Summary
Vecna: Eve of Ruin takes a party of three to six 10th-level characters through all of the most famous settings ever created forDungeons & Dragons. This high-level adventure is an homage to the success of the fifth edition and all of the amazing worlds that comprise the D&D multiverse.
Though these settings are all truly remarkable, it’s difficult not to compare them. Many settings have enjoyed more popularity from the D&D community, but that doesn’t necessarily make them the best. Without further ado, let’s look at all the settings your party can expect to visit and why you should be excited to go there.
Official 5e Modules
Curse of Strahd
It’s hard to be a fan of fifth edition without having some kind of familiarity with Ravenloft. Created by Tracy and Laura Hickman (Dragonlance) as well as others, this gothic horror setting revolves around stories about the creatures of the night including zombies, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and more.
Ravenloft exists in its own demiplane which is one of many demiplanes known as the Domains of Dread. Each demiplane or domain is ruled by a darklord that is forever trapped within the demiplane it rules. It almost goes without saying that the Darklord of Ravenloft is none other than the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich.
Eve of Ruin mostly takes place in death house which is anoptional dungeon at the beginning of Curse of Strahd. This version of death house is much more gnarly than the original, and players familiar with the location will greatly enjoy this reimagination. The party is accompanied by an NPC for most of this adventure though which can often be tedious.
Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
Arguably the most controversial setting on this list, Dragonlance is better known by most for its book series rather than its potential as a D&D campaign setting. When the Dragonlance setting was created by Margaret Weis and Laura and Tracy Hickman, they proposed to release a storyline of books alongside its printed campaign modules.
As it would happen, the books became enormously popular and have entertained fans of fantasy well outside the D&D genre for decades. Unfortunately, the success of the books and plans for future campaign modules eventually butted heads. This resulted in Dragonlance being dropped as an officially published setting for nearly two decades.
This setting is especially compelling in the adventure as it presents the party with the question of whether their quest for the rod of seven parts is more important than the well-being of the realms they visit. It’s easy enough to cut a deal with the tyrannical Lord Soth, but at what cost? Good-aligned werewolves are also a nice change of pace, especially in a book that visits Ravenloft.
Spelljammer Academy
Light of Xaryxis
Originally created by Jeff Grubb, Spelljammer is a setting that focuses on space travel and allows a canonical method for creatures to travel from one world or setting to another. That method is the setting’s namesake: spelljammers.
The spelljammer is actually a single ship with a city on its back which is said to have traveled through space since as long as anyone can remember. However, this ship has only been seen by very few and many question whether or not it truly exists. Consequently, the way the majority of people travel through the Astral Sea is by the use of spelljamming helms.
In the spelljammer section of the book, the party has to fend off terrifying space fish, explore a wrecked ship attached to a dying god, and unravel the mystery of the wreck’s survivors. There’s quite a bit of detective work to be done here among colorful spelljammer species, including the giff, celestials, githyanki, and the devious slaadi.
N/A
This fan favorite setting was actually created for a contest called the Wizards of the Coast’s Fantasy Setting Search which ran back in 2002. Among 11,000 entries, Keith Baker’s Eberron setting was chosen as the winner and the Eberron Campaign Setting book was published in 2004.
A large part of the reason the Eberron setting won this contest is thanks to its unique attributes. In fact, it’s safe to say that Eberron is the most unique setting in this list, as it features many elements that are absent from all other settings. Some of these elements include the warforged species, a morally grey world, the roots of theartificer class, clerics who don’t need gods, and more.
Eberron is portrayed particularly well in Eve of Ruin, thanks to the use of a dismantled colossus as a dungeon. As the party explores the dungeon, they find out they are being hunted by subordinates of the Lord of Blades: warforged interested in bloody conquest.
White Plume Mountain
Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Often falsely referred to as the first campaign world for D&D, Greyhawk is designer Gary Gygax’s very own homebrewed setting. It’s called Greyhawk, as Castle Greyhawk was the name of the mega-dungeon that Gygax’s players spent the majority of their time exploring during the campaign.
While Greyhawk is one of the least popular actively played settings in the modern day, some of D&D’s most popular characters are from this setting. The cast of notables includes many wizards for whom spells have been titled such as Otto, Melf, Drawmij, Bigby, and, most famously, Mordenkainen.
Opening the party’s visit to Greyhawk with an encounter against a kraken is the stuff high-level adventures are made of. Furthermore, the tomb of wayward souls offers some compelling challenges, even for high-level characters, in the form of traps, riddles, and powerful guardians. Best of all, the tomb’s undead overseer is open to a change of heart despite his evil purpose.
Princes of the Apocalypse
Out of the Abyss
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk
As Wizards of the Coast’s favored setting, the Forgotten Realms has enjoyed widespread popularity due to its use as the primary setting for most published fifth-edition adventures. Originally created by Ed Greenwood for use in his home campaign, the Forgotten Realms became the default setting for official publications after Gygax lost control of TSR in 1985.
Many popular books take place in this setting: chief among them are R.A. Salvatore’s novels. Funnily enough, most players are unaware that the Forgotten Realms setting is closely linked to our own planet of Earth. In fact, the name “the Forgotten Realms” calls to the fact that the setting’s inhabitants have forgotten about the setting’s ancient ties to Earth.
Opening an adventure with a bang is arguably the most important part of drawing the players into a campaign. Thankfully, the Forgotten Realms succeeds in this endeavor by introducing the party to a Lolth hideout known as Web’s Edge, where Lolth worshippers currently plan their next move. There’s also a spiderdragon, which is an incredible first boss encounter.
Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel
Quests from the Infinite Staircase
Authored by David “Zeb” Cook, Planescape is like Spelljammer but without as much of a focus on travel via spelljamming helms and ships. Instead, this setting sees you travel to different worlds, planes, and settings via portals found in the most ambitious city ever created: Sigil, the City of Doors.
Sigil is a city chock full of every species and monster found in the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Here, you can find angels and demons haggling with one another, theavatars of godswalking alongside mortals, and every other strange interaction between typically opposed creatures that would normally attempt to kill one another on sight.
This is the final setting the party will visit in their quest to complete the rod of seven parts. Mechanics from Descent into Avernus, including soul coins and infernal war machines, make a welcome return here. However, the real highlight is the Red Belvedere casino, where the party can gamble, fight in an arena, brave a maze, and much more.
