I have been fascinated with Symbaroum, along with Vassen, ever since I saw them at Free League's booth a couple of Gen Cons ago. I grabbed the hardcover of Vassen since the Victorian era interested me more, but I grabbed the PDFs of both. Both cover that Fantasy-meets-Horror feel I love in my games. Also, both cover a theme I revisit time and time again: magic in the face of something new. In Vassen, the Old Ways are confronted by the Industrial Revolution. In Symbaroum, it is magic, and its corrupting effects in the face of the new, Sun-based, monotheistic faith. Given that today is the day when day and night are equal, Symbaroum edges out in terms of theme.
Symbaroum is a Swedish dark fantasy tabletop RPG set in a world where a fragile human civilization clings to its borders, and just beyond them lies Davokar, an ancient, sprawling forest saturated with ruin, magic, and corruption. It's equal parts high fantasy adventure and creeping nature horror, drawing on Nordic, Celtic, and Slavic mythology to tell a story about the price of ambition.
If the Vernal Equinox represents the perfect, fleeting moment between day and night, Symbaroum is the RPG that lives in the twilight. Created by Free League, it is half High Fantasy and half Folk Horror, wrapped in some of the most evocative art the hobby has ever seen.
I do want to mention the art first. The illustrations by Martin Grip are extraordinary: haunting, earthy, and alive with dread. It's not just the look of the art, it is the feel. This game feels like a cold, rainy day in an unknown Scandinavian village. Winter is over, but this is still not spring or summer.
The premise is simple: A people have fled a dead, war-torn land to settle on the edge of the ancient forest of Davokar. They want to rebuild their empire, but the forest is not a passive backdrop. It is a living, breathing, and deeply vengeful entity.
Fantasy
Knights, queens, treasure hunters, witches, and wandering barbarian clans; Symbaroum has all the archetypes of classic fantasy. The world of Ambria is richly detailed, with political intrigue, warring factions, and ancient lineages. There are ruins to explore, artifacts to recover, and a vibrant cast of cultures that feel genuinely distinct from generic Tolkien-esque fare.
Horror
The forest is the horror. Davokar is not simply dangerous; it is wrong. Every spell cast, every ruin disturbed, every artifact pocketed risks accumulating Corruption: a creeping darkness that twists body and soul. The elves of the Iron Pact do not protect the forest; they enforce its quarantine. Something ancient sleeps beneath the trees, and the game's entire mechanical design keeps reminding you that you are trespassing. Think Princess Mononoke, but the forest wins.
Most horror-fantasy hybrids bolt the genres together. Symbaroum weaves them into the same thread. The Corruption system means magic, the engine of fantasy, is also the engine of horror. Every powerful choice leaves a mark.
Dark Fantasy
This game is not one of high fantasy or even low-magic, gritty dungeon crawls. You are not on an epic quest. You might be a hero, but you are not Conan, or Frodo, or the Grey Mouser. You are not even really Elric, though Elric would understand this world better than the previous three. You are searching for ancient secrets, you are going to go into that forest for the same reasons characters have been going into dungeons. But now the stakes are higher and darker.
Symbaroum does something quietly different from most fantasy RPGs. Instead of presenting a world waiting to be explored and conquered, it gives us a world where exploration feels like trespass. Civilization stands on the edge of something ancient and dangerous, and every step forward risks awakening powers that should perhaps remain buried.
It is a game where the heroes are not simply explorers. They are intruders.
While not strictly "Old School" in its math, Symbaroum shares the OSR soul. It is deadly. Combat is fast and often ends in a single well-placed blow. It rewards caution, preparation, and a healthy respect for the unknown.
There are hints of dark fantasy, reminiscent of the grim worlds of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. At the same time, the folklore elements feel closer to Scandinavian myth and old fairy tales, where the forest is mysterious, alive, and often dangerous. In ShadowDark, there is the Dungeon-as-living-thing, or maybe more to the point, Darkness. Symbarous does the same thing for the forest, or, again, more to the point, the unknown frontier.
The Old Ways are not lost. They are still out there, and they don't care about your sun god.
There is also a subtle echo of cosmic horror. The ruins of the old empire hint at terrible magical forces that once reshaped the world. Many players discover that the deeper secrets of Davokar may be far older and stranger than anyone suspects.
It creates a world where curiosity and dread walk hand in hand.
Rules and Mechanics
Symbaroum is a d20-based system where you want to roll under your attributes. Attributes give you "bonuses" in terms of negative numbers (what you subtract from the die roll). Low attributes can even give you penalties for positive numbers you add to the die roll. Mostly the scores are between 5 and 15, with an average of 10. A 15 gives you a -5, and 5 gives +5, and so on. Pretty simple, really.
The Game Master never rolls dice. Players roll for their attacks, and players roll to defend. This shifts the focus entirely to the players’ choices and their struggle to survive.
The core of the game is the Internal Balance. Every time a mystic (magic-user) casts a spell, they gain Temporary Corruption. If that total exceeds their Threshold, the corruption becomes Permanent. Once your Permanent Corruption reaches a certain point, you transform into an "Abomination" or a monster of the night. I am sure there are lots of ways to get corruption, but I focused on the mystics
It is a literal struggle to keep the "light" of your humanity from being overtaken by the "darkness" of the forest’s influence.
Sometimes it is fine to take a point of corruption for a greater good. This is pretty typical of how the witches in the game work. They will sacrifice some humanity or light if it means a great goal is met. For me that is kind of a key element in playing a witch and one I really like.
The rules themselves are divided up between Setting, Player's Guide, and Game Master's Guide. Not a bad division by any means. Though there is some flipping required. To create a character, I kept going back and forth between sections of the Player's Guide. So this part could be streamlined a bit. It is no worse than, say, the rules for the WitchCraft RPG and better than the rules for AD&D 1st edition.
The system really supports the setting well. The corruption, as I mentioned, is a key element and really sits well within the setting. Moreso than say Fear and Horror in old Ravenloft. It is more akin to how Sanity works within Call of Cthulhu, or Taint in WitchCraft/Armageddon. The setting and the mechanics support each other well.
Larina and Elowen
Normally, I try out a character for a new game, typically my "Drosophila melanogaster" Larina. But since witches are assumed to have a witch-in-training with them, I am opting to add Elowen as well. For this I gave Larina another 80 experience points (roughly 5-6 adventures worth) to boost her up. In this darker world of Symbaroum, I don't think a witch like Amaranth would work. BUT oddly enough, I could easily do Grýlka and Doireann. Ogres and Goblins are among the races you can pick. Ok, Grýlka is a troll and not an ogre, but what are the differences really?
In this, I am saying that Larina was already living on the edges of the Davokar forest and has gone somewhat native. Ok. Feral might be a better word. Elowen is still from the civilized lands and has gone to learn witchcraft because she sees ghosts everywhere.
Human (Barbarian) Witch
Shadow: White with flecks of rust and ash, appears as her reflection (Nature).
Quote: "I have dedicated my life to witchcraft, and it has given me a life in return."
Toughness: 10*/10
Pain Threshold: 3
Corruption: 1/1
Corruption Threshold: 7
Defense: 7
Experience: 80 (0)
Accurate: 10 (0)
Cunning: 15 (-5)
Discreet 9 (+1)
Resuasive 10 (0)
Quick 7 (+3)
Resolute 13 (-3)
Strong 5 (+5)
Vigilant 11 (-1)
Contacts (Witches)
Witchcraft (A)
Witchsight
Loremaster (N)
Ritualist (A)
Curse (Evil Eye) (A)
Lay on Hands (A)
Nature's Embrace (N)
Storm Arrow (N)
Familiar (Ritual)
Fortune Telling (Ritual)
Witch Circle (Ritual)
Age: 30
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 125 lbs
Red hair, blue eyes
Larina here is a "barbarian" only because she has been living on the edge of civilization for a while. I could have given her more experience points to bump up her powers, but I thought this was pretty good.
Human (Ambrian) Witch
Shadow: White with ash-gray flecks, appearing as a ghostly image (Nature).
Quote: "I died once. I am not looking forward to doing it again."
Toughness: 10*/10
Pain Threshold: 4
Corruption: 1/1
Corruption Threshold: 8
Defense: 5
Experience: 25 (0)
Accurate: 10 (0)
Cunning: 11 (-1)
Discreet 9 (+1)
Resuasive 10 (0)
Quick 5 (+5)
Resolute 15 (-5)
Strong 7 (+3)
Vigilant 13 (-3)
Privledged
Witchsight
Alchemist (A)
Witchcraft (N)
Ritualist (N)
Curse (Evil Eye) (A)
Inherit Wound (N)
Familiar (Ritual)
Necromancy (Ritual)
Age: 19
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 114 lbs
White hair, gray eyes
Ok, both of these work really well for me, to be honest. I figure Elowen's power manifests as ghosts rising up to perform her actions. Yes, she still sees ghosts.
Who Should Play This?
With today's theme, this game has equal parts light and dark, fantasy and horror, civilization and the great wild unknown. So, regardless of which side of the old-school/new-school divide you come from, know that this game is darker than most new-school games and is closer in tone to many old-school ones.
This is a game for players who prefer tension to triumph.
If your idea of fantasy is leveling up, clearing dungeons, and becoming untouchable heroes, Symbaroum is going to feel uncomfortable. Progress here is real, but it always comes with a cost. Power is never clean. Magic is never safe.
But if you enjoy games where every decision matters, where the question is not "can we win?" but "what will it cost us if we do?" then this is the game for you.
And maybe most importantly for me, this is a game for players who like their witches a little dangerous.
Not safe, not sanitized, not "spellcasters with a theme," but witches who bargain, who risk, who take on corruption because sometimes that is the only way to get things done. If that resonates with you, then Symbaroum is not just a good fit. It feels like it was made for you.
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