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...

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.

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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."

Meletis.jpg


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!
 

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gyor

Legend
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.

Your logic is sound, but I'm still disappointed that the Nymph race isn't in. Still I'll chill out.
 

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Parmandur

Book-Friend
Your logic is sound, but I'm still disappointed that the Nymph race isn't in. Still I'll chill out.

I can dig that: playable Gorgons would make sense for the Setting, as well. Honestly, maybe not for this book, but Magic's lore might be what pushes WotC to allow more powerful Races as playable options sooner or later.

It is interesting that this is the first D&D setting book in...forever...to reduce the PHB race options to just Humans.
 
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Zarithar

Adventurer
I don't play MtG, but as a GM, I still rate the Ravnica book as one of the most inspiring 5E books. I would love something like that for more settings. I don't care if they are more MtG settings, old DnD settings, culturally inspired settings or totally new ones :)
I'm in the same boat. I haven't played Magic in years but love new settings regardless of their inspiration. One of the most perplexing and irritating things I see from certain members of the hobby are statements like - "Stop rehashing old settings and give us something new" but then when that actually happens it turns into "What about Setting X? We need Setting X for 5e". Looking forward to the new races and hoping to use this book in conjunction with Rise of the Dragonlords to do a heroic Greek myth-based campaign.
 

FitzTheRuke

Legend
I'm in the same boat. I haven't played Magic in years but love new settings regardless of their inspiration. One of the most perplexing and irritating things I see from certain members of the hobby are statements like - "Stop rehashing old settings and give us something new" but then when that actually happens it turns into "What about Setting X? We need Setting X for 5e". Looking forward to the new races and hoping to use this book in conjunction with Rise of the Dragonlords to do a heroic Greek myth-based campaign.

Me too. I don't know anything about the mythology of Magic. I can play the game, but I barely know the names of the sets, far or less what any of it means. To me, these are just NEW D&D Worlds, and that can't be a bad thing. (I can wait for Dark Sun, but I do want it eventually!)
 


Now I wonder the plans for Theros is like the first step to test a d20 superheroes. Theros is a new line, and this allows more risks about the lore/background. Let's say Theran heroes are going to be the grandparents of the d20 version of League of Just Avengers. Theros is the best M:tG/D&D line for a crossover with superheroes from DC or Marvel Superheroes. Overpowered? Don't worry, we can say visitors from comic multiverse are "nerfed" when go to a TTRPG world, then Wonder Woman or Skaar (Hulk's son) could face a hydra or a drake, but not without a great effort, and the defeat is too easily possible.
 


Marandahir

Crown-Forester (he/him)
I can dig that: playable Gorgons would make sense for the Setting, as well. Honestly, maybe not for this book, but Magic's lore might be what pushes WotC to allow more powerful Races as playable options sooner or later.

It is interesting that this is the first D&D setting book in...forever...to reduce the PHB race options to just Humans.

When you say Playabl Gorgons, you mean Medusas right? Not the big Goht-of-Majora's-Mask monsters, but the snake-haired-women right? I'm all for using mythologically-accurate names, just wanting to clarify because D&D re-appropriated the term…
 

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