#BrinaReads Doomed Forgotten Realms Volume Three: Fall of Vecna by Scott McClintock, Quill & Cauldron, & a huge team of talented creators

This is a read-through & review thread, which I am taking a look at at the request of project lead who provided me with a copy of the game, my own fascination with the #DoomedForgottenRealms setting, & my partner's recommendations as they have been having a wonderful time taking their group through the previous volumes in this series.

#TTRPG #DnD
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Before I get into the read-through:

I explained my feelings about TTRPG factionalism and my feelings regarding Hasbro/ Wizards of the Coast yesterday on this thread:
https://dice.camp/@SebrinaCalkins/109638993582567222

This was before more was released/ I was aware of the breadth of the ramifications of the changes to the OGL. Now is the time to be compassionate towards 3rd party content creators dealing with the ramifications of this bombshell. Please save any understandable bike for those who deserve it...

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Entwife Experience (Brina) (@[email protected])

Something I wanted to address ahead of an upcoming read-through: I don't usually cover a lot of Dungeons & Dragons because WOTC/ Hasbro are vile, DM's Guild has an awful history with what they have & haven't censored/ allowed, etc., and I generally want to focus on indie games, especially as they are what I play the most of these days, but reviewing things on the Guild is what got me into reviews and hype years ago and there are phenomenal people making content around the Dragon Game... 1/5

Dice.camp

...not those getting absolutely screwed over. Please and thank you.

Without further ado let's get into the Doomed Forgotten Realms, which is exactly what it says on the tin. The FR being the 'default' fantasy setting of D&D5e & the bulk of its official campaigns & the Doomed part being a What If? style scenario where every the heroes failed & the villains succeeded, all events masterminded, manipulated, &/ or taken advantage of by Vecna, the Arch-Lich, The Undying King, etc., etc.

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"This 240+ page adventure is designed to take players from 10th to 20th level. It is not necessary to have played the previous adventures, and Fall of Vecna can be run as a stand-alone adventure for brand new characters. Additionally, advice has been provided to help transition higher level characters from other [WOTC] products. Best yet, the product’s modular nature allows DMs to selectively pick and choose content to embed within their own homebrew campaign"

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/421754?affiliate_id=1507682

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Fall of Vecna - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Fall of Vecna - Imagine a world where Tiamat was summoned successfully. Where the Princes of Elemental Evil tread unfettered. Where

As a whole, the Doomed Forgotten Realm has truly been a who's who of established D&D characters, locations and creatures, getting amongst it and writing a unique saga in its creation and in the running and adventuring that makes this perfect for the hardcore fan or those dipping their toes back in or making an epic farewell to the setting/ game.

That's not to say that this is just for established players as the epic setting and adventures offer something for all, including specific aid...

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For new players and DMs in the first volume, Academy of Adventure, but I'll srep back and overview the series after looking at the overview of the Fall of Vecna, which is the focus of this thread.
This volume includes, some breaking and entering of the Brotherhood of the Arcane's Hosttower in Luskan, a holiday in the Domains of Dread to learn the secrets of Lich King in Ravenloft, taking a dip in Jarlaxle's magical submarine, the Scarlet Marpenoth, to do battle with an ancient Kraken,...

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...hijacking the beyond gargantuan Adamantine 'Titan of Death', Vonindod, who Chris Perkins once jokingly gave the stats: "AC 30; hp 5,000; 2 fists (+20 to hit, 20d10 damage); 300-ft. death ray (DC 30 save or die); Spd 50 ft., fly 100 ft.", teaming up with Halaster Blsclcloak, the *sigh* 'Mad Mage of the Undermountain', rescue the one of the most famous dwarves of all time, Bruenor Battlehammer, from the Elemental Plane of Earth, before finally sneaking into Waterdeep through Skullport...

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...to face the ultimate BBEG of BBEGs, the Arch-Lich of Arcb-Liches, and general very naughty boy before he completes his final ascension and destroys the realms once and for all...

So there's a lot to do and 240ish pages to do it in, which is good but doable with the average 5e campaign sitting at 250ish pages.

Even as I have played and focused less on D&D, Doomed Forgotten Realms really appealed to me. I just love alternate darkest timeliness and if we're playing in established...

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...settings, I love seeing all the cool stuff I've read about or touched upon in other adventures

I could see how somome might regard this as fan service, but these larger than life, legendary elements in the game can make you feel truly a part of these epic tales. Plus it's always fascinating to see how a writer & DM will interpret & play these famous folk

I'm definitely excited to sink my teeth in, but next time I'm going to take a quick look at the Doomed FR Gazetteer & previous volumes

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Doomed Forgotten Realms Volume Three: Fall of Vecna by Scott McClintock, Quill & Cauldron

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/421754?affiliate_id=1507682

Fall of Vecna - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Fall of Vecna - Imagine a world where Tiamat was summoned successfully. Where the Princes of Elemental Evil tread unfettered. Where

Continuing my look at the #DoomedForgottenRealms, I'm looking at the DFR: Sword Coast Gazetteer to get to grips with the darkest time line setting, which is such a great idea I'm sure Wizards are pissed they didn't come up with it themselves. But we're not talking about shitty companies and awful decisions right now, we're looking at the inspired decision to say, 'nope, actually everyone fails, you're all dead, and all the bad folx win!'.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/398215/Doomed-Forgotten-Realms-Sword-Coast-Gazetteer?affiliate_id=1507682
#TTRPG #DnD #DMsGuild

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Doomed Forgotten Realms: Sword Coast Gazetteer - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Doomed Forgotten Realms: Sword Coast Gazetteer - Has your group ever lost a Dungeons & Dragons adventure like Storm King’s Thunder, Tomb of Annihilation, or De

The Doomed Forgotten Realms contains "a Sword Coast where everything in the world has gone wrong. In all the possible alternative timelines, this one is the darkest, but that doesn’t mean it’s beyond redemption. There’s always hope for good to emerge victorious at the end of the day"

Shit is fucked up in a big way!

Volo still a guide, even in death in this forsaken time and place acts as the reader's Virgil.

Abandon all hope, ye who adventure here!

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"Lone adventurers, scattered from the frozen tundra of Ice-wind Dale to the risen necrotic city of Warlock’s Crypt, share nothing but the bloody red skies above them. A solemn pala-din kneels in supplication to the five-headed statue of Tiamat, the god-dragon that takes to the skies each day. A deceitful rogue creeps through the cobwebbed corridors of the lich-claimed Candlekeep, seeking treasure and knowledge in equal measure...

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...A haggard wizard, feeling the sea breeze against her braided locks, hazily recalls what life was like before Vecna the Whispered One emerged. They all do what they must to survive in a land that is well and truly doomed"

I realm like how this bit of prose and snapshots of former and/ or potential adventurers persisting, but scraping by doing sketchy world in this oppressive and awful world.

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This is another big quote, but it's worth it:
"Consent is Key
An evil campaign isn’t for everyone. It is of the utmost importance that any themes have been discussed and approved by everyone at the table to ensure that everyone has a good time. If you haven’t discussed these themes with your group beforehand, sit down to have the discussion of what “evil” is expected.
Even if you’ve discussed it previously and everyone approved it...

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...if a player expresses discomfort during play, pause a moment to check in. It’s perfectly okay to rewind, reset, and pick up a different story thread. Nothing is more important than player safety.
Chapter 4 of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft provides guidance on safe, consensual play. You may also appreciate the free resources in the TTRPG Safety Toolkit (by Kienna Shaw and Lauren Bryant-Monk) and Consent in Gaming (by Sean K. Reynolds and Shanna Germain)."

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I simply had to highlight this phenemonal note on consent and safety tools, particularly in relation to an evil campaign, with fantastic advice, explanation and resources. You love to see it!

TTRPG Safety Toolkit co-curated by Kienna Shaw and Lauren Bryant-Monk: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/114jRmhzBpdqkAlhmveis0nmW73qkAZCj

Consent in Gaming by Sean K. Reynolds and Shanna Germain: https://www.montecookgames.com/consent-in-gaming/

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TTRPG Safety Toolkit – Google Drive

Doomed Forgotten Realms: Sword Coast Gazetteer - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Doomed Forgotten Realms: Sword Coast Gazetteer - Has your group ever lost a Dungeons & Dragons adventure like Storm King’s Thunder, Tomb of Annihilation, or De

The gloriously evil premise of the Doomed Forgotten Realms:

"Imagine the worst possible ending for each published dungeons & dragons fifth edition adventure path all happening one after another: Tyranny of Dragons, Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Tomb of Annihilation, Storm King’s Thunder, Descent into Avernus, and Rime of the Frostmaiden. In each adventure, those supposed heroes were slain in their conquest or never answered the call for aid."

#BrinaReads #DnD
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Just some of the big changes

1485 Out of the Abyss: The Demon Lords come through, but are too busy consuming the Underdark, so only an illithid and a duregar settlements remain, and infighting to go topside.
Zyggtmoy, the Demon Queen, gains Mega Evolution...

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1489 Hoard of the Dragon Queen/ Rise of Tiamat: The Mask of Tiamat is restored, the Wyrmspeaker serves as an entrée for three of the, if not good, certainly the biggest and most capable factions, before going incognito
1490 Tomb of Annihilation and Storm King's Thunder: Vecna returns and rolls on Waterdeep with the Zhentarim...

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...The Giant's go there separate ways, but with noone to help, the storm giants lose their home and the frost giants party with Auril making Icewind Dale a perpetual winter wonderland.

1491 Princes of the Apocalypse: The Princes of Elemental Evil come do their thing, their cults merge under Tharizdun, the deity who created the Abyss', deception...only for Vecna to chuck a master ball at them when they turn up

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1492 Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Dungeon of the Mad Mage: The Frostmaiden makes it Ice Icewind-Baby-Dale and the Durgear who have been worshipping Asmodeus, thinking him their demigoddess.
Waterdeep is an absolute nightmare in too many ways to list here and the Undermountain is now its own demiplane

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1494 Descent Into Avernus: Baldur's Gate becomes Helldoor's Gate in Avernus & the wavefront defending against demonic incursions & Zariel goes ultimate, while the Demon Lords are busy partying in the Underdark

1495-1500 Present Day: Vecna is large & in charge, using dwarven strongholds to funnel Demons towards Helldoor's Gate

Shit Is Fucked Up!

I love alternative histories, everything being awful & all the realms being on the line!

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@SebrinaCalkins be a good Shadow of the Demon Lord setup

@bluetyson Absolutely! Honestly, I think this project is awesome and my partner has been running this for their group for a while now and is enjoying it. I would love to find other systems that work for this because it's too great an idea and, so far, execution to not do see more action with me not planning to run anymore D&D.

Thanks for the reminder to check actually get around to reading that!

@SebrinaCalkins Yes, it sounds pretty cool. There's a Savage Worlds campaign where all the heroes are dead, and aliens invade I think - so all that is left are villains.