Kas On ‘The Eve Of Ruin’ — A Look At The New ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Book

Welcome to the table,

Ruin is upon us! The newest Dungeons & Dragons book, Vecna: Eve of Ruin is officially out and as far as this long-time Storyteller and TTRPG player is concerned, it is super solid and a ton of fun. You can pick it up at your local gaming shop or score a copy over on the D&D store at this link.

While this newest addition to the D&D 5e library sees players exploring a webwork of connected story threads that take players to iconic locations across the multiverse, the heart of the adventure really focuses on the long-time conflict between the eldrich entity Vecna and his once loyal vampiric lieutenant turned enemy, Kas the Betrayer, Kas Bloody Handed, Kas the guy who took Vecna’s eye!

What’s fun about this is that when I was explaining how this was one of the first pre-written adventures I was actually considering running since 3.0/3.5, my table got interested in learning more about Kas. I realized that while we see a ton about Vecna, Tasha, and some of the other key players in the multiverse, there is not as much out there about the sword-swinging warrior who was tempted by a sword and was flung across the multiverse for his troubles.

So who is Kas? His story begins back when Vecna was still mortal. Kas was recruited into the service of Vecna and served him faithfully for centuries, first as a human paladin, and then as time went on he was gifted unlife and served under Vecna as a vampire lord. Kas was so loyal in his service to Vecna that Vecna gifted him a sentient blade known as The Sword of Kas and, for a time, things were amicable as Vecna and Kas cut a bloody path of destruction through the land on their rise to power.

However, as Vecna grew in strength, The Sword of Kas whispered to Kas and played on his ego, his greed, and his own internal lust for power; pitting Kas against his master with designs of seeing its wielder as the ultimate evil across the multiverse.

Kas would turn on Vecna, severing his hand and cutting out his eye before being tossed across time and space, spiraling through the multiverse and eventually ending up in the domain of dread known as Tovag, a dark ruler as much a prisoner to that patch of the Shadowfell as those who would find themselves drawn there by the horrifying mists. He would do all this without his former mater or sentient sword.

The newest books in the D&D library see Kas returning to the forefront after hearing from the Dark Powers of the Dread Domains that Vecna has risen once more and is now rebuilding his power to become the sole ruler of all time and space.

Kas, being the tactician that he is, hatches a brilliant plan that has a lot of lore ramifications — the least of which I am still grappling with as I think the big reveal in this offering changes some of the conversations from past 5th edition offerings, and gives us a brilliant story where, armed with an artifact known as the Crown of Lies, Kas makes powerful moves to take down Vecna once and for all.

The legacy of conflict between Kas and Vecna has echoed through the ages and is as important to me as the fight between He-Man and Skeletor or Mario and Bowser. To see it come back into the forefront in such a fulfilling and meaningful way in Vecna: Eve of Ruin was indeed a treat that I dare say rises to the ranks of “Delightfully Delightful”!

This story has influenced countless campaigns and storylines within the D&D universe, and the artifacts that have been created — the hand, eye, and sword — are some of the most iconic in the history of the tabletop hobby.

If you are on the fence about picking up Vecna: Eve of Ruin, I want to leave you with this. I have run TTRPG games since I was in my single digits. I love this hobby and do my best to consume and enjoy as much of it as I can. One of the first articles I worked on for this site years ago was Vecna’s “glow up” and I have been waiting to see what they were going to do with him for years. I am so happy with the way this book turned out.

Once again, you can grab your own copy at this link or at your local game store!

Until next time, I am so thrilled with what Amanda Hamon and the team did with this, from art direction to the game design to the pacing, I loved everything in this offering and have already been told by my weekly table — a table that has been playing in a homebrew world for over a decade now — that they want to try this out, so clearly this is something special!