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!

 

[Ravenbrook]

What about a Satyr or Shifter?

But I really dig those fluffy outfits/skin coverings!:

 

[dave2008]

They seemed to back away from that. I want it in writing.

Why?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

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

Fawns in Narnia (like Mr Tumnus). de-sexualised and bi-gendered.

Narnia has satyrs as a separate race (depicted as goat-headed in the movies).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Okay I totally need to get Odyssey of The Dagonlords now.

That's the one about the hero's epic journey to return to Innsmouth?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

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.

The just sit along side other parallel prime material planes/spheres like the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk. Eberron and Dark Sun are the only (known) planes that are walled off from the rest of the multiverse.

Of course tables are free to rule differently.

 

[Xenonnonex]

Would we be getting Mythic rules? Ie, for levels beyond 20?

 

[DEFCON 1]

Theros is connected to the Multiverse for the same reason every other campaign and setting is-- because they all share the exact same stuff. In Theros, a Magic: The Gathering setting... a character will be able to cast Melf's Acid Arrow. Despite the fact there is no Melf in Theros. And why does this pseudo-Greek culture have a spell entitled 'Melf's Acid Arrow'? Because this setting is connected from a meta, top-down perspective to every other D&D game because they are all D&D games.

But no one at WotC has any need or requirement to actually write down in any sort of fiction or "canon" how/why this spell found its way to Theros, and indeed I'm pretty sure no one at WotC even CARES how/why this spell is in Theros. It's in Theros because it's a D&D setting that uses the D&D rules, and since Melf's Acid Arrow is in the D&D rules, then it's in Theros. No explanation necessary.

The whole point of saying everything is a part of the D&D Multiverse is so that they don't have to explain or come up with a reason each and every time why something outside of a particular setting for some reason shows up in it. If someone at some point asks "Hey, I decided to adapt White Plume Mountain for my Dark Sun game even though I already ran it for my previous Greyhawk game and now I have two different characters both with Blackrazors... how is that possible?" WotC can just say "D&D Multiverse". And thus no one cares that this has happened or needs to explain how this happened.

There isn't one overarching D&D "story" across their entire game that they are trying to connect everything to. And every time players want to try and come up with one, they tell us to stop it. We would be wise to heed their words.

 

[Aldarc]

The Subclasses being tested were for a Magic Setting book, and several of us correctly parsed that, and I was right to call the possibility of a Magic Setting book, which now exists. Simple as that.

How would you like your empty calorie double-right Internet win cookies delivered to you?

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Theros is connected to the Multiverse for the same reason every other campaign and setting is-- because they all share the exact same stuff. In Theros, a Magic: The Gathering setting... a character will be able to cast Melf's Acid Arrow. Despite the fact there is no Melf in Theros. And why does this pseudo-Greek culture have a spell entitled 'Melf's Acid Arrow'? Because this setting is connected from a meta, top-down perspective to every other D&D game because they are all D&D games.

But no one at WotC has any need or requirement to actually write down in any sort of fiction or "canon" how/why this spell found its way to Theros, and indeed I'm pretty sure no one at WotC even CARES how/why this spell is in Theros. It's in Theros because it's a D&D setting that uses the D&D rules, and since Melf's Acid Arrow is in the D&D rules, then it's in Theros. No explanation necessary.

The whole point of saying everything is a part of the D&D Multiverse is so that they don't have to explain or come up with a reason each and every time why something outside of a particular for some reason shows up in it. If someone at some point asks "Hey, I decided to adapt White Plume Mountain for my Dark Sun game even though I already ran it for my previous Greyhawk game and now I have two different characters both with Blackrazors... how is that possible?" WotC can just say "D&D Multiverse". And thus no one cares that this has happened or needs to explain how this happened.

There isn't one overarching D&D "story" across their entire game that they are trying to connect everything to. And every time players want to try and come up with one, they tell us to stop it. We would be wise to heed their words.

Just to continue on the "How does Theros/Ravnica fit into D&D multiverse" tangent...

As far as I've seen, it looks like Magic the Gathering fits under D&D lore, instead of the reverse. Meaning, that the broad "how does the Multiverse work" rules of D&D supersede the same rules for Magic the Gathering.

The best "official" explanation for how the two properties connect was done on an episode of Dragon Talk, where Jeremy Crawford explains how the planes of Magic fall under the same Great Wheel cosmology, even if they don't know it. As far as I know, the staff of Magic have never offered their own explanation as to how D&D falls into their cosmology, so the Crawford answer is the most "official" one.


I'll add that Eberron (which is also mentioned in this video) provides good explanations for how Theros/Ravnica fall under the Great Wheel in practice. Essentially, setting like the Forgotten Realms have residents that fully understand how the Great Wheel works, and how to move from world to world, and plane to plane. Other settings like Eberron (and Theros) don't; they either think there world is the only world, and can't comprehend leaving it (in the case of Eberron), or they think that their world has limited options of exiting (in the case of Planeswalkers from Theros).

So some people in Theros do understand that their plane is not alone, and that it is possible to leave by Planeswalking. What they don't know, is that their world is but one of literally infinite worlds, that fall under the great umbrella of the Great Wheel. Now, it honestly doesn't matter that they do; the presence of the Great Wheel does not truly impact residents of Theros, as their souls go to their afterlife instead of the Great Wheel. But there is always the possibility that a Planeswalker shifts to a world or plane of the Great Wheel, or that a wizard uses the Plane Shift spell to get to Theros.

In the case of Eberron, Crawford explained that although Eberron is a world in the Great Wheel, because it is cut off there is no interaction with it. But the possibility of it reconnecting always exists, and the dangers/opportunities that go with that. Same goes with Theros/Ravnica, though I don't think they're actually cut off and more likely just world that are too small or remote to be noticed by the deities of the Great Wheel.

 

[slobster]

In the case of Eberron, Crawford explained that although Eberron is a world in the Great Wheel, because it is cut off there is no interaction with it. But the possibility of it reconnecting always exists, and the dangers/opportunities that go with that. Same goes with Theros/Ravnica, though I don't think they're actually cut off and more likely just world that are too small or remote to be noticed by the deities of the Great Wheel.

Awesome, thanks for the link!

I would note that this is basically the "how D&D sees things" explanation. Within the canon of MtG (so coming at it from the other side), the planeshift spell is flatly impossible (right now, retcons notwithstanding) as confirmed by official word of Rosewater several times. So no method of travelling the planes other than planeswalking can exist in Magic lore (well Eldrazi...and the planar bridge...look it's like comic book physics, things get complicated). Any person who tried to planeshift, other than a planeswalker, would according to established MtG lore be unmade by the Blind Eternities.

That's all solid MtG canon, basically as solid as it gets in a fiction primarily depicted through cards and sharing dozens of authors down several decades. But a lot of the things taken for granted in D&D plane lore, like the simple ability of literally anything to cross the planes without the direct involvement of a planeswalker spark, would break the whole MtG setting on a pretty basic level (see nerd rage about a planeswalker taking his dog for a walk).

Now all that said, it would be fine by me if they relaxed all those restrictions in Magic and went with what Crawford is saying here! At the very least, it would mean we could the Weatherlight back and travelling the planes.

And of course GMs are free to do whatever they want in their own games.