Venger, D&Done's new (yet old) high-CR threat?

[Unoriginal]

Hi follks.

I had a speculation, and I wanted to share it.

So, a while ago, the game devs said that they were preparing something with Venger, the main villain of the D&D cartoon, for the TTRPG.

Since neither of the last two 5e adventure books will have the evil Sorcerer in them (unless they seriously modify something in the Staircase anthology book), then it is certain that if Venger shows up, it will be in a post-rule-changebooks.

However, since the recent article on the topic mentions adding Venger's name to the PHB lexicon for new players and that there will be more Tiamat-level threats for high-level PCs, I'm starting to think it's possible one of said threats will be Venger.

It doesn't make much sense to add a name in the PHB lexicon unless the character is relevant for the whole edition, after all, and even being the BBEG of an adventure module wouldn't justify that.

So, what do you think?

[Psyren]

We've gotten stats for Venger before (in the 3.5e ASH book) so him getting a 5e update seems reasonable to me. I think it's more likely that they release his statblock online rather than putting it in the PHB though - putting his stats there would ruin the surprise for any DM who wants to use him against their players.

[Saelethil]

They also said there would be new spells so there could just be a couple Venger spells joining the likes of Tasha and Bigby.

[Evaar]

Do people really have this much nostalgia for the D&D cartoon? They keep looping it into stuff. I've been into D&D most of my life, and I'm of an age where I could've watched that cartoon contemporaneously ... but I didn't, and I don't care to start.

Anyway all that is just to say his name makes me think of the following phrase:

'vengers, 'ssemble!

[Psyren]

Do people really have this much nostalgia for the D&D cartoon? They keep looping it into stuff. I've been into D&D most of my life, and I'm of an age where I could've watched that cartoon contemporaneously ... but I didn't, and I don't care to start.

I'd say that whether there is a large amount of existing nostalgia for the cartoon isn't actually the point. Rather, the point is that the cartoon characters and setting are a few of the D&D things WotC unequivocally owns, without the gray area that things like the tabletop game mechanics or terms like "Advantage" might represent, and so pushing those elements to the forefront makes replicating D&D by competitors that much harder. Hasbro has a lot of resources to try and make fetch happen.

[Blatant Beast]

Do people really have this much nostalgia for the D&D cartoon? They keep looping it into stuff. I've been into D&D most of my life, and I'm of an age where I could've watched that cartoon contemporaneously ... but I didn't, and I don't care to start.

Anyway all that is just to say his name makes me think of the following phrase:

'vengers, 'ssemble!

This is a link to a commercial than ran in Brazil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msDp_k-Fid4 This might be a case where there is more under heaven and earth then is dreamt of in your philosophy.:smallbiggrin: Apparently the old D&D cartoon show saw more play in Brazilian re-runs, than in the USA.

As a kid I enjoyed the cartoon, it had elements I could not stand, but a few episodes were quite poignant, and Venger was an interesting villain.

Am I going to purchase a new product just because characters and elements from the D&D Cartoon are in it? No, but I am also not going to shy away from a product that seems good, because WotC decided to re-use some characters from the Cartoon.

[Segev]

Am I going to purchase a new product just because characters and elements from the D&D Cartoon are in it? No, but I am also not going to shy away from a product that seems good, because WotC decided to re-use some characters from the Cartoon.

I am shying away precisely because, the further they got into the UAs, the less I thought the product would be good.

[Dr.Samurai]

Warduke and Grimsword look cool enough that I HOPE they are included and get new art and stats :smallcool:

Oh and Zarak!

[Unoriginal]

Do people really have this much nostalgia for the D&D cartoon? They keep looping it into stuff. I've been into D&D most of my life, and I'm of an age where I could've watched that cartoon contemporaneously ... but I didn't, and I don't care to start.

I've only watched the cartoon as an adult. It's not the best by any means, but it is still pretty good.

Venger is definitively one of the best parts of the cartoon, maybe the best part.

"Beware what you say when you speak of magic, Wizard, or you shall see who has the greater power."

Venger, "The Treasure of Tardos".

[Tawmis]

Being the old man that I am, and being into D&D as long as I have been - I definitely watched the cartoons when it came out.
And bought the DVD when it came out - which was cool, because they had all the weapons and such, from the cartoon with stats (pretty sure it was 2e or 3e, I'd need to dig out the DVD set).
That said, I still love the cartoon (it's one of the things I have put on my iPad so I can watch it on travel and such).
It'd be cool to see those weapons, those characters, etc., in some official way - obviously, including Venger.
I even bought Dragons of Stormwreck Isle because the cover clearly shows two of the characters from the show.
And I thought, "Oh, cool - they probably have stats for these as potential characters to use in the adventure."
So that was misleading, unfortunately.
Wouldn't be surprised if Venger ends up in the Vecna thing, since it mentions going across the multiverse...

[Unoriginal]

Wouldn't be surprised if Venger ends up in the Vecna thing, since it mentions going across the multiverse...

That was what I expected, and it would have been great, but nope, no Venger to be found in that module.

[Tawmis]

That was what I expected, and it would have been great, but nope, no Venger to be found in that module.

Ah, a bummer! (Also I wasn't aware the full module had released! I know D&D Beyond was doing little mini "Vecna" related modules).

[paladinn]

Do people really have this much nostalgia for the D&D cartoon? They keep looping it into stuff. I've been into D&D most of my life, and I'm of an age where I could've watched that cartoon contemporaneously ... but I didn't, and I don't care to start.

Anyway all that is just to say his name makes me think of the following phrase:

'vengers, 'ssemble!

The D&D cartoon was a lot of people's first exposure to anything to do with the game. It took what was a niche game for geek-nerds (like me) to be played in their homes or at school and put it front and center on Saturday morning, when All kids were watching cartoons. I personally think it helped keep the game alive when it was waning, especially during the "Satanic panic".

Yeah it was silly and anyone who knew the game might be dismissive. But it served a purpose.

And if you don't care to start watching or taking an interest, by all means, don't.

[Psyren]

Venger is on the nuDMG cover apparently: https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/staying-in/dungeons--dragons-dungeon-masters-32900122

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/staying-in/article32900110.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/1_R5E_DMG_CvrTrad_FullCvr_052124.jpg

The other characters on the cover appear to be Warduke (https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Warduke) and Skylla, who I believe also showed up in the cartoon.

[Blatant Beast]

I am not fond of what Venger looks like on the cover, their torso, seems unnecessarily elongated.
Outside of that minor quibble, the cover seems fine. Is that a Dragon shaped altar, or a colossal Draco-lich behind the big V?

[Psyren]

My money is on Dracolich since they probably want a dragon (or dragon-adjacent creature) to feature on all the covers somewhere.

[Envyus]

Venger is on the nuDMG cover apparently: https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/staying-in/dungeons--dragons-dungeon-masters-32900122

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/staying-in/article32900110.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/1_R5E_DMG_CvrTrad_FullCvr_052124.jpg

The other characters on the cover appear to be Warduke (https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Warduke) and Skylla, who I believe also showed up in the cartoon.
Warduke showed up in the cartoon and every edition.

Skylla did not, but she has shown up in multiple places

[Psyren]

Since we're on the topic of the DMG cover, the alt cover has been released too:

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bbTpPQoVmVatz38YpPWT7X-1200-80.jpg

Minthara would be proud. (Well, pre-Act 1 Minthara anyway.)

[Blatant Beast]

I like the Venger cover better, overall, even with Venger's oddly proportioned torso.

[Psyren]

So far I prefer all the standard covers to the FLGS-collector ones. I do like the strikingly different color themes though.

[Blatant Beast]

Lord Soth on the 5e Alt Dragonlance cover, is pretty nice, in my opinion.
I do like the brown Ombre effect, and the gold scroll work on the 2024 DMG alt cover. My issue is the image of Loth is a little too cute for my taste.