It’s the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons this year, and accordingly, Wizards of the Coast is pulling out all the stops. Earlier this summer they released their dimension-hopping high-level adventure, Vecna: Eve of Ruin. In this adventure, you’re tasked with defeating the plans of one of the all-time D&D villains, the archlich Vecna.
If you want to know more about the story of Vecna: Eve of Ruin, you should check out Rory Bristol’s review. But as is the case with other Dungeons & Dragons adventures, Beadle & Grimm’s has put out another huge artisanal boxed set, which includes not only the adventure, but a plethora of maps, handouts, miniatures, and more. This one is a Platinum Edition, much like their release for The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. I was lucky enough to get sent a copy; let’s see what lies inside!
Warning! Some Spoilers for Vecna: Eve of Ruin lie ahead!
What Is the Platinum Edition of Vecna: Eve of Ruin?
The Platinum Edition of Vecna: Eve of Ruin is a boxed set that includes not just the published Wizards of the Coast adventure, but is chock full of tools and items to help a Dungeon Master bring the Dungeons & Dragons 5e adventure to life.
The set retails for $509, and is available on the Beadle & Grimm’s webstore. It contains the following:
- The full module of Vecna: Eve of Ruin broken out into five booklets
- D&D Beyond code for the full digital version of the module
- 3 original Beadle & Grimm’s Bonus Encounters
- 48 half-page art pieces pulled from the book to share with your players
- 54 Encounter Cards
- Epic NPC Encounter Cards
- Additional DM and player aids, including 17 Secret cards
- All in a faux-leather, foil-stamped, foam-lined storage box to display on your game room shelf
- 18 WizKids minis
- The Rod of Seven Parts
- 16 Battle Maps
- Poster and Area Maps
- In-World Handouts
- Custom DM screen
- Artifacts and Tattoos
The whole thing arrived in a large shipping box:
Unpacking the shipping box, there’s the main box for the adventure, a box for the map vault, and a box for the minis.
The back of the main box bears an edition sticker. As you can see, there’s only 1500 of these sets in total that will be printed.
While most of the edition boxes from Beadle & Grimm’s are heavy cardboard, the Vecna: Eve of Ruin box has an embossed faux leather cover, with a magnetic lid. This gives a luxuriousness to the box that welcomes its inclusion on your gaming shelf.
The digital code for the Vecna: Eve of Ruin book on D&D Beyond does not come in the box. This was something that was emailed to me directly after my Platinum Edition had shipped.
Platinum Edition of Vecna: Eve of Ruin – Main Box
Note: I’m listing items in order of how they’re packed into the box. There are a lot of layers to go through!
As with all of the B&G boxes, first up you’ll find a flyer that contains a welcome letter from the Beadle & Grimm’s crew, as well as a list of all the contents that you’ll find in the Platinum Edition.
Next up is a folder that holds both the 8 annotated dungeon maps:
And the player maps:
The maps in the folder are all printed on glossy card, and have an area on the backs for notes.
Underneath the map folder is the adventure book itself, exploded out into 5 softcover booklets for ease of handling by the DM.
Beneath the adventure is the Ruinous Tales From the Warehouse.
These are 3 original, supplemental encounters that can be added into the campaign:
- Rare Imports. An encounter for characters 10th level or higher that takes place in Neverwinter.
- Palenna’s Plight. An encounter for 12th-level characters that takes place in the Astral Sea.
- The Dragon’s Crystal. An encounter for 15th-level characters on the world of Krynn.
While these are bonus encounters, they seamlessly incorporate into the campaign, and can provide extra excitement and variety to the adventure. They have all-new art and writing from the Beadle & Grimm’s team.
Next up is a bundle containing the handouts and Dungeon Master aids. Foremost in usefulness is the Platinum Edition Elements, which is a guide to which elements of the boxed set are used in which chapters of the campaign.
Here’s the rest of the player and DM aids:
As always, the handouts are printed on several varieties of paper stock, to create an immersive feel for the players.
Given that this is a high-level adventure that has the players encountering powerful NPCs throughout the campaign, there are 11 oversized encounter cards for these NPCs.
The oversized cards are for the following NPCs. Again, spoilers:
- Acererak
- Alustriel Silverhand
- Kas the Betrayer
- Lolth the Spider Queen
- Lord Soth
- Miska the Wolf Spider
- Mordenkainen
- Strahd Von Zarovich
- Tasha the Witch
- Tiamat
- Vecna the Archlich
Here’s a closer look at the DM’s side of Tasha’s card:
As with the normal-sized encounter cards that we’re familiar with from other B&G box sets (including this one), the oversized cards are designed to hang over the DM screen, with a picture of the NPC on the player’s side, while all of the pertinent information and stat blocks are on the Dungeon Master’s side.
Speaking of the DM screen, there of course if a custom screen included in the Platinum Edition. Here’s a look at it from the player’s side:
And here’s the interior, which has tables full of information on important NPCs, chapter details, secrets, and the Rod of Seven Parts:
Given its importance to the campaign, there’s a physical representation of the Rod of Seven Parts included in the box.
Made of thick acrylic, these pieces are printed with an image of a piece of the Rod on one side, and a description of the magical ability of each piece on the other side. They fit together puzzle-like to form the whole Rod.
There are 48 half-page art pieces pulled from the book. Like the encounter cards, these are designed to hang over the DM screen. Chapter and page are noted on the other side.
As opposed to previous editions, the art pieces in the Platinum Edition of Vecna: Eve of Ruin are printed on paper stock instead of the heavier card stock reserved for the 47 standard-size encounter cards.
The encounter cards, same as the oversized cards, have artwork on one side, and the stat block on the other.
Finally, nestled in foam at the bottom of the box you’ll find the other artifacts. These are all metal, and represent the following:
- Red Belvedere Casino Talon. The official chip for the infernal casino, it’s printed in Common on one side, and Infernal on the other.
- Soul Coin. Originally included in the Descent Into Avernus editions, it can be used to drive an infernal machine, or as currency at the Red Belvedere Casino.
- Coin of Completion. A mainstay of the B&G editions, this double-sided completion coin can be used for a memento, or as an inspiration token.
Platinum Edition of Vecna: Eve of Ruin – Miniatures Box
The edition contains 18 painted WizKid minis, many with paint schemes unique to this Platinum Edition. An asterisk next to the name of the mini indicates the exclusive paint job:
- Vecna*
- Tasha*
- Alustriel*
- Bearded Devil*
- Black Rose Bearer*
- Blazebear (large)
- Drider (large)
- Eldritch Knight*
- Horned Devil (large)*
- Moonlight Guardian
- Necromancer Wizard
- Red Abishai*
- Spyder-Fiend (x2)*
- Vrock (large)
- Warforged Blade (x2)*
- Kas the Betrayer*
Platinum Edition of Vecna: Eve of Ruin – Map Vault
This newly-designed box makes its debut for the Map Vault for Vecna: Eve of Ruin.
Inside, there are 16 Battlemaps and an area map of The Sanctum.
The back of The Sanctum map has a dry-erase grid, for sketching out encounters:
Here are the 16 battlemaps of key combat areas, printed double-sided:
Platinum Edition of Vecna: Eve of Ruin – The Verdict
Seeing as Vecna: Eve of Ruin is THE big adventure release for Dungeons & Dragons’ 50th anniversary, it’s nice to see that Beadle & Grimm’s has opted to craft an equally impressive Platinum Edition. All the hallmarks of a B&G box set are present, from the encounter cards, to the exploded campaign book, to the finely crafted artifacts.
There are some great new additions, to create that cherry on top. The oversized NPC encounter cards are not only useful because of all the extra information they carry, but the large pictures presented to the players reminds them of those characters’ importance in the campaign. The temporary tattoos are a lot of fun (if only they’d included enough for everyone!) and the new map vault is both attractive and useful for storing all of the battle maps.
As found with the Legendary Edition of Phandelver & Below: The Shattered Obelisk, there are no pre-made characters for players ready to jump right into the campaign. While this absence was notable in Phandelver, it makes much more sense with Vecna because of the high-level nature of the campaign. You definitely wouldn’t want to play this adventure as a noob.
I was a bit disappointed with the paper quality for the art cards, which had formerly been of the same card stock as the encounter cards. The paper feels thin, and it feels like a cost-cutting measure rather than a creative choice. Hopefully this decision will be reversed in later Beadle & Grimm’s editions, but time will tell. Otherwise, the quality of the components is up to typically high B&G standards.
For anyone looking to run this big 50th anniversary love letter to Dungeons & Dragons, the Platinum Edition of Vecna: Eve of Ruin is sure to satisfy your gaming group. It’s a lot of money to invest upfront, but as I’ve pointed out with other Beadle & Grimm’s reviews before, you’re getting a lot in return when you factor in the sheer amount of content, and its quality. Having Dungeon Mastered a few different campaigns using Beadle & Grimm’s editions, I can tell you that my players are incredibly appreciative of what they bring to our TTRPG table.
For more information or to make a purchase, visit the Beadle & Grimm’s webstore!
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Disclosure: GeekDad received a copy of this game for review purposes.
