Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The worlds ofDungeons & DragonsandMagic : The Gatheringhave fall together once more in the latest Koran for the tabletop RPG .
Mythic Odysseys of Therosis a newD&Dsourcebook that adjust therealm of Theros fromMagicinto a safari setting . Theros is heavily inspired by Ancient Greece , which means that it ’s a kingdom where heroes battling monsters and gods interact with mortals is a normal event .
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Screen Rant late spoke to writers James Wyatt and F. Wesley Schneider about the content in theMythic Odysseys of Theros , as they were task with bringing one of the most intenseMagicsettings to theworld ofDungeons & Dragons .
Theros is a departure from the cause worlds that D&D players might be familiar with , as it ’s heavily inspired by Ancient Greece . So , could you state us a little morsel about Theros and what players can expect in the Good Book ?
James Wyatt - Theros is a world that is instigate by Greek myths from the Magic : The Gathering world - building linear perspective . It was an effort to work up a globe from the ground up , as a fancy world inform by fabulous musical theme . Our line was to take that mankind and translate it to D&D , which means keeping a lot of the earth - edifice intact but also fleshing it out to make it a more comprehensive setting for D&D role player to research .
Wesley Schneider - One of the other grown elements of this is that in all of your favourite classical mythology stories , the gods are always ripe there , they ’re always meddle , they ’re always define up plot of ground , they ’re always getting hire in the schema of their pet heroes and villain . From a D&D view , you have that to a grade with the various D&D pantheons , where you ’ve got clerics and paladins and all variety of characters who might be involved with the god , as part of their character , but in Theros , the gods are very much concerned in you , they ’re come for you , you are their focus . So everybody has the potential to have some participation with the deities who are right there being participating participant in the mankind , potentially guiding you whether you are a divine , a hero , a rogue , or a fighter .
The monster of Greek mythology are a big part of D&D , but they ’re commonly transplant into Earth base on European medieval fantasy configurations . How are creature like gorgons and krakens different in Theros when compare to other D&D setting ?
James Wyatt - There is some discussion in the al-Qur’an about using the Greek - inspired monsters in the Monster Manual as they appear in Theros and there are some alone version of things like hydras and krakens and Gorgon as well . Including the legendary Gorgon Hythonia the Cruel who commence the Mythic monster treatment , as well as Tromokratis the kraken and Araste of the Endless Web . These Mythic goliath were our effort to apply the idea of fabulous storytelling to our monster blueprint and say " OK " so when you encounter THE gorgon , THE medusa , or Hythonia the Cruel , it ’s not just one more fiend on the series of quest through the dungeon . It ’s really an risky venture in itself , an clash that ’s more like a Bos engagement in a picture secret plan .
Wesley Schneider - There is also certain lusus naturae that you see come up again in the Monster Manual , where they ’re sort of stock . Like , the hydra for example . It ’s a CR 8 monster , so when we put a Snake on the cover of the book , it ’s like " we might involve to give that a small bit of lift " if it ’s get going to be " Woo the excitement of 8th level adventuring " right there on the cover . So we ’ve even got updated and revised take for some of the monsters that you ’ve view again and again . Hydras , for lesson , you get the Ironscale Hydra in here that is right smart more caramel , but you ’ve also fix the Legendary Hydra Polukranos , who is at Challenge Rating 19 . But then you ’ve also got minotaurs and whatnot , where in addition to being foes that you’re able to chance , you’re able to also play . So you have the opportunity to explore that side of mythology , and in this type from the face of one of classic mythology ’s most iconic fiend .
Theros is adding new playable races to D&D , one of which is Centaurus . Can modest characters ride centaur fictional character and use them as mounts in battle ?
Wesley Schneider - I think so
James Wyatt - Yeah , I call back so
Can a Cavalier histrion use another centaur player as their backing and apply their class ability to them ?
Wesley Schneider - Totally follow your cloud nine , if both parties are consent adults and they require to do this .
Supernatural Gifts give players extra abilities starting from level one , some of them making it hard for characters to die . Do these affect the Challenge paygrade system that already live in the game ? Will a group with supernatural gifts steamroll creatures from existing Bible ?
James Wyatt - I reckon the DMs will pretty quickly learn to adjust as needed . I ’m not sure huge adaption are take . Characters tend to steamroll over monsters more or less anyway with not a lot in the way of human death . If avoiding fatality is the biggest benefit of a giving , the impact is not give-up the ghost to be that huge .
Wesley Schneider - They are also the opposite side of this , in that so many supernatural gifts , while they may be a little chip of a swelling , a little piece of a boost that all of the players in the group get . They ’re so drenched in the story of the world that , yes , you might get a little supernumerary resilience , but so many of them are like " You are an prophesier of a specific diety , you get this insight " or " You are the rebirth of a legendary Cuban sandwich " , you have this background . They end up being profoundly history - productive , but also , in many display case , and we do n’t say it aright there at the upfront , but they really get you drag with some of the tangled plots of the world . So yeah , you may take it , yeah you might get a little bit of a boost , but you ’re gon na freaking need it because now you ’re in the mix .
By the same keepsake , are the fresh playable races in Theros equally okay to use for hunting expedition written before the book was release ? Some of the new race possess some pretty powerful ability compared to the ones in thePlayer ’s Handbook , and they experience as if they are designed for more high-pitched - powered campaigns than single liberate in the past times .
James Wyatt - I suppose they work fine in any setting , in fact , the Centaurus and the minotaur previously appear in theGuildmaster ’s Guide To Ravnicaand the triton was originally fromVolo ’s Guide to Monsters . So , I do n’t opine they ’re vastly out of line with what we ’ve check elsewhere .
Wesley Schneider - All of the purpose work goes through the exact same rules squad that any D&D Good Book go through . The exact same the great unwashed are vet them , the same internal ( and sometimes external ) playtest unconscious process , and everything is being moot on the same baseline . So if something does seem a little more powerful than common or something does seem like " that see very good " , that might speak more to care " Ooh this is the thing for me , I ’m excited about this " and less about some kind of creeping .
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Theros sum some wizard slings & sling ammo to the game . Was there ever an intention to modernize the canonic version of the sling for the Koran ? A lot of players feel that the base interpretation of the sling from thePlayer ’s Handbookis fairly weak .
James Wyatt - There was definitely an intention to extend some magic option to make the sling more attractive , but revamp it is not a high antecedency .
Wesley Schneider - It ’s somewhat funny because we have a few folk on staff who are actually catapult enthusiasts , like , actually have slingback at their desks . There are a few nice rocky beaches not far from the office and whatnot , so when the chance come up , it was " Oh we have some thoughts about slingshot " Ok , well , do we have the column of magic point space for you .
James Wyatt - It ’s really really comic because I questioned why those sorcerous slings were in there because they ’re not from the Theros lineup sets in any way . But you ’re right , this was identified as a spot to give some love to the sling .
The rule for Piety were already in theDungeon Master ’s Guide , but they only consisted of a few paragraphs and were ill defined . How are the Piety rules expanded in Theros ?
James Wyatt - The introductory rules stay the same . You have a piousness score that the DM controls . What the Theros book does is give more concrete guideline for what conditions the DM might use to evaluate whether your piousness score increase or decreases and then gives concrete benefits for each of the fifteen gods of Theros .
graven image and Piety are a big part of Theros . The senior edition of D&D used to be very in your face with how the gods react to someone , especially in the novels . The late edition pulled this back and made the gods more distant and less convoluted with the affairs of mortal . How will this go in Theros ? Are gods a common mickle in this world ?
James Wyatt - They are literally a uncouth sight in that they appear in the night sky as constellation , or sometimes more concretely . The graphics of them in the card game demonstrate them striding across the horizon , with this enormous scale . There is decidedly a good sense in this Earth that they do tangibly come along to person , as well as sending presage or speaking through statues or most often mouth through oracles . There is a form of immediateness to them , but , there are no stat blocks for god . We do n’t forebode character reference present them at any item in the secret plan .
Wesley Schneider - But there is a part where you may literally go to Nyx . you could go to their house and be like " Purphoros , I ’m calling you out , I desire a quest , I want … bring it on " and the immortal can set you up with your own specific customise epic journeying mission from the god ’s themselves , for fabulous pillage of course .
In ancient Hellenic mythology , gods would often step in at once and alter the result of issue . Is this something that also happens a lot in Theros and is it something player can reliably essay and call upon without being clerics ?
James Wyatt - There is nothing reliable about the gods ( laughs ) that supplication is dead something that characters can do and it ’s really in the DMs workforce as to how they want to manage it . The part that Wes was just referencing about elysian ordeals , it ’s actually a very involved summons , in Holy Order to get to Nyx ( leaving aside the question of spells likeplane shift ) , you have to undergo a journeying . The mythic feel there is quite intentional . We require it to sense like you are setting out on a journeying of a lifetime . It ’s entirely up to the DM to set what the terminal figure of the trial by ordeal are . There are also some guidelines in there for the DM on godlike treatment on how to handle it , how to not take player agency away . Do n’t make it too hard or do n’t make it too easy , which is kind of DM advice 101 , or the ultimate challenge of every dungeon master , trying to find that personal line of credit . We endeavor to talk the DM through some of the offspring involved there . The presence of the idol should never make hero unnecessary or diminish their valour .
Wesley Schneider - It needs to be a point of departure to adventures . Yeah , you might regale a immortal to come and help you , but now you owe a god a favour and they ’ve got way better imaginations and perspectives than you do .
Theros is adding two new subclass - the College of Eloquence for bards and Oath of Glory for paladins . How do these subclasses forge ?
Wesley Schneider - So the College of Eloquence is very much set up to let you spoil that fancy you always want to be a Grecian rhetorician , to stand in front of your interview and just bedazzle them with the looker of your Word of God or the irrefutability of your logic . So , this is the bard who wants to be the talker , who require to be the utterer , legal instrument aside - you will listen to the sound of my vocalisation . Just to rattle off a few of the titles here for different feature - Unsettling intelligence , Silver Tongue , Unfailing Inspiration , Universal Speech is one I really revel , you get to the point where language barriers will not keep you . And this really interesting Infectious Inspiration ability allow you to pass around your inspiration between the entire group . On the other side of the spread , is the fighter Oath of Glory . This is a character who even moreso from many of the Cuban sandwich of Theros knows from the word of honor go that they are destined for greatness , that they have a lot , a path that they bonk they are going to do incredible thing . They ’re going to bring all of their good friends along for the experience . So , this is the paladin that run into large feats of strenuosity , being you ’re classical Grecian hero . And then they get the power Peerless Athlete , for example , it allows you to advance up your strenuosity . A wad of elements that palpate really good for the battlefield in working with the grouping to check that that everybody is defend , or able-bodied to press at the same time .
James Wyatt - There ’s a larger than living boastiness to them that I really wish . It ’s a very unlike feel of the paladin , not so much a medieval warrior of chivalry , but that large cheeky boasty warrior on the Grecian field of battle .
One of the most extremely awaited parts of Theros is the Mythic rules for monsters , which admit enemies to transform when certain condition are contact . I have to ask … was this rule cheer by video games ? It feels veryFinal Fantasyif you do n’t bear in mind me order .
Wesley Schneider - To a degree yes , where we see this again and again . I ’ve ensure it essay several times where you get the experience you so often see in video recording games and movies , where it ’s like " It ’s the braggy freak , you have the dramatic fight and … oh no , it ’s let out its true form " . That sort of factor .
James Wyatt - Just when you think you amaze it , that dramatic turn is a key part of it .
Wesley Schneider - That ’s something that I think as DM , many of us have deplume off at the table , but always quantifying that has been a small fleck of a trick . When we aim a run at it this clip , not only did we tilt into " let ’s do vainglorious stat blocks " and really make these sense like huge epic coming upon . This was an opportunity to rive in something that we see in adventures all the time , like read - aloud school text , where it ’s like " OK , when thing X bechance , read this text because this is the shift part " . This is the ingredient where everything turns , and hopefully , the hope is that when ethnic music are playing it at the table , when they ’re like " OK , we killed the large monster " and the DM in reality opens up the book and jump reading the next thing , folk music are going to be like " I thought we deliver the goods ? "
James Wyatt - I recollect the aim team did a great job pulling that off . Working within the survive convention structure using Legendary Actions and then in the 2nd form of the confrontation , the monster become access to extra Legendary Actions that will really become more dangerous . The maths behind it is beautiful and uncanny , it works out to be a slew like you ’re fighting two goliath of the same challenge level . But instead of " OK we ’re crusade two monsters and then we kill one and the encounter becomes slightly less dangerous and then we kill the second one " . It ’s like you ’re fight one monster and then you kill one and then on the spur of the moment it ’s more grave and you ’re fighting two of them . And the Legendary Actions are what makes that work . It ’s pretty cool .
We do it at least one mythologic monster is planned forIcewind Dale : Rime of the Frostmaiden – can we expect to see more of them in future campaign ? Will it be the recurring component of every D&D final stage boss run low ahead ?
Wesley Schneider - You know , it ’s been funny . When we put this together , the intention was like " We ’ll judge it out , we ’ve got this outstanding opportunity here , we ’ll see how folks like it " . We have in spades had designers who are working on other projects being like " Ooo this could be a Mythic monster " or " We could probably make that one a mythologic monster " or so on . The Scripture ’s not even out yet , let ’s see how folks like it . There is definitely some interest inside the sign of the zodiac , but at long last it ’s going to bet on how folks dig it . I ’m hearing from at least one somebody here that they like it so far , but overall , if we continue to get the feedback that folks are enjoying this and it ’s working in their game then that ’s an experience they want , we ’re always listening .
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Theros is free-base on a planing machine fromMagic : The assembly – how did you determine which component from the card game made it into D&D and were any melodic theme cut during development ?
James Wyatt - I think the cognitive process was more additive than anything else , we took the world guide that were created for Theros for the lineup sets and expand those to flesh it out . I think ofMagicworldbuilding like building a movie set . The old fashioned stereotype of the moving picture set where you take the air down the streets of the town in the western and it ’s just a frontage and there are no actual buildings behind them . The witching team is very undecomposed at creating the delusion that there is a earth beyond those walls , but D&D role player need to be able to go there , in way that the card set does n’t . So , we did a lot of fleshing out . I mean , like the bestiary chapter is for the most part a doubt of filtering all of these monsters that appeared on the cards and deciding which 1 needed to be reflected in the Bible . The answer is a deal of them . But I ca n’t think of anything we decide to exit out .
Wesley Schneider - No , not really . It ’s so much inMagicthat you have this cool ogre , you have this coolheaded colossus , and now they fight . In D&D , so much of the storytelling is you have this coolheaded monster and you have this cool monster and now they ’re Quaker . So , it did affect some re - concepting in group like the minotaurs or the leonin for example , where so often they are introduce as foes or challenge or what have you . A lot of our work demand - we ’ve get all of this marvellous art , all this great circumstance , all this hypnotism of cultivation , let ’s start redact together these beats and let on what the story is behind that . As much as you require to have the leonin hunters or the minotaur warriors , let ’s also be capable to say the story about the minotaur wizards or the leonin bakers . I mean , we need the whole culture to be there and feel alive . Magicgives us a fantastic springboard for that , so it was just a matter of doing the gymnastic exercise after that .
Did you receive any help from theMagic : The Gatheringteam while act upon on the leger ?
James Wyatt - I was basically theMagicteam benefactor , along with two of the folk who used to work on theMagicteam and who worked on past incarnation of Theros are now on the D&D team - Adam Lee and Ari Levitch . So they also bring to the Holy Scripture . TheMagicfranchise team was responsible for keeping track of Magic human beings beyond the card set , they did a review of the script and had one of their experts do a pass over it as well . The two halves of the company are closer than they have been at fourth dimension in the yesteryear .
Wesley Schneider - I ’m the one who came into this experience nothing about Theros . I am notaMagicplayer , I lie with the artistry , when we both started peach about this , we were passing excited for the project , super excited for all of the thematic element and bric-a-brac . From the get - go " we can establish something nerveless here … Oh , there ’s a world already , do we have any selective information about … oh we do ! " I imagine I have to get up to focal ratio .
Did you endeavor to be any of the game mechanics fromMagic : The Gatheringin Theros ?
James Wyatt - Our profound goal was to let you spiel D&D in thisMagicworld , not to attempt to feign playingMagicat the D&D table . That ’s the ism . I ’ve been doingMagic / D&D crossover , partially on my own meter and partly with theRavnicabook for six years now . We put out a series of PDFs for each new world thatMagicreleased , presenting them as D&D preferences and that has been my guiding philosophy . D&D player want to play D&D , so I ’m give you the peter you need to play D&D in this cool world , not trying to simulate the mana arrangement fromMagicin D&D , which I ’ve play around with and it ’s weird . I guess the one nod in that direction perchance is the Piety scheme because Devotion was a really significant mechanic in the Theros scorecard hardening . That ’s really more of a reflection … here is a fact of the humankind - the god ’s matter . Here is how it ’s reflected in Magic mechanics in Devotion and here ’s how it ’s reflected in D&D mechanic with Piety , rather than translating mechanic in any way .
Are they any plans to adaptmoreMagicplanesto D&D ?
James Wyatt - We do n’t have any architectural plan at this point .
If given the choice , whichMagicplane would you like to adjust next ?
James Wyatt - If it were all up to me … I would love someday to take the very first of thesePlane ShiftPDFs that I wrote , thePlane Shift Zendikar , and blow that out into a campaign background . Zendikar from the getgo was a very D&D season world and the interior catch phrase we used for it was " Adventure World " , and it ’s got diverse races and adventuring parties going out into the world and I would have sex to thrive that . We have a Modern Zendikar arrange come out this fall , who knows … maybe I ’ll sit down in front of the TV in the evening and do a revised variant of itsPlane Shift .
Wesley Schneider - As much as my inner ( which is also mostly my outer ) spooky boy really wants to say Innistrad , um … I dunno , after Ikoria in the beginning in the year … if phratry like these Mythic giant , that would be a good place for it . And hey , who bang , perchance we could finally get real D&D stats for Godzilla .
How do God Weapons work exactly ? Are they intended to be standard rewards ( like even sorcerous detail ) ? Can they have off the game balance ?
James Wyatt - They ’re presented as artefact , with all of the caveats that fall with using artefact in your game as they ’re presented in theDungeon Master ’s Guide . The one really classifiable thing about them is … a vivid take on subsist mechanics , is the path that the design team connect the random place of artifact with the piousness of the person wielding it . So , if you ’re a devoted servant of Heliod , his fizgig is more powerful in your hands than if you ’re not . It ’s really simple , it take like three sentences to write , but is super effective at channel that flavor . But otherwise , they work just like regular artifacts . Which is to say they ’re demented and will bust up your biz . ( They wo n’t wreck your biz ) . They will have a significant shock on your biz .
Wesley Schneider - This has been another rules concept that I feel like we ’ve seen runs taken at before , where it ’s like " the sorcerous item that levels up over time " , but this was a consummate chance for , like , through your adventures , through your piety , through your growing relationship with your diety . The powers of your artifact get increased over time , so it ’s really fun , I look forrard to seeing how folks like using them .
How precisely do you go about steal a weapon system from a graven image ? I rememberDeities & Demigodsand it seems like they ’d be jolly heavy to steal .
James Wyatt - There is a level from the original Theros city block , part of the web fiction that came out with the band that involve the Planeswalker Kiora stealing the Bident of Thassa , which she then get back to Zendikar with her to fight the Eldrazi . The promotional stuff is a cite to that . That ’s entirely in the DM ’s hand how to make that take place . You would want to build an risky venture around that .
Wesley Schneider - And I feel like a basic that since all of the Supreme Being in their section have these , like , jolly significant tilt of type of heroes , types of villain , types of adventures . A jolly common image that comes up among these is " Oh they just materialise to leave their tiptop - powerful weapon lying around " or in a battle , you terminate up take this artillery land over here , recover it , take it back from somebody . There will be thing throughout the Word of God that suggest those charge .
Now that the Theros drive ledger is released , are there any intentions to release any more books using the setting ? Could we wait to see a full hunting expedition in the venous blood vessel ofCurse of StrahdorIcewind Dale : Rime of the Frostmaidenbased on ancient Hellenic epics lay out in Theros in the hereafter ?
James Wyatt - I opine we ’re seeing some of that coming out of the Dungeon Master ’s Guild already . I ca n’t talk to the plans of the D&D team , but I ’m jolly sure that they ’re moving on to other populace and other adventure stories .
Wesley Schneider - This is one of those dull times where it ’s like " We have not made any annunciation to that " . But we would be fools to be like " Oh , folks are super excited about Theros , let ’s not give them anything else " . If folks say us like " Yeah we wanna see adventures here , we wanna see more here , more more , more , more " . Like I said , we ’re always listening , we want to verify that we ’re building a game that ’s not just for us , but for the whole biotic community . So yeah , if folk want to see Theros adventure , let us know . We ’ll confound it in the hopper will all of the other scheme .
Yeah , Theros feels to me like it would be a outstanding place setting for a richly - powered campaign where you may just go crazy with high - level gear and power and not have to worry too much about keeping thing on a level performing subject field .
Wesley Schneider - Absolutely .
Next : keep & Dragons New Campaign Is Icewind Dale : Rime Of The Frostmaiden
The Mythic Odysseys Of Theros sourcebook forDungeons & Dragonsis available now .
