Nestled within the bustling town of Black Birch is a curious little shop with an even more curious owner. Trinkets and doo-dads from across Shadow’s Reach clutter the shelves, and there’s always something new to see. It’s the kind of place an intrepid adventurer such as yourself could never pass over… but as you step into the shop… the entire course of your life is set to change! Welcome to Hamel’s House of Oddities, an adventure campaign set within the Woven Worlds of Allorea by Sleeping Giant Gaming. SGG provided me with review copies of Hamel’s and a campaign setting guide, so journey with me into the unknown in my Hamel’s House of Oddities review.

Hamel’s House of Oddities is a campaign fully compatible with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Set within the Woven Worlds of Allorea, a completely unique campaign setting (more on that in a moment), this adventure’s designed to advance a party of four or five characters from level one to level eight.

Because the Woven Worlds of Allorea is not a world based in previously existing D&D settings, you’ll also need the Woven Worlds of Allorea: Shadow’s Reach Region Guide to get the most out of this campaign, which provides invaluable information about the wider world.

What Are The Woven Worlds Of Allorea?

During the earliest days of the creation of The Everything (which encompasses all the stars, worlds, and phenomena within the cosmos of this setting), there existed a strange anomaly: Allorea. A phenomenon of leftover creation magic and energy, Allorea became split and shifted into two realities: The Radiant World and The Veiled World. Each of these realities is independent and unaware of the other - but inextricably woven together through the magic that created them.

So what are those two worlds? First, there’s the Radiant World - a fantasy world where magic overflows, and shapes the world around you in strange and unexpected ways. Then, there’s the Veiled World - a world where magic is almost non-existent, and strange science has emerged to fill that void. The Shadow’s Reach region, where Hamel’s House of Oddities takes place, is located in the Radiant World.

What’s Going On With The Campaign?

The story starts with your adventuring party first dipping their toes into the universe of Allorea, as they find themselves tasked with helping Hamel’s assistant recover one of his most prized possessions. In this introductory chapter, characters get their bearings and comb through Hamel’s shop, learning about the world by interacting with and observing his various oddities on display.

As the characters search an object that went missing in Hamel’s shop, their search soon takes them out and about the town, encountering other NPC’s, trying to solve various puzzles and mysteries, and finally coming face to face with what they’ve been searching for - only to find it has drastically transformed due to a key mechanic of the Woven Worlds: the Spark.

Raw magic in its most potent form, exposure to The Spark can be both a boon and a detriment to player characters, and it’s part of the larger story that drives the rest of this adventure. From here (and this whole sequence is only part one of six), characters partner with Hamel to explore and adventure, travel across the land in search of information and secrets, and uncover some startling realities about the wider world that I won’t spoil here.

How Does It Feel To Play Hamel’s House of Oddities?

Overall, the adventure has a very nice balance between exploration and action. It’s a little light on combat, so if your party prefers to be out there knocking heads together, you’ll likely have to do a bit of re-writing on the fly. But when combat does come up, it feels fast, thrilling, and always surprising.

And that, I would say, is the best word to describe how it feels to play Hamel’s: surprising. From a plot that naturally and beautifully weaves and winds, to combat encounters that feel evocative (and sometimes come out of nowhere), there’s so much here to keep your players on their toes.

I also really enjoyed the way the adventure is written. It often repeats itself, reiterating points previously made about what the characters will experience as you chart their journey. But this is done to great, and extremely useful, effect! This is not poor copy-editing, the sense of repetition is intentional, to help reinforce the most important points for a GM who needs to keep all kinds of information front of mind.

How Does The System Change D&D’s Core Rules?

Along with providing a ton of information, fun locales to visit, and backstory to the Woven Worlds, the Shadow’s Reach Region Guide also offers unique ways the setting and system impact the core framework of D&D 5e. First up, as mentioned above, there’s The Spark. Raw, unstable magic that not only deals a bit of direct damage when exposed to it, but also can infect the unwary with The Sprawl,  genetically altering wild magic.

From changing ability scores to causing beneficial and negative traits on characters, the Spark and Sprawl are key features of Allorea, and are not to be treated lightly. The Region Guide also includes plenty of new NPC’s and enemies to encounter, as well as magical items and a description of gods of the world.

Other than that, the way you play D&D 5e is the way you play Allorea, character creation, conflict resolution, and all the rest are the same - but the flavor layered over top truly makes this feel like a totally different world (which, I mean… it is!).

Hamel’s House of Oddities - Final Thoughts

From the absolutely stunning black-and-white artwork throughout these books, to the innovative adjustments to the rules of the game, Allorea is a must-try for anyone getting tired of the normal D&D fare. But where everything really shines is with the Hamel’s House of Oddities adventure.

Extremely robust, the adventure covers a ton of ground (both literally and figuratively), inviting players into this new world slowly, before gradually widening the scope of the adventure. It’s full of clever twists and turns, engaging NPC’s who feel like their lives continue on after your characters walk away from them, and tons of guidance for the DM.

There are questions for the DM to ask the characters at the end of every chapter, like a middle-school reading assignment, that truly helps ground, focus, and shape the adventure in a very gentle, non-railroad-y way.

To put it plainly, I think Hamel’s House of Oddities is an absolute triumph of an adventure, and if your group likes to explore, uncover secrets, and truly investigate and role-play, Hamel’s is a must-try.

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The copy of Hamel's House of Oddities and the Shadow Reach Region Guide were provided to us by Sleeping Giant Gaming. All illustrated artwork copyright Sleeping Giant Gaming.