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!

 

[NiClerigo]

I think Eldraine and Zendikar are strong likely hoods for campaign settings.

I would love an Eldraine book. Some of the UA material made me think it was going to be published. But it is unlikely that they will release two MTG-inspired settings the same year. I would have preferred a book with different Chapters exploring different MTG worlds. Sigh. At least I may create an Aristotle PC or NPC

 

[gyor]

One thing I'm not sure of is minotaurs as a playable race. In the lore for Theros they're bestial cannibalistic monsters, not really part of the societies living in Theros. I do wonder if they will make returned as a playable race, perhaps with modifiers based on the original race.

In the latest Theros set they added a hidden Minotaur city called Skophos, even though it had nothing to do with the plot of the set. I think this is not accident, they wanted playable Minotaurs for this book and you can see the difference in the less primative animalistic Minotaurs in this latest set compared to previous sets for Theros.

 

[gyor]

Races I think will be in this book are:

Tritons, Theros's Merfolk are largely the same as D&D Tritons, even the name so I see this being a reprint.

Centaur and Minotaur reprints.

Satyrs, which is cool, I always loved Satyrs, but note Satyrs in Theros have females too.

Nymphs with subraces. These may or may
not be playable. In Theros Male Nymphs exist.

Leonin, not greek themed at all, but really cool anyways. First Bipedial D&D Lion race.

Gorgons are possible maybe.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Request:

That the book include an Appendix which gives Ancient Greek translations of all the classes, races, equipment, magic items, and spells which are recommended for Theros. (Or Modern Greek, if there is no ancient equivalent.) In a similar way that in AD&D Oriental Adventures, the Fighter was called Bushi (Japanese for "fighter").

For example, in Theros / Hellenic Adventures:

Cleric = Κληρικός • Klērikós
Fighter = Μᾰχητής • Makhētḗs
Wizard = Μάγος • Mágos

As far as I know, there was never a Greek translation of any edition of D&D. (?) (But I might be wrong.)

There are some Greek fan translations in the link below, along with discussion about the challenges of translating D&D terms, many of which are basically synonyms ('wizard', 'sorcerer', 'warlock'):

 

[cbwjm]

In the latest Theros set they added a hidden Minotaur city called Skophos, even though it had nothing to do with the plot of the set. I think this is not accident, they wanted playable Minotaurs for this book and you can see the difference in the less primative animalistic Minotaurs in this latest set compared to previous sets for Theros.

Personally I think that will be a little sad to turn the minotaurs into just another race. They'd created the monstrous lore about them and if they make them just another race it dilutes it a bit. I know many people like to have as many options as possible, but I'm thinking if I ever do run something in Theros, and minotaur is a playable race, that I will ban them as a player race and keep them remaining as the brutal, hungry marauders from the earlier sets. I prefer to keep the monsters as monsters.

 

[Parmandur]

Thinking on it...all of the 2019 UA Subclasses would fit Theros very well, especially the Revived Rogue.

 

[gyor]

Personally I think that will be a little sad to turn the minotaurs into just another race. They'd created the monstrous lore about them and if they make them just another race it dilutes it a bit. I know many people like to have as many options as possible, but I'm thinking if I ever do run something in Theros, and minotaur is a playable race, that I will ban them as a player race and keep them remaining as the brutal, hungry marauders from the earlier sets. I prefer to keep the monsters as monsters.

That ship has already sailed the minute they made Skophos a Minotaur city, with massive temples, ect...

But they may seperate the Skophos Minotaurs and Monsterous Minotaurs the lore.

 

[gyor]

Thinking on it...all of the 2019 UA Subclasses would fit Theros very well, especially the Revived Rogue.

What about the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer?

 

[gyor]

Nymph subraces Naiads (Ocean/Sea Nymphs blue mana), Lampads (Death Nymphs Black mana), guide the dead to the underworld, Oreads (Mountain/Volcano Nymphs red mana), Alseids (Field/Farm/Flower Nymphs white mana), and Dryads (Forest/Tree Nymphs Green mana).

 

[EthanSental]

My copy of Odyssey of the Dragonlords should be here early in the week, looking forward to it and this one when it comes out in May...probably on dndbeyond at least, maybe FG as well,