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!

 

[Aldarc]

Zeus banged HOW MANY chicks now?

As many as the myth-weavers and story-tellers required.

 

[Zardnaar]

Zeus banged HOW MANY chicks now?

Lots.

Greek stuff never really fades away but us there any pop culture stuff I'm missing. Viking stuff has the TV show and the MCU.

 

[Weiley31]

Lots.

EXACTLY.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It's really funny looking back at those UA articles, and those of us who noticed it was looking like Magic material were being dismissed.

I still think you are still wrong. I mean, Iron Man in an ancient Greek setting? Really?! I can see a some that would fit well here: The awful revived rogue* and truename wizard*, the hero paladin and the plague doctor monk etc. But many of the others make no sense here, even if they might fit in other MTG settings. Astral Monks? Flumph barbarians? Psionics generally?

And then there is the issue of numbers - 20 is far to many for one setting book. Unless they are planning on a whole set of MTG setting books - 4 would probably cover it.

*These have the same issue as the Invention wizard - they might make sense in the setting, but are not generally portable.

 

[dave2008]

Me too, but it's a losing battle.

If your the DM it is not. If you really want an ancient Greece us vs. them feel, just say no to monstrous races. Problem solved.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I still think you are still wrong. I mean, Iron Man in an ancient Greek setting? Really?! I can see a some that would fit well here: The awful revived rogue* and truename wizard*, the hero paladin and the plague doctor monk etc. But many of the others make no sense here, even if they might fit in other MTG settings. Astral Monks? Flumph barbarians? Psionics generally?

And then there is the issue of numbers - 20 is far to many for one setting book. Unless they are planning on a whole set of MTG setting books - 4 would probably cover it.

*These have the same issue as the Invention wizard - they might make sense in the setting, but are not generally portable.

Starting from a new hypothesis "The UA subclasses are intended for several books, including Theros", they seem to break down something like this:

Good fit for Theros
The Revived
Twighlight Domain
Onomancy
College of Eloquence (confirmed)
Oath of Heroism (confirmed)
The Lurker in the Deap
Love Unity Domain
Way of Mercy
Circle of the Stars

Psionic or magitech (Eberron 2?)
Psychic Warrior
Soulknife
Arcane Tradition: Psionics
Abherrant Mind
Way of the Astral Self
Armorer

Unclear, or Other (Planer?)
Rune Knight
Swarmkeeper
Circle of Wildfire
Path of the Wild Soul
College of Creation
Clockwork Soul
Path of the Beast
Oath of the Watchers
Noble Genie
Fey Wanderer

 

[dave2008]

Myths change, and there should be nothing wrong with opening this up so female PCs can also be heroic children of Herakles.

I don't think anyone was arguing a modern telling of the myth couldn't take that approach.

Personally, I take the general approach that mythologies are in fact myths. The stories mortals tell of the gods, and to a lesser extent heroes, have a grain of truth; however, they are distorted by human perspectives & biases. For example, I've actually been working on an updated 5e Greco-roman pantheon for about the past year and I am cutting out pretty much all of the deific rape, jealousy, and pettiness. Those parts are human fabrications. For example, here is a snip of the draft of the Hades entry (PS this is a first draft and hasn't been through editing):

"Though Hades rarely leaves his realm, he does make semi-annual trips to Olympus to attend the Council of Olympians. In fact, one such trip is the origin of the most famous tale involving Hades. While attending the Council, Hades met Persephone, daughter of Demeter and goddess of vegetation. They were immediately smitten with each other and soon fell in love. Shortly thereafter, Persephone joined Hades and became Queen of the Underworld. However, this did not sit well with her mother, Demeter tells a decidedly different tale, and her grief and resentment devastated the mortal realm. Demeter caused so much damage that eventually Zeus had to mediate a deal to guarantee Persephone would spend time split between the realms of the dead and the living. The deal still stands, but none of the affected parties are truly happy about it."

 

[dave2008]

I still think you are still wrong. I mean, Iron Man in an ancient Greek setting? Really?!

I'm not saying your wrong, but it definitely fits a greek myth inspired setting. I don't know Theros, but Hephaestus was the god of artifice and was said to have created all manor of automatons for the Olympians. I was actually making stats for him while back and decided I had to hold off until the official artificer rules came out (haven't gone back to him yet though) because they were so important to his character.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Are eidolons from Theros undead or fey spirits? It is important if your PC is going to use positive energy.

* Now I wonder about a future event like a multiverse crisis where a new "mosaic" world is created. This new plane could allow "guest artists" from the rest of M:tG lines, and maybe from some forgotten D&D world.

* If now Ravnica is in D&D, why not Birghtright in M:tG? Some planewalkers visiting this land, but the lore wouldn't altered. Or planewalkers visiting Dark Sun, but after a confrontation with a rogue faction of Chronomancers there is a "reboot" to avoid Athas being invaded by horror from Kalidnay(demiplane of the dread).

* The future of Theros will be a change of the religious beliefs. The people will accept there is a Heaven for the souls of innocent and just people who respected the Natural Law, and punishment for the criminals.

* Theros is perfect for a media adaptation. Only it needs a character as Xena, the warrior princess. And Kaladesh with its aether-tech for the dinobots as "guest artists". And I suggest a race of centaurs with equine-heads, like antropomorphic animals from the furry-fandom. A twink for the brony community, but remembering the reaction by the public with the first concept of Sonic CGI version.

 

[gyor]

Reprint the Triton's, Centaurs and Minotaurs, new stats for Leonin and Satyrs and it should be sufficient for PCs.

For races I agree except I'd add Nymphs with subraces to that list. I'm certain there will also be subclasses and even maybe rules for D&D 5e style Mythic/Epic game play rules.