Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall will be Level 11-20 adventure

Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall will be a high-level Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Today, Wizards of the Coast officially made the upcoming adventure and its companion rulebook Arcana Unleashed, available for pre-order. The listing for Deadfall reveals that it will be a Level 11-20 adventure, pitting players against the undead lich Szass Tam. The new adventure is billed as a "magical spy thriller" with Tam set to unleash a demonic undead horde upon the Forgotten Realms.

The adventure will also feature 20 dedicated maps, a Thay gazetteer, 6 "high-CR" creature statblocks, including Szass Tam, and 14 magic items.

Historically, Wizards of the Coast has shied away from high-level adventures for its 5th Edition campaigns, although there were a few exceptions like Dungeon of the Mad Mage and Vecna: Eve of Ruin. It's interesting that, for the first official campaign adventure for 5.5E, Wizards is opting for a high-level campaign as opposed to an entry level campaign.

Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall will be released on September 15th.

 

[sevenbastard]

The new adventure is billed as a "magical spy thriller" with Tam set to unleash a demonic undead horde upon the Forgotten Realms.

Sounds like a great plot for a D&D movie........

 

[Zaukrie]

They keep saving me money !

 

[BurntToast]

They keep saving me money !

O MY GAWD U SO HIP AND EDGY AND COOL AAAAAAH!

[faints]

 

[Reynard]

I wonder if they learned any lessons from Vecna, given that was a pretty rough adventure that lots of people seem to like bits from but no one seems to like overall.

 

[Zaukrie]

I wonder if they learned any lessons from Vecna, given that was a pretty rough adventure that lots of people seem to like bits from but no one seems to like overall.

If they did, I'll look at it ...

 

[Mistborn]

I would like to receive a complete, fully fleshed-out adventure, not just an outline. It is only 128 pages long. In its current form, it falls rather short.

 

[Reynard]

I'd like to receive a complete, fully developed adventure, not just an adventure outline. It should be 128 pages long. As it stands, it looks pretty weak.

How many pages is it?

 

[Mistborn]

128 pages

 

[Amphytrion]

An adventure spanning 10 levels plus a Thay gazeteer in just 128 pages is suspicious. I really haven't liked any of their most recent adventure offerings, and the barebones approach is part of it. I can create something barebones myself. If I buy an adventure, I'd like some good, detailed content.

I say this as someone who really likes most of the adventures released in the 2015-2021 period (Strahd, Tomb of Annhilation, Dragon Heist, Rime of the Frostmaiden, Witchlight). Even when they had palpable problems (e.g. Descent Into Avernus), they were very imaginative and offered tons of interesting tools for DMs. The more recent fare (e.g. Vecna) is much worse by comparison.

A Thay gazeteer is welcome, even if Ed Greenwood did release an amazing Thay book on the DMs Guild not that long ago.