YZ Worldbuilding: Ruins of Symbaroum

Year Zero World Building creates campaign settings using Free League’s RPGs. This month is a trek into the vast Forest of Davokar for the Ruins of Symbaroum. How to kick off a campaign, and how to build your own version of this mythical setting. 

Thanks to Free League for sending me the Ruins of Symbaroum bundle to help write this article. The bundle includes the Player’s Guide, Gamemaster’s Guide, Bestiary, and the Gamemaster’s Screen and Booklet.

Imagine you want to play D&D, but you want an already prepared world, some unique setting rules, a GM screen, and a starting adventure. All for under $150, which is about what the three core D&D rulebooks alone cost. This bundle, along with the D&D SRD-OGL, gives you what you’re looking for.

Your player characters will explore the fallen empire of Symbaroum, now home to the kingdom of Ambria, the vast forest of Davokar, the lowlands west of the woods, and the mountains to the north and east. These immense areas become even more focused by zeroing in on the capital city of Yndaros, the town of Thistle Hold, and the forest plateau Karvosti, home to the High Chieftain of the clanfolks.

This approach of focusing on one kingdom and the surrounding area and taking a deep dive into a few settlements is my preferred method of meeting a new world. Having a vast continent won’t help a GM kick off the first few low-level adventures. On the other hand, having the town of Thistle Hold complete with maps, NPCs, and intrigue will help a lot.

The people of this setting are a bit different from standard D&D. The Ambrians are kingdom folk, there are barbarians, but there are also Elder Folks which includes not just goblins and ogres but also elves. Each of the cultures also has factions, like the noble houses of Ambria. The church of Prios, the sun god, the clanfolks of the barbarians, and the Iron Pact for the elves. Your PCs will dive deep into the setting even during character creation, and they will also have maps of the three settlements they are most likely to spend a lot of time in to ground them in the setting.

Every creature has a colorful Shadow, an ethereal reflection of themselves. When nature is cultivated or violated, it causes Corruption. Since spell casting warps nature, casters are constantly threatened by Corruption which mutes and darkens the Shadow and can leave permanent Marks.

While the setting includes humans, elves, and dwarves each origin is unique, has its own background, and is different from the defaults in the Player’s Handbook. Goblins, ogres, and trolls are all uniquely detailed origin options. A PC can even be undead, usually referred to as revenants. Finally, PCs will have a class unique to the setting: captain, hunter, mystic, scoundrel, and warrior and unique subclasses like poet-warrior and feats. Casters and spells lists include sorcerer, theurg, troll singer, witch, and wizard.

For the GM, four adventures provide a great place to kick off a campaign and start building your version of the world of Symbaroum. The Promised Land is a free adventure in PDF that covers that caravan’s journey north. The Gamemaster’s Guide has a starting adventure, and the Gamemaster’s Screen booklet has two more.

Combined, a GM can use these four adventures to take 1st level characters to 3rd level while entering Davokar for the first time, exploring Thistle Hold, and venturing out into the southern Davokar forest. These adventures are designed for players and GMs new to both the setting and the rules. No tricky puzzles or mysteries to unravel, just learning about Davokar and how to play the game.

The Promised Land starts with the PCs joining up with a caravan just south of the Titans and heading for Thistle Hold. It will introduce the PCs to the various folk of the land and demonstrate that not every enemy they face is one they can best in combat. The adventure is really good and highly recommended to get PCs used to this new world and this new approach to running the game.

From caravan to an inn, the PCs can stay the night in Blight Night. The PCs will meet more of the folk of the land, many as foes. A short adventure, it includes three options to increase the scope of encounters. These three options will lead the PCs to meet more people, some with needs that align with the PCs and others that will oppose them.

These two adventures are strongly themed around the folk and the problems and challenges in the kingdom of Ambria and the forest of Davokar. I heartily approve of adventures that don’t revolve around killing random monsters but instead tie the PCs to their world and the other people who live there.

While the last two adventures, Where Darkness Dwells and The Gathering Storm are a more like dungeon crawls, they still feature the people of the land, corrupting magic, and challenging choices and dangers. Both kick off in Thistle Hold.

Whether a GM starts with these four adventures and then branches out, or wants to create adventures from the very beginning, the Gamemaster’s Guide and the Bestiary provide plenty of support to get going and keep a campaign rolling along.

The Guide has step by step guidelines for a GM. The world is described in more detail, and how to run adventures is covered along with setting design. And there are new rules for traps, ceremonies, chases, domains, pact-making, social challenges, troupe play, war and battle, and more.

While there is a small list of magic items drawn from the OGL, there are also greater artifacts tied directly to Symbaroum. Attuning to such an item opens up several new magical abilities. For example, The Map of Argond the Wanderer can help you find a path to a place you want to go (but 900 years out of date as far as obstacles) and find untouched ruins to plunder. The GM can use Magic items like these to create additional adventures and further build a world unique to their group.

The Bestiary is similar to the adventures, and it has a mix of fey, beasts, monsters, and adversaries of the many people who make up the land. Monster features are also spelt out in a separate section, including legendary actions. There are also terrain features listed to help spice up combat.

Monsters have three additional stats: manner, Shadow, and equipment. Manner helps guide the GM in how and why the creature or NPC acts the way it does and can help generate adventure ideas. Shadow is how corrupted each being is. And the equipment is included for those creatures that need gear.

Together with the OGL, this collection for Symbaroum will provide a group with everything needed to kick off a campaign and keep it running. The world is alive and well detailed, the art is stunning, and the new mechanics enhance the setting. Each book is high-quality and sewn in book mark ribbons, detailed maps, and needed indexes. If you want to play d20 fantasy but need something different from D&D, then Ruins of Symbaroum may be what you need to start building a unique world of dark forests, fey, and warring folk overlaying the ruins of a fallen empire.

Picture credit: Pixabay