Session Zero: Symbaroum

Session Zero returns as we journey into the Dark Forest of Davokar and are introduced to the world of Symbaroum.

“Twilight Falls, Davokar Darkens”

Symbaroum is a game that has been on my short list since I came into contact with it at GenCon 2019. I had seen it being offered by Free League and new that it had origins originally as a game only available in Swedish but I foolishly set it aside at the time as yet-another-sword-and-sorcery-rpg.

Then I got to meet Mattias Johnsson Haake, who I got to finally interview last month, and through him learned all about the long journey that Symbaroum and Mattias have taken together. I also looked a little closer at the game itself and what I found was an evocative world with incredibly immersive artwork, a long thought out and lived in history, and game mechanics that didn’t get in the way of it’s rich story about corruption, power, and nature.

Three Corrupted Explorers

To help guide us into Symbaroum we used their recently released Starter Kit to help describe the setting and then quickly opened up the main core book to create our own characters. Character creation was simple, for the most part, and all three of the characters presented in this Session Zero would make for a terrific long form campaign. This trio was hard to leave behind and I hope this isn’t the last time we visit this setting with them.

You’ll meet Sean’s Farsig Unthist, a goblin with a thirst for magic, Velvet’s Gerundin, an elven changeling challenging their destiny, and Justin’s Daramei, a human noble who will compromise everything to gain the power he thinks he deserves. Together they’re all playing with the fires of corruption in their own way as they set foot into the Dark Forest, will they be able to save themselves or will they each drag the other into the darkness with them?

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Free League Games for sending us a copy of the new Symbaroum Starter Kit as well as the three book collection of the Core Rulebook, The Advanced Players Guide, and the Game Master’s Guide. Check them all out at their website as well as on Drivethru RPG.

Shortly after we recorded this episode Free League announced that Symbaroum is getting a D&D 5e book made! Titled “The Ruins of Symbaroum” the kickstarter begins on April 13th and you can set a reminder by visiting their kickstarter page right now

Today's Terrible Warriors were Justin Ecock, Sean Horbatiuk, and Velvet Duke

Music is licensed through Epidemic Sound

Follow us on Twitter at @dicewarriors and you can support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/terriblewarriors where patreon supporters will receive copies of the character sheets created in today’s episode