There’s a difference between collecting stories and interrogating them. Here at Curio Obscura, we specialize in the former—dusty archives, peculiar objects, magical books that may or may not whisper at night. But sometimes, even a collector needs a court. A place where the world’s strangest settings, systems, and speculative designs are put on trial.
That’s where our sibling site, RPG Inquisitor, enters.
While Curio Obscura asks, What if this obscure object had power?, the Inquisitor responds with, How would that power affect a party of level 3 misfits, and is it balanced for campaign play?
Why Both Exist
RPG Inquisitor is our investigative arm—delving deep into mechanics, rulebooks, TTRPG trends, and absurd in-world errors (like census mistakes that legally elect a goose as mayor). It’s satirical and serious in equal measure, a blend of GM theory, setting design, and playable ridiculousness.
Curio Obscura, by contrast, is the attic. The place you go when you want to find the why behind your witchcraft deck, your cursed field journal, or that one magic book you bought just for the cover. It’s literary, folkloric, and spiritually adjacent to rummaging through a wizard’s junk drawer.
Together, we provide the myth and the mechanic, the story and the structure, the grimoire and the DMG.
Where the Worlds Overlap
Some pieces drift between both realms:
- The Civic Report, our shared municipal fiction, is hosted on RPG Inquisitor but spiritually catalogued here under Fable’s bureaucratic metaphysics.
- Magical item reviews and book spotlights might appear here as enchanted curios, while over there, they’re tested for campaign viability.
- Worldbuilding prompts published by one often resurface as lore expansions or generator tools in the other.
If You’re Coming From One…
- If you found us through RPG Inquisitor, welcome to the shadowed wing of the archive. Here, things are less balanced but more beautiful.
- If you’ve been haunting Curio Obscura, know that the Inquisitor has the maps, dice, and sarcastic commentary you didn’t realize you needed.
You can consider this your interdimensional corridor—an ongoing collaboration between theory and texture, curiosity and crunch.
Recommended Readings From Both Sides
From Curio Obscura:
- A Book That Feels Like a Spell
- Appalachian Witchcraft for Beginners
- Everyday Spells for Busy Witches
From RPG Inquisitor:
- The Goose Mayor Incident (Civic Report)
- Beginner’s Guide to Pathfinder 2e Character Creation
- The Inquisitor’s RPG Class Breakdown Series
We’ll Keep Digging
Curio Obscura will continue unearthing forgotten ephemera. RPG Inquisitor will keep dragging them into the light, holding them accountable, and wondering aloud if they’re overpowered.
You’re welcome to wander between the two at your leisure. Just don’t be surprised when one links to the other mid-sentence.
🕮 Start with RPG Inquisitor
🔍 Return to the Obscura Archive
The shelves are unstable. The truth is somewhere in the footnotes.
