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!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I imagine WotC is trying to create a special cosmology for D&D/WotC, like the 52 in DC or the BattleWorld in the last Secret Wars by Marvel. Personally I like the concept of Crystal Spheres from the Chronomancer AD&D sourcebook, because this allows to create your own reboot of mash-ups.

But this plan will not be showed until after testing the success of the future media projects (movies and teleseries).

 

[cbwjm]

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

He'll likely be one of the main legendaries in an unhinged set.

 

[slobster]

At this point, a D&D Magic set must be on the drawing board. Stuff like VI suggests that we might get some form of official answer to that sooner or later.

There actually has been official word on this, Mark Rosewater has commented that a D&D set has been under consideration before, and in the most recent customer survey (WotC does them more or less quarterly), there was a specific question for Magic players about whether we would be interested in an official D&D MtG set.

Magic typically works about 2 years ahead on its sets, so I'd start looking for an official D&D set maybe in early 2022, or a Secret Lair style D&D promo pack within a few months, maybe in time for the holiday season at the end of this year.

Just a guess.

 

[Parmandur]

There actually has been official word on this, Mark Rosewater has commented that a D&D set has been under consideration before, and in the most recent customer survey (WotC does them more or less quarterly), there was a specific question for Magic players about whether we would be interested in an official D&D MtG set.

Magic typically works about 2 years ahead on its sets, so I'd start looking for an official D&D set maybe in early 2022, or a Secret Lair style D&D promo pack within a few months, maybe in time for the holiday season at the end of this year.

Just a guess.

Yeah, sounds about right. Maybe 2021, if Ravnica's success made them eager to get that in motion.

 

[slobster]

Yeah, sounds about right. Maybe 2021, if Ravnica's success made them eager to get that in motion.

Ravnica had a whole bunch of other reasons why it was successful. It was kind of in the perfect storm: Arena was out, so the game was expanding with a huge amount of exposure to a new player base, it was the culmination of like 14 years of metaplot and basically was its own blockbuster "Avengers" style event, it got a killer trailer, Ravnica has always been the most profitable and hyped plane to visit for wiazards (this was the 3rd block to take place there), etc.

I mean, I'm just being a pedantic fanboy at this point. I also hope to see a D&D set some day, so if/when it comes I'll be hyped for it, 2021 or 2031.

 

[darjr]

It’s already a huge hit. 132 on Amazon.

 

[Parmandur]

Ravnica had a whole bunch of other reasons why it was successful. It was kind of in the perfect storm: Arena was out, so the game was expanding with a huge amount of exposure to a new player base, it was the culmination of like 14 years of metaplot and basically was its own blockbuster "Avengers" style event, it got a killer trailer, Ravnica has always been the most profitable and hyped plane to visit for wiazards (this was the 3rd block to take place there), etc.

I mean, I'm just being a pedantic fanboy at this point. I also hope to see a D&D set some day, so if/when it comes I'll be hyped for it, 2021 or 2031.

Right on! I meant the success of the Ravnica book for D&D: that sold like hot cakes and was great to boot, I have to imagine that got them interested in a crossover the other way, though we'll see about timing in the end.

 

[slobster]

Right on! I meant the success of the Ravnica book for D&D: that sold like hot cakes and was great to boot, I have to imagine that got them interested in a crossover the other way, though we'll see about timing in the end.

Oh yeah that makes sense. It has been a noticeable difference in tone recently, from the excuses about why they just can't really do a real, official crossover (basically the stuff I've been saying) until, around the time of Ravnica, the tone began to be more "okay what would you guys want to see with a D&D set? what is important to you? HOW MANY OF YOU WOULD GIVE US YOUR MONEY?"

I'm hopeful!

I would build the heck out of a mindflayer deck.

 

[dave2008]

I still want to know how Theros and Ravnica fit into the D&D multiverse cosmology, I mean they made Eberron fit, they should dk the same for D&D Theros.

I thought they already answered that and it fits in just like everything else. Maybe I just assumed that though

 

[dave2008]

But yeah, for a casual "wouldn't this be cool if" kind of arrangement that shows a theoretical Phyrexian invasion of Eberron or Volo dungeon delving through Ixalan, I'd be down. Just keep it from being official, I get enough headaches keeping canon straight with them separate. XD

I don't think there is any real canon with D&D, not sure about Magic.