'Dungeons & Dragons' Could Be Bringing Back Two of Its Most Dangerous Artifacts

It looks like the Hand and Eye of Vecna will play a role an upcoming Dungeons & Dragons adventure.

Earlier this week, WizKids announced a new line of pre-painted miniatures based on the upcoming Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage adventure, which will be released in November of this year. While most of the miniatures will feature monsters and characters from the infamous Undermountain dungeon, WizKids is also making a premium set containing furniture and items from the lab of Halaster the Black, the titular Mad Mage himself.

While most of the items in the new premium set are pieces of furniture or generic magic items, WizKids is also producing a miniature version of two of Dungeons & Dragons' most infamous items: the Hand and Eye of Vecna. These items are the sole remaining physical pieces of Vecna, a lich demigod who is considered to be one of the most powerful and dangerous villains in the game. The artifacts were created after Vecna's physical form was destroyed by his former lieutenant Kas in a massive battle.

The Hand and Eye of Vecna are some of the oldest magic items added to Dungeons & Dragons, having first been introduced in the 1976 Eldritch Wizardry rulebook. Although the items are both fantastically powerful, they come at an intense cost. In order to use them, one most remove their eye and/or hand and then physically graft the items onto their body.

Since the two artifacts appear in the Halaster's Lab set, it's not too much of a stretch to believe that the artifacts will appear in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage adventure, which will send adventurers into the infamous mega-dungeon for unknown reasons.

Dungeons & Dragons already converted both the Hand and Eye of Vecna into items available for Fifth Edition play. The Hand of Vecna specifically grants a player increased strength, and adds extra cold damage to any melee attack made by a weapon held by the hand. The Hand also can also cast certain spells, although using its magical powers leave the user open to a Suggestion spell...which means that the hand could end up controlling its user.

Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage will be released in November of this year. WizKids' miniatures related to the upcoming adventure will be released in February 2019.