Dan Reviews: Symbaroum

[@kentrench2726]

Dan, you do a fantastic job of explaining rules very clearly, it's encouraged me to get the book back out and get Symbaroum to the table. Thanks 👍🏼

[@danwells9305]

Thank you!

[@AFnord]

I've been playing Symbaroum recently, and something I noticed about the game is that it's great at giving the players the feeling of being in danger, like the game is really lethal, without it actually being really lethal. It's similar to Warhammer Fantasy in that regard, that game is not super lethal, but there's something about how the rules are presented that puts players on edge. Which I think is a great thing, it lets you as a GM put scary stuff in front of the players without having to be really careful about tuning the challenge. Symbaroum very quickly became one of my groups favourite RPGs, both thanks to the setting and the rules. Can't think of many other RPGs that were such an immediate hit among my players.

[@Mossmyr]

Man, there are a lot of dark fantasy rpgs coming out of Sweden

[@cooperbarham2465]

This checks a lot of my boxes. It sounds great.

[@petemcsorley]

Thank you for this review, I’ve been on the fence with getting it, but will pull the trigger now

[@itsyagirlVofficial]

I'm gearing up to run the Throne of Thorns Chronicle, Symbaroum's big multi part campaign

[@Velzhaed]

I like what Free League has done with Coriolis and Alien. This seems like a cool setting; the more hostile the world the better. I also dig the corrupting influence of magic (my favorite magic system ever is the old defiling system from Dark Sun, especially from the story side). It seems like the system stands fine on its own, but converting to 5E will make them more money I'm sure. I play mostly Cypher system (they also have players doing all the rolling) but even they have been doing 5E conversion. Thanks for the vid!

[@AFnord]

Part of me wants to see Free League succeed and that Symbaroum 5E sells well. Part of me is worried about what it might mean if Symbaroum 5E turns out to be really successful. Personally I prefer the current Symbaroum rule system to 5E, and I also really like the Year Zero engine (found in Coriolis, Alien and of course Mutant: Year Zero), and I'm not sure if I would want to see them focus more on making 5E conversions over more new stuff. The company is still pretty small so any project will take people away from any other.

[@Mind_of_MATT]

Symbaroum looks awesome & I like the player facing rules as I'm a solo player. I have a big question about it. How far could I go with just the core rulebook? I see there is multiple other books like the Gamemaster's Guide & Monster one but there's just no way I could invest in all of them. I might could swing two at the most if I really enjoyed it but still would like to know if the core rulebook is packed enough. Does it have a decent monster section?

[@rycor9117]

Symbaroum is just amazing. This is my favorite game. The players really do feel the world if you run this correct. Even going back to Alberertor areas is very dangerous. They truly are in danger and the setting is nice and dark, hire a good guide (spend that money) in Davokar my party lost the low guide they hired and most failed to make it back to Thistle Hold. Jump on the kickstarter while you can for 5e, I do not play 5e but I will use it down the line for trades.

[@WendyGa]

The setting and systems sound very interesting. I'm intrigued. I'm currently playing in a Curse of Strahd and it shows that 5E can indeed do Gothic Horror quite well if the whole campaign is built around it. So it gives me hope for Ruins of Symbaroum. My main drive for leaning towards that version is that it's much easier to get players to play a 5E game. More people feel comfortable in a system they already know. I'd be interested to hear whether you decide to go for Ruins or get to try the original with a group. Thanks for the overview!

[@NefariousKoel]

The Symbaroum rules uses a d20 at it's core, with notable differences of course, but is overall a bit simpler than 5E while still integrating it's own dark fantasy flavor. I didn't see any reason to create a 5E version which would need to add more rules and changes on top of existing 5E rules in an attempt to capture that flavor. Yet I know some people refuse to try anything other than 5E and, therefore, such supplements make steady sales. So I understand why they made the business decision. I'd still recommend people check out Symbaroum as it was originally intended, especially since it's not much of a learning curve.

[@blakegirouxphotography]

I have taken upon myself to take inspiration from the original Symbaroum rules and make 5e more of a dark fantasy with real chance of death. Still less likely to kill a character in this adaptation that I have done, but it adds so much more tension to have corruption and magic be a borrowed resource from an unknown source or misunderstood source. It’s a lot of fun to draw inspiration from

[@misterpower9660]

Hey, I have a question about the elves, is it true that they are killing refugees, including children, trying to settle in their forest?

[@PpAirO5]

You can't play as an Elf in the original ? 🙁