New DDI article: Can't a vampire and a lich learn to unlive in peace?
My latest Dragon contribution, "History Check: Kas and Vecna," is online on the D&D site. (A DDI subscription is necessary to download the PDF.) Check it out! I'm happy for a number of reasons. It presented the opportunity to dive into the decades-long, wild, daunting history of two classic villains: Vecna the Arch-Lich and his vampiric betrayer, Kas the Bloody Handed, who are to me the Thanos and Dr. Doom of D&D. Many talented writers have contributed to the lore of these magnificent bastards, so it was fun to review the exploits from the '80s and '90s and repackage them as an entertaining tale for the new decade.
A new recurring series in Dragon, "History Check" will spotlight classic D&D characters and events, introducing them (and their significance) to newer players while simultaneously providing new, "a-ha!" details for the veteran gamers. Kind of like the "Secret Origins" of D&D. Tricky, yet the reaction on the WotC D&D forums to this kickoff article has been pretty good!
"Kas and Vecna" also allowed me to address their controversial stay in Ravenloft. (Why controversial? Some Ravenloft fans didn't like it because the ultra-powerful duo didn't fit the mood of the setting; non-Ravenloft fans didn't like it because it removed Kas and Vecna from the continuum, so to speak, and arguably made two of the game's greatest baddies look like patsies.) The new article doesn't shy away from any of the stranger twists in their history; in fact, it offered cool creative avenues to explore as I sought to tie all the loose ends together.
Speaking of Ravenloft (as I like to do), friend, future "History Check" writer, and fellow Ravenloft fan Jeff LaSala and I brainstormed on creating the series' key framing concept: a narrator, akin to the Volo's Guide articles in Dragon way back when. The solution was right in front of us: the Vistani. WotC/D&D recently brought the mysterious, gypsy-like travelers back to the game, particularly in Heroes of Shadow and Gloomwrought, and in the 2nd and 3rd edition Ravenloft tales, the Zarovan tribe of the Vistani was especially interested in matters arcane (in all sense of that word). So say hello to Menodora Zarovan in the article. (Ravenloft Forever, baby!)
A quick thanks to WotC's Greg Bilsland, for letting me take a stab at this, to Jeff for his feedback, and to Craig J. Spearing, who created the truly kick-ass illustration that graces the digital cover of Dragon #402 and this blog post. And of course, thanks to Kas the Betrayer, without whose bloodthirsty mania I wouldn't have had anything to write about!