D&D 5E 16 More Details About Theros

The latest edition of WotC's online magazine contains some juicy tidbits about Mythic Odysseys of Theros!

1. It features Volothamp Geddarm.
2. It was headed up by James Wyatt, who used to work on D&D, and now works on Magic: The Gathering. He worked on the 3E Deities & Demigods.
3. It's based on a novella, which Wyatt spent considerable time researching.
4. He also read about the government of Athens, and the Greek calendar.
5. Subclasses include the College of Eloquence bard ("the philosopher ideal'), the Oath of Heroism paladin, and the Forge and Grave cleric domains.
6. The DMG piety system has been "blown up into a huge thing"... "That includes all sorts of rewards and restrictions for characters who choose to devote themselves to a god and track their piety.”
7. New magic items of the gods - artifacts and weapons.
8. “Everyone gets this extra leg up that is a gift of the gods, which is separate from the usual character background. It may be a magical thing about your nature, such as you have the mind of a sphinx and your thoughts can’t be read. Or you might be an oracle, which is an opportunity for your Dungeon Master to give you plenty of adventure hooks. It’s a straight power-up but not a huge power-up”
9. A table of omens with 100 entries.
10. Minotaurs, centaurs, merfolk (tritons from Volo), satyrs, leonine.
11. “The leonin is a different, stronger cat person, not just a tabaxi!”
12. "Satyrs are pretty much as you would expect. They’re party animals with good Dexterity and Charisma, they have a headbutt attack, they’re fast, they’re fey, they resist magic and they have musical instrument proficiency and persuasion."
13. Different lore for D&D creatures to match the Greek setting.
14. Mythic threats are boss fights. More than legendary. Aresta of the Endless Web is a spider. Has baby spiders which fight you.
15. Dyson Logos did the maps.
16. "There’s a temple of Athreos in two parts, split by the river that flows between the mortal world and the underworld."

 

[dave2008]

Not for me, but I’m glad those who wanted a high level campaigns setting are getting it.

We don't actually know it is high level, just mythic. From the info released so far, the "mythic" element is something you get at character generation and then modifications to some monsters (similar to legendary monsters, but they do more?)

 

[Sacrosanct]

We don't actually know it is high level, just mythic. From the info released so far, the "mythic" element is something you get at character generation and then modifications to some monsters (similar to legendary monsters, but they do more?)

Possibly. But I totally got a 2e High Level Campaign vibe from it.

 

[dave2008]

Possibly. But I totally got a 2e High Level Campaign vibe from it.

We will see, if I make it back from Italy that is!

 

[Sacrosanct]

We will see, if I make it back from Italy that is!

Lol. You will. What is it? 85% are just mild symptoms like a cold? And the 2% fatality rate is artificially ballooned because it only counts those who have been tested, so the majority that had it and never knew or got tested aren’t included in the data pool. Imagine what the fatality rate of the flu would be listed as if they only included those who went to a doctor and excluded everyone else who just dealt with it.

 

[dave2008]

Lol. You will. What is it? 85% are just mild symptoms like a cold? And the 2% fatality rate is artificially ballooned because it only counts those who have been tested, so the majority that had it and never knew or got tested aren’t included in the data pool. Imagine what the fatality rate of the flu would be listed as if they only included those who went to a doctor and excluded everyone else who just dealt with it.

I'm not worried about getting ill myself, but that doesn't mean my trip couldn't be derailed.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

You might be stuck in quarantine for a while. Hopefully they can smuggle a copy of the book into it for you.

 

[Demetrios1453]

[*]He also read about the government of Athens, and the Greek calendar.

Ancient Greek calendar, eh? The one used by the Spartans and Macedonians (among others) that started after the autumnal equinox? Or the one used by the Thebans (among others) that started after the winter solstice? Or the hugely atypical one used almost exclusively by the Athenians that started after the summer solstice? It's probably the latter, even despite its unusualness.

(Wyatt is right in that the lunisolar calendars used by the ancient Greeks - and pretty much all civilizations of the time other than the Egyptians - look unusual in our eyes, especially with the periodic intercalary months, but the various calendars used by the ancient Greeks varied so wildly from state to state that one can't speak of an "Ancient Greek Calendar" in general)

 

[Dyson Logos]

"Ancient Greek Calendar", eh? The one used by the Spartans and Macedonians (among others) that started after the autumnal equinox? Or the one used by the Thebans (among others) that started after the winter solstice? Or the hugely atypical one used almost exclusively by the Athenians that started after the summer solstice?

That's the kind of question to ask James directly - but based on his love of geekery and research, he probably read about all of those at least a bit.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

I was skeptical but I think I'm sold. I'll be in Germany when it releases though.

I'm sold too (but I wasn't skeptical), unfortunately I too will be away from home (vacation in Italy in my case) when this hits One of the first things I will do when I get back is head to my FGLS!

And we all know that D&D books are unavailable in third-world Europe.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Volothamp "Volo" Geddarm? How has been the contact between the two worlds, Volo in Theros or an interview with a planewalker from (or who visited) Theros?