Following the excellent rules simplified by Neil Kingham for his CYOA book, "Tower of the Lich Lord" https://www.drivethrurpg.com/es/product ... o-gamebook, I decided to expand them and make some modifications of my own. My goal was to have a ruleset that was useful outside of the CYOA, for roleplaying in the Symbaroum world in any kind of adventure.
All the rules had to be based in the original game, but simplified wherever possible to make them more accessible, specially for new players. Of course, mainly the Abilites and Mystical Powers were simplified, as was the equipment options. But overall, I've used it to run one-shot adventures and a small campaign (few adventures, but with some character development included), and it has proven to be robust enough to play without complications.
Thanks again to Neil for his great effort, and hope you can find them useful if playing some casual Symbaroum adventure.
Beware your Corruption!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JRa811 ... sp=sharing
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- Tim Julius
- Posts: 15
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Re: SYMBAR - Reduced Rules for Symbaroum
How did your simplified rules for Symbaroum enhance accessibility for new players while maintaining the game's core elements?
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- Falenthal
- Posts: 280
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Re: SYMBAR - Reduced Rules for Symbaroum
First of all, thanks for the interest!
In my case, I find that the Symbaroum rules are quite easy to grasp overall. But there are a few things that can get in the way of a smoother learning curve, specially when wanting just to play a one-shot or a short series of adventures (like the Copper Crown).
In my opinion, the main features that add depth, but also complexity, to the game are:
1. the different levels of Abilities & Mystical Powers
2. the triggering of Free Attacks and the difference with attacks with Advantage
3. the different amounts of corruption gained through mystical powers, depending if the Ability for the mystic tradition was learned or not and the level of the mystical power learned
4. some other minor things, like having different weapons and armours that are not quickly distinguishible in what difference there is between them.
As said before, most of those thing add depth to the game and are very interesting when playing the game extensively. But I don't feel they are needed to introduce players to the setting and rules.
To me, what makes a difference in Symbaroum is the Attributes themselves and learning how to use them. Also the fact that using Mystical Powers is powerful (no need for a test most of the time, and most attacks do an automatic damage ignoring armour), but the limit to casting them is the corruption gain.
I like having a list of Abilities and Equipment related to the setting, but also that they are mechanically fast and easy to understand: no need to look back and forth to understand how Feint and Backstab work together, or what happens to Accuracy if a character gets Iron Fist, or how much Corruption do I gain if I learn Wizardry at Novice but want to learn Bend Will at Adept... and what's that about "concentration" and "active actions", and how does that work?
Also, as a GM, simplifying the special traits of enemies allows to grasp better how they behave in combat. That alone allows to just pick an enemy that fits a situation and get it fighting, without needing to consult 2 or 3 monster traits and exactly how they work before each combat.
If you manage to read the document or take a look at it, I'd be glad to read your opinion and if you would find it useful under certain circumstances.
In my case, I find that the Symbaroum rules are quite easy to grasp overall. But there are a few things that can get in the way of a smoother learning curve, specially when wanting just to play a one-shot or a short series of adventures (like the Copper Crown).
In my opinion, the main features that add depth, but also complexity, to the game are:
1. the different levels of Abilities & Mystical Powers
2. the triggering of Free Attacks and the difference with attacks with Advantage
3. the different amounts of corruption gained through mystical powers, depending if the Ability for the mystic tradition was learned or not and the level of the mystical power learned
4. some other minor things, like having different weapons and armours that are not quickly distinguishible in what difference there is between them.
As said before, most of those thing add depth to the game and are very interesting when playing the game extensively. But I don't feel they are needed to introduce players to the setting and rules.
To me, what makes a difference in Symbaroum is the Attributes themselves and learning how to use them. Also the fact that using Mystical Powers is powerful (no need for a test most of the time, and most attacks do an automatic damage ignoring armour), but the limit to casting them is the corruption gain.
I like having a list of Abilities and Equipment related to the setting, but also that they are mechanically fast and easy to understand: no need to look back and forth to understand how Feint and Backstab work together, or what happens to Accuracy if a character gets Iron Fist, or how much Corruption do I gain if I learn Wizardry at Novice but want to learn Bend Will at Adept... and what's that about "concentration" and "active actions", and how does that work?
Also, as a GM, simplifying the special traits of enemies allows to grasp better how they behave in combat. That alone allows to just pick an enemy that fits a situation and get it fighting, without needing to consult 2 or 3 monster traits and exactly how they work before each combat.
If you manage to read the document or take a look at it, I'd be glad to read your opinion and if you would find it useful under certain circumstances.
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