Dungeons & Dragons has seen a massive resurgence over the past few years. 2024’s Baldurs Gate 3 brought tonnes of new players to the scene, while live shows like Critical Role and Dimension 20 are constantly drawing huge audiences. With Stranger Things coming back later this year, the D&D fanbase is in a very good place.
However, D&D still has a reputation for the old-school fantasy worlds of literally dungeons and dragons, inspired by series like The Lord of the Rings, Narnia or The Princess Bride. So, it’s a breath of fresh air to see a Dungeon & Dragons module focused on telling a new story, and providing something unique to this decades-old game.
READ MORE: Brennan Lee Mulligan brings Endless Dungeon live show to Australia: ‘It’s going to be a big month!’
Obojima: Tales from the Tall Grass is heavily inspired by Studio Ghibli films, games like Zelda with a good dash of 80s technology. It’s full of intrigue and whimsy, and is a perfect choice for tables that favour the roleplaying over the game element of your tabletop RPGs.
It features a whole cosy island to explore, two new player species, 50 new spells, 60 monsters and NPCs, 11 custom subclasses and a whole potion brewing system. It’s a lot to cram into one book, but gives plenty of bang for your buck.
To prepare for this review, I’ve run my home D&D games through a series of one-shots and mini-adventures on the island of Obojima — suffice to say, it’s been a pretty remarkable journey.
A Whole New World
Obojima’s approach to the tabletop gaming space falls far more cosy than any rumbles with Ancient Red Dragons. This island is filled with spirits that you can charm and deal with, before having to draw swords. And powerful D&D creatures like dragons have fluffy counterparts called Sheep Dragons.
Magic and life are deeply tied together in the world of Obojima. The setting book pays particular attention to how these two connect. While most Dungeons & Dragons campaigns set themselves in mystical fantasy lands, Obojima connect to our real world in some really interesting ways. Throughout adventures you’ll find ‘First Age Relics’, which are pieces of ancient technology that are part technology and part magic.
Such items might be best connected to the 1980s in our real world. They include cassette players, vending machines, vehicles and instant-print cameras. These relics are viewed with mystery and excitement, particularly for characters tied to technology. A wizard might draw their spells for an ancient Walkman, or a Waxwork Rogue — the new Rogue subclass — might power their abilities with an old Boombox or scooter.
Spelling Out
The island of Obojima is specifically missing some of D&D’s more potent spells — but that’s a good thing. These are a few of the larger, more world-altering spells like Wish, Time Stop and Teleport. As well as many of the most powerful offensive spells like Disintegrate and Finger of Death. Lastly, some of the spells most suited to shortening a journey, like Teleport and Transport via Plants.
I can understand why these have been taken out, as they are spells that most tie to destruction, change the shape of the world or cut out a journey. The designers of Obojima are clearly creating a distinct approach to the world.
All this is to say that a great deal of attention is paid to setting the tone of an Obojima campaign. This tone leans heavily into the cosy vibes of the Island. Focusing on how the people live, rather than how they die. And settling into a game of Obojima needs to come with an expectation of tone.
READ MORE: MTG swings into the Spider‑Verse: What you need to know about Marvel’s Spider-Man
A Cosy, Classy Upgrade
In D&D setting books, additional subclasses aren’t usually something that excites me. This is because I find they’re usually a small step away from an existing class, or don’t really fulfil a new player fantasy. However, reading through the subclasses for Obojima – there’s one for each core class – I’ve been really impressed by how flavourful they all are. Each new class is very connected to the island in such a way that running a campaign with any of the original subclasses would feel off.
A couple of personal favourites to give you an inkling of what we’re talking about here. The Path of the Belly Brewer Barbarian can essentially brew potions in their stomach. You’re encouraged to eat anything and everything, brewing volatile concoctions in your stomach to varying effects. You might create the effects of a healing potion, spew fire or teleport yourself around the battlefield. Great stuff.
Another standout for me is the Origami Wizard. While Wizards can be easily turned into stuffy know-it-alls, particularly as NPCs, this one leans hard into the whimsy of Obojima. The Origami Wizard learns several utility spells, such as Unseen Servant and Find Familiar, which manifest as origami animals. Summoning particular origami creatures also provides additional benefits, such as an origami cat granting an advantage on stealth checks.
When we were running through my home game, we created characters specifically around these new classes to get a good idea of how each plays. But it’s really cool to see how each of their abilities plays into combat and social encounters.
Double, double, toil and trouble
A large part of the Obojima: Tales From the Tall Grass book is dedicated to a great expanded potion-crafting system. The 46 pages break down the dozens of natural and unnatural potion ingredients found around Obojima. They range from Night Thistle flowers to Living Spuds (literally a little potato plant with legs and a happy smile).
By combining any three ingredients, the book lists out pages and pages of possible concoctions. There’s an incredible amount of utility for players who want to delve into the potion lists and have a Candle cap potion ready at just the right time. The Candlecap gives the player flaming hair for an hour, which sheds light and allows a flaming headbutt attack. Perfect for anyone wanting to live their best Twisted Metal Sweet Tooth fantasy.
I can also see some of my players, particularly, forgoing studying the potion list and just throwing caution to the wind and tossing ingredients into a pot to see what comes out. The chaos of not knowing whether the bottle you brew will turn you invisible or inflate you like a balloon is pretty amazing.
All this is to say that Obojima is very unique in the world of D&D settings. It sets out to do something very different – create a world of whimsy and wonder ahead of combat. That does mean that the success of an Obojima campaign is going to be very dependent on the DM and the players collectively buying into the theme. As the book outlines, it also likely means a campaign that is more focused on roleplaying and problem-solving than combat.
Should I buy Obojima: Tales From The Tall Grass?
Obojima: Tales From The Tall Grass leans heavily into the vibe of Dungeons & Dragons meets Studio Ghibli. That means it’s a homerun for a certain table of players. Specifically, players who delve into the role-playing aspect of tabletop games. That same blade cuts both ways, though – a table more geared towards combat or political intrigue might not gel with the more pastoral, social-driven game.
If that sounds like you, whether you’re a player or a Dungeon Master, then the boat to the island of Obojima is ready to board.
You can find out more about Obojima: Tales From the Tall Grass on the 1984 games website. The bundle retails for around $125.
Quest Daily scores Obojima: Tales From the Tall Grass:
9/10
A copy of Obojima: Tales From the Tall Grass was supplied to Quest Daily by the publisher.
