Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica was a success. It brought Magic the Gathering together with Dungeons and Dragons figuratively and almost literally. From Magic it took its lore and trappings and supported it with D&D’s game mechanics, most notably an often overlooked guild mechanic from the Dungeon Masters Guide. With one Magic setting a success, it leads one to wonder: what other things could be meshed together? Enter Mythic Odysseys of Theros. Another setting from Magic the Gathering, Theros is all about Greek mythology-themed heroic adventures. The question, though, is does Theros have the flavor, crunch, and portions to satisfy both D&D fans and Magic fans?

With Greek mythology as its inspiration, there’s a certain sense of heroism and divine wonder to be expected out of Theros. To sum it up, the story goes that the people of Theros were enduring trying times and they prayed for aid. Their prayers actually formed their first official deity and more followed. Though these new gods gave divine aid, they are still heavily inspired by Greek gods, so they can be as petty and fickle as their predecessors. Adventures can be tailored to whatever drama arises from divine intervention or monstrous intrusion that seems fun. A plain taste, but very faithful to its muses.

A very standard taste can be elevated to godly stature with the right support, so how dense is the crunch? Characters made in Theros gain a special sort of divine boon, something rarely used from the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Much of these mimic racial traits of other races, but all revolve around a superhuman theme, such as invincibility, strength, or prophecy, and many continue to grant benefits as a character levels up or becomes more pious. Speaking of which, piety was a sort of variation on guilds from the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Here, it fills a similar role to the guilds from Ravnica. A character picks a deity and the more heroic deeds they do in that god’s name, the higher their piety grows. Like with the ranks in guilds of Ravnica, the higher a character’s piety, the more divine rewards they reap. Rounding out the mechanics are a handful of new subclasses: the College of Eloquence for bards and the Oath of Glory for the paladin. The Oath of Glory is easily the most fitting piece of the entire book. It is, in essence, the mythical figure Hercules as a subclass. It grants its user (and in some cases the user’s allies) several benefits, largely revolving around athleticism: advantage on Strength rolls, increased speed, etc. Having an Oath of Glory paladin in any Theros campaign is highly recommended, strengthening the crunch and flavor considerably.

So, how much does one get from Theros as a whole? Adventures can be supported with the plethora of new monsters and magic items and the Mythic Monsters, monsters that have one or more combat forms, add a bittersweet surprise to a battle. Sadly, however, there are far fewer hydra monsters than one would have expected. There are numerous hydra cards in Magic the Gathering, enough to theme an entire deck around, in fact. Here, however, only two hydras were added to this book, rounding out the total to a mere three in the entirety of the game. Still, it is an adequate amount of content.

Mythic Odysseys of Theros is loaded with epic Greek myth flavored adventure. The mechanics all work together to give some nice crunchy support. Unfortunately, the portions are less of a meal and more of a snack. In short, this makes the book worthy of running a game in Theros, but it is little of value outside of that and even less for a player than a Dungeon Master. Theros is fun, but it cannot go the distance. C-.

-The_Clark_Side