This review has been sponsored provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.
Designed by: Daniel Kahn
Before we get started, please go read/watch my Roll20 Review of Vecna: Eve of Ruin, and especially my Ranking video of Eve of Ruin’s multiversal chapters.
…
…
…
This review contains Major Spoilers for Vecna: Eve of Ruin!!
…
…
…
Traversing Tovag is designed to replace Chapter 5 of 5e campaign adventure Vecna: Eve of Ruin, aka the Barovia chapter, aka the chapter I ranked at the very bottom of my ranking video.
Turns out, one of my all-time favorite DMs Guild designers also wasn’t a fan!
Like Barovia, Tovag is a Domain of Dread within Ravenloft. The theme is a little more vague than Barovia’s, a tyrannical police state where people age faster, and the land surrounded by active volcanos.
But most importantly, Tovag is the home domain of Kas the vampire, a major character in Vecna: Eve of Ruin (certainly a more prominent and interesting villain than Vecna himself!).
Instead of, or in addition to, being teleported to Barovia and the Death House to search for a piece of the Rod of Seven Parts, the party ends up in Tovag.
The rod piece has been discovered by one of Kas’ generals, Tejen, who now leads the domain in his master’s absence.
Remember: Kas is currently cosplaying as Mordenkainen during most of the chapters of Eve of Ruin.
The 14th level party appears in the city of Tor Gorak where they meet Deurant, a member of the local resistance against Kas’ tyrrannical rule.
After evading Kas’ SS-equivalents, known as Daggers, the party is introduced to Vocar, a knowledgeable priest who wants to help the party retrieve the rod piece (or simply escape Tovag, if they got the rod piece in Barovia).
Vocar is actually a secret cultist of Vecna, and he senses the supernatural Vecna-link the party possesses (from the end of Chapter 1). He incorrectly thinks they’re agents of Vecna, which makes for an awesome twist at the end.
Vocar helps guide the party across Tovag towards Kas’ fortress. They can encounter several scripted encounters, including fire elementals from a volcanic blast, or resistance leaders returning from the fortress with helpful intel.
The fortress and surrounding areas are almost devoid of guards, as most of Kas’ forces are arriving in the Plane of Pandemonium as depicted in Chapter 10 of Eve of Ruin.
Once inside, the party learns some of Kas’ backstory and motivations as a former general to the archlich. They witness a deathlock mastermind transforming captured locals into enhanced soldiers, and take on the fortress’ current boss, Tejen, a soul-rending warrior.
Then Vocar congratulates the party on dealing a crushing blow to Kas. Hail Vecna!
Wait, what?
In a wonderful twist, Vocar, a CR 17 super-cleric, reveals his true loyalties, and the party has another major boss fight on their hands, and witnesses the rivalry between the two titanic figures through their proxies. Hell yeah!
As much as I love the story, and lore-focus on Kas (and the accompanying map art!), I expected more from the final dungeon crawl.
The Fortress of Kas is only seven rooms; much, much smaller than most of the mega-dungeons depicted in the other chapters of Eve of Ruin, and there’s not enough content in Tovag itself to make up for it.
I hate looking a gift-horse in the mouth — and make no mistake, a Dan Kahn enhancement to the weakest chapter in Eve of Ruin is absolutely a gift. But 14th level PCs can take on a heck of a lot, and the seat of power for a dread lord vampire should have a lot more going on, whether the dread lord is there or not!
Pros:
- Swaps Barovia for the more plot-relevant Tovag (or as an additional domain after Barovia)
- Utilizes the Power of Secrets from Eve of Ruin
- Excellent twist-betrayal and surprise final boss fight with a Vecna cultist
- Full color map art (Dungeonae Art, Saga Mackenzie)
- Professional layout and design
Cons:
- Fortress of Kas is a little too short and small, especially for 14th level.
The Verdict: Traversing Tovag fixes the weakest chapter of Vecna: Eve of Ruin, while smartly staying within the Ravenloft theme, and expanding on the lore surrounding Kas.
A review copy of “Traversing Tovag” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.
RogueWatson 