I've been in love with Symbaroum since early 2016. I love how involved and well thought out the setting, adventures, and campaigns are. Like you said in the video, the best characters are those who fit the story, not those with the highest numbers and best ability synergies.

I have this in PDF, want a physical book. I view 5e as the entry drug. Moving on to other systems is not a crime, it is a natural evolution. Great review, keep up the good work Sir!

@blandgaming6222

3 жыл бұрын

I could not agree more. I appreciate DnD for starting us all on this journey, but for me, it was time to move on to the "adult table" of RPG's. I have found my appetite satiated with darn near all the Free League titles. I have ran TFTL, MYZ, Alien, and Coriolis, but I own ALL of them. (My wife says I have a problem. One of my gamers says I have GM ADD.)

@erickling4016

3 жыл бұрын

@@blandgaming6222 I have had to confess to myself that I am a collector of core rule books. My oldest is black box traveller or Larry Niven's Ringworld RPG. My wallet cringes whenever I click onto kickstarter.

@thorinbane

2 жыл бұрын

@@erickling4016 Same I picked up Witcher, Zweihander, PF2E, Mouseguard, Burrows and Badgers and DCC. all during covid. I don't even have a game group at the moment. But I am working on one. 2 people want i once | settle on a good system.

@blandgaming6222

2 жыл бұрын

I have ran Mouseguard. Our group really enjoyed the storytelling aspect of combat. It's refreshingly different. And speaking of woodland creatures with swords, I recently received my Root rpg kickstarter. I love the board game. I am hoping the RPG works just as well.

Your music suggestion at the beginning was super helpful. Game changing even. Thanks man

@andrelemon3802

4 ай бұрын

Where he said about the music?

D&D is you could say the gateway for many RPG’s into this hobby. Great overview of Symbaroum too 👊

@blandgaming6222

2 жыл бұрын

Indeed. Although I have outgrown DnD, I still appreciate it for being my gateway into RPG's.

Thanks for the review! Also seems like you have a lovely family!

Great review! My studio also has un-named teens that won't get the door!

Great video, im a dnd player but the art work of this game is next level, I love the setting and the dark fantasy theme. I'm really tempted to get the starter set, just need to convince someone to play the game with me from my group

@reallivebluescat

2 жыл бұрын

there is a 5e version coming

Archetype’s actually got three syllables: ark-eh-type. Looks like a very cool game, some mechanical concepts I use in my home brew. I think your DnD critiques are right on, especially about hit points. How interesting that you hadn’t played it yet!

Watching your video and few other today I bought the starter set and complete edition of Symbaroum as it looks like everything I ever wanted from a rpg , thanks a lot for helping me make a decision

@blandgaming6222

2 жыл бұрын

No sir. Thank you for watching and welcome to Davokar!

Great overview and review. Thanks for this.

@blandgaming6222

3 жыл бұрын

No, THANK YOU.... for watching. :)

I just love your twenty minute videos! 🤣

Oh man... I'm stoked!

Free League just launched the 5E version of this on Kickstarter. I went all in for the Player's Guide, Game Master's Guide, and Bestiary. Now that I've heard your description of the game world, I'm even more excited to get this in my hands. Thanks for sharing.

@blandgaming6222

3 жыл бұрын

Although 5E is not really my style, I am thrilled to see Free League making this setting available to those who prefer 5E. You sir, will love this setting. Enjoy!

@MrElliptific

3 жыл бұрын

I went the same way as you and wished I could have started from the original one :)

@LyonPercival

2 жыл бұрын

The original one is still up there - much quicker system that would give the whole table less calculating finicky technical stuff and more *actually playing* and roleplaying 👌 I find it noticeable in the Fria Ligan webstore they call it "Symbaroum The Roleplaying Game" instead of just the name... they might have designed the system to really be less 'gamey' and more 'storylike' in mind ?

@fufu1405

8 ай бұрын

Completely different game.

Fantastic review. Thank you. 🦖

Martin Grip is my new Keith Parkinson (RIP).

@blandgaming6222

3 жыл бұрын

YES. So much this. I still remember Keith Parkinson's amazing cover to the original Temple of Elemental Evil. Martin Grip is certainly a worthy successor.

Martin Grip is doing the artwork for the new edition of The One Ring as well. I like his style more than what Cubicle 7 used. Theirs wasn't bad, but a bit too dreamy and water-colored for my tastes.

@blandgaming6222

3 жыл бұрын

I've backed the One Ring and am looking forward to seeing Grip's vision of Middle Earth.

I don't know much about this system (just fell over it) Really like that eerie, creepy dark theme.

I’ve jumped into Symbaroum and Fria Ligan with both feet recently. I haven’t been able to get the maps for Symbaroum - but I got a full set of stuff for Vaesen. Are the map sets for Symbaroum printed on the same stock as the full map for Vaesen? It doesn’t look like it from the video here. Thanks for the encouragement! Your review helped jump into Symbaroum! Cheers!

@blandgaming6222

3 жыл бұрын

The maps unfortunately are not the same quality as some of the other Free League titles. Still... The maps do their job and serve their purpose. So I will use them.

"Unnamed 16 year old son of mine" lol.

@joepolheber5816

2 жыл бұрын

But thank you for the good video. Most other reviews of symbaroum didn't go into as much detail, and you hit on a lot of my key questions throughout it. After watching, just but the core book

Cool fact about Martins Grip´s surname: It literally means Griffon :)

@hnorrstrom

Жыл бұрын

Damn I was going to write that. 😜 Half of the people here are Swedish I guess

Im hooked

i feel you man... i got 1 night, 2 if i'm lucky, to game.

Subbed when I saw the "Beer of Recommendation" 😂😂😂😂

Cool, seems like an interesting game system. In addition, I give your boring channel the Whisky of Recommendation!

Where can I find an overview of available books? Which are printed and which are pdf only? And where to buy in Europe? Is there an official website?

@blandgaming6222

2 жыл бұрын

Everything you need is right here in their online store: freeleaguepublishing.com/en/store/?collection_id=79768780848

Irish Death! You're in the Pacific Northwest I am guessing. Haven't had that since I was there in 2019. Great beer.

@blandgaming6222

3 жыл бұрын

I am indeed a west coaster. And you are correct sir. Irish death is liquid heaven.

@andrewanderson1988

3 жыл бұрын

@@blandgaming6222 I miss my homeland. Can't wait to come back for a visit.

This game looks awesome

Symbaroum is great!

fucking love this guy

Love me some free league games. They're well-done, easy to pick up and have great premises!

It's worth noting that the apg is explicitly NOT meant for starting players by the developers! It's for experienced players who get bored of "regular" Symbaroum

To be fair, being better than 5e is a pretty low bar. That's like saying your hamburgers are better than Burger King's.

@blandgaming6222

3 жыл бұрын

Right? I'm glad it's not just me.

@RockHeiland

3 жыл бұрын

it's a great entry system, but it gets boring reaaaaaaally fast.

@JesperHellvik

Жыл бұрын

@@RockHeiland that must have something to do with the GM.

Like your videos. Like to see a game of this or coriolis

@blandgaming6222

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you kindly. Most of my players are pretty camera shy, ands we are a live in person group. Someday perhaps...

@Humphreysfox

2 жыл бұрын

@@blandgaming6222 yeah totally understand...just wanted you to know someone out there appreciated your video. I like the music idea too especially with this game. I'm like you in that I am an almost 50 guy with kids and what not so gaming is (if I am honest) a bit of a dream in terms of finding time and friends that would actually play but I still love to the read the rules and day dream the worlds. Have started investigating solo games which might scratch some of the itch but yearn for the old days of youth when all I had was time and like-minded mates to journey into dark forests or search the shorelines of hidden lakes.

As someone who started with D&D 5e almost 3 years ago, I got all of my friends and my nephew into it. I'm looking into other games because I feel kind of stagnant with it. We play Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition, but I wanna add more games to our hoard. This sounds like an incredible game to pick up, and not be super complicated

Maybe, just maybe I want to play the complete works of Do Ho while playing.

Symbaroum Elves 🤝 Hellboy Elves

Beeen playing rpg since the late 80's and I've never played D&D and probably never will. When it comes to fantasy it's been Drakar og Demoner, Warhammer Fantasy and now Symbaroum...which is the winner.

I prefer Shadow of the Demon Lord. Symbaroum despite its superb art and settings has balance issues.

In order to stop the 5e Power Build nonsense you could house rule that by taking one trait it automatically blocks off other certain traits

Agree with you on the elves. Why is it like this in Symbarum? Well its the way elves and goblins are portrayed in Swedish mytologi. As a swede, I can tell you that elves in our old cultural storys are portrayed in wuit a nasty way 😂 and trolls are very different in our sagas. So symbarum is influanced by our culture not anglosaxen. So that why 😊

Almost all RPGs I know are better than D&D. And I have been playing RPGs for 35 years. You also forgot to describe the system entirely. Which dice base does it use? How you create a character? How it define skills and checks?

I am a DM and a D&D player since 1995 and a Symbaroum player since 2016 and I have to say the following: Symbaroum is a fascinating setting, and the books and their illustrations are very good, but the system is very bad, especially when the characters reach a certain experience . I've run the main campaign several times up to the fourth book (which is pretty poorly written and organized, by the way) and the system is nowhere near better than 5e. When you have 10 sessions or so ... you will start to see what I say, to such an extent that most of the people I know who play in the world of Symbaroum play the setting but with the conversion rules for 5e that Free League released, Forbidden Lands or others systems

@blandgaming6222

3 жыл бұрын

I had a very similar experience with the Conan system. I ran a campaign for several years before ending it. For my group, the setting was amazing, but the 2d20 system was just not our style. We have since picked up the Forbidden Lands to try and convert the rules to that setting. As for Symbaroum, I defer to your expertise on the rules as I have not ran it yet, and will proceed with an open mind. My sassy opinions about DnD are mostly in jest, but do reflect the fact I have outgrown it.

@scottwalker6947

3 жыл бұрын

I hope you are not saying that 5E does not have a huge power creep issue, as well?

@M3ntalHill

3 жыл бұрын

To say that the system is "bad" is disingenuous at best, flat out lying at worst. I have run the system several times and have been GMing nearly as long as you have, and while yes there are some issues that crop up at higher levels, all or at least most of them are manageable by a resourceful DM who knows the rules. Furthermore to say that the Throne of Thorns is poorly written is flat out wrong, I can't disagree that the organization is somewhat poor, but the writing is top-notch and incredibly evocative. For one to say Symbaroum is "better" than D&D is a matter of opinion, but it's extremely important to quantify on what levels you are comparing them. Symbaroum offers better build variety, more dangerous and interesting combat beyond D&D's "I attack" or "I cast a spell." especially when you take into account the added layer of tension that Corruption adds for magic users. I could go on, but I think you get my point. Using Symabroum's setting for 5e is silly despite the conversion being published. TL;DR: Symbaroum is amazing but takes time to learn and that scares away a lot of people who are dangerously dependent on D&D to make GM-ing "easier"

@thorinbane

2 жыл бұрын

@@M3ntalHill Who plays D&D to 20th anyway. I played 4E to 20th and gave up after 2.5 years. Couldn't stomach another 10 levels of that garbage.Talk about terrible system.

@jonathanbaago5312

Жыл бұрын

Was conversion rules made for free league or is it something housemade?

Boy that was bland. Cheers!

@blandgaming6222

2 жыл бұрын

I try to keep expectations low. 😉

@Farns77

2 жыл бұрын

@@blandgaming6222 I'm sold!

You had me at boring ...

More than a year late to the party here, but has anybody recommended some of the Old School Renaissance classic D&D clones to you? You seem to like Nordic dark fantasy, so Lamentations of the Flame Princess comes to mind, although the edginess is certainly turned up to 11 compared to this product. I'm not totally certain you'd like it, considering you seem to value theater of the mind, atmosphere, and narrative over verisimilitude. LotFP (and by extension any other B/X clone) is actually very rules-light and low crunch, and I've had plenty of success doing atmosphere and narrative in it, but it's a system that's lethal, and ignoring rules like encumbrance and movement rates can make the entire dungeon-delving gameplay loop fall apart. Nonetheless, characters rolling 3 HP at first level and being able to bleed out from a single thrust of a dirty bandit's knife basically renders impossible the sort of whimsical high fantasy stuff that turns people away from 5e. Might be up your alley, I don't know.

Symbaroum is not better than DND. Dnd is objectively better from a mechanical standpoint and has fewer hiccups in rules that aren't fixed. It's advantage is also that more people know the rules dnd. But therein lies it's flaw. From a purely fluff standpoint, Symbaroum offers a fantastic edgy/dark setting to play in and a magic system that lets people try something that is new. Explore new options for character creation. My group tried it and loved it. But we play DND for all of our other campaigns and probably will keep doing that. As a DM I found it mechanically boring as the DM never gets to play but is the one making the dinner so to say. It's world lore is nice and flavorful. The mechanics overall focuses on not rolling dice. Focus on not having players rolling dice at all. Only roll when needed and focus on symbaroum's strength. The lore and thickness of the edgy darkness of Davokar and Symbar. And it's lovely and dark magic system. The biggest mechanical problem are the builds for combat. It is easy to build a character that cannot take damage from any of the normal adventure monsters (with the alternative damage monsters being the exception). It can get so skewed that some have 10 hp and nearly no armour while some have 16 hp, 1d8+1d4+1d4 damage reduction and regeneration each turn. When you reduce and selfheal more than some other characters have in total hp each turn.. well... gl dm. You fucked your DM over because now DM cannot have the upscaled monsters attack anyone but the maximizer. Bit messy, but can be played around if experienced. But it's smaster to ban that kinda build.

@blandgaming6222

2 жыл бұрын

Perhaps I should have posted a disclaimer that the title of this video is subjective. ;)

@wbbartlett

10 ай бұрын

"Dnd is subjectively better from a personal standpoint" - fixed that statement for you. You're welcome :)

D&D is way too "heroic" for my taste. It's a bit too childish for me, and the D20 system is inept today. And also, detailing a small area versus proposing a huge undetailed area is a easy choice for me. So Symbaroum it is.

@pacceli2009

Жыл бұрын

That game is not even about heroes anymore, is about super-heroes in a Marvel like way. I started to hate 5e, and moved on to d100 systems.

Way to racial stereotype! Spoilt the video unfortunately.

@Sh0cklyz

2 жыл бұрын

What?