Even before this summer’s Wizards of the Coast GenCon debut of the new Dungeons & Dragons roadmap, the idea of “Seasons” began to be highlighted in this year’s new RPG releases, beginning with the Season of Horror. Next up, it’s the high-magic themed Arcana Unleashed and its companion adventure Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall, available for pre-order here at Amazon and in gameshops tomorrow. Your tour guide for this big trove of new feats, spells, magic items, and lore, is Alustriel Silverhand, daughter of god of magic Mystra. If you’re ready to add more spellcasting into your game, Arcana Unleashed has some fun new concepts and a try-on Level 1 adventure (“Tomb of the Shadow Serpents”), then Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall takes players to Thay as part of Operation Deadfall with a Level 11-20 adventure, all toward confronting the lich called Szass Tam.
First up are eight new subclasses, including Arcana Domain Cleric, Arcane Archer Fighter, Warrior of the Mystic Arts Monk, Vestige Patron Warlock, and four Wizards: Conjurer, Enchanter, Necromancer, and Transmuter. Look to the Arcane Archer for magical ammunition, the Enchanter to use your skills in deception, intimidation, and persuasion, and to alter memories. There’s a new Vestige Companion stat block, a Necromancer who can raise an Undead Familiar, while the Transmuter can act as shape-shifter.
Nine backgrounds connect characters with magical factions, and a tenth, Familiar Trainer, supports any character who grew up with a magical animal companion. But you’ll probably spend most of your time learning the dozens of new feats, like Portal Jumper, Helpful Premonition (Arcane Omen), Prescient Intervention (Divination Adept), or find an Otherworldly Familiar who can Phase Walk.
Thirty new or revised spells include concepts you’ll want to introduce into your campaign simply because they sound like fun, like the Catnap, Wither and Bloom, Distorted Distance, the Wail of the Banshee, Summon Dinosaur, Uncertain Footing, Aura of Evasion, Reweave Fate, and best of all, a Zone of Amicability. You’ll want to add a Battle Familiar to your bag of tricks.
All of the tools are included for a DM to build a magical world into any D&D setting, incorporating nine magical factions and six patrons. Nearly fifty extra-magic magic items include the common, the rare, and the legendary. Who doesn’t want to try the Potion of Tirelessness? Or use a Spell-Slinger’s Puppet–a ventriloquist’s doll–to sneakily cast a spell? New rules provide the path to evolve magic items, to in essence update them with the times, as you level up.
Finally, the book details nineteen new magical creatures, including a rollcall of Archmages, the Darkenbeast (eerie, flying skeleton beasties), Groundlings, Living Spells, and the Venger. An appendix details the Level 1 “Tomb of the Shadow Serpents” adventure, built for two sessions of play.
The cover art by Javier Charro is above, and here is the variant cover by CoupleofKooks, available here at Amazon and at gameshops:
As you get ready for Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall, just think Skyfall, as in James Bond, as you immerse your campaign in a magic-filled spy thriller built for advanced play. All set in Thay, this is the nation of red-robed wizards. The adventure incorporates fourteen magical items, six high-CR creatures, and two dozen maps. As much as this is a companion to Arcana Unleashed, it’s also a companion to last year’s Heroes of Faerûn, discussed here at borg.
The first chunk of this book gets players up to speed on Thay. It’s a gazetteer, basically a Fodor’s Guide to Thay, followed by a chapter dedicated to detailing Operation Deadfall. Then you jump right in with five chapters on the adventure in several levels of play.
Fourteen magic items are specific to this adventure, attached in an appendix, along with five stat blocks in a bestiary, including Szass Tam himself.
Above is Johan Grenier’s cover for Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall, and here is the variant cover by CoupleofKooks, available here at Amazon and at gameshops:
In an unfortunate, unusual twist, the truck carrying D&D Beyond Marketplace inventory for this release was in an accident and everything was destroyed, including the Map Pack add-on.
But it sounds like other inventory has been reallocated and digital releases are not affected. But if you’re interested in the Map Pack you may want to get your orders in as soon as possible as it seems like inventory may be limited.
Again, Arcana Unleashed and its companion adventure Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall are available for pre-order here at Amazon, arriving in gameshops tomorrow. Follow the D&D website here for information on purchasing digital content and optional bundles.
Keep coming back to borg for more D&D previews and reviews!
C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg
