D&D 5E Official D&D Greek-Themed 'Mythic Odysseys of Theros' Setting Coming In May

My inbox just exploded! It looks like Penguin Random House accidentally leaked an upcoming book listing for D&D, before removing the entry. It's dated for May 19th, and it's called Mythic Odysseys of Theros.

What's Theros? It's a Greek(ish) themed Magic: the Gathering world! This will make it the second, after Ravnica, to make it to an official D&D campaign setting. Here's what the MTG wiki says about it:

"Theros is a plane governed by the gods of Nyx, where heroes face monsters, the sea rages, people offer burnt offerings and adventures take place. It is defined by mankind's struggle against the primal forces of the world, and mankind's conflict with the many other sapient races that populate the world."

In ancient times, the archons of Theros held a massive empire, tyrannizing the world in the belief that they were imposing a strict justice. The most notable of these Archon tyrants was Agnomakhos, who used the leonin as an army. Eventually, the Archon empire fell, being instead replaced by the poleis, and the remaining Archons now lash at these, slighting the "honor" they feel was stripped from them.

There's an enormous list of races, too -- though how many of those will translate from MtG to D&D, I don't know. Some of these are clearly 'monsters' in the D&D sense rather than 'races'. It includes cats, centaurs, gorgons, merfolk, minotaurs, satyrs, spirits, zombies, archons, basilisks, chimeras, cyclopses, demons, dragons, giants, hags, harpies, hounds, hydras, krakens, lamias, manticores, pegasi, phoenixes, spines, and sirens.

There's a whole bunch of Greek-themed or inspired D&D settings, including:

• Arkadia by Arcana Games. "Arkadia is a combined setting and players handbook for 5e - inspired by the history and myths of Ancient Greece. The book contains 100 pages of densely packed all new Greek themed content for both Players and GMs."
• Hellenistika from Handiwork Games. "From the Pillars of Herakles in the West to the Silken Cities of the East, from the isle of Hyperborea in the North to the Mountains of the Moon in the South, the world spreads before you, alive with gods and marvels."
• Odyssey of the Dragonlords from Arcanum Worlds. "Odyssey of the Dragonlords is an epic fantasy campaign for the fifth edition of the world’s greatest roleplaying game. The Player’s Guide is a 28-page companion booklet that will provide you with everything you need to begin your career as a prospective hero in the forgotten land of Thylea."
• Land of Myth by Seven Thebes. "A Fantasy Setting in Mythical Ancient Greece.A world of Heroes, right after the end of
  the Trojan War, steeped in myth and conflict."

Of course, this all assumes this isn't come kind of epic troll on WotC's part -- they have recently started putting placeholder names on products on Amazon and then changing them at the most minute, although with limited success. This could be a more elaborate attempt at that!

 

[Undrave]

Probably the Eloquence bard, the Heroism Paladin, the Constellation Druid, the Unity Cleric, maybe the Astral Self monk (there was a MTG card resembling it, but I dont remember if it was from Theros), Pheonix Sorc, Kraken warlock, Revenant Rogue and Truenamer Wiz?

Those are the ones that hit the greek theme pretty well, IMO.

Constellation Druid and Unity Cleric are way too recent. The book is slated for May, that means it's already finished.

Hey, I'm away from books right now... are they printed in China? We could see some delays...

 

[Bitbrain]

My inbox just exploded! It looks like Penguin Random House accidentally leaked an upcoming book listing for D&D, before removing the entry. It's dated for May 19th, and it's called Mythic Odysseys of Theros.

What's Theros? It's a Greek(ish) themed Magic: the Gathering world! This will make it the second, after Ravnica, to make it to an official D&D campaign setting...

There's an enormous list of races, too -- though how may of those will translate from MtG to D&D, I don't know. Some of these are clearly 'monsters' in the D&D sense rather than 'races'. It includes cats, centaurs, gorgons, merfolk, minotaurs, satyrs, spirits, zombies, archons, basilisks, chimeras, cyclopses, demons, dragons, giants, hags, harpies, hounds, hydras, krakens, lamias, manticores, pegasi, phoenixes, spines, and sirens.

raises hand
Not to be that guy, but the plural of Cyclops is Cyclopes.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

An undead PC race would be pretty cool by my book.

I don't know much at all about Theros, but a Hellenistic D&D setting is cool by me. Grew up reading stuff like D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths and watching Harryhausen flicks.

I cannibalized the heck out of the Ravnica book, and would likely do the same with this.

returned (undead people with no memory of their former lives and stylish masks).

 

[dave2008]

That sounds awesome to me, but I know others will be disappointed. If it is anything like the Ravnica and Eberron books, it is an instant buy for me.

 

[Reynard]

I felt a disturbance in the force, like 1,000,000 Dark Sun fans crying out in anger...

 

[LordEntrails]

So am I just being skeptical and suspect that this release was not accidental? I mean what a way to garner hype that you can simply ignore so that in a month or two when you make the official announcement it builds on an already building fan exceitement.

No publicity is bad publicity..

I felt a disturbance in the force, like 1,000,000 Dark Sun fans crying out in anger...

Yea, DS5E is not going to happen this decade. Not directly from WotC.

 

[DEFCON 1]

raises hand
Not to be that guy, but the plural of Cyclops is Cyclopes.

I thought it was 'Biclops'?

 

[Nilbog]

Not a MtG player, and i know very little about it, but I love all the ancient greek mythology, I'll be all over this book!

 

[DEFCON 1]

I felt a disturbance in the force, like 1,000,000 Dark Sun fans crying out in anger...

They should know by now Dark Sun isn't coming yet, because it won't arrive until the psionics class and subclasses are in wrap-up shape. They had to focus on the Artificer as they were nearing the release of Eberron... so when we see them really finishing up psionics design we'll know Dark Sun is around the corner.

 

[Von Ether]

This would be the 3rd and 1/2 Greek setting for 5e in last couple of years. (Ken Hite's Hellenistika is hopefully heading to KS soon.)

So am I imagining things or has 5e gotten a lot of Geek mythology love as compared to 3.x and 4e especially in such a short amount of time?