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!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

If there is a setting where minotaurs should be allowed as a PC race this has to be Theros. But I warn the horns as racial trait shouldn't allow to wear most of helms created for the rest of humanoids, and horns are practically useless for humanoids against enemies with same or lesser size. And you have to remember a minotaur married the smartest Disney princess, Belle.

The petlum/sword & sandals subgenre is enoughly "forgotten" to be exotic for the next generations. My advice is allowing a open door to add other civilitations or factions inspired in other Mediterranean or from ancient Middle Orient civilitations. Why not a fantasy version of Persian empire, and a crossover ith Amonkhet?

What if Theros is visited by people from Amonkhet, and later attacked by invaders from Kaladesh with their aether-tech war machines?

 

[pukunui]

2e had some books for running in Greece, Viking age, and the era of Charlemagne (I think). They were quite cool from memory.

I had the Celts one. They were all bound in faux green leather.

 

[Aldarc]

I mean, who would ever think of putting a hoplite fighting a hydra on a Greek-inspired fantasy RPG book

Sure, but the similarity seems a bit more than just a coincidental passing. It looks like a mirror flip alteration.

 

[DwarfHammer]

I love greek mythology that focuses on pre-Olympian gods and/or non-Olympian deities.

 

[dave2008]

I just looked at the Arkadia and MOoT covers and I noticed a few things:

1. The MOoT looks "Epic" compared to the Akadia one
2. What is with the star/constellation infused Hydra, this is not your run-of-the-mill hydra
3. One "hero" against a hydra vs a group of heroes
4. Pretty sure the subtext says: "Clash with the Gods of Theros in this campaign source book for the words's..."

Is this going to be a high level sourcebook?!

 

[JPL]

I’m gonna Steve Reeves this thing. No armor, no pants, everyone has to talk in a rich baritone.

Alternate approach is to Kevin Sorbo this thing. That pankration monk idea I mentioned might be the best fit for an unarmed, unarmored warrior who gets by on his awesome strength and athletic moves.

 

[JPL]

Alternate alternate approach: Dwayne Johnson this thing. His recent Hercules movie had a pretty impressive party of adventures. I don’t know how this setting will address the prevalence of demigods, but this movie had one angle: some people may be rumored to be demigods, and may actively spread those rumors, and once they hit 15th level or so, who’s gonna disagree?

 

[JPL]

OK, one more idea: The Mighty Sons of Hercules. Legends say that Hercules begat 50 sons upon the fifty daughters of Thespius. For game purposes, I would assume that this seemed like a good idea at the time, but then a prophecy pointed out that having 50 quarter-divine boys come of age in close proximity could cause trouble. They were fostered out far and wide, to kings and peasants alike. One or more of the PCs discovers their lineage, and mighty deeds ensue.

 

[JeffB]

HR (Historical Reference) series was the lineup with the green covers from 2E. I had the Greek one long ago- it was quite good and IIRC had options to run as Greek "Fantasy" or sticking to a more realistic Greek History game.

Drive Thru Link

 

[darjr]

Nope, gotta Sponge Bob this thing.