The roleplaying world is becoming more and more accessible, but many gamers still maintain an outdated view of how much investment is required to try out roleplaying. It’s very likely that, with the many thematic board games that have come out in recent years, most of the tabletop community has roleplayed to some extent even if they weren’t aware of it.

If you want to get started but are intimidated by a big roleplaying campaign, starter sets like the new Symbaroum adventure from Free League Publishing is a good intro into the hobby.

Free League Publishing is one of the best RPG publishers out there and while they are well known for experiences like the ALIEN RPG and Tales from the Loop, one of the popular fantasy roleplaying games is Symbaroum, which now has a Starter Set available for fans who want to ease themselves into an immersive campaign with the help of some structured content.

What is Symbaroum, though, in this condensed format? The narrative in the starter set is written by Mattias Johnsson Haake and Mattias Lilja, but the world is brought to life with the art of Martin Grip. All three men are co-creators of the fantasy roleplaying game and they have a lot of RPG experience between them.

I’ve looked at both the starter sets for ALIEN and Tales from the Loop. Each one delivers an engaging story arc with compelling characters. If there are any adventurers out there, they will be pleased by what’s possible in the dark woods that are appearing on your table in Symbaroum.

On February 16th, you’ll be able to get the Symbaroum Starter Set – Treasure Hunts in Davokar. Here’s what you’ll get:

• A 64-page illustrated rule book, introducing the game’s easy-to-learn and highly flexible ruleset along with its dark and mysterious game world.

• A 64-page adventure compendium by (name), including two adventure locations for your players to explore and rules for designing adventures of your own.

• The Symbaroum Bright Davokar Dice Set, with all the dice you need for combat, problem-solving and social challenges.

• A double-sided map, with one side depicting the game setting at large, and the other the treasure-hunters’ town of Thistle Hold.

• A second double-sided map, showing the main locations of the two pre-made adventure landscapes, meant to be used at the gaming table.

• Six character sheets, describing five readymade player characters and one mystical companion for you to play.

If you’re interested in Symbaroum, you can order the boxed set for $39.99. If you preorder now, you’ll be first in line when the shipping begins and you’ll also get exclusive access to a high-res digital Symbaroum Artbook.

Have you played any RPG games from Free League Publishing? Would a starter set like this interest you when full core rulebooks haven’t? Let us know in the comments!