Robert Pleasant 
Dead By Daylight is no stranger to crossovers, featuring characters, monsters, and settings from across horror movies and games, but it’s going in a new direction with an upcoming collab with Dungeons and Dragons.
DnD’s 50th anniversary will be commemorated in a number of different ways, and with a number of different collabs. As part of this, one of the game’s most fearsome figures will be joining iconic movie monsters like Freddy Krueger and Chucky, and video game characters including Pyramid Head and Alan Wake. A Dead By Daylight DLC will add the iconic DnD archlich, Vecna, as a new killer, along with two survivors and a new map.
The new crossover has been officially revealed, describing Vecna’s necromantic abilities and how the survivors may be able to escape him. The game will also add a pair of new survivors to choose from.
Dead By Daylight’s DnD characters revealed, DLC release date confirmed
Dungeons and Dragons’ Vecna will be added to Dead by Daylight as a killer, while Aestri Yazar and Baemar Uraz will be survivors. Along with the announcement, we received a trailer showcasing Vecna, voiced ominously by Critical Role DM and voice actor Matthew Mercer, who Baldur’s Gate 3 players will also recognize as the voice of Minsc.
As with any game of DnD, players can search for magic items hidden in treasure chests, including the legendary Hand of Vecna and Eye of Vecna. The eye grants survivors invisibility after they leave a locker, while the hand allows them to teleport between lockers. Dead by Daylight is seemingly leaning on its DnD source material by incorporating a new RNG mechanic, where these items have a chance to backfire if players roll “a critical failure.”
The new expansion also adds the Forgotten Ruins map, inspired by classic DnD dungeons.
The Dungeons and Dragons DLC will be added to Dead by Daylight on June 3, 2024.
Who is Vecna?
Vecna is one of DnD’s most iconic villains, and has been since being added in the Greyhawk setting in Second Edition. They were a human king and wizard who mastered the secrets of undeath to become a powerful lich, then a plane-traveling archlich. Complementing this power are massive armies of undead and worshippers.
However, he was betrayed and struck down in battle with his own lieutenant, the vampire Kas, leaving only his hand and eye behind. Those two pieces of him still carry great power and will, becoming legendary evil artifacts in their own right.
Even after his defeat, Vecna’s undead spirit continued on, allowing him to spread his corruption and bring about his return. Eventually, he ascended to godhood, becoming the god of secrets. In Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, Vecna has just made his latest return in Vecna: Eve of Ruin, where players must stop him from reshaping the multiverse in his image.
Who are Aestri and Baemar?
Dead By Daylight introduces two new survivors; the bards Aestri Yazar and Baemar Uraz.
Aestri and Baemar are not existing Dungeons and Dragons characters, as they’re made specifically for Dead by Daylight. As bards, they rely on music and magic, and the announcement hints that the music they play can help guide players to magic items and survival.
