3 Ancient-Greece Inspired Adventures for Your D&D Theros Campaign

In case you haven’t heard yet, Wizards of the Coast announced a new(ish) setting for Dungeons&Dragons fifth edition: Theros! Theros is a Magic: The Gathering setting inspired by the deities, heroes, and legends of ancient Greece, Sparta, and Rome. In fact, we’re getting a new Paladin subclass, Oath of Glory, all about aspiring to become the best hero around.

One of the reasons I love Greco-Roman mythology is the myriad of incredible tales they told of conquest, passion, struggle, victory, defeat, and empowerment. It’s no coincidence, then, that these tales make for gripping D&D adventures. In fact, I’ve got three such adventure premises in the works, all of which I’m fine-tuning for the Theros setting release on June 2, 2020.

Let’s take a look:

The 12 Labors of Anax

Inspired By: The 12 Labors of Heracles
Recommended Party Size: 4-5 Players

Among the many incredible Greco-Roman myths to pull from, The 12 Labors of Heracles is an obvious pick. In the original story, Heracles is charged, as a means of penance for killing his wife and children in a god-induced fugue state, with completing 12 seemingly impossible tasks. These tasks were:

1. Slaying the Nemean Lion
2. Slaying the Lernean Hydra
3. Capturing the Cerynian Deer without Harming It
4. Capturing the Erymanthian Boar
5. Cleaning the Augean Stables
6. Slaying the Stymphalian Birds
7. Capturing the Cretan Bull
8. Capturing the Horses of Diomedes
9. Taking the Girdle of the Amazon Queen Hippolyte
10. Capturing the Cattle of Geryon
11. Taking the Golden Apples of the Hesperides
12. Capturing Cerberus

While you can read more about each labor in greater detail, you can already see there is a healthy mixture of killing vicious monsters, obtaining MacGuffins, and exploring strange new locales. Each labor, or discovering the means to accomplish each labor, could be an adventure of its own. Perhaps the only person who knows how to safely capture the Cerynian Deer, perhaps a fae creature favored by Nylea (Goddess of the Hunt), will only reveal their knowledge if the adventurers rid the nearby farmlands of Dire Rats and Wererats. As an extra layer, these wererats are beings led by a Rat-Lord who could either be eliminated or persuaded to leave by other means. This example clearly shows how you can turn the Labors into a short series of adventures or even a full campaign!

Anax is the King of Akros, Theros’ equivalent of Sparta. Until we know more about the setting details in Mythic Odysseys, I picked Anax simply because he was a close comparison to the original tale. For your campaign, I recommend you have the task-giver be someone of high standing in the region of Theros in which you wish to play. Most likely, however, this would come from someone of royalty or a High Priestess/Oracle of the Gods. Also, don’t feel like you need to make the Labors a punishment. Perhaps completing the Labors will free the land from a terrible curse or bestow the adventurers with a mighty boon from the gods (and a great way to gift the players with one or more godly weapons).

Battle Against the Medusa

Inspired By: Perseus and Medusa
Recommended Party Size: 1-2 Players

Truth be told, I’ve been sinking my teeth into Call of Cthulhu lately and have absolutely fallen in love with the concept of solo- or duo-person adventures. And, while D&D has typically been a larger-group game by design, I think there is plenty of room for adventures for smaller groups.

In the original story, Perseus is goaded by King Polydectes to slay the only mortal Gorgon, named Medusa. Gorgons, as we know, can turn any creature foolish enough to look at it into stone. To combat Medusa, Perseus goes on a quest to obtain flying sandals, a helmet of invisibility, a sickle, a polished shield, and a bag in which to put the head. With these magic items on hand, he slays Medusa while she sleeps and returns home victorious.

According to its stat block on page 214 of the Monster Manual, the Medusa is a CR 6 creature with some decent hit points and some other tricks besides the infamous petrification. Also, when you consider the Player Characters will suffer Disadvantage of every hit they try to make against the Medusa (by averting their gaze) or else be petrified, this monster is more than enough to serve as the primary antagonist for a solo/duo adventure. To accomplish such a harrowing task, a majority of this adventure should be properly outfitting your Player Characters with a few magic items (like +1 Weapons, Boots of Elvenkind, Potions of Giant Strength, and a +1 polished Shield) by accomplishing other feats of heroism, currying favor with the Gods, or maybe even stealing them from the treasure hordes of other monsters (and sowing the seeds for further adventures of revenge).

To kick this adventure off, I would either have the adventurers receive news of the Medusa from a local crier or tavern rumors, or the adventurers stumbled across a small village in which all the inhabitants have been turned to stone. The first part of the adventure could be identifying the threat, questioning travelers or “the lone survivor” for clues, and staking out the Medusa’s lair. Or, per my advice on making villains more memorable, have the Medusa attack the town in which the adventurers are resting. Having it barrel into a tavern, poised like a queen of death and petrifying the masses like a force of nature, and forcing your PCs to scramble away is a great way to introduce the terrible might of this adventure’s antagonist.

Escape from Hag Island

Inspired By: The island of Aeaea from The Odyssey
Recommended Party Size: 4-6 Players

While The Odyssey itself could be a whole campaign, I like Odysseus’ escape from the island specifically because it’s not about killing the antagonist. In the original tale, Circe, a powerful nymph/enchantress, persuades Odysseus’ men to join her in a feast that she has secretly poisoned. This poison, rather than kill its victims, polymorphs them into pigs. Odysseus, having stayed behind and thus unaffected, persuades Circe to release his men through some less-than-savory means (primarily intimidation and seduction). In the end, Circe becomes Odysseus’ ally and one of the main reasons he’s able to eventually make his way home.

In our adventure, I’d change Circe to a powerful coven of Night Hags (p. 178 of the Monster Manual) or Annis Hags (p. 159 of Volo’s Guide to Monsters). This adventure should not be one where slaying the monster is the expected path, and you should definitely inform your players of this intent before jumping into this adventure. While combat is always an option, try to focus more on the escapist facets to create a more fruitful adventure.

I believe this adventure should start with your Player Characters in roles of the beguiled and polymorphed crew. The potency of the Coven’s brew makes the polymorph indefinite, and it should be at your discretion what new form the PCs take. However, not all hope is lost. One of your allies (an NPC) has avoided the Hags and comes with news of an antidote stored somewhere in Coven’s home. Sadly, the Hags have also summoned a raging storm around the island which will surely tear any fleeing ship asunder. The PCs main goals, then, are three-fold:

1. Free themselves of the polymorph effect (either by antidote or from the Hags)
2. End the magic storm blocking their escape.
3. Find a way off the island.

Being a large enough island, there should be other creatures, also harried by the Hags, willing to align themselves with the adventurers either out of spite or for some other reward and old haunts where clues or helpful items lie in wait.

Conclusion

I hope these short adventure ideas spur your creative mind and help you get ready for the upcoming Theros setting release. The stories I mentioned, while popular in modern culture, are only scratching the surface of possible adventure ideas. I didn’t even mention Theseus and the Minotaur!

What do you think of the adventure ideas I listed above? What myths and legends do you think are prime for a D&D campaign?

---

Want to stay up to date with the latest happenings on Critical Hit Guru? Click the Follow button and type the email address you want to receive notifications for new posts!

We’re now on Twitter and Facebook! Search for @CriticalHitGuru on Twitter and the Critical Hit Guru page on Facebook to chat, ask questions, or just stay in the loop.

I’m Dungeon Master’s Guild official! For a thrilling military-themed heist all about saving a captured comrade, check out Rescue at Brightwell today.