The World of Symbaroum
The World of Symbaroum is a supplement for the dark fantasy Ruins of Symbaroum setting for Dungeons & Dragons, written by Mattias Johnsson Haake, Mattias Lilja, Jacob Rodgers, and Paul Baldowski and published by Free League Publishing.
By Aaron T. Huss
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The World of Symbaroum is a setting supplement for Ruins of Symbaroum, a campaign setting compatible with Dungeons & Dragons 5e, that delves into the “lore and settings of Ambria & Davokar.” It is broken into three sections with the first being available to players and GMs and the other two being only available to GMs. It is effectively presented in layers where each section peels back the setting to get deeper into the core. On the surface is what the players’ characters see and learn (including historical events on the setting’s timeline) by spending a decent amount of time in one or more of the different locales, basically common knowledge after spending time there. The second layer goes deeper to reveal the secrets behind the common knowledge and an understanding of what’s really going on. The third and final layer brings it together by presenting a handful of map-based locales for running adventures. It is not presented as a campaign but rather more like a sandbox where the GM can follow the PCs’ lead to determine what happens next.
The World of Symbaroum has an interesting presentation of content that feels very awkward in the beginning. Much of the PC-facing content appears disparate and inconsequential but does provide interesting tidbits players can use if creating a character from the area, calling one of the locales home, or knowing where to go on a day-to-day basis (not just the interesting adventure destinations). The next two sections continue that disparate build (although please note each part within those sections is broken into chapters that pertain to a single locale) with content that is just there. It doesn’t necessarily fit together outside of place and time. One of things I don’t like about the presentation is that you don’t always know how to connect the content in the second section to the content in the first section without going back and forth. It would have been much easier to provide some type of reference indicator. It does, however, contain a large collection of plot hooks which can be very valuable to GMs incorporating these locales and building adventures and campaigns of their own. Additionally, it makes references to The Throne of Thorns campaign throughout, making it a great appendix for that adventure chronicle. It essentially becomes a matched pair when used in conjunction (which I feel enhances its value).
That third layer is my favorite as it takes these locales and hands the GM seven locations to run an adventure with a beautiful map and plenty of descriptions. This includes adversaries and NPCs to go along with those adventure locations.
The World of Symbaroum is the type of book that grabs the attention of those who really get into the setting and wish to delver deeper into the lore of the setting. It’s quite interesting and paints some cool pictures when looking deeper into the setting and all its fiddly bits. I fully understand why the content was split into two separate presentations as only one is “what the characters see”, but the execution is not quite what I hoped it would be. However, I do love how the history of the setting is developed as much as the “present day” as I like learning about how a setting came to be and not just knowing “it is what it is”.
Overall it’s a great book for GMs; it might not provide as much value for players but at least the GM can easily divide the setting between what the characters could easily know and what they would need to find out through further gameplay and unraveling of secrets. The artwork captures the dark feeling of the setting and it has great utility value for GMs.
