Vecna is a powerful evil deity in the Dungeons & Dragons multiverse, yet those who find items that once belonged to him will be granted incredible magical powers. The mages in Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn also benefitted from one of the lost relics of Vecna, as his robes somehow made their way to the land of Faerun. It's worthwhile for the player to seek out the Robes of Vecna, as they are easily the best set of magical robes in the game and they will make mages a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.
In the D&D multiverse, Vecna is the God of Secrets in the world of Oerth from the Greyhawk campaign setting. Vecna was once a mortal spellcaster, who transformed into a lich, and attempted to ascend to godhood, but was betrayed by his lieutenant, and had one of his eyes and hands torn off in the conflict. The Hand and Eye of D&D's Vecna became legendary artifacts of the highest order and the temptation to gain their powers has caused many a saintly soul to go looking for an ax so that they can gain even a portion of Vecna's magical might. The loss of limbs didn't quell Vecna's ambitions, as he later ascended to godhood. Vecna's missing body parts retained some of the power of their master and those who are willing to remove a body part and replace it with one of Vecna's will receive that power, though their soul will eventually be lost to Vecna.
Vecna's body parts are the most famous magic items associated with the God of Secrets, but he forged many in life and unlife that still make the rounds in the multiverse. Vecna was maimed by the Sword of Kas, which he created himself, with the Sword of Kas being one of the strongest weapons in D&D history. As a deity, Vecna possesses a dagger called Afterthought, which is a +5 unholy, ghost touch, wounding blade, though he's much more likely to use spells in combat. At some point in time, Vecna weaved his own robes, which drastically increased the speed at which he cast spells. These robes eventually slipped from Vecna's grasp and made their way to the Forgotten Realms. The Robes of Vecna are incredibly powerful, thanks to how they break the way magic works in the AD&D and Baldur's Gate rules.
In the current D&D 5e rules, most spells have a casting time of 1 Action or 1 Bonus Action. One of D&D's most easily-missed rules involves Bonus Action spells, as the only other spell that can be used that round is a Cantrip. In combat, everyone rolls initiative at the start of a battle, the characters & enemies add their modifiers, and the highest numbers go first. Once it's the caster's turn, they can choose what spells they wish to use.
The first two Baldur's Gate games were based on the 2e Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules, which were considerably different. At the start of the round, each character declared their action and then rolled initiative, with the final result being modified by player actions, with warriors having to add weapon speeds to their rolls, and spellcasters needing to add casting time to their rolls. In most cases, the casting time was the same level as the spell, so a first-level spell only increased the initiative count by one, while a ninth-level spell increased it by 9, to reflect its greater complexity. The Baldur's Gate games adapted the casting time rule by applying it to real-time, with a spell's casting time taking around half a second for a spell with a casting time of 1 and over five seconds for a casting time of 9.
Baldur's Gate 2 had certain Collector's Editions that featured a merchant named Deidre, who could be found hanging out in the Adventurer Mart. Deidre was added in a free update and is included in Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn Enhanced Edition. Players might be wary about visiting her, as she sells some of the most powerful equipment in the game, including the Shield of Balduran, which reflects beholder rays, making one of the most difficult dungeons in the game a total breeze. Deidre also sold items based on characters from Planescape Torment, suggesting that she has traveled the multiverse in search of wares.
By far the most broken item sold by Deidre is the Robes of Vecna, which have somehow found their way to Faerun. The Robes of Vecna might not be in the same league as Vecna's fabled missing limbs, but many mages would kill for such an item. A mage who wears the Robes of Vecna has their AC set to 5 (as this was in the days of D&D's dreaded THAC0 rule), received 10% magic resistance, and had all casting times reduced by 4. This meant that some of the best spells in the game were cast instantaneously, while the animation was still playing. In the first round of combat, a mage could fire off a haste, slow, dispel magic, silence, magic missile, sleep, confusion, stoneskin, ice storm, or fireball before an enemy side can react, which is especially useful for interrupting other spellcasters and potentially causing their spells to fizzle. The Robes of Vecna's effect could also be stacked with an Amulet of Power, which reduces the casting time by another level, allowing fifth-level spells like cloudkill, breach, and chaos to be thrown out quickly.
It's unclear how the Robes of Vecna would work in D&D 5e, outside of reducing a regular spell's casing time to that of a Bonus Action, in the same way as a sorcerer using Metamagic. The upcoming D&D 5.5 rules are meant to be backward compatible with existing rules, so spellcasting will likely be much the same as before It might be best for the creators of Dungeons & Dragons and Baldur's Gate 3 to leave the Robes of Vecna well enough alone, as spellcasters already have a ton of powerful abilities to their name, and they don't need Vecna's hand-me-downs making them any stronger.
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