In 1985 Game's Obojima: Tales From The Tall Grass, you'll find a mystical world rife with wonder and mystery. This campaign setting has been added to D&D Beyond's growing list of third-party content, so you can easily explore the island of Obojima using our suite of integrated digital tools!

We sat down with Jeremiah Crofton, one of the lead designers of Obojima: Tales From The Tall Grass, to learn more about what waits in store in this whimsical campaign setting. Read on to discover the magic of Obojima!

• The Obojima Campaign Setting
• New Character Options
• What to Expect from an Obojima Campaign

What's Inside Obojima: Tales From The Tall Grass

Whether you're brewing potions, befriending spirits, or riding your bicycle to the market, Obojima invites you to step into a world where fantasy meets nostalgic charm.

In this 365-page campaign setting, you'll find everything you need to run games on this enchanting island and beyond, including:

• 11 subclasses
• 3 new species—including the Nakudama and Dara.
• A plethora of abilities to equip your adventurers with, including 20 feats, 6 backgrounds, 48 magic items, and 50 spells.
• A setting guide to the island of Obojima and the realm of spirits beyond, including 4 detailed factions and 60 new monsters and NPCs for your players to encounter.
• A full potion brewing system with 130+ ingredients and 180+ potential potions to brew.

The Obojima Campaign Setting

The campaign setting inside Obojima: Tales From The Tall Grass isn't one of imposing castles, fielded armies, and dark lords. Instead, it's a place where the mundane and the mystical are intertwined—where a strange creature might be a puzzle to solve rather than a monster to slay.

"Obojima is a new D&D campaign setting that kind of hits a nostalgic anime or video game feeling that we all know and love from the mid-80s to the early 2000s,” said Jeremiah.

"It's a world where you get this juxtaposition of First Age technology, which is similar to 80s tech, mixed with fantasy. It really leans into exploration and the state of wonder—this feeling of shock and excitement that you get when you discover something new while traveling through the world.”

The Island of Obojima

Obojima is a quaint island that's alive with stories. Here, vast forests and sprawling fields give way to quiet towns, and spirits drift through woodlands and villages alike.

Each region and settlement of the island has its own unique quirk. Maybe you'll discover a town where the residents have harnessed geothermal air currents to soar around the sky in flying devices. Or, perhaps, you'll head to the shore of the ever-spanning ocean and come across a faction of divers that look for ancient technology along the seafloor.

Spirits, Magic, and Tech

Magic and technology coexist in Obojima, creating a setting where a magical, hand-held gaming device might be sold from a vending machine, or you can summon a bicycle with a level 1 spell.

"Magic is used so often in Obojima," Jeremiah said, "We asked ourselves, what are these tools that were used in the past, and how have they eventually turned into what they are used for today?

Spirits are also ubiquitous across the island of Obojima. In your adventures, you may run into everything from tricky spirits who like to prank their corporeal counterparts, nature spirits who protect the sanctity of a forest's grove, friendly spirits who you can befriend and turn into your companions—and even corrupt, vengeful spirits that wreak havoc on the peaceful way of Obojiman society.

New Character Options

To help players immerse themselves in this whimsical world, Obojima: Tales From The Tall Grass introduces a range of new character options that feel like natural extensions of the setting's themes. Jeremiah said they approached the design philosophy of character options by asking, "How did this spell, subclass, or feat naturally evolve in a world like Obojima?"

11 Subclasses

Whether you want to harness the power of spirits or weave magic into origami, there are 11 new subclasses in Obojima: Tales from the Tall Grass that help you feel like your character's powers stem from the mystical island of Obojima.

“For example,” Jeremiah said, “The Waxwork Rogue subclass started off as a subsect of the Courier Brigade—the group of knights that deliver packages all across the island. Or the Belly Brewer Barbarian subclass, which takes natural ingredients that are found all across the island and utilizes them in a unique way, very specific to a Barbarian.”

20 Feats, 3 Species, and 6 Backgrounds

20 new feats, 3 new species, and 6 new backgrounds give your characters further story-driven connections to the world. If your character trained at one of Obojima's famous sword schools or studied as a potion maker's apprentice, you can customize their traits to fit their backstory or help them evolve throughout the campaign.

"A lot of the backgrounds and feats are connected to the factions within Obojima.” Jeremiah said, “There are different sword schools that exist throughout Obojima, and you can get a unique feat by training at each one of those sword schools. And there are different witch covens, each one of them providing special abilities to its members."

48 Magic Items and 50 Spells

If you're looking to equip your character with tools that feel like they belong in Obojima, the setting offers 48 new magic items tied to the island's technology, resident spirits, and practical enchantments.

From instaprint cameras that reveal magical auras to potions sold from vending machines, these magic items reflect the way Obojima's people blend technology and magic in daily life.

As for the set of practical and setting-specific spells, Jeremiah said, "We wanted you to think, where did the need for this spell stem from? So, we often connected it to a location, character, or desire in Obojima."

What to Expect from an Obojima Campaign

Starting Small

Obojima is as much a frame of mind as it is a location. Adventures here begin small and personal—focused on community, curiosity, and connection—and might build into larger, more mysterious journeys later on.

"I would jump into Okiri Village, which is just a great starting village with small problems," Jeremiah said.

The party might spend their first couple of sessions investigating a missing shipment of magical herbs or dealing with mischievous spirits disturbing the town's gardens.

This slower pace lets players understand the setting, "Especially when you're at a lower level and don't have a lot of options, I would start figuring out how you can solve problems without having to use your sword and think of the ramifications of how you act," suggested Jeremiah.

A Sense of Wonder with Unique Locations

Exploration and discovery are central themes in Obojima, and the island is filled with memorable locations designed to spark that sense of wonder.

For example, you have Yadomon, Obojima's largest and most cosmopolitan city, which features a mix of spirits, markets, and First Age technology. It's a place where spirits and residents barter in bustling streets, where there's no official guard because the community watches out for each other. "If there was a big dangerous thing to occur, the people would step up and work together to try to solve it," Jeremiah explained.

In the Land of Hot Water, you'll find Sky Kite, a city of aeronauts that uses hot water currents to glide through the sky. Jeremiah expanded on this, saying, "There are big celebrities there that are all famed aeronauts, and the town really revolves around the culture of flying."

Between these centers of civilization, the island of Obojima stretches out into forests, streams, mountains, and valleys where you can find adventure—and adventure might find you.

Obojima on D&D Beyond

With Obojima: Tales From The Tall Grass now on D&D Beyond, you can create characters using the setting’s new species, subclasses, feats, and backgrounds right in the Character Builder.

Master Tier subscribers can also access maps and monster tokens from the book in the Maps VTT, making it easy to bring Obojima’s world to life at your table.

Explore Obojima Today

Obojima: Tales From The Tall Grass is available now on D&D Beyond, ready to bring its unique blend of leisure fantasy and nostalgic adventure to your table.

If you're looking for a setting where magic is woven into everyday life, where mysteries wait to be found in the wilds, and where curious creatures aren't necessarily things that need to be defeated, it's time to step into the tall grass and see what awaits.

Mike Bernier is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his partner, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.