D&D 5E Obojima: Tales from the Tall Grass

Whizbang Dustyboots

Gnometown Hero
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Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting

Obojima is a 250+ page campaign setting inspired by the wondrous worlds featured in Studio Ghibli films and the beloved Legend of Zelda game series. Guide your players through breathtaking locations, encounter strange spirits, discover rare oddities, and battle wild and wondrous creatures. Create your own unforgettable narrative in this familiar world with an all-new collection of curious items, magical spells, and numerous player options.

Well, this looks wild. They kind of underplay the fact that there's a witch loading stuff into the back of a pick-up truck. I wonder how they're going to incorporate technology into D&D along with the fantasy elements the book is bringing to the mix. Maybe this is post-apocalyptic?

Either way, this looks interesting. I don't love that estimated delivery is September 2024, which makes me wonder how much is actually done on this project.
 
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Whizbang Dustyboots

Gnometown Hero
Long delivery times always make me weary as well. However, they low funding level implies most of the work is already paid for if not complete.
This is also a veteran outfit, with lots of campaigns under their belt, which should help. (Well, it doesn't help with Hit Point Press, but it seems to help with most other companies that use Kickstarter a lot.)
 
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I wonder how it will mesh 5e with Studio Ghibli style adventures. It doesn't seem a natural fit.
Let's be real.

People aren't KS'ing this because they're actually going to run it, they're KS'ing it because of the art/concept.

So it doesn't really matter how well it actually works in practice. You could have stuck any reasonable system on this and it would have sold at least 60-70% as well. Saying it's D&D/5E gives it extra kick because people can tell themselves they actually intend to run it, even though in reality, like 90% of them are going to just ooooh and ahhhh over the cool art.

Which is not a bad thing, to be clear - art is absolutely the lifeblood of TT RPGs imho - and games should be able to sell in significant part on good art, but it does mean the system is somewhat irrelevant here.

(This is also how they can afford to have such a far-out delivery date. With worse art, the delivery date would be a serious deterrent. But people know they're getting something lovely so...)
This again raises the question of why WotC hasn't ever bothered to throw any bones to fans of JRPGs, anime or Studio Ghibli more specifically, given how many third party projects like this are out there and Eyes Wide Open being a Mithril seller on DMs Guild.
I think because WotC still, perhaps foolishly, care about how well D&D settings actually work for D&D. They've released a couple in 5E which are questionable, but only really a couple (and one of those was Spelljammer, an existing D&D setting!).

Anime/JRPG-style conceits don't work at all well with Crawford et al's keen-ness on with full caster supremacy (even if it's no longer anywhere near LFQW) and martials as being forced to be this sort of "grounded" slightly lesser alternative who just don't get to do anything dangerously cool even if they can sometimes have "big numbers". It's also why we have multiple half-arsed "fighting casters", but no full-on spellblade-type class.
 

Now I am imagining a D&D farming (+shop keeper) simulation videogame based in this setting. And a actual-play show by former members of AKB48 (a very popular Japanese idol band).

* What about the new PC species or races?

* How would be D&D Beyond with special game mechanics from licenced 3PPs (crafting, monster taming..)?
 


Tutara

Adventurer
@Whizbang Dustyboots

Thanks for this! Looks very interesting, although I agree with the sentiment that BotW is a better fit for D&D than Ghibli. Maybe it’s more an aesthetic?

That said, stuff like Princess Mononoke and Nausica would work, with a strong tradition/nature vs progress/technology angle. Castle in the Sky too, with the ancient wonders/horrors of prior civilisation.

However, did you not make a thread discussing how to do a Zelda/Ghibli setting not so long ago? I’d do a quick sweep for listening devices!
 


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