This review has been sponsored by the publisher. Find more reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

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Designed by: Darren Ruckle

Mythos Earth is a 5e campaign setting that combines modern (or near-future) Earth technology with D&D fantasy races, classes, and abilities, in a post-post-apocalyptic world reshaped by extreme cataclysms.

The 100-page book features new backgrounds, subclasses, magic items, monsters, and a level 1-5 adventure.

Unfortunately, it mostly lacks a reason for existing.

The entire history of the setting is reduced to a single page that references “arcane cataclysms” and “divine intervention,” but no details regarding how a bunch of classic fantasy races (elves, dwarves, etc) suddenly came into being or why no modern infrastructure remains intact. It’s all very vague and hand-wavy, which I didn’t appreciate.

More time is dedicated to the new pantheon, where each of the ten new gods are given several paragraphs of details, which to me is the single most boring way of building a world.

The races are all standard fantasy fare from the Player’s Handbook, with the exception of the Shardborn.

Dimensional Shards are the one piece of intrigue that makes this setting unique, and they’re given a full page of information. These mysterious objects alter reality and mutate creatures, and apparently created the Shardborn, though again it’s all a little too hand-wavy for my tastes.

New backgrounds and subclasses are a fine addition, and probably the best part of the book. Backgrounds tie into the setting in meaningful ways, like Shardborn Research, and Techo-Shaman. Subclasses utilize the infusion of technology and nature, as well wasteland survival (through from what I can tell, Mythos Earth is anything but a Fallout-like barren wasteland).

The Nexus Shadow Rogue can teleport around, and even go incorporeal by 13th level. The Warlock Pact of the Forgotten God gains new reality-alerting powers, while the Arcana Mechanist Wizard can enchant objects with spells.

The Gazetteer features over 40 landmark locations and settlements, none of which are the least bit recognizable from our Earth. The settlements are at least better organized than the endless paragraphs of the gods and backgrounds, but still mostly boring and cookie-cutter. They lack interesting people, events, factions, etc. All the things that make a place worth visiting!

Landmarks are a bit more interesting. This is a world whose biomes have been dialed up to 11, with evil-belching volcanoes, reality-distorting craters, monster-filled mega-swamps, and sun-drenched valleys.

It reminds me of a MMORPG’s guide to world-building. A large but static world that’s a mile wide but only an inch deep (relatively). I failed to see any meaningful story or historical connections anywhere.

The adventure could help pull this thing together, and while it’s certainly competent, it also doesn’t do anything to showcase the setting. In fact, I could drop this 10-page adventure into the Forgotten Realms and it wouldn’t change a damn thing!

Through several mini-adventures the party battles evil cultists, zombies, shadow mages, and a demon in a painfully generic story that lacks any maps or room descriptions. Why not include those signature dimensional crystals somewhere, or utilize the Shardborn, or literally any of the 20 new monsters included in the appendix? Baffling.

The entire setting feels woefully undercooked. The book itself also features a ton of generic AI pseudo-anime artwork, which isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker for me, but certainly doesn’t help. Sadly, it’s the least of this book’s concerns.

Pros:

  • Over 40 locations and settlements
  • Five new backgrounds
  • 12 new subclasses
  • 20 new monsters

Cons:

  • Setting lacks history, characters, or adventure seeds
  • Only one new unique race – Shardborn
  • Bland adventure that doesn’t reflect the setting
  • Generic AI art

The Verdict: Mythos Earth promises a world of modern and fantasy infusion, but results in half-baked ideas and an underdeveloped concept.

A review copy of “Mythos Earth” was provided by the publisher. Find more reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.