Vecna (EvilHack)
L Vecna 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 50 |
| Attacks |
Touch 8d6 cold, Touch 6d6 withering, Gaze 3d4 Touch of death, Spell-casting 4d6 mage, Spell-casting 4d6 clerical |
| Base level | 46 |
| Base experience | 3012 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | -10 |
| Base MR | 90 |
| Alignment | -20 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1200 |
| Nutritional value | 100 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | fire, cold, sleep, electricity, poison, level drain |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
Vecna:
| |
| Reference | EvilHack 0.8.4 - monst.c, line 2266 |
- For the monster in other variants, see Vecna.
Vecna, L, is a unique monster that appears in EvilHack. He is a lich that presides over his own domain in Gehennom: he is strong and capable of flight, has infravision, will pick up magical items he comes across, and can follow a hero to other levels if he is adjacent. Vecna is covetous and capable of warping short distances across a level, and desires the Book of the Dead—he is also an overlord to his kind, and neither liches nor alhoons can be subjected to genocide until he is destroyed.
Vecna has a powerful cold touch attack, a strong withering touch attack, a gaze that subjects targets to death magic from the touch of death, and will cast one mage monster spell and one clerical monster spell during each of his turns. Vecna possesses fire resistance, cold resistance, sleep resistance, poison resistance, shock resistance, death resistance, and drain resistance.
Vecna is poisonous to consume, which primarily comes up if he is digested by another monster.
Generation
Vecna is always generated hostile, and is not a valid form for polymorph. As he is guaranteed to appear in each game, he will not appear in bones files.
Vecna is generated on the last floor of his domain at level creation, where he occupies the throne within his lair.
Vecna is always generated with a cursed and rotted robe of drain resistance and a ring of slow digestion.
Vecna does not leave a corpse upon death, and will instead always drop either The Hand of Vecna or The Eye of Vecna with an equal probability of each, even if his death would not usually leave a corpse (e.g. by stoning, disintegration, or dying over lava).
Strategy
The Sword of Kas is often a vital part of most heroes' kits for dealing with Vecna, due to Kas himself residing on the previous floor; said artifact weapon can provide a very useful means of offense for a player that excels in two-handed swords or otherwise lacks options, as any damage it deals against Vecna is tripled. However, lawful heroes take alignment penalties for using poisoned weapons, while Priests of any kind suffer a -30 to-hit penalty from trying to use it, on top of potentially angering their god. Alignment penalties in EvilHack also weigh far more heavily against the hero's fortunes, especially if they have not yet completed their Quest.
Vecna will not be drawn into combat by most methods of aggravating monsters, but a drum of earthquake or Gjallar will still work.
The robe of drain resistance Vecna generates with is likely to be very useful for those seeking aid in maintaining casting power while in Gehennom, as it is a valuable asset for inevitable later fights against wraiths and vampires (including Vlad the Impaler and his Lifestealer).
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History
Vecna is first introduced to EvilHack in version 0.7.0 as part of three commits that add Vecna's Domain as a new branch.[1][2][3]
Origin
Vecna is an original creation of Dungeons & Dragons, where he originally was a background figure that became popular enough to feature as a major antagonist. He is named for fantasy author Jack Vance, who among other achievements developed the "fire-and-forget" magic system that would come to be used in D&D and many other fantasy works.
Vecna is first mentioned in Eldritch Wizardry, the third supplement to the original Dungeons & Dragons game co-developed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Brian Blume, who co-authored the supplement with Gygax, introduced the Hand and Eye of Vecna as the only remnants of a long-destroyed evil lich - no details of the artifacts were ever revealed to Gygax, and the only other fact known was that he had a bodyguard known as Kas. The descriptions of the artifacts in the 2nd edition's Dungeon Master's Guide released in 1989 further expanded on his history, before he finally appeared in person within the 1990 adventure Vecna Lives!; here, he was revealed to be a demigod and the chief antagonist of the adventure. Among the various details of his life, the Greyhawk setting reveals that Kas had ultimately turned traitor and brought about Vecna's (temporary) downfall.
At some point, Vecna had either created or procured The Sword of Kas for his most trusted lieutenant, depending on the edition; details of Kas's service to Vecna and subsequent betrayal likewise vary. What remains consistent across tellings is that Kas used the sword against his former master in a pitched battle that left neither standing: Vecna was destroyed save for his hand and left eye, and Kas had been flung into faraway planes, with the Sword, Hand and Eye as the only remaining objects in the area after the fight.
During the various editions of Dungeons & Dragons, Vecna has served as a lesser deity with dominion over the undead; he has also appeared as a god of secrets. It has been suggested that the Hand and Eye were inspired by similar items from the Eternal Champion series of works by Michael Moorcock (specifically, the Hand of Kwll and the Eye of Rhynn). Vecna also took the half-demon child known as Acererak under his tutelage, leading to Acererak becoming a powerful lich in his own right.
Encyclopedia entry
Vecna's early life was clouded in legend and contradiction.
Most accounts stated that he was originally a human wizard
from Oerth, although some reports claimed that he was a half-elf.
After having become an extremely powerful wizard and starting to
fear for his own mortality, Vecna was taught by Orcus how to
achieve undeath, later becoming one of the most powerful liches
ever in existence.
During his reign, Vecna trusted his lieutenant Kas with most
administrative tasks. He forged the powerful Sword of Kas as an
instrument of his lieutenant's authority. However, Vecna's evil,
manifested in the sword, seduced Kas into usurping and killing his
master.
