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!

 

[Remathilis]

Starting from a new hypothesis "The UA subclasses are intended for several books, including Theros", they seem to break down something like this:

I'm leaning on this myself; there are some subclasses in those UAs that are either concepts that don't have a home and they want to get feedback on, stuff for Theros they wanted to try, and stuff for future books they want to try. Mixing them together and then having generic YouTube vids explaining them allows them to test the water without showing all their cards.

Which is why you can see Oath of Heroism and think Theros, but then have rune knight and have that throw us off. Maybe rk is for some further book, or is just a proof of concept.

 

[dave2008]

and even maybe rules for D&D 5e style Mythic/Epic game play rules.

I think the cover and sub-title certainly suggest that is a possibility.

 

[Parmandur]

Starting from a new hypothesis "The UA subclasses are intended for several books, including Theros", they seem to break down something like this:

Good fit for Theros
The Revived
Twighlight Domain
Onomancy
College of Eloquence
Oath of Heroism
The Lurker in the Deap
Love Unity Domain
Way of Mercy
Circle of the Stars

Psionic or magitech (Eberron 2?)
Psychic Warrior
Soulknife
Arcane Tradition: Psionics
Abherrant Mind
Way of the Astral Self
Armorer

Unclear, or Other (Planer?)
Rune Knight
Swarmkeeper
Circle of Wildfire
Path of the Wild Soul
College of Creation
Clockwork Soul
Path of the Beast
Oath of the Watchers
Noble Genie
Fey Wanderer

I think it's simpler than that: as I had fun demonstrating with literal illustrations at the time, all the UA Subclasses in the first batch (before the variant Class features) fit Magic the Gathering extremely well. We'll see in time.

 

[Bupp]

I don't think anyone was arguing a modern telling of the myth couldn't take that approach.

Personally, I take the general approach that mythologies are in fact myths. The stories mortals tell of the gods, and to a lesser extent heroes, have a grain of truth; however, they are distorted by human perspectives & biases. For example, I've actually been working on an updated 5e Greco-roman pantheon for about the past year and I am cutting out pretty much all of the deific rape, jealousy, and pettiness. Those parts are human fabrications. For example, here is a snip of the draft of the Hades entry (PS this is a first draft and hasn't been through editing):

"Though Hades rarely leaves his realm, he does make semi-annual trips to Olympus to attend the Council of Olympians. In fact, one such trip is the origin of the most famous tale involving Hades. While attending the Council, Hades met Persephone, daughter of Demeter and goddess of vegetation. They were immediately smitten with each other and soon fell in love. Shortly thereafter, Persephone joined Hades and became Queen of the Underworld. However, this did not sit well with her mother, Demeter tells a decidedly different tale, and her grief and resentment devastated the mortal realm. Demeter caused so much damage that eventually Zeus had to mediate a deal to guarantee Persephone would spend time split between the realms of the dead and the living. The deal still stands, but none of the affected parties are truly happy about it."

 

[lordstimpy]

Looks like it's up on Amazon, date of June 2....
Dungeons & Dragons Mythic Odysseys of Theros (D&D Campaign Setting and Adventure Book) Dungeons & Dragons Mythic Odysseys of Theros (D&D Campaign Setting and Adventure Book): Wizards RPG Team: 9780786967018: Amazon.com: Books


Some spicy deets in the description.

Description
Product description
Clash with the gods of Theros in this campaign sourcebook for the world's great roleplaying game.

Play DUNGEONS & DRAGONS in the MAGIC: THE GATHERING world of Theros—a realm shaped by the wrath of gods and the deeds of heroes, where champions vie for immortal favor and a place among legends.
• Rise above the common throng with SUPERNATURAL GIFTS, abilities that give you remarkable powers that set you on the path to legend.
• Explore Theros as a SATYR or LEONIN—mythic cat-like heroes from Magic: The Gathering. Mythic Odysseys of Theros introduces these races to fifth edition D&D for the first time.
• Master new powers with Magic: The Gathering-inspired SUBCLASSES like the Bard’s College of Eloquence and the Paladin’s Oath of Heroism.
• Encounter MYTHIC MONSTERS, creatures whose power and renown are such that their names are truly living myths.
• Wield the weapons of the gods—five signature artifacts used by Theros's deities.
• Created in 1974, D&D transformed gaming culture by blending traditional fantasy with miniatures and wargaming. Fifth edition D&D draws from every prior edition to create a universally compelling play experience.

 

[cbwjm]

Looks like it's up on Amazon, date of June 2....
Dungeons & Dragons Mythic Odysseys of Theros (D&D Campaign Setting and Adventure Book) Dungeons & Dragons Mythic Odysseys of Theros (D&D Campaign Setting and Adventure Book): Wizards RPG Team: 9780786967018: Amazon.com: Books


Some spicy deets in the description.

I'm interested to see how they've done the artefacts. I had a look at the cards a while back when working on a Theros campaign setting. The supernatural gifts also sound interesting, I wonder if it will be like the themes from 4e or the mythic paths of pathfinder.

 

[Parmandur]

Looks like it's up on Amazon, date of June 2....
Dungeons & Dragons Mythic Odysseys of Theros (D&D Campaign Setting and Adventure Book) Dungeons & Dragons Mythic Odysseys of Theros (D&D Campaign Setting and Adventure Book): Wizards RPG Team: 9780786967018: Amazon.com: Books


Some spicy deets in the description.

Interesting details! So, two new Races, two specific Subclasses from the UA batch plus more suggested, new monsters, new magic items, some new mechanics. Groovy.

 

[gyor]

Looks like it's up on Amazon, date of June 2....
Dungeons & Dragons Mythic Odysseys of Theros (D&D Campaign Setting and Adventure Book) Dungeons & Dragons Mythic Odysseys of Theros (D&D Campaign Setting and Adventure Book): Wizards RPG Team: 9780786967018: Amazon.com: Books


Some spicy deets in the description.

Interesting, but disappointing. Out of all the Subclasses we've been getting via UA only two made it in? And only 2 races are in this book? Given all the PHB races besides humans aren't in Theros outside of Planeswalkers, that is not much in the way of choices. Tritons, Centaurs, and Minotaurs should have also been in it and Nymphs should have been added as a race too.

Compare what is being offered her compared to Odyssey of the Dragonlords or Arkadia, with much fewer staff and resources. Very disappointed once again in WotCs lack of effort. I loved 5e, but I'm getting tired of WotC phoning it in, with 3rd parties doing a much better job with their settings and books then WotC.

Still I'll wait till we know more to render a final judgement, maybe there are key details missing.

 

[gyor]

I'm interested to see how they've done the artefacts. I had a look at the cards a while back when working on a Theros campaign setting. The supernatural gifts also sound interesting, I wonder if it will be like the themes from 4e or the mythic paths of pathfinder.

I hope its more like the Mythic Paths of Owlcats up coming Wrath of the Righteous system, because the original Mythic Paths of Pathfinder are super generic and uninteresting honestly.

 

[Parmandur]

Interesting, but disappointing. Out of all the Subclasses we've been getting via UA only two made it in? And only 2 races are in this book? Given all the PHB races besides humans aren't in Theros outside of Planeswalkers, that is not much in the way of choices. Tritons, Centaurs, and Minotaurs should have also been in it and Nymphs should have been added as a race too.

Compare what is being offered her compared to Odyssey of the Dragonlords or Arkadia, with much fewer staff and resources. Very disappointed once again in WotCs lack of effort. I loved 5e, but I'm getting tired of WotC phoning it in, with 3rd parties doing a much better job with their settings and books then WotC.

Still I'll wait till we know more to render a final judgement, maybe there are key details missing.

You're parsing it wrong: those two races are being touted as being introduced in this book, but other existing 5E races like Centaurs and Minotaurs are not excluded by that statement, and we know how WotC is with reprints.

Similarly, those two Subclasses are offered by this blurb as examples and not an exhaustive list: "Master new powers with Magic: The Gathering-inspired SUBCLASSES like the Bard’s College of Eloquence and the Paladin’s Oath of Heroism." Further Subclasses are not excluded by that.