[Free RPG Day 2025] A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure

Now in its eighteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2025 took place on Saturday, June 21st. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is a scenario for Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting published by 1985 Games. Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass is designed to be played using Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and describes itself as ‘leisure fantasy’, in which the Player Characters do go on adventures, but take the time to ‘stop and smell the roses’, to regard the world around them and its wonders, and interact with the fairytale creatures that might live next door or up a mountain. It is a ‘lo-fi’ setting that takes as its primary influence as the anime films of Studio Ghibli, in particular, My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away, and sets in a version of eighties Japan. The result combines the modernism of the rise of the Electronic Age with Japanese folklore and fantasy in a rural island setting. A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is designed for two to four Player Characters of Third Level.

A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure opens with the Player Characters completing a hike to the base of Mount Arbora and the village of Dorrin. Mount Arbora is also home to Jumaga, the Sky Salamander, one of the three great beasts of Obojima. Islanders from all across Obojima to Mount Arbora to make the difficult ascent and leave something of value on the Ledge of Offering, in the hope of appeasing Jumaga. Most of Dorrin’s income comes from the Rockwinders, guides who take people up the mountain, although recently, Dorrin Plate, a common stone that can be broken into sheets and used as roofing tiles, crockery, and building materials, has been discovered to be also good for enhancing the magic properties of potions. Not every Rockwinder, or indeed, visitor to Dorrin, is entirely honest or scrupulous, and some do visit the Ledge of Offering to steal and sell the most valuable items left there.

The Player Characters are approached by a clearly distressed brother and sister. She will explain that they have been robbed by a gaggle of Harpy thugs who stole their money and the family heirloom they were planning to place on the Ledge of Offering following the death of their father. The Player Characters can ask around about the Harpies and their boss, and will quickly learn the location of their hideout, a rusty old pickup on a nearby cliff. In other settings, the Harpies would be portrayed as thoroughly evil creatures, but whilst they are Neutral Evil in Alignment, in A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure, they are depicted as teenagers, wearing shorts and tee-shirts, more bullies than true villains. This sets the tone for the adventure, not without confrontation, but certainly less combative.

The second part of the adventure focuses on the climb up to the Ledge of Offering, first in hiring a Rockwinder and then in making the climb. Two Rockwinders are given, one of whom is less scrupulous than the other, so the Player Characters had better make the right choice! The Player Characters will confront the Harpies’ boss, but before that they will have a few encounters up the mountain. Some of these are quite fun, even a little silly, such as being swarmed by a flock of chicken spirits or being joined by Buttercup, a goat spirit, who is not only very chatty, but also has no break between her inner and outer voices—so she should be fun for the Game Master to portray. Others are more dangerous and so the Game Master should mix and match. Ultimately, the Player Characters will get to place the brother and sister’s family heirloom on the Ledge of Offering and survey what has been left before. The adventure does explore the possibility that one or more Player Characters might actually want to steal from the Ledge of Offering, and certainly several of the items are actually worth sealing, but such a course of action is not without its consequences. The adventure ends with the confrontation with Big Bonnie, the Harpies’ boss.

Physically, A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is a very good looking scenario. The artwork is excellent, whether in line drawing and full colour, imparting a delightful sense of place and wonder. The scenario is well written and comes to a close with a short explanation of Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting.

A Great Offering: An Obojima Adventure is a thoroughly charming and engaging scenario. There is a lovely sense of whimsy to it from start to finish, and it does a good job of showcasing both setting and tone of Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting.