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!

 

[Morrus]

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…

Appropriated, not re-appropriated!

Though in a Greek-themed book, it'll be weird seeing them used the D&D way and not the Greek way.

 

[dave2008]

Interesting, but disappointing. Out of all the Subclasses we've been getting via UA only two made it in? And only 2 races are in this book? Given all the PHB races besides humans aren't in Theros outside of Planeswalkers, that is not much in the way of choices. Tritons, Centaurs, and Minotaurs should have also been in it and Nymphs should have been added as a race too.

Look at the wording carefully, it doesn't eliminate the possibility of more subclasses; however, it is much more clear that there are only two new races. That being said, look at how that is worded too. I imagine they will also include already published races like the centuars ans maybe tritons and minotaurs too.

Compare what is being offered her compared to Odyssey of the Dragonlords or Arkadia, with much fewer staff and resources. Very disappointed once again in WotCs lack of effort. I loved 5e, but I'm getting tired of WotC phoning it in, with 3rd parties doing a much better job with their settings and books then WotC.

Still I'll wait till we know more to render a final judgement, maybe there are key details missing.

I think that is a bit harsh to say from an Amazon product blurb. We don't know the full extents of what it contains. Personally, I am interested in the supernatural gifts (though I image it will be like boons or blessings), artifacts, and mythic monsters more than the races and subclasses. So this is still very interesting to me.

 

[dave2008]

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

I never expected the Nymph to be a playable race (though I know nothing about Theros other than what I have learned in the past few days). Its D&D baggage is to great IMO.

 

[Ravenbrook]

I already own Arkadia and Odyssey of the Dragonlords. I know that Nordic settings for 5e exist as well. Is there any chance we'll get ancient Celtic and Mesopotamian stuff?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I never expected the Nymph to be a playable race (though I know nothing about Theros other than what I have learned in the past few days). Its D&D baggage is to great IMO.

As opposed to satyrs, who, being male, have been permitted to get away with it.

 

[dave2008]

As opposed to satyrs, who, being male, have been permitted to get away with it.

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

 

[Bupp]

Theros does away with binary genders for races. There are female satyrs and male nymphs.

Greek themed settings are not in my wheelhouse, but I do like to mix D&D and MTG, so I will be getting this. I'm sure there are options I can pull into my game.

I'm all for any of the Magic settings getting imported into D&D. Most Magic settings are stereotypes with a twist anyway, so any new one should cover some niche that someone is looking for.

 

[dave2008]

Theros does away with binary genders for races. There are female satyrs and male nymphs.

I got what you mean, but that is still a binary

 

[slobster]

For me the most surprising thing about the playable races is not getting any returned. I do expect that centaurs and minotaurs will hopefully see a reprint.

As to Theros and all-one-gender races, I know that nymphs and satyrs have both male and female members, but AFAIK harpies and medusas are still female-only. I don't recall seeing any female cyclopiae, but that might just be a quirk of art direction not a lore thing.

 

[jayoungr]

Is there any chance we'll get ancient Celtic and Mesopotamian stuff?

How ancient are we talking? There's Camlann, the Welsh-based Arthurian setting, on Kickstarter at the moment (there's a thread about it on the front page currently).