The Taint of Corruption – part 2
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes. Continuing the treatise upon the manifestations and management of corrupting energies by the Traditions of Ambria and beyond – see […]
Articles by Paul Baldowski
Symbaroum on the Cards
Approximate time to read: 5 minutes. I’ve touched on the business of the Zero Level character before and the pleasures to be had in the process […]
The Taint of Corruption – part 1
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes. The stain of Corruption is a reality for any practitioner of the mystic arts, or for those braving artefacts or […]
Heyzrehell’s Google Character Sheet
Approximate time to read: 1 minutes. Amongst many other utilities now available for Symbaroum, Heyzrehell posted a version of the character sheet in Google Sheets over […]
Arms of Quality
Approximate time to read: 6 minutes. Mechanics don’t necessarily need to make perfect sense, but when they don’t a game can often descend into a much […]
A Tough Act to Follow
Approximate time to read: 7 minutes. When you put yourself in harms way, you set your life firmly on the line. Those who enter the field […]
Symbaroum at Gen Con
Approximate time to read: 1 minutes. It’s just over a week until Gen Con. While I never expected it to happen, I will be attending this […]
The Mythology of Symbaroum
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes. The mythology of Symbaroum lies in the hands of the GM. When you really consider the nature of the world […]
The Lies That Bind
Approximate time to read: 7 minutes. The PCs come to a settlement where many of the population have gathered in the centre to listen to the […]
Longcon 2017
Approximate time to read: 1 minutes. Some conventions seek to serve up a platter of gaming opportunities, a buffet of snacks and tasters, quick adventure and […]
The Smart Party
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Arrows and Quivers
Approximate time to read: 3 minutes. The business of arrows and quivers in Symbaroum doesn’t seem ready to slink into the background. In a Reddit discussion […]
Intermissions and ENnies
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N is for Nihilism
Approximate time to read: 3 minutes. The prospect of having a game that embraces nihilistic behaviour isn’t too far from the core of Symbaroum. From the […]
M is for Mounts
Approximate time to read: 3 minutes. Out of the unimaginable blackness beyond the gangrenous glare of that cold flame, out of the Tartarean leagues through which […]
L is for Long Doors
Approximate time to read: 5 minutes. The rules aren’t the same wherever you go; the world just doesn’t work that way and will throw you a […]
K is for King’s Isles
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes. The enigma of Davokar is not confined to the depths of the dark region to the north or the puncture […]
J is for Jokes
Approximate time to read: 6 minutes. Setting the mood for your games of Symbaroum makes all the difference, given the general tone of dark fantasy communicated […]
I is for Identity Magic
Approximate time to read: 3 minutes. The act of stealing the identity of another can only come from violence. The assumption of the physical appearance of […]
H is for Hex Mapping
Approximate time to read: 5 minutes. Within the Symbaroum Core Book you have enough background within the first 70-pages or so to get you up and running, […]
G is for Gaoian Mysticism
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes. Witches of the barbarian tribes embrace the traditions of the Old Gods, discounted or blasted as heretical by the church of […]
F is for Faceless Horde
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes. I saw a small black aperture, felt a ghoulish wind of ice, and smelled the charnel bowels of a putrescent […]
E is for the Ever Realm
Approximate time to read: 3 minutes. Ambra sits on the north coast, less than 100 miles from the north-western fringe of Davokar, where the trees literally […]
D is for Despair and Dismay
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes. The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of […]
C is for Collector of Faces
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes. A new world of redness and darkness, A horrible coma call’d living The false, hollow phantoms of beauty That cloak […]
B is for Boons and Burdens
Approximate time to read: 6 minutes. The nicest thing about Boons and Burdens, introduced in the Advanced Player’s Guide, has to be that they have a […]
No Unpleasant Surprises
Approximate time to read: 3 minutes. Newcomers to any game have a lot of questions to ask and I hope those who already play those games can […]
A is for Ambra Assailed
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes. The streets of Ambra are alive with people. Sometimes, you have to remind yourself where you are, what sort of […]
What’s a Scene?
Approximate time to read: 2 minutes. The basis of an adventure in Symbaroum, a Scene stands as a means to determine the ‘value’ of an adventure […]
Le Pacte De Fer
Approximate time to read: 1 minutes. I can hardly believe that I have been reading, playing and gamemastering Symbaroum for more than a year and running […]
Quick Arrow Reclamation
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes. The Symbaroum Advanced Player’s Guide (APG) includes a whole selection of optional mechanics in the Alternative Rules section. Some will work for […]
Theme Reveal for April
Approximate time to read: 2 minutes. I missed the Theme Reveal day for the A-to-Z Challenge, which was Monday, 20th March. However, I can easily make […]
Casting Checks
Approximate time to read: 3 minutes. Someone put forward the following question on Reddit around the use of Mystical Powers in Symbaroum. Hey guys. Quick question […]
Advanced Player’s Handbook
Approximate time to read: 2 minutes. The diehard English-speaking fans of Symbaroum have been translating the Spelarens Handbok since Day 1. Somehow, this volume of Swedish gaming goodness […]
A-to-Z Challenge 2017
Approximate time to read: 1 minutes. I hope to have the planning wherewithal to participate in the A-to-Z Challenge this year – as I did in […]
Mystical Dozen
Approximate time to read: 1 minutes. I am happy to add a new gathering of Mystical Treasures to the Symbaroum Resources page, contributed by Candacis (and […]
Ability Quick Reference Cards
Approximate time to read: 5 minutes. After a long delay in making progress, I have added the seventh sheet to the Symbaroum Ability Quick Reference Cards. […]
More Strange Remnants
Approximate time to read: 1 minutes. I posted a list of strange remains of the Symbaroum Empire in Archaeology Today – and it occurred to me that […]
Archaeology Today
Approximate time to read: 5 minutes. The Monte Cook Games setting/system Numenera describes a truly ancient Earth where nine great civilisations have risen and fallen over […]
Monstrous Traits
Approximate time to read: 8 minutes. Should Monstrous Traits be more generic? I had that strange thought the other day while looking through some of the […]
Symbaroum Resources
Approximate time to read: 1 minutes. Following a discussion on Slack, I offer up the services of The Iron Pact as a clearing house for links to […]
Davokar Persists
Approximate time to read: 1 minutes. If you don’t have quite enough places to chat about Symbaroum, it would be well worth your time downloading (or […]
A Light to Return Home By
Approximate time to read: 7 minutes. That which rests beneath the earth does not necessarily stay there, especially in the lands north of the great Titan […]
Care With Names
Approximate time to read: 5 minutes. I ran an extended game of The Wheel of Misfortune yesterday, using the rules for The Symbaroum Funnel. This created […]
Seal the Wounds
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes. While travellers and treasure-seekers enter the eaves of Davokar with the reasonable expectation of the dangers to come, that’s not to […]
The Cow and the Recharge
Approximate time to read: 1 minutes. I will be running Symbaroum at Concrete Cow for the morning session (10am) in Milton Keynes, 10th September 2016. The […]
Who You Know
Approximate time to read: 6 minutes. While the Contacts Trait appears in the Symbaroum Core Book as a Trait, generally associated with the player’s choice of […]
Monastery of the Twilight Friars
Approximate time to read: 2 minutes. It’s artwork that pulled me into Symbaroum. And it continues to intrigue, fascinate and beguile me. Seriously, some of the […]
