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Gamemaster's Guide
- GenresRole Playing Games
197 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 3, 2022
I have been interested in the Symbaroum setting for some time, but was not interested in investing in another game system because I already have too many (though I believe Free League makes some great stuff and I have several of their games), so I pretty much fed my interest in listening to actual plays (the Symbaroum series on the YouTube channel “Telling Tales” was one of my favorites) and reading lore and game system information online. Fast-forward to when Free League announced their Ruins of Symbaroum 5e adaptation to Kickstarter, and I was happily onboard because my gaming group was on a D&D 5e kick for the past year, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to start my Symbaroum (5e) collection and to entice the members of my gaming group to a different, but intriguing setting, with the familiarity of the 5e system.
This book is the Game Master’s guide and it has a wealth of information, much of which is unique to the Symbaroum setting, but also a lot that can to used or converted to almost any D&D campaign or any other fantasy game for that matter. There is a large section that goes into detail about the unique locations in the setting and some of the notable personalities. There’s information on Karvosti, Thistle Hold and the Forest of Davokar, to name a few locations. You’ll find a little bit of history on the setting, including the more notable historical events and you’ll find some information on some of the setting’s major factions.
There is a section on some Symbaroum-themed magical items, most of them are pretty interesting and could easily be ported to a D&D 5e game. There are rules for exploring and surviving in the Forest of Davokar, including several random tables for locations that can be found within, as well as relics from Davokar’s past (these I found particularly useful and was going to use them in one of my D&D campaigns to represent archeological finds that the player characters might find during their exploration of a lost civilization). There is also rules for setting up a campaign-focused endeavor, such as an exploration enterprise, religious conversion crusade or a military conquest of Davokar. My favorite section (which is fairly brief) was on different traps, both mundane and magical. There are the run of the mill traps you’d expect (pitfalls with spikes, poison gas, etc) but there were also some creative ones that offered a mental challenge to navigate past that harkened back to some of the trap styles I recalled in 1st and 2nd edition D&D modules; I’ve already used several of these in my current D&D 5e campaign, and my players enjoyed figuring out how to bypass them.
Overall, a great sourcebook for setting lore and a great book for supplemental material that can easily be used in most D&D 5e games. I will admit that I wish there was some more lore information concerning the history of the setting and more details on some of the inner workings and secrets of the various factions, such as the Iron Pact. In the end, I’m glad I backed this project.
This book is the Game Master’s guide and it has a wealth of information, much of which is unique to the Symbaroum setting, but also a lot that can to used or converted to almost any D&D campaign or any other fantasy game for that matter. There is a large section that goes into detail about the unique locations in the setting and some of the notable personalities. There’s information on Karvosti, Thistle Hold and the Forest of Davokar, to name a few locations. You’ll find a little bit of history on the setting, including the more notable historical events and you’ll find some information on some of the setting’s major factions.
There is a section on some Symbaroum-themed magical items, most of them are pretty interesting and could easily be ported to a D&D 5e game. There are rules for exploring and surviving in the Forest of Davokar, including several random tables for locations that can be found within, as well as relics from Davokar’s past (these I found particularly useful and was going to use them in one of my D&D campaigns to represent archeological finds that the player characters might find during their exploration of a lost civilization). There is also rules for setting up a campaign-focused endeavor, such as an exploration enterprise, religious conversion crusade or a military conquest of Davokar. My favorite section (which is fairly brief) was on different traps, both mundane and magical. There are the run of the mill traps you’d expect (pitfalls with spikes, poison gas, etc) but there were also some creative ones that offered a mental challenge to navigate past that harkened back to some of the trap styles I recalled in 1st and 2nd edition D&D modules; I’ve already used several of these in my current D&D 5e campaign, and my players enjoyed figuring out how to bypass them.
Overall, a great sourcebook for setting lore and a great book for supplemental material that can easily be used in most D&D 5e games. I will admit that I wish there was some more lore information concerning the history of the setting and more details on some of the inner workings and secrets of the various factions, such as the Iron Pact. In the end, I’m glad I backed this project.
Displaying 1 of 1 review