I have now managed to run three of Free League’s fantasy games—Dragonbane, Forbidden Lands, and Symbaroum—and thought it would be fun to have them face off. How do these games compare to each other? Let’s find out!

Full disclosure

While I have now purchased multiple Dragonbane products, including a box set for a friend, I did receive review copies of both Dragonbane and Symbaroum. I did not, however, get any other compensation for sharing my thoughts on those games.

Organization

How a game is organized can have as much impact on its accessibility as the game’s mechanics. I’m ordering this section from most to least organized. In my mind, that is.

Dragonbane

Dragonbane is one of the best organized rulesets I’ve ever read. The character building process, in particular, is designed very well. Combat rules, the way skills work, and travel mechanics are all set up in a way that are “glanceable.” It’s one of the game’s characteristics that makes it a joy to run and play.

Forbidden Lands

Forbidden Lands’ layout is more minimalist than Dragonbane and is more text heavy overall. The game’s also broken up into two books, which can lead to a bit more page-flipping. The included booklet in the box set also feels like material that should have been included in the core books. Even so, Forbidden Lands is laid out well and the interiors are beautiful.

Symbaroum

Symbaroum‘s organization is rather scattershot. Essential pieces of information, like how to award experience points or starting equipment for archetypes, are hidden in text blocks or split into random places in the book. Hunting through the rulebook is a chore, which a shame because the game itself is really fun. It’s worth picking up, and I’d like to explore more products from the line, but Symbaroum‘s organization does hold it back a bit.

Core Mechanics

Each of these games is excellent for what they are trying to accomplish. For this section I’m listing them in the order I played the games.

Dragongane

Dragonbane has both the fastest and the simplest mechanics of the three. It’s a skill-focused, d20 based, roll-under system that players take to with minimal effort. Rolls are most often called against a skill, but attribute checks also happen. If a player rolls with a boon, they roll 2d20 and keep the lower die, if they roll with a bane they roll 2d20 and keep the higher die. If a player fails a roll and wants to try again they can push the roll, but will take a condition as a result. Each condition is tied to an attribute, and all checked based on that attribute with roll with a bane until it’s cleared.

A character’s hit points are equal to a character’s CON score, and willpower points are equal to their WILL score.

Spells are roll to cast against the character’s spell school (a secondary skill). Each casting costs Willpower Points and if a 1 is rolled it triggers a mishap. That’s never good.

Dragonbane has enough depth to make long-time gamers happy, but is so fast and clean it can keep a six year old’s attention. It’s nice.

Forbidden Lands

Forbidden Lands’ dice pool system requires a lot of dice rolling. I imagine learning how to form the dice pools may take a bit of getting used to [^1]. But rolls themselves are fast. 6s and 1s are set aside, and any 6 means a success has happened. Rolls can be “pushed” where any die that is not a 1 or a 6 is re-rolled. 6s add to a success (or trigger one) and 1s then damage the character’s stats or equipment according to the dice on which they appear. Everything feels consequential, and I love it. Pushed rolls also award a Willpower Point for every 1 rolled on the attribute’s dice (or base dice).

Spells auto-cast in Forbidden Lands, but players still roll dice equal to the power level (1-3) at which they cast the spell (they can never roll more dice than their current rank in a particular discipline). 6s will show that the spell has over-charged and will do more than the caster was attempting, but 1s mean a mishap was triggered and the player will need to role on a mishap table–which is a dangerous proposition! As a character’s casting rank increases, however, there are ways to reduce the number of required dice, or even negate the need for a roll at all.

Symbaroum

Symbaroum, is a d20 roll under system, with some interesting quirks. First, players roll all the dice. This can take some getting used to, as players roll for both offense and defense, but it does help keep players engaged even when it’s not their turn in initiative. Second, an opponent’s attribute modifiers change the target number a player needs to meet or roll under to succeed. This requires a bit of math before the dice can be rolled, but it’s pretty quick at the table.

In Symbaroum magic can be learned by anyone, but is dangerous. Wielding mystic powers, or bonding with artifacts, gives a character corruption. Every character has a threshold for this corruption to manifest, and a limit where they succumb to the power and are lost. It’s cool.

Character Builds

Each of these games has its own charm when it comes to building characters. I’ve arranged these in order of flexibility–from most flexible to least.

Symbaroum

Symbaroum provides some archetypes, but there’s no reason why a player can’t take the general rules for character creation and come up with their own ideas. Attributes are assigned through a point-buy system, though a standard array is provided. Skills in Symbaroum are called “abilities,” and can range from mundane learned skills to actual magical powers. If you want to make any fantasy concept you can think of for your character, Symbaroum is a great option. The process is straight-forward, but navigating the rules takes some getting used to.

Forbidden Lands

Forbidden Lands’ character creation is a point buy system with points distributed from two pools–one each for attributes and skills. The amount of points available to distribute is determined by a character’s age–younger characters have more attribute points to spend, while older characters are given more skill points. This trade off has a benefit, especially at the start of a game. Attribute points also serve as a character’s hit points for different types of damage, so having higher attribute scores is important. At the same time, dice rolled using a character’s skills can’t contribute to failures when a roll is pushed. This means, before they manage to increase their skill scores, younger characters will be more robust but less competent. Characters take up a profession, which will both grant them a special talent and provide a list of skills aligned to the role. Any skill in a profession’s list may have up to three dice assigned to it, while every other skill may only have one. The setup provides some decent variation among characters.

Dragonbane

Dragonbane‘s character creation process is the best defined of the three games. Players can choose whatever kin and profession they’d like to play, but the game is set up to make the process random from start to finish. In my experience with the system, the folks at my table have loved using this randomized process.

There are six attribute scores with values from 3-18, which are rolled using 4d6 and dropping the lowest value. These scores are used for “raw” checks, but Dragonbane‘s real emphasis is on skills. Each skill in the game is attached to a specific attribute, and the higher the associated attribute score the higher a skill’s “base chance” will be.

As with Forbidden Lands, each character has a profession which presents a list of skills in which the character can be trained. Training doubles the base chance in that skill, making success much more likely. Six of a character’s starting skills must come from their profession’s list, but the total number of a character’s trained skills is determined by their age. Older characters have more trained skills, making them more competent overall, but they also suffer some penalties to their attribute scores. Younger characters have bonuses to their attribute scores, but have fewer skills. Those in the middle suffer no changes to their attribute scores, and split the difference in the number trained skills. The variation is nice, and because skills are key to gameplay older characters don’t feel as though they’ve been penalized [^2].

Advancement

None of these games is class based, so grinding away for experience points isn’t an emphasis for game play. For this, I am grateful. In fact, one of the games doesn’t have experience points at all. I’ve organized this section by concept.

Experience Points

Symbaroum and Forbidden Lands both utilize experience points as a meta-currency which can be spent to improve a character.

Forbidden Lands grants experience points though a post session interview process, when a player is able to answer “yes” to any of the questions they get one XP. When a certain number of experience points are earned a character can have their current skills and talents improved, or learn new skills talents. This is represented by adding a die to the chosen skill or increasing a talent’s rank by one step. The higher the skill level or talent rank, the greater the cost to move up.

Symbaroum also allows players to spend experience points to advance, or learn new, abilities. The cost for doing is 10 XP per ability level–10, 20, and then 30 XP. Awarding experience is rather simple. A character is awarded 1 XP for each scene in which they appear during a session.

Advancement Marks

Dragonbane foregoes experience points in favor of advancement marks, which are awarded in two ways. First, when any player rolls a dragon (1) or a demon (20) on a skill check they place a check in the box next to that skill. Second, much like Forbidden Lands, post session the game master asks the table a number of questions. For each question a player answers, “yes” they are able to place a check next to any unmarked skill on their sheet. Once all the advancement marks are assigned, players roll a d20 for each checked skill. If the roll exceeds the current skill value it will increase by one. Casters may use their advancement marks to either increase their rank in their chosen school or learn a new spell. Though this takes some effort to learn, represented by a die roll.

New heroic abilities can be learned in two ways. First, when any skill score hits 18 the character receives a new ability. Second, when a character does something extraordinary the game master may award them a new heroic ability on the spot. Anyone who wants to learn a magic school must take the “Magic Talent” heroic ability and spend time with a teacher–after which the character makes an INT check, a success means the school has been learned. Even professions which are not casters may learn magic this way.

Combat Design

When I started exploring Free League’s catalogue I couldn’t understand how they could release so many fantasy role playing games. As I began to explore the games, however, I began to understand. Each of these games has a play style which is unique to it, and it’s best highlighted in how they each handle combat. I’m ordering these by how familiar they might feel to players.

Dragonbane

Dragonbane is the simplest design of the three. Initiative is card based, and combatants take turns in ascending order of the cards–it’s also drawn each round. Attacks are skill rolls, and damage inflicted is increased for characters with higher attribute scores. Monsters in the game auto-hit, which means players have to make calculated decisions to attack or reserve their action to take a defensive move in order to avoid taking damage. Armor in the game reduces damage by a set number.

Symbaroum

Initiative is set by the combatant’s QUICK scores. Characters may choose to go in a lower spot of combat if they choose, but once they do so order is set. The action economy is, “one move action, and one combat action,” but both are abstracted. Taking a healing elixir or switching weapons, for example is a “move action,” while rendering first aid and attacks are “combat actions.”

I am also a big fan of how armor works in Symbaroum. Each armor type is tied to a different die, which is rolled to mitigate incoming damage. The trade off is that while heavier armor uses larger dice, it also makes a character easier to hit. If a player rolls well, though, they can tank like a tank should tank!

Forbidden Lands

Initiative is card based but is not redrawn each round, though players may swap initiative cards with other PCs at the beginning of a round. Characters can take one fast action and one slow action each turn–though these are abstracted a bit. Things like movement and drinking an exlir are fast actions, while attacking is a slow action.Weapons do a set amount of damage, though extra 6s on attacks increase it.

Monsters, auto-hit and their entries have tables which denote their different attacks. The good news for players is parrying and dodging are both fast actions and can be used out of turn order as reactions.

Armor values in the game represent the number of dice a player roles in an attempt to mitigate damage. Every 6 rolled reduces damage by one. If the player rolls any 1s and takes damage from the attack, however, the armor’s protection is reduced by the number of 1s rolled. When an armor value hits 0 it needs to be repaired.

Production Value

Free League produces nice products. This section is ordered according to the date I first read the games.

Forbidden Lands

Forbidden Lands can be purchased a la carte, so players can pick up the Player’s Handbook and be ready to go. When it was first introduced, however, Forbidden Lands was sold as a box set–which can still be purchased. The set includes two faux leather, stitched binding, books–the Player’s Guide and the Gamemaster’s Guide, a beautiful map of the setting, some stickers to mark a party’s exploration, and a booklet with more complete options for character builds. The books are high quality, and everything about the interior is an homage to old school gaming. I’d have liked to see some of the Forbidden Lands dice included in the box set, but the quality of the books is a decent trade off.

Symbaroum

Symbaroum is the simplest setup, everything needed to play the game, excluding dice, is included in the core rulebook. Other books can be picked up to expand character options or the variety of creatures, but these aren’t needed to play. The game is a “full-size” hardbound book with stitched binding, and boasts some stunning artwork. The layout is quite good, and I appreciate how different elements are designed, but once again organization is Symbaroum‘s bane. A new edition could improve this a lot.

Dragonbane

Dragonbane is best in class when it comes to box set contents. The box set is often mis-labelled a “starter box”– but everything needed to play is included in the box set. There is a beautiful rulebook, an equally stunning campaign adventure book, a map of the default setting, a reversible battle mat with both dungeon and grassy terrain, cardboard standees and stands to depict combat, a booklet explaining solo rules, and a stunning set of dice. My only knock on the box set is the binding on the rulebooks, they’re glued in such a way that I can foresee the covers becoming a problem as some point, but the overall quality is terrific, and it’s typically under $50. Dragonbane has also released a separate bestiary and the core rules as stitched-bound hardbacks, printed on flat paper. If the stand alone books had book ribbons they would be perfect TTRPG products!

Conclusion

I make no secret how much I enjoy Dragonbane, it’s my favored blend of mirth, grit, and mayhem. I do, however, enjoy all these games for the different feel they each bring to the table. I have the most frustration with Symbaroum, but not because the system is difficult or clunky. It’s rather simple once all the bits are cobbled together, the organization is something I find difficult to navigate. This is a shame, because Symbaroum‘s a cool game I’d love for a lot more people to enjoy. Forbidden Lands is more gritty than my typical faire, but when I had that game at the table it was exciting and fast and fun. If you have the ability to try all three of these games out, do so. They’re a blast!

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