D&D's New Campaign Will Have A Level 20 Boss, Something That's Very Rare In Official Modules

Wizards of the Coast hasn't announced many details about the upcoming official Dungeons & Dragons campaign, Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall, but a Beadle & Grimm email promotion has unintentionally revealed additional details about the upcoming module (via Wargamer).

First, the email confirms that the party will be pitted against the infamous Szass Tam, the most powerful Red Wizard ever to reign in Thay. You may have seen the archlich in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, where he appears as the regent of Thay and turns a gathering of people into undead.

Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall Runs To Level 20

Tam can be fought at Level 20, which is exceedingly rare for official campaigns. Most content produced by Wizards of the Coast is introductory material, or campaigns that don't take the party beyond level 12.

It's very difficult to balance encounters at the upper levels of Dungeons & Dragons because, at these levels, player characters are capable of incredible feats, which means enemies often need to 'cheat' in some way to balance the encounter. Baldur's Gate 3 caps out at level 12 for the same reason, and Wizards generally avoids high-level campaigns because of the guaranteed balance issues.

The last official campaign that went to level 20 was Vecna: Eve of Ruin (2024), which was critiqued for some balancing issues, though it was also praised for how it handled high-level players.

"Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall presents a campaign in which the characters undertake a series of dangerous, clandestine missions to undermine and defeat archlich Szass Tam," reads the email. "Player characters will reach level 20 by the adventure's end—and they will need to use all their power and resources if they hope to defeat the archlich."

Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall is preceded by the release of an Arcana Unleashed sourcebook in September, which will likely give the necessary context to the setting we're exploring, and the types of characters that will excel in said setting.

Deadfall is priced at $29.99, which is cheaper than your usual campaign fare. This could mean the campaign is shorter, or that the detail is sparse, and the dungeon master will have to do a lot of work in fleshing out the setting.

We won't know anything for certain until Wizards of the Coast reveals additional details, but knowing we're going to have the chance to defeat the baddest Red Wizard of them all is exciting

Dungeons & Dragons