Today we want to show you this review of Ruins of Symbaroum. First of all, we thank Free League for providing us with the complete bundle reserved for the backers of the project. This adaptation Symbaroum for D&D 5e has been as much anticipated as it has been talked about. Many were concerned about the spirit of a game with deeply dark tones and severe mechanics as only the Swedes know how to develop them. Worrying it didn’t fit right in Dungeons & Dragons, whose approach has always been deeply heroic.
If you appreciate Ruins of Symbaroum, you can buy it on Free League’s official store. The whole bundle is about 115 €, but you can buy the manuals individually.

Mattias Lilja, one of the souls of Symbaroum and of Free League itself, had already explained to us the reason for this conversion. You can listen to the interview on our YouTube channel. He has dedicated himself to this project personally, and this in itself is a guarantee.
But the aim of this review is not to answer this question. We will take care of reviewing Ruins of Symbaroum. However some references to the original game will be inevitable, and certainly there will be room for this question as well.
The Reveiw of Ruins of Symbaroum Review: Contents
The bundle is more than satisfying; after all, Free League has always accustomed us to very high standards. We got to see the three basic manuals: Player’s Guide, Gamemaster’s Guide and Bestiary. It is important to remember that to run your games you’ll need the Handbook ‘s D&D 5e, as with all of the OGL games.
We were also able to evaluate the very useful Gamemaster’s Screen and the GM Screen Booklet, with a practical introductory adventure suitable also for novice players as well for masters. The Artbook completes the whole bundle.
Anyone who had the opportunity to view a Symbaroum or Ruins of Symbaroum manual knows what a dedicated Artbook means. The illustrations are just perfect. The apparently imprecise, extremely rough line perfectly renders the sensations aroused by the setting. Martin Grip did an amazing job; he did not just illustrate a manual, he transposed an entire setting into images.

The Handbooks
Unlike other settings for D&D 5e, Ruins of Symbaroum chooses to deviate from the “standard” layout of the fifth edition. Rather keeping the one from Symbaroum. A choice that highlights the desire to maintain a strong link between the two versions of the game. Underlining that the change in mechanics is aimed at widening the audience of potential players, not at distorting the gaming experience.
Of course this affects the readability of the manual. It doesn’t compromise it, but it certainly makes the reading a little less easy. On the other hand, it makes the identity of the manual much stronger and more recognizable. Overall, the manuals still meet the very high standards that Free League, and make a good impression on the shelves or in the digital archive of any collector.

The Review of Ruins of Symbaroum: The Setting
Our reviews are strictly spoiler-free. But a few notes on the setting of Ruins of Symbaroum are a must; especially considering that this takes up the setting of Symbaroum in an absolutely faithful way.
As Mattias explains, Free League games are always structured around a basic conflict. Ruins of Symbaroum, like its predecessor did, focuses on the conflict between nature and civilization. Characters must extricate themselves from the clash of two civilizations. On the one hand Ambria, a civilized nation that is occupying the territories north of its ancestral lands, devastated by a war with powerful sorcerers. On the other, the barbarian tribes, living in harmony with nature.
The only embankment between humanity and the ruins of Simbar, the ancient imperial capital, are the forest of Davokar and the elves of the Iron Pact, who have sworn to defend its borders to prevent men from bringing destruction to the world again.

New Mechanics: Corruption
In Ruins of Symbaroum, subversion of the state of nature brings corruption. A disease that afflicts the environment as much as living creatures, transforming them in the body as well as in the mind. As the corruption unfolds, the affected characters become more and more monstrous, until they completely lose control. And this obviously also applies to the player characters too.
There are many ways to acquire corruption, but the most common one is by casting spells. Alteration of the natural state par excellence, magic increases the temporary corruption of a character; if the latter exceeds a certain threshold, it becomes permanent. And it’s never a good thing.

The Review of Ruins of Symbaroum: Player’s Guide
This is the manual you need for the conversion between Symbaroum and Ruins of Symbaroum. Here the setting is presented. Recent history, a hint of geography, the main factions that influence the game world. In particular, the manual tries to convey the atmosphere of the game. To pass what are the peculiarities that should make Ruins of Symbaroum to other settings for D&D 5e.
The new races of the character are introduced. Humans Ambrians or of barbarians. Goblins, Ogres Trolls, three different stages of a whole biological process. The Elves, the merciless keepers of Davokar. The Changelings, elves hidden among the humans since birth, who partially assume their traits, and the Kidnapped Humans, who replace them in the ranks of the Iron Pact. Finally, the Dwarves, mysterious creatures immune to corruption and devoid of a true soul, and the Undead, a recent phenomenon capable of returning from the grave with an intact mind.

New Character Options
In Ruins of Symbaroum, the character race has two peculiarities that differentiate it from other settings for D&D 5e. First of all, each breed has a series of dedicated backgrounds, called Origins. Secondly, the hit points and hit dice that are acquired at each level up are determined by the race, and not by the class. An interesting idea, which however flattens the game in practice.
As a matter of balance, all races have the same hit die, with the exception of the goblins; Trolls can roll two times the dice to determine wounds, but have no bonuses if they choose the average result. Too bad, it sounds like a missed opportunity.
Very important are the character classes, different from the core ones of D&D 5e. This choice is limited, but the subclasses are quite abundant. The players of Symbaroum will recognize the various professions distributed between Captain, Hunter, Scoundrel and Warrior.
Mystics deserves a separate mention. If in Ruins of Symbaroum the subclass becomes strongly characterizing in general, the flavor of the Mystic is in fact profoundly changed. Choosing between Sorcerer, Wizard, Theurg and Witch radically changes the approach to the character and the cultural matrix of his approach to magic. Artifact Crafter, Symbolist, Staff Mage and Troll Singer are characterized even more specifically: it is impossible to choose a subclass just for a mechanical matter. It is always a choice deeply linked to the character to be interpreted.

The Review of Ruins of Symbaroum: Game Master’s Guide
If the Player’s Guide is packed with many character options, the Game Master’s Guide is perhaps the Ruins of Symbaroum most content-packed. A very useful resource starting from the advice for the master. Fundamental for those approaching the place behind the screen for the first time. But also an excellent resource for the most experienced players.
The guidelines for the master occupy the entire first part of the manual, which then continues by expanding the elements of the setting already mentioned in the Player’s Guide. But going much deeper. Three locations are described with great care, paying close attention to all possible game points, centers of interest and the various factions that move there. Thistle Hold is the frontier town, the starting point for any expedition into the Davokar Forest. Yndaros is the capital of the Ambrian empire, born on the ashes of a city of barbarians whose tribe has been exterminated. Karvosti is instead the seat of the only central authority recognized by the various barbarian tribes, where the interests of these and the Prios church conflict.
There is also space for insights into the Underworld, the subterranean realm where trolls reside, and where the most deeply corrupted creatures lurk. It is not overlooked Yonderworld, the plane of existence from which corruption originates and the nature of which scholars have questioned for centuries. There is also a hint of the Spiritworld, a plane not designed for the player characters, but on which some suggestions are launched for possible developments for high-level campaigns.

Tools for Masters
If what has been written so far is an excellent source of inspiration, the Dungeon Master’s Guide continues with material useful for managing the campaign. The chapter devoted to the Davokar expeditions, perhaps the central theme of Ruins of Symbaroum, is extremely valuable. It allows you to manage any aspect of the expedition, giving flexible but punctual references for every detail, both upstream and downstream of the exploration phase.
A series of optional rules allows you to expand the regulated aspects of a chronicle; they range from the rules for pitched battles to those for managing an estate. Passing through traps, ceremonial magic and chases. There are also a series of tips dedicated to how to structure an adventure, a chronicle or an entire campaign, for an overall perspective. A chapter to read even for those who are not planning a Ruins of Symbaroum campaign, adaptable to any role-playing game.
Finally, the manual introduces Blight Night, a very short adventure for early career characters. An extremely linear story yet at the same time full of ideas, it focuses a lot on the suggestion and difficulty of the clash. Excellent for introducing Ruins of Symbaroum even to novice players, despite the complexity of the topics covered.

Review of Ruins of Symbaroum: Bestiary
If I have to say the first word that comes to mind when browsing through the Bestiary is as simple as it is disarming: beautiful. The illustrations and layout are eye-catching, even more so than in other manuals. Many of the creatures have an “in lore” description, excerpts from a pseudobiblion incorporated into the setting.
The manual is divided into three sections. The Hordes of the Eternal Night gathers unique or intelligent creatures, capable of developing an entire culture. Beasts & Monsters, as the title suggests, collects creatures of more “banal” use, grouped into macro-categories. Abominations, aquatic or amphibious creatures, flora, herbivores, predators, arachnids, undead and winged creatures. Finally the last section, Adversaries, presents all the PNGs that can be used as opponents; also in this case it presents them sorted by groups, so that you can always choose the faction that best suits the game in progress.

Conclusions of the Review of Ruins of Symbaroum
Surely, Ruins of Symbaroum is an ambitious project. Bringing such a successful game into the world of D&D 5e is no small feat, and with not a few risks. This brings up a question. Was there a need for Ruins of Symbaroum?
Strictly speaking, no. Symbaroum is a complete game, with a dry, fast and deadly system, perfectly functional to the game themes and the setting. So no, there was no “need”. But it is also true that the game has not been distorted as many feared. Ruins of Symbaroum isn’t as lethal as its predecessor, but it doesn’t make life easy for playing characters. The game experience comes out basically intact, if you have the courage to close your eyes and ignore “D&D 5e“.
If, on the other hand, you don’t already know Symbaroum, you can only fall in love with this adaptation. The game ideas are many, allowing you to manage adventures, chronicles and campaigns in an extremely versatile way. Yet the central themes of the game are never lacking, they are breathed in every single page of the manuals. For those who love dark fantasy, the exploration of an openly hostile world and settings full of conflicts that are anything but trivial, Ruins of Symbaroum is simply a must have.