Written by: James Sadler
If you’re prepping for your next TTRPG campaign and you’re a fan of dark fantasy, you might be wondering what are the best maps to use with Symbaroum. First published by Free League in Swedish in 2013, then translated into English in 2015, Symbaroum has become one of the most popular TTRPGs in the dark fantasy genre. The game’s setting is described by one of its writers, Mattias Johnsson, as a mixture of Princess Mononoke and Game Of Thrones, and takes players to the forest of Davokar, a dark and ruinous place where an upstart kingdom of refugees inhabit the bones of a long-lost empire.
Note that there are two manifestations of Symbaroum out there in the wild. The first, Symbaroum, is its own standalone game with a full set of rules for players and GMs to run sessions of the game for themselves. The other one, Ruins Of Symbaroum, is a later adaptation that brings the setting of the Davokar forest and its environs to 5th edition D&D.
Fortunately, Czepeku’s maps are just that – maps. They’re system-neutral, meaning it doesn’t matter whether you use the Symbaroum rules or its 5e adaptation. The maps are the same, and so are the atmospheres they help you conjure at the table! So, without further ado, here are 10 battlemaps to use with Symbaroum:
Burial Barrow: Broken Bridge
Although this map is brighter than the general tone set by Symbaroum, it’s important to remember that endless misery gets tiring. There should be light to contrast with the shade, or else why fight at all? The Broken Bridge variation of this map will help GMs bring home the nature of Davokar and show the players that the ruins of an ancient kingdom lie strewn across the land. What’s more, the barrow could be a great way to introduce players to the corruption that has seeped into the forest.
Dark Woods Edge: Fireflies
The perfect map for parties taking their first foray into the gloom that lies upon the deep parts of Davokar, where sunlight cannot even reach through the trees. Giant spiders are prominent in the bestiary of Symbaroum, and The Dark Woods Edge is festooned with webs and studded with fungi, which serve as ominous signals to what lies within.
Smuggler’s Fen: Original Day
Beasts and spirits aren’t the only things that roam the reaches of Davokar. Brigands looking to plunder the ruins of Symbaroum or relieve a careless traveller of their purse lurk there, too. This abandoned mill might once have been a place of commerce and industry, but now it holds a nasty surprise for the unwitting.
Ancient Battlefield: Swampy
The barbarian clans of Davokar are a proud people, and warfare is as much a part of their makeup as the air they breathe. Does this ancient battlefield serve as a training ground? Or perhaps it is sacred to them, and the spilling of blood on its hallowed soil heralds an ill omen.
Depths Of The Festerwood: Original Day
Use this map to depict those journeys deep into Dark Davokar, that deepest and most dangerous region of the forest where the eyes of the Sun God, Prios, do not reach. But what stalks these depths? Corrupted abominations, trolls, wolves, and a host of folkloric tales that make your blood run cold.
Banshee Moor: Fog
Elves stalk the reaches of the Davokar forest. But these elves have little in common with the fair folk of Tolkien’s mythology. These elves are not your friends, and neither will they brook intrusion into their territory. The skeletal remains of wagons and caravans, lying gutted by the side of the road, attest to their unwavering resolve.
Overgrown Magic Forest: Fairy Ring
But perhaps not all Elves are the murderous type. In Symbaroum, young Elves are known as fairies — being small in stature and curious in nature. Their hair and nails are thought to have magical properties, and they are often the target of hunting bands that roam the forest. Perhaps the players have no scruples about hunting sentient creatures, or perhaps they have stumbled upon a hunt and have the opportunity to earn a valuable favour from the Elder Folk.
Iron Age Hamlet: Rain
Davokar is home to a number of settlements that one might term cities. Great Yndaros lies to the South, and Thistlehold and Karvosti nestle in the near reaches of the forest itself. But what of other places? Small and forgotten villages, forsaken outposts that serve barely as a place to shelter from the rain. Adventurers caught in the forest come nightfall, or inclement weather might stumble upon such a place. But has the blight beaten them to it? The darkened windows and smokeless chimneys tell an ominous tale.
Caravan Roadblock: Camp
In a game about a forest nearly a thousand kilometres across, it’s a safe bet that the party will have to make camp somewhere at some point. Perhaps they meet others travelling on the road, too. This could be a great opportunity to introduce some important NPCs to the players or keep them on their toes by staging an ambush encounter.
Celestial Gate: Autumn
The ruins of the once-great people of Symbaroum still stand above the ground in parts of the forest. Perhaps there’s a chance their magics persist, too. Even after these last thousand years, the knowledge locked away here could be the first clue in a quest to cleanse the corruption for good.
Bonus Content: Scenes
During your time in Davokar, a pause to appreciate your surroundings and take a breath could very well mean it’s your last. But that’s not to say it can’t be an enjoyable one. Czepeku’s maps provide a great platform for tactical battles in Symbaroum, but when the stakes are lower, their accompanying Czepeku Scenes project could help you evoke the right atmosphere. With as many variations as the companion battlemaps, Czepeku Scenes contains exactly the right mix of ancient ruins and gloomy, forbidding forests to fully realise Davokar’s dark immensity.
If these map snapshots have sparked your imagination, or you’ve been looking for visual resources to run a game of Symbaroum, look no further. You can find our full catalogue of hand-illustrated maps here, or you can subscribe via Patreon to get access to high resolution downloads. The same goes for Czepeku Scenes, too!