Alberetor – The Haunted Waste Out Now!

The time has come to explore ravaged and darkened lands south of the Titan Mountains.
Alberetor welcomes you with open arms, and extended claws.

Are you already playing Symbaroum?

If so, you may wonder if the boxed starter set has anything for you. Admittedly, Treasure Hunts in Davokar is mainly designed for newcomers to the game, and most of the content has been presented in already published game books. That being said, even a veteran Symbaroum gamer should be able to uncover a few new gems inside this treasure box:

• The two adventure locations, titled Where Darkness Dwells and The Gathering Storm, are never before published. Even if they are balanced for beginner players and newly created PCs, they can easily be tweaked to fit in an ongoing campaign.
• The Bright Davokar Dice Set is the first suite of official Symbaroum dice; they may not have any special symbols or mechanics tied to them, but they surely feel and sound like Symbaroum dice should!
• The art and illustrations in the two books have been mindfully selected from previously published Symbaroum products, ranging from the core rulebook (2015) to the Game Master’s Guide (2020). They are all made by Martin Grip, who have polished some of the pieces and added three new NPC portraits.
• Finally, the starter set is the product where we introduce the new NPC and monster stat block, which hereafter will be used in all new books. We are really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the design!

Symbaroum is a fantasy tabletop RPG, often described as dark, gritty and deadly. It was first released in Swedish in 2014, then translated into English for a worldwide release in 2016. Since then, the game has captured the imagination of an ever-growing number of gamers and today the game-line encompasses a dozen hardcover books, along with several support products in the form of card sets, maps and more.

The Symbaroum rule set is a D20, roll under, fully player-facing system, designed to be quick, punishing, and easy to get into. Also, it is highly flexible and modular, so those who want more complexity are offered numerous optional rules, or can easily introduce their own house rules.

The game is also flexible when it comes to what type of games it facilitates – action and/or intrigue; one-shot scenarios and/or long adventure campaigns; serious stories and/or furious fun. However, one can argue that the flagship of Symbaroum is the acclaimed, six-part adventure chronicle The Throne of Thorns. Each of the standalone but interlinked episodes not only offer a massive adventure – they also introduce new lore, setting information, equipment, abilities, and optional rules.

“Like a steel-clad ship in a thundering storm, she cut through the waves of darkness and dread. I was there to bear witness; I am one of few who stood in awe as the first light of dawn got caught in her armor, transforming our young Queen into a mounted, sword-wielding sun – Korinthia Nightbane, our sovereign, slayer of the dark.

The blood that was spilt, the lives that were lost, the tears that keep falling from red-rimmed eyes; the skies filled with ash, the soils turned to dust, the rivers transformed into muddy trenches. Such is the price we had to pay, for the Dark Lords’ betrayal, but also for the hardships that finally led us here, to the Promised Land.

Strengthened and enlightened, we begin again, the children of Alberetor matured into the mothers of Ambria. The sorrow that blackens our hearts will be delivered in tears of hope and joy, not of grief and despair. We shall harvest the fruits of earth and forests, we shall harness the force of rivers and mountains, we will rise higher than ever before. To the pleasure of Prios we shall ascend to a place where there are no shadows, where darkness is no more. Because we are the people of Korinthia Nightbane and we will never be vanquished!”

_______________________________

The intimate, richly nuanced Symbaroum setting revolves around the Ambrians – a civilization that two decades ago were forced to flee their ancestral soil after a devastating war. Their new and promised land borders on the vast forest of Davokar, covering the remnants of the Empire of Symbaroum which fell into ruin hundreds of years ago. Brimming with natural resources and mythical treasures, the forest calls out to the Ambrians to be explored and exploited, but the road into its depths lays far from open. Not only are the shadowy halls beneath the foliage fraught with danger, monsters and infectious corruption; there are also the elves of the Iron Pact who have vowed to die to keep anyone from disturbing the ruins of old, warning that the ancient evil of Symbaroum stirs in its sleep. The horrors of Davokar are about to awaken.

“The game that has inspired me most this year.”
– John Dodd, Tabletop Gaming magazine

“The simple system and rich setting, thick with dark and evocative imagery, makes this a worthy consideration for new and experienced gamers alike.”
– Paul Baldowski, GeekNative

“All in all, this is a stunning piece of work. It has all the sophistication of 13th Age, the mechanical beauty of Dungeon World, and the dark attractiveness of Warhammer Fantasy in a comprehensive and elegant game.”
– Rodney Orpheus, Medium

“Symbaroum is a dark fantasy set in a deep and dark forest chock full of ancient ruins and treasures. Its landscapes are haunted, its characters traumatised, and its monsters are pure, unbridled nightmare fuel. (-) Also the art by itself is enough to haunt your dreams”
– Sara Elsam, Dicebreaker, 10 best fantasy RPGs that aren’t Dungeons & Dragons

“What makes the Symbaroum Core Rulebook really stand out is its art which is superb, in turns, dark and brooding, dangerous and foreboding, majestic and mysterious, brutal and bloody… ”
– Reviews from R’lyeh

Free League Publishing is a Swedish publisher dedicated to speculative fiction. We have published a range of award-winning tabletop role-playing games and critically acclaimed art books set in strange and wondrous worlds.

Besides Symbaroum, our game portfolio includes the official ALIEN The Roleplaying Game (Gold ENNIE for Best Game 2020), the Nordic horror roleplaying game Vaesen, pitch-black apocalyptic fantasy RPG Mörk Borg, alternate ’90s Things from the Flood, alternate ’80s Tales from the Loop (winner of five ENNIE Awards 2017, including Best Game), sandbox retro fantasy Forbidden Lands (winner of four ENNIE Awards 2019), postapocalyptic Mutant: Year Zero (Silver ENNIE for Best Rules 2015), and the space opera Coriolis – The Third Horizon (Judge’s Spotlight Award 2017). To learn more, visit freeleaguepublishing.com.

We have also published the art books Tales from the Loop, Things from the Flood and The Electric State by internationally acclaimed visual artist Simon Stålenhag, as well as the illustrated editions of the Lovecraft classics The Call of Cthulhu and At the Mountains of Madness by the praised French artist François Baranger.