Vecna, the iconic Dungeons & Dragons villain who also appeared in Stranger Things and Critical Role, will be joining Dead by Daylight's killers gallery.
Dead by Daylight is a horror-themed multiplayer video game in which players take on the role of either a killer or a survivor. As a killer, players will seek out other players on the map in order to either cull or kill them all before they can escape. Each killer character has a unique set of abilities, as well as perks designed specifically for them. As survivors, players will attempt to find and repair a series of generators spread across the map, before reaching the exit and escaping.
The video game series has seen the inclusion of several iconic characters from the horror genre, such as Freddy Krueger from Nightmare of Elm Street and Pyramid Head from the Silent Hill video game series. Last week, the official Dead by Daylight account posted a teaser video on X that shows off a Beholder (a fan-favorite D&D monster) inside a dungeon prison, and the video ends by promising viewers more information coming soon.
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This week, it was revealed that the Dungeons & Dragons character joining Dead by Daylight’s cast of assassins will be Vecna. An iconic character from tabletop role-playing game history, Vecna’s first appearance in D&D came in the 1976 book Eldritch Wizardry, a supplement that contained two key artifacts: the Hand of Vecna and the Eye of Vecna, the remains of an incredibly powerful undead sorcerer. Vecna has appeared (fully formed, mind you) in every edition of D&D since, eventually becoming part of the universe’s pantheon.
Vecna was also one of the central villains in the Critical Role game series, threatening Campaign 1’s adventuring party Vox Machina before ultimately being thwarted, and the character became a key part of the official D&D sourcebook for Critical Role: Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount. Netflix’s sci-fi series Stranger Things has featured a version of Vecna in its fourth season – the character appears as an undead sorcerer who manipulates events from the Upside Down.
Now, Vecna will appear as the first Dead by Daylight assassin from D&D in the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons pack for the video game. According to the press release, the character, who is voiced by Critical Role's own Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer, will come with his iconic withered hand, as well as the use of Mage Hand and an arsenal of other powerful spells.
Launching alongside Vecna will be a new Survivor character named Aestri Yazar, a bard who boasts three unique perks: Mirror Illusion, Bardic Inspiration, and Tranquil Vision. In Bardic Inspiration, Aestri will step in to help her fellow Survivor repair the generators, and players will need to pass skill checks to properly use them.
The Dungeons & Dragons pack for Dead by Daylight, which requires the game to play, will be released digitally on June 3.
