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!

 

[gyor]

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.

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.

Centuars, Tritons, and Minotaurs are confirmed to be in the book.

 

[gyor]

I was talking about classical myth, although I have never seen a female satyr (or male nymph or dryad) depicted in D&D.

They had a Saytr like race called Fuans or something that had females as well as males I believe.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Maybe she doesn't say planeswalker but it is pretty clear that that was what Crawford meant when introducing her.

Right, so...like I said. Probably a planeswalker.

 

[cbwjm]

Right, so...like I said. Probably a planeswalker.

No, what I'm saying is there is no probably about it. She is obviously a planeswalker.

 

[gyor]

Btw did anyone else notice the surprise mention of Volo in the Theros article, is he secretly the in character author of this book and if so did Volo spark and become the second D&D to become an MtG style planeswalker? Or did Elminister merely teach him the planeshift spell?

 

[Ravenbrook]

What are male nymphs supposed to be? Although satyrs were all male in the ancient world, the "satyress" first appears in the Renaissance, so is by no means new.

 

[gyor]

What are male nymphs supposed to be? Although satyrs were all male in the ancient world, the "satyress" first appears in the Renaissance, so is by no means new.

The funny thing is in Greek Mythology Satyrs and Tritons were the male counterparts of Nymphs, they were really one race, but with high sex dimorphism.

For Male Nymphs I'd go with Daimons.

 

[Parmandur]

Btw did anyone else notice the surprise mention of Volo in the Theros article, is he secretly the in character author of this book and if so did Volo spark and become the second D&D to become an MtG style planeswalker? Or did Elminister merely teach him the planeshift spell?

I mean, if/when there is a Magic set with D&D characters, no way Volo isn't in.

 

[Ravenbrook]

Although it has nothing to do with ancient Greece, I'd love to play a medieval "wildman" - I guess it's as close to a historical male "nymph" one could get.

 

[pukunui]

I have it, but it would have been interesting to see the Theros take on it, although it occurred to me that Nymphs might be represented by the race mechanic like Supernatural Gifts mechanic. They could also do Gorgons via such a mechanic.

I feel like that's a bit of a stretch, but you might be right. I wasn't a fan of Odyssey's take on the medusa race. The nymphs are OK, if a little OP. (I houseruled all their spells to be 1/day as per every other 5e race with innate spells.)