.

Cool.

 No he doesn't. His hand in the art we see is made of energy. 

That's exactly what I plan on doing, myself. I'm starting a CoS campaign next week and when I read that Eve of Ruin starts at level 10 and will even take my players BACK to Barovia? Oh, it's just too darn perfect. Granted, it will take a good year or two for them to actual finish CoS, but I love playing the long game lol.

I’m excited 

Quote from Mutiverso_Extendido >>

Ao could't stop the Spellplague and needed almost one hundred years to reapair what happened with the sundering. This threat is a multiversal one, very similar to the one in Die Vecna Die, or even greater. Ao can't do anything, only mitigate damage and reapair whatever is possible.

 He could. He simply didn't because it was not a threat to his world. Only to it's people. Ao will allow evil and disaster to fall on Forgotten Realms. He will not allow gods and powerful beings to do what they please without his permission. Saying that he can't do anything is one of the dumbest things that I've ever read. Overdiety of a setting in which said being is canonically all powerful cannot do anything? Please.

I just wonder what rules they have for starting characters at lvl 10. I am assuming they would have more then just starting gear since they would be seasoned adventurers.

500 gp plus 1d10 × 25 gp, normal starting equipment

Quote from Meshifuari >>

Quote from Mutiverso_Extendido >>

Ao could't stop the Spellplague and needed almost one hundred years to reapair what happened with the sundering. This threat is a multiversal one, very similar to the one in Die Vecna Die, or even greater. Ao can't do anything, only mitigate damage and reapair whatever is possible.

 He could. He simply didn't because it was not a threat to his world. Only to it's people. Ao will allow evil and disaster to fall on Forgotten Realms. He will not allow gods and powerful beings to do what they please without his permission. Saying that he can't do anything is one of the dumbest things that I've ever read. Overdiety of a setting in which said being is canonically all powerful cannot do anything? Please.

Did you read about the Spellplague? Far Realm energies were involved in the process. Not a thread to his world? Toril and Abeir had parts of them interchanched, fragments of Toril floating, a section of earth the side of a nation colapsed to the underdark.

Ao acted to stop this, but the damage was already done. The same happened with the First Sundering when the Sea of Fallen Star was created because of Asgorath and time after that with the formation of Evermeet. 

Ao is only the Overgod of the Forgotten Realms, his power and influence reach only the Realmspace, not the Multiverse. Even the Lady of Pain couldn't stop Vecna in Die Vecna Die. Only mitigate the damage and the Multiverse was changed forever.

Quote from Mutiverso_Extendido >>

The essence of the gods still reamins in the new vessels and thus in some way they are not dead. The realm's people still worship Mystra as the same one before Midnight. We can assume that in some way the person trascends even their own identity and mortality to become an specific god. The Gods never truly dies, they reamain dormant and forgotten in husk form in the Astral Plane for the most part. Or they have mysterious ways to maintain their essence in some way.

The first and most important reason of why "Mystra" has returned is because the portfolio of goddess of magic was offered to Midnight by Ao and she agreed under condition that she will be named "Mystra" as to not confuse people. She could have taken any other name. Mystryl/original Mystra is GONE. She has been completely obliterated and not a trace of her is left... That's why Elminster and Azuth literally became depressed for a time.

Quote from Mutiverso_Extendido >>

Ao is only the Overgod of the Forgotten Realms, his power and influence reach only the Realmspace, not the Multiverse. Even the Lady of Pain couldn't stop Vecna in Die Vecna Die. Only mitigate the damage and the Multiverse was changed forever.

And here's the problem. Ao can do whatever he wants within his realm, this was stated multiple times in many sources, many books, many games.
He will ALLOW bad things to happen to his realm, just as you have mentioned with First Sundering and many other things and he will mend to them slowly, if ever take a notice to them... Because he's fine with his world being changed by the actions of others. 

However the main thing problem is while Ao will allow mortals and gods to damage his world, he will not allow for it's absolute destruction or for someone to get rid of him. This has been clear from the start. And he is powerful enough to do whatever he pleases within Realmspace.

And here is the point, I do not expect Ao to go battle with Vecna, because outside of Forgotten Realms, he would be...a mere deity, yes.

I do find the idea of Vecna's Magic Bomb being capable of "killing Ao" as he intends to use it to wipe all of the gods from existence and become one sole deity. By all statements, sources and established lore, if Vecna were to use this bomb, Ao should be able to simply shield everyone within his universe and he himself should not even be affected if he wishes not to be.

Edit: As for Lady of Pain, while powerful (incredibly powerful within SIGIL) there were threats to her in the lore that overwhelmed her with power and she had to resort to clever planning in order to survive.

Albeit we will see how it will be handled.
While the book raises some worries, I'll wait until it is out, to judge it.

Why doesn’t Vecna just cast Wish?

Quote from Suspiciousslime23372 >>

Why doesn’t Vecna just cast Wish?

Wish for what?

To kill us all I guess IDK wizards should add SO much more for wish and nerfing it

After reading through the story, I can only say that I am really disappointed by it. Vecna and various worlds would really make for an epic story, but what we are served here as a metaplot is a tragedy. There are so many logic holes in this story and there is far too little of Vecna himself.

Railroad with a good, logical story is fine with me, but the whole part with Kas, the Rod and Miska just doesn't make sense and that's the main part of this so-called story. It's a real shame how this anniversary module is being handled.

Quote from Meshifuari >>

Quote from Mutiverso_Extendido >>

The essence of the gods still reamins in the new vessels and thus in some way they are not dead. The realm's people still worship Mystra as the same one before Midnight. We can assume that in some way the person trascends even their own identity and mortality to become an specific god. The Gods never truly dies, they reamain dormant and forgotten in husk form in the Astral Plane for the most part. Or they have mysterious ways to maintain their essence in some way.

The first and most important reason of why "Mystra" has returned is because the portfolio of goddess of magic was offered to Midnight by Ao and she agreed under condition that she will be named "Mystra" as to not confuse people. She could have taken any other name. Mystryl/original Mystra is GONE. She has been completely obliterated and not a trace of her is left... That's why Elminster and Azuth literally became depressed for a time.

Quote from Mutiverso_Extendido >>

Ao is only the Overgod of the Forgotten Realms, his power and influence reach only the Realmspace, not the Multiverse. Even the Lady of Pain couldn't stop Vecna in Die Vecna Die. Only mitigate the damage and the Multiverse was changed forever.

And here's the problem. Ao can do whatever he wants within his realm, this was stated multiple times in many sources, many books, many games.
He will ALLOW bad things to happen to his realm, just as you have mentioned with First Sundering and many other things and he will mend to them slowly, if ever take a notice to them... Because he's fine with his world being changed by the actions of others. 

However the main thing problem is while Ao will allow mortals and gods to damage his world, he will not allow for it's absolute destruction or for someone to get rid of him. This has been clear from the start. And he is powerful enough to do whatever he pleases within Realmspace.

And here is the point, I do not expect Ao to go battle with Vecna, because outside of Forgotten Realms, he would be...a mere deity, yes.

I do find the idea of Vecna's Magic Bomb being capable of "killing Ao" as he intends to use it to wipe all of the gods from existence and become one sole deity. By all statements, sources and established lore, if Vecna were to use this bomb, Ao should be able to simply shield everyone within his universe and he himself should not even be affected if he wishes not to be.

 

Edit: As for Lady of Pain, while powerful (incredibly powerful within SIGIL) there were threats to her in the lore that overwhelmed her with power and she had to resort to clever planning in order to survive.

 
That "Mystra" is "gone". Yes, you have a point and indeed the persona is gone, but the god is still there. When I said that "the gods have mysterious ways" one of this ways is some kind of "reincarnation". This is one of them. Mystril, Mystra, and Mystra (Midnight) share the same essence. Midnight had a pendant of Mystril, with maybe some of her essence. And was Ao who give the portfolio to Midnight, but the reason to maintain the name, is not only "because confusion". The followers of a deity don't have to know what happened, and they still worship the same GOD, the same IDEA, the same ESSENCE. If you believe in magic, the magic still exists. Prayers are simply redirected.

Different persona, same god. So the god still lives.

Making Vecna the ruler of all the multiverse and the only god in existence I guess that attempt to the integrity of Ao and his existence. The meaning of the narrative is what suits the author. It's pure convenience. Ao will be the most powerful entity in Realmspace, but if the authors want Vecna to be able to piss in Ao's face, because he has the means to make a ritual with which he can do it, they will do so. Nor is it that the lore categorically prevents it, because it does not, we can only speculate. And I think this is more a matter of interpreting the lore than demonstrating something as if it were a scientific fact. We are talking about fiction.

The premise of the adventure is not so far-fetched nor does it break the lore. I see it as quite plausible within the framework of the D&D multiverse.

Ao will be the most powerful entity in Realmspace, but if the authors want Vecna to be able to piss in Ao's face, because he has the means to make a ritual with which he can do it, they will do so.

Yes, they can do whatever they want with the property they own, and even disregard majority of the things stated in lore, they have done that several times already with some heavily established characters. It does not mean that it's not a horrible writting that can upset a long fan of certain fictional world.

That being said, after seeing the adventure and understanding how it plays out, I must say that I was too hasty with my judgement. Not going spoil anything, but the potential causes for my concern are not present in it.

Quote from CaptainRelyk >>

Apparently there are cultists of Lolth in the adventure… and only one of them is a drow. There were cultists of lolth that were orcs, deep gnomes, duegar and even high elves. Do WoTC read D&D lore anymore? Cause Lolth is the god of evil drow, and hates anything that isn’t drow. 

This adventure is a poorly written grand multiversal tour of nostalgia bait 

 What on Oerth are you talking about, my fine fellow!

Lolth is like SO amazing in their difference-thinking cultishness that unquestionably everyone from all the realms across the multiverse are literally queueing up to join their on-trend cult.  "Come for the looting and ideology, stay for the subterranean Morris dancing!" is their new faction motto.

And...!  And, you would not believe the super-positive demand the drow have had for their award-winning mushroom-derived bioluminescence knitwear courses (soon to include an "Advanced" 6-week program).  Things are so larks-aplenty in Menzoberranzan (stay tuned for more on that breaking "now twinned with Lankhmar and Manchester" news) right now that the Underground Tortle Party is even fast-tracking their coffee loyalty cards.  Elsewhere, the Happy Smiley Sunshine Alliance is introducing an above average minimum wage policy and building even more escape room challenges like the one presented at the start of Out of the Abyss.

Also, verily and forsooth, hast thee ne'er considered the possibility that for the first 50 years of D&D the non-drow cultists of Lolth were all a little bit limelight shy!?  There were always there but they just didn't feel comfortable enough posing for the artist.

It would seem they're changing Lolth's domain from evil drow specifically to the deity of evil in the underdark according to the module. Which is a change I can get behind when handled well.

I guess she got tired of constantly being thwarted so decided to expand her target audience.

Wish they put her motive for doing so in the module. Maybe they put it elsewhere, if anyone knows where let us know!

My L10 party (I'm the DM) is just about to banish Tharizdun and then Tasha is going to appear to them and say that they are needed in Neverwinter. It's all tied together with Granny Nightshade who has switched allegiance from Tharizdun to Vecna. Well, it sort of makes sense to me, anyway...

I mean vecna has never been FR oriented though there will be skme FR content as it starts there