Symbaroum – Core Rulebook by Mattias Johnsson and Mattias Lilja is a role playing game supplement published by Free League Publishing. This is the core rulebook for Symbaroum, which uses the Year Zero Engine.
The supplement is available from DriveThruRPG as a 265-page PDF for $24.99. It is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed, although it was purchased at a reduced price during a sale. Two pages are the front and rear covers, three pages are the front matter, two pages are the Table of Contents, two pages are Kickstarter backers and two pages are the Index.
Book 1: The World of Symbaroum starts with Welcome to Symbaroum! which explains that this is the region that in ancient times was ruled by the advanced, and now-fallen, civilisation of Symbaroum. This is followed by some history of how the current queen defeated the Dark Lords and led her people over the mountains, as their land was dying. There is a brief timeline of events and details on the new land, with a full-page map and details of the people who live there. The people are divided into three main categories; the incoming Ambrians, barbarians and Elder Folk, though members of a group would likely object to being classed with some of the others. Following the Great War, the Ambrians changed from worshipping many gods to just the one. Cultural practices of the three main groups and the areas of conflict are covered.
Factions starts with the noble houses of the Ambrians which details the queen and the lands the different noble houses control. It then moves onto the barbarian clans, with the surviving ones listed. Next are a number of organisations; the Church of Prios, the Ordo Magica and the Queen’s Army. The Iron Pact is also mentioned.
Davokar is next with some details on the forest, the adventurer’s license needed to explore it and travelling in the forest. A sidebar mentions the lost city of Symbar.
Thistle Hold details a settlement on the edge of the forest. It starts with how the settlement came to be, followed by a brief overview of the place and the surroundings before moving onto interesting locations within the settlement itself. The settlement is mapped with locations marked and various interesting NPCs and points of conflicted are detailed. How the characters are likely to interact with Thistle Hold is also covered; it is likely to be their main base.
Yndaros is the capital of Ambria and is built on the ruins of the city-state Lindaros. The various city districts and locations are described and there is a map of the city, with some brief details on some groups and people.
Karvosti is a plateau and the meeting point of the barbarian clans. The plateau is mapped and several points of interest are described, one of which is a restored Sun Chapel occupied by the Ambrians.
Book 2: Player’s Guide starts with an Introduction and the role of the character, together with their goal. How to Create a Character follows, with examples; this references lots of other parts of the book. This section ends with the character sheet created by this example.
Archetypes has the three different character types that are used in the game, each of which has five different occupations to choose from. Attributes are the primary stats, and it’s stated that the names of these can be changed if wished. How to roll success tests follows on from this. The four races, human, changeling, ogre and goblin, are next. Traits are the different traits each race has, with three different levels for some of them. Abilities are the character’s skills at using their basic attributes effectively, and each has three levels, novice to master. Some of these abilities are needed to use mystical powers. Mystical Traditions describes the major traditions, theurgy, sorcery, witchcraft and wizardry, followed by independent mystics of no tradition, with their advantages and disadvantages.
Mystical Powers are the mystical abilities; essentially, spells. Each is described in what it does and each has three levels of use. Rituals are different to the normal spells, as they are more time consuming; they can also be a lot more powerful as a result, and lack the different levels of the spells.
Equipment has details on weapons and armour, and the qualities these can have, followed by other equipment, including livestock and buildings.
Player’s Rules are the rules a player needs to know. This includes rules on combat, damage and healing and various actions that can be undertaken in combat. There are some other rules, such as problem solving, and a single page combat summary.
Book 3: Game Master’s Guide starts by explaining that the Game Master holds the game together. There are details on what to do before, during and after a session of play.
Game Master’s Rules states that this section contains the rules the GM will need, though they will also need to know the player rules as well. This contains the rules on problem solving, social challenges, combat, time, shadow & corruption, some special rules, including conflict within a group, and various optional rules.
Campaign Rules handles travels and encounters whilst travelling and money and what equipment settlements are likely to have. Artefacts has a couple of sample magic items for the setting; these are rare, powerful and often dangerous to use.
Adventures talks about different types of adventures, classic and landscape (sandbox). Key scenes, challenges and rewards are next. A sidebar recommends that for homebrewed adventures in Symbaroum groups should limit themselves to using less significant characters and places in case people in published adventures are killed off in homebrew. This is very bad advice; sure, it makes things easier for published adventures but this will not go down very well with many groups. Some techniques a GM can use to make adventures more interesting are next, though deus ex machina to stop characters being killed if they do badly is also not exactly great advice.
Monsters starts by explaining the different categories of creatures followed by monstrous traits.
Monsters & Adversaries is the bestiary, which are divided into different categories, with different creatures within the categories.
Adventure: The Promised Land is an introductory adventure, which is described as being more linear than usual. The adventure is divided into different sections. First there is a narrative tutorial, followed by pregenerated characters. The characters have suggestions for connections between them. The adventure itself is in several scenes that are divided between three parts to the adventure. The characters are heading from the dead land of Alberetor, through the Titans and into Ambria, with a number of encounters on the way.
The final two pages are a character sheet.
Symbaroum – Core Rulebook in Review
The PDF is bookmarked, but not very deeply. The Table of Contents is to a similar, but not identical, level of depth and is hyperlinked. The Index is more through, but lacks hyperlinks. Given the size of the book, navigation could be better. The text maintains a two column co0lour format and appeared to be mostly free of errors. There are a lot of colour illustrations, up to a full page in size, with the largest having a distinctive, possibly slightly abstracted, appearance. Presentation is good.
This is a core rulebook and it contains all that’s needed to run a game for the system, from character creation to setting details to an introductory adventure. On occasion, the way that the rules are organised doesn’t seem great; sometimes it feels that material isn’t put with other relevant material. Perhaps this is because this is effectively three books in one. This does add to the organisational problems.
For those unfamiliar with the Year Zero Engine, the game will probably seem a little different, and even then, the notation appears to differ from other YZE games in places. The game doesn’t seem truly simple to run; there are quite a few options and it does feel different and, truthfully, more than a little complicated. Perhaps not the most complex game around, but definitely not the simplest either. The setting is interesting, though perhaps not that unique; great wars that have been fought with dark forces are pretty common, as are lost civilisations. It may become more unique with expansions.
Quite a bit of the Game Master advice frankly seems bad. Telling people they can’t make changes to a setting is bad; not letting players suffer the consequences of their mistakes can also be bad, depending on how much handholding players like. Though the setting appears to be aimed at sandbox, the adventure isn’t. It seems a poor idea for an introduction to a sandbox setting to be a linear adventure. Overall, this system and setting seem a little debateable in places. It looks like it has promised, but in parts this promise seems unfulfilled. Symbaroum – Core Rulebook can be found by clicking here.
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