I procured a copy of the latest D&D 5e offering, Vecna : Eve of Ruin and casually perused the table of introduction and the chapter summaries. I started thinking to myself, “Self, where have I seen this before?” As I read through it was sounding all too familiar.
Then it dawned on me. This harkens back to 1978, the year of the 16th season of Doctor Who. It seems that Vecna: Eve of Ruin is more than a little similar to the Key To Time story line. As I read further I was sure of it.
I am not sure if was this an intentional homage, did the idea come up from a place where the designers, writers and creative staff didn’t realize where this inspiration was coming from or is it a blatant acquisition figuring no one would pick up on it. I think it is more of the former, an idea that manifested itself from something experienced long ago where only a shell of memory remains almost as if a dream. At the very worst I think it was an homage, taking one of the more memorable story lines from Doctor Who, of which there are many, and bringing it into the world of Dungeons and Dragons.
Then again, I may be completely off my rocker and completely wrong. My brain may be messing with me and making me see things that really aren’t there. I do think that a lot of what I have seen from the way the story is laid out and the overall premise that this is the Key To Time brought from Sci-Fi to Fantasy most likely not in a nefarious way but more of an homage to a legendary series.