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.

Screen Shot 2020-02-28 at 4.41.15 PM.png


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!
 

log in or register to remove this ad


log in or register to remove this ad


Parmandur

Book-Friend
Anything that fits in D&D fits in MtG extremely well, because both franchises are all encompassing generic fantasy.

MtG began life as an unlicensed D&D card game, and it hasn't really shifted far from that.

The Subclasses being tested were for a Magic Setting book, and several of us correctly parsed that, and I was right to call the possibility of a Magic Setting book, which now exists. Simple as that.
 

Zarithar

Adventurer
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…

I need to dig around for the link/quote, but the gorgon in D&D has an interesting history. There was a miscommunication when the original Monster Manual was being put together - so we ended up with gorgons in D&D = demonic looking metallic bull that breathes poison gas - instead of medusae. Playable medusae/gorgons are a thing in Rise of the Dragonlords by the way, an excellent Greek-inspired 3rd party release for 5e.
 

dave2008

Legend
I need to dig around for the link/quote, but the gorgon in D&D has an interesting history. There was a miscommunication when the original Monster Manual was being put together - so we ended up with gorgons in D&D = demonic looking metallic bull that breathes poison gas - instead of medusae. Playable medusae/gorgons are a thing in Rise of the Dragonlords by the way, an excellent Greek-inspired 3rd party release for 5e.
There was an article about the origin of the D&D gorgon on EnWorld not too long ago that gave the likely origin. It (the bull type gorgon) is not unique to D&D and actually comes from an old bestiary of creatures.
 
Last edited:




Have Saytrs in D&D always been all male? I realize it fits the mythology, but I never thought of them that way myself. However, what is the Theros lore on Satyrs and Nymphs
I was talking about classical myth, although I have never seen a female satyr (or male nymph or dryad) depicted in D&D.
 

The Subclasses being tested were for a Magic Setting book, and several of us correctly parsed that, and I was right to call the possibility of a Magic Setting book, which now exists. Simple as that.
It may well be that the specific MtG setting was created specifically to tie in with a planned D&D setting.

Greek myth is hardly exclusive to MtG.
 

Remove ads

Latest threads

Remove ads

AD6_gamerati_skyscraper

Remove ads

Recent & Upcoming Releases

Top