Shadow of the Demon Lord vs Symbaroum
Compare Shadow of the Demon Lord and Symbaroum side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Shadow of the Demon Lord | Symbaroum | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Horror | Fantasy, Horror |
| Tags | Dark Fantasy, Gritty, Deadly, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Corruption, Character Building, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Atmospheric, Strong GM Support | Dark Fantasy, Player-Only Rolls, Corruption, Exploration, Roll to Cast, Classless, Character Building, Tactical, Gritty, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 plus an attribute modifier against 10 for a challenge or the target’s Defense or attribute for an attack. Boons and banes cancel one for one. Roll the remaining d6s and add the highest boon or subtract the highest bane. | Roll a d20 and try to land equal to or under one of eight Attributes: Accurate, Cunning, Discreet, Persuasive, Quick, Resolute, Strong, and Vigilant. Opposed tests adjust that Attribute by 10 minus the opponent's relevant value, so a weak foe grants a bonus and a strong one imposes a penalty. Only players roll dice, so an enemy attack becomes a player Defense test and NPC stats appear as fixed modifiers on the player's roll. |
| Dice | d20, d6 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Symbaroum Third-Party Tabletop Module License (version 1.0) |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Community content program | Commercial publishing allowed — Free League Free Tabletop License |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Schwalb Entertainment | Free League Publishing |
| Year | 2015 | 2015 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Chinese | English, Swedish, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups who want lethal fantasy horror with flexible character paths and campaigns built around eleven adventures. | Groups who want long-form dark fantasy expeditions into ancient ruins, where magic, cursed relics, and the darkest parts of the forest put each character's soul at risk of permanent taint. |
| Highlights | Novice, expert and master paths combine freely to create specialized characters. Fast turns trade movement for an earlier action. Insanity and Corruption give frightening encounters and forbidden acts lasting mechanical consequences. | Corruption turns casting and cursed relics into a gamble: temporary taint that pushes total Corruption to half a character's Resolute leaves permanent Corruption and a Stigma, a step toward becoming an abomination. Witchsight reads the colored Shadow of a creature, place, or object to expose corruption and deceit, at a temporary Corruption cost per attempt that rises with the ability's tier. Only players roll dice, turning every exchange into player attack, Defense, damage, and Armor rolls against fixed NPC values. |
| Considerations | Starting characters can die from a single strong hit. The rules include graphic body horror and disturbing effects of forbidden magic. Advancement ends at level 10 after the campaign’s final adventure. | Mystic play carries steady bookkeeping: Corruption costs for learning and casting vary by tradition and tier, and temporary and permanent totals must be tracked against the threshold. Each hit passes through several steps (Armor reduction, damage against Toughness, and a Pain Threshold effect when one hit exceeds it), which adds bookkeeping in busy fights. The core book deliberately limits its setting to the region around Davokar; the lands south of the Titans and the broader world receive only brief mention. |