Currency

This blog post was made using dictation summary software, and posted for SEO purposes. If you really want to know what this episode is about, check out the full episode here: https://youtu.be/0e79aKPMQfI?si=zbxOjZQVF4O5MGsc

It’s the third episode of the Obojima Podcast! This podcast is a deep dive into the creative process of creating Obojima: Tales from the Tall Grass. First thing’s first, let’s meet our intrepid crew of writers. 

  • Jeremiah Crofton - The Creative Director of 1985 Games and the creator of Obojima. 

  • Ari Levitch- Head Writer

  • Adam Lee- Head Writer

In this week’s writing meeting, the Obojima team zooms in on playable races, diving deep into what makes them tick in this weird and wondrous island setting. This episode is all about redefining old tropes, introducing new possibilities, and preserving that signature Obojima sense of mystery.

Rethinking Elves

The team kicks things off with a look at elves—and why they needed a bit of re-tooling to fit Obojima’s unique tone. Obojima’s elves are mysterious, spiritually attuned beings with darkvision, spirit sight, and strange, glowing birthmarks called oca glyphs that grant them unique powers. Unlike other fantasy settings, elves are born from human parents rather than being their own species. Still, their uncommon birth origins make grant them special connections to the Spirit Realms. 

Enter the Dara

But the real star of this episode is the Dara—a custom race that’s brand-new to the setting. The team unpacks their creation in detail, building them from the ground up with an eye toward player freedom and in-world mystery. The Dara are an alien-feeling people, lacking traditional family structures, and absorbing knowledge through encoded glyphs rather than direct instruction. Their life cycle is a big question mark and that ambiguity is by design—Obojima thrives on open-ended lore that encourages discovery.

Glyphs, Humor, and Holistic Thinking

What makes the Dara truly shine is their weird, non-linear approach to language, knowledge, and communication. Their glyphs aren’t just text—they’re lived experiences, emotional states, and insights compressed into symbolic form. Knowledge from previous generations are literally passed down through these glyphs. This opens the door for a ton of roleplay potential: from awkwardly endearing misunderstandings to moments of uncanny wisdom. The team imagines Dara players as simultaneously funny, weird, and deeply moving, with their worldview creating constant opportunities for character depth.

Mechanics and Magic

From a mechanical standpoint, the Dara come packed with potential. They might start with more skills or expertise than other races due to their accelerated early learning. The team debates overlaps with elves but lands on the idea that while there’s some crossover, the flavor, and function of Dara, feels distinct.

There’s also talk of letting the Dara shift their creature type temporarily—humanoid to spirit, beast, or otherwise—creating mechanical and narrative flexibility. Plus, they might leave glyphs behind when they die, creating a “legacy system” of sorts where future Dara can absorb that knowledge. A player could play multiple generations of Dara, all with the built-in knowledge of previous adventures. 

Dara as Narrative Tools

The Dara aren’t just a cool new race—they’re designed to plug directly into the world’s storytelling engine. Maybe they leave behind cryptic glyphs players must decipher. Maybe those glyphs impart short-term skills or memories. Maybe they let a friend temporarily learn a new ability before a fight, or serve as mini-leveling milestones when discovered in the wild. In a world full of half-understood spirits and crumbling machines, the Dara act as living lenses—beings who feel like the island itself made them.

Class Balance and Limitations

Finally, the team talks balance. With so much information-gathering potential, how do you keep a Dara player from spoiling the mystery? One mechanic idea: object-reading abilities that are flavorful but limited—like only sensing emotional echoes, or only receiving cryptic “glyph snapshots” instead of detailed histories.

Check out the full episode here: https://youtu.be/0e79aKPMQfI?si=zbxOjZQVF4O5MGsc

 

Comments

Maggie said:

You forgot to remove the AI instructions at the end. These paragraphs don’t convey anything. I’ve read through this entire page, and I know nothing about the Dara other than that they encode glyphs, decode glyphs, leave behind glyphs, and do whatever “glyph-walking” is. Lol, lmao even.

Leave a comment