Symbaroum

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Symbaroum
RPG published by Free League Publishing
Authors	Martin Grip, Mattias Johnsson, Mattias Lilja
First Publication	2014

Symbaroum is a grimdark Medieval European Fantasy roleplaying game that originated in Sweden in 2014, becoming such a massive hit in its homeland that it was translated from Swedish to English in 2016. The game-line currently encompasses a dozen hardcover books, along with several support products in the form of card sets, maps and more, with a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition conversion that has been published in the spring of 2022.

Setting

Symbaroum is set in the lands of Davokar, an ancient and mysterious forest realm that has overgrown the ruins of the fallen Empire of Symbaroum, which perished centuries ago. These lands have long been guarded by the elves of the Iron Pact, who warn that Symbaroum fell to a force of mystical evil called "Corruption", which still lingers in its ruins, and haunted by goblins, ogres and trolls. But, two decades ago, the Ambrians - a human civilization - were forced to flee their ancestral soil due to a devastating war, and they have settled on the borders and outskirt regions of Davokar. And, naturally, they're not about to just sit around and listen to a bunch of pointy-eared demihumans prattling about unspeakable evil and doom waiting for them all... even if the forest is full of monsters...

Races

• Humans: Humans are the primary focus of Symbaroum's setting. They come in two flavors, the Ambrians who fled their homelands under their queen, Korinthia, to move north into the ruins of Lindaros, and the barbarian tribes, ruled by their chieftains and led by their witches. And actually, the Advanced Player's Guide brings up a third type of human: the Abducted.
• Elves: The elves of Davokar are the wild antithesis of the newly arrived Ambrians. Seen on the surface as the primary antagonists of the setting, they are actually the members of an ancient order known as the Iron Pact, who keep the evil that slumbers beneath the forest roots from awakening.
• Changelings: Outcasts and pariahs later in life, the changelings are the work of the elves who swap them for human children in the crib.
• Dwarves: Unlike the typical bearded, poorly-accented tabletop fare, Dwarves in Symbaroum are depicted as being very similar to humans. Dwarves are, however, the remnants of an ancient servitor race, molded and bound to this world by the sorcerers who first enslaved them.
• Goblins: Raucous, fiery-tempered and playful, goblins form strange, swarming ghettos on the fringes of Davokar. Though not especially liked, they have been largely integrated into humanity, working at all the hard, dirty, noisome jobs that need doing, but which humans don't like. What few humans know, and maybe even the goblins don't know, is that they are actually the larval stage of the trolls and ogres; at some point after their twentieth year, goblins inevitably drift away silently into the forest, there to seek a place to cocoon themselves.
• Ogres: Hulking, powerful yet placid and docile by temperament, ogres are a strange mutant offshoot of trolls. For whatever reason, sometimes a goblin's pupation goes wrong and it emerges as a deformed trollkin that lacks the instinct to head deep into the earth. Those that survive wander out of the forest and are snapped up by those individuals who seek use in their strength. Ogre numbers are increasing, and none know why.
• Trolls: Living in caverns deep below the forest, trolls keep to themselves. Their numbers are relatively few; they do not breed, leaving such carnal activity for their goblin stage, but the majority of goblins who live to the age of pupation either perish in their cocoons or hatch on the surface and became feral beasts known as "Rage Trolls". Only a select few are found by scouts from the Abyss and brought down into the underworld to become civilized trolls. Troll society is a vicious meritocracy, further pushed into brutality by its belief in education and enlightenment coming only through physical and spiritual challenge. A trollish idiom: "If I break you, our people grow weaker; if I let you get off lightly, you grow weaker."
• Undead: None know why it is that some humans die and then return from their graves, awake and conscious, but slowly decaying as the forces of Corruption consume their physical forms. Still, the undead exist, and not all are evil.

The Mechanics

Dice System and Resolution

Symbaroum uses the standard set of polyhedral dice. Player actions are resolved with a "roll under" mechanic whereby a character's relevant Attribute acts as the target number for a d20 roll. Sometimes a relevant Attribute Modifier is used to adjust the target number. For example, when attacking an enemy, the player would use their Accurate Attribute modified by the enemy's Quick Attribute Modifier as the target for rolling equal to or under.

In general, the Game Master never rolls dice. When monsters attack, the players are the ones who roll to defend.

Archetypes

Symbaroum does not use character classes in the common sense. Instead, there are archetypes falling into one of three categories -- Warrior, Mystic, and Rogue. The archetypes are suggested starting points for a character's build, but a player may customize their character from the ground up and forego the printed archetypes entirely.

Abilities

Beyond the placement of Attribute points and roleplay fluff, Abilities are key facets that set one character apart from another. Abilities come in 3 tiers: Novice, Adept, and Master. They may be leveled up from one tier to the next with Experience, and each tier upgrades the previous or adds another piece to the mechanics of the Ability. Abilities cover things like which Mystical Tradition your character adheres to, various combat maneuvers, which Attributes govern specific rolls, etc.

Unlike Feats in other popular d20 games, Abilities in Symbaroum often ARE the special action you can take rather than simply a modification to a basic action or one provided by your class.

Mystical Traditions

In the Core Rulebook, there are 4 Mystical Traditions a character may adhere to. They are Theurgy, Sorcery, Witchcraft, and Wizardy. And they each have their own list of Powers or spells and Rituals that may be learned and cast more safely if the relevant Ability is taken.

Corruption

Magic in Symbaroum is not something to be wielded lightly. When one imposes their will upon the forces of nature and reality, those forces push back. Magic users accrue Corruption through their actions. The very knowledge of new magic is enough to subtely warp a character, and everytime a Mystical Power is used (everytime a spell is cast) the character accrues Temporary Corruption which clears at the end of the scene. However, Temporary Corruption can result in the character taking on physical manifestations of their corruption, or may become points of Permanent Corruption if too much is accumulated at once. Should a character's total corruption exceed the value of their Resolute stat, they are consumed by it and become an abomination.

Healing

Healing is a slow process in Symbaroum. Without the aid of medicine or magic, characters naturally heal only 1 point of Toughness per day. A typical freshly made character will have between 10 and 15 health.

Death Saving Throws

Much like D&D 5th Edition, a character who has reached 0 Toughness (health) as a result of damage collapses and must make a Death Saving roll on their initiative every turn. However, in Symbaroum, you only get back up on your own if you roll a 1. Rolling a 20 before a 1, or rolling 11-19 three times before rolling a 1 is death.

Optional

The Core Rulebook also offers a number of optional rules such as having attacks that bypass death saving throws entirely, using your Experience to pay for certain rerolls in play, Critical Hits and Critical Failures for attacking and defending, rolling for your Attributes rather than using a standard array or point buy, etc.

5e Conversion

A D&D 5e conversion for Symbaroum, called Ruins of Symbaroum, was succesfully Kickstarted as of May 6th, 2021. Currently, the setting has three splatbooks released by Free League, that are the Player Handbook, Bestiary and Gamemaster Guide. The Player Handbook contains 5 standalone classes that is distinct from Wizard's 5e D&D and couple of mechanical change to fit the original feel of the game. Bestiary contains couple 5e stat block for monsters that are unique to Symbaroum setting and Gamemaster Guide contains advice to GM on how to run the setting and set expectations on every Symbaroum campaign.

Ruins of Symbaroum Mechanics

Free League made couple of mechanical change from Wizard's D&D 5th Edition to fit the theme of the setting. The biggest change that they made from 5e is how resting and spellcasting works in Ruins of Symbaroum. This is to follow the essence of the original Symbaroum ruleset where combat is deadly and unfair, healing is a slow process and magic accrue corruption which is quite different to regular D&D 5th Edition Vancian spell slot system.

Resting

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Corruption and Spellcasting

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Origins

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Class

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