D&D 5E WotC Shares Theros Table of Contents

WotC has shared the table of contents of Mythic Odysseys of Theros. Well, part of it, at least.

Update -- thanks to "obscureReviewer" on Twitter, here's a fuller image!

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I'll again point at the Revived Rogue becoming the Phantom in the most recent UA, and the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer becoming a Psionic Sorcerer in the one before that. If they were abandoning them because they didn't fit into Theros, they'd abandon them, not keep doing them. Either they planned for the Aberrant Mind to be planescape related, or they wanted it to be in Theros and "abandoned" it, or were planning on it being with the other psionic subclasses all along, but wanted a first draft before publishing the other subclasses.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

The last UA containing subclasses for XGtE was released in May of 2017. Xanathar's Guide to Everything got published in November 2017, just under 6 months later.

 

[Helldritch]

They can try to make money without taking the easy way out for it. Magic: the Gathering settings are easy, so they'll continue making them. I know a lot more people would prefer Dark Sun to a M:tG setting, or a brand new setting altogether.

And I know a lot more people that would want a new MTG setting than see an update on my beloved Greyhawk. A company will not go for risky titles. They will tend to go for what their audience wants.

Yes, I don't think Planeswalkers should be in D&D. There is Vi, who could be a planeswalker, but this opens more questions than it solves, IMHO. I don't think Elminster or Mordenkainen are planeswalkers. They haven't been to any M:tG setting, probably have no idea what the "Blind Eternities" are. I think the best explananation of their traveling to Earth and other worlds are Sigil or Spelljammer, or a high level spell that lets them teleport.

A planeswalker travels the plane. Whatever the method, they did go to other planes. Hell, Elminster likes Canadian beer and whiskey... If that is not planeswalking...
Not every lore from MtG needs to be incorporated into D&D.

It's not the theme of the worlds, but the fact that adventures there are largely overshadowed by centuries of convoluted lore, planeswalkers, and the fact that Magic colors have no terms in D&D.

Mmmmm.... The same could be said for old D&D. On this one, I completely disagree. But for the colors I do agree. But it is something that can be dropped quite easily.

I like the theme of New Phyrexia, but it wouldn't be a valid setting in D&D for a book, IMO.

Don't you dare shatter my dreams of Phyrexia!

Yes, but any action of the players will be overshadowed by a storyline in an updated Magic block. GGR was released, and then the War of the Spark happened. This opens up a lot of issues of, "What's lore?" and "When are we?" and "How do we deal with this?". Sure, this can be solved by the DM, but that takes a ton of work on the DMs part, much more than any other 5e D&D world.

Again, the same can be said about old setting. I remember the rage about the release of From the Ashes. Or the FR spell plague... A new release on the setting will always contradict what was done in home campaign. It is the DM's job to either adjust his setting with a few adventures (remember the Fate of Istus adventure book?) or to ignore the new book until a new campaign/group is started. (or ignore it forever if it suits his fancy).

 

[Parmandur]

I'll again point at the Revived Rogue becoming the Phantom in the most recent UA, and the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer becoming a Psionic Sorcerer in the one before that. If they were abandoning them because they didn't fit into Theros, they'd abandon them, not keep doing them. Either they planned for the Aberrant Mind to be planescape related, or they wanted it to be in Theros and "abandoned" it, or were planning on it being with the other psionic subclasses all along, but wanted a first draft before publishing the other subclasses.

Those precise examples point to my theoretical model, though. They reworked them because the first tries didn't make the cut (70% approval is the line for reaching publication), but had enough positive response to warrant reworking and trying a new take.

The "Aberrant Mind" as a primarli Merfolk Blue Mana Sorcerer would have worked, bit it didn't pass muster with players, so WotC tried again with less fishy themes and reworked the powers a bit. The Revived rubbed people the wrong way, but they liked some elements
So they rework it to be less Theros related with the weird Underworld themes, and change the powers based on feedback. If it had reached 70% approval, it would have made it into Theros as an option related to the world of the dead. Any of the remaining Subclasses that don't get another pass are probably in the dustbin of D&D history. This is how they have operated these past many years.

 

[Parmandur]

The last UA containing subclasses for XGtE was released in May of 2017. Xanathar's Guide to Everything got published in November 2017, just under 6 months later.

Yes, precisely, about 2-3 Fiscal Quarters (May is Q2, November is Q4). The outer limits are 12 months. The first XGtE UA was 11/7/2016, a year before release.

Anything tested in September or October and not re-done is meant for publication before September or October of the next year. In this case, Theros. Anything tested from November to May is for the next Q4 project, so Variant Classes onwards.

 

[Helldritch]

And as you said yourself, nothing prevents them to try to use material meant for one book for another with modifications. After all, if it does not work with book X, it might work with book Y. A lot of classes of last year's UA were looking more like a Planar theme than a Greek (Theros) theme. Nothing prevents them to modify and rework them for a planar book. But your analysis is excellent and the pattern is quite clear now.

 

[Parmandur]

And as you said yourself, nothing prevents them to try to use material meant for one book for another with modifications. After all, if it does not work with book X, it might work with book Y. A lot of classes of last year's UA were looking more like a Planar theme than a Greek (Theros) theme. Nothing prevents them to modify and rework them for a planar book. But your analysis is excellent and the pattern is quite clear now.

Thank you! Certainly they are intelligent people, not natural forces. They can make reasonable decisions where warranted, as circumstances dictate, which we will find out in time. I really look forwards to finding out about their next project, and hearing Crawford open up about the process over time.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Yes, precisely, about 2-3 Fiscal Quarters (May is Q2, November is Q4). The outer limits are 12 months. The first XGtE UA was 11/7/2016, a year before release.

Anything tested in September or October and not re-done is meant for publication before September or October of the next year. In this case, Theros. Anything tested from November to May is for the next Q4 project, so Variant Classes onwards.

Just because it hasn't happened before doesn't mean that it can't. They can include UA from more than a year before the book release.

 

[Helldritch]

Exactly. As we stated before, nothing prevents them from using rejected material, modify it and present it again (under a new name or not) for an other book. I think that we're all in agreement on that one. Cheers!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This is something that crept up from the movie makers. Using non black to play black people and it had a racist connotation to it. It was often done in the previous decades but now, it is viewed as a bad thing and unartistically thing to do. .

When your argument starts with a defense of blackface, it's probably worth not hitting the Post Reply button.