Arcana Deadfall D&D Campaign Review - An Honest One!

November 7, 2026 · Artemis

Shaken, Not Stirred...

Arcana Deadfall D&D Campaign review

As a Dungeon Master for Dungeons & Dragons, who loves rich lore and high-tiered chaos, and as a player who appreciates a very good puzzle! I had to dive straight into this adventure. Specifically designed for Levels 11 through 20, infiltration into the lands of Thay and into the territory of SZASS TAM! The all-powerful, and indeed very scary, Undead Lich Archmage! Dungeons & Dragons back book cover, Szass Tam Must Die, showing wizards battling undead creatures in a green, lightning-lit scene.

The Arcana Unleashed book - Deadfall tries something delightfully fresh for D&D. Instead of your standard dungeon crawler

Dungeons & Dragons Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall book cover with The Undead Lich - Szass Tam the red-robed undead mage amid green lightning and zombies.

where you spend hours having trouble opening a simple door, potentially being killed by a barrel disguised as a Mimic and goblins smashing your heads in with your own loot! You and the party are now transported into the underground web of enchanted espionage in the distant lands of Thay!

For the DM's and players who love tension, ticking clocks, political manoeuvring and, of course, the potential threat of the most powerful Archmage ever... the vibe and setting are truly brilliant and set up from the start... However... compared to the epic, sprawling campaigns of the past, this campaign feels way too short... With previous Campaign stories such as Vecna: Eve of Ruin being a total of 256 pages long, Arcana: Deadfall is a mere 128 pages long... which means the newest campaign, Arcana: Deadfall, is a whopping 50% shorter!!

And yes, you could fill the gaps as a DM and pad out the missions so the players feel like

they aren't speedrunning towards Szass Tam, but for a high-stakes overall mission of defeating this crazy looking Lich Mage... feel it needs MORE! I will say, however, it is refreshing to see Wizards of the Coast tackling more high-level campaigns as it seemed for some time they were shying away from creating these.

The RRP of this TTRPG is a little less than previous D&D campaigns, currently around £24.99, and this reflects in the size of the book possibly... but still! Come on Wizards of the Coast! We want more! Because we love what you create!

This latest adventure from Wizards of the Coast seems to force what feels like a high-speed sprint through a campaign this time but this isn't your typical dungeon crawler, this is about infilitrating and gaining access to the Lands of Thay and confronting the Red Wizards, taking down evil from behind the scenes and ultimately destroying Szass Tam!

Digital fantasy illustration featuring a group of robed figures standing in a circle in front of a grand stone building at dusk. Seven figures dressed in elaborate red-and-gold hooded robes and capes perform a ritual, their pale or masked faces turned upward. Wisps of pale blue and white smoke rise from the center of the gathering, coalescing into the massive, spectral face of a stern-looking figure suspended in the air.

Image: Wizards of the Coast

I was honestly expecting a little more this time after previous books contained way more pages than this one. It's still fun, and definitely one to play if you like ALL things D&D-related, but sadly, this campaign, which I believe would have been a high-octane James Bond-style Spy thriller but set in Faerûn, has left me... well, quite frankly, Mr Tam...

"Shaken, but sadly not very well stirred..."

This new Wizards of the Coast campaign book hasn't taken my breath away, but as with anything D&D-related... I'm eagerly awaiting more! Thanks for taking the time to read my Arcana Deadfall D&D Campaign review! Don't forget to subscribe for more reviews and dice content with all things D&D!

Thanks and ROLL THOSE DICE!