Mattias Johnsson Haake is a games designer and creator, best known for his work on the award-winning Dragonbane and Symbaroum TTRPGs. We caught up with him to find out more about Symbaroum – City of Eternal Euphoria, a new book for your Symbaroum campaign.
How would you pitch Symbaroum – City of Eternal Euphoria to your casual Game of Thrones fan?
Generally speaking, Symbaroum shares some similarities with Game of Thrones‘ political fantasy drama and human-centric societal structure, but the town of Agrella has no clear parallel in Westeros. Even if the analogy is far from spot-on, I’d rather compare the setting and story of the Agrella module to a cold war agent thriller in fantasy shrouding.
And how would you pitch it to a fan of the Symbaroum range?
I’d invite them to experience a different take on the main themes of Symbaroum. A few previously published adventures have also been set in urban areas, such as Wrath of the Warden and The Darkest Star, but this new book has even more focus on intrigue and faction play. It has a real cloak-and-dagger feel to it, without turning away from what is at the heart of Symbaroum.
What was the selection process for the artwork?
All art for the Agrella module was specifically commissioned, which is how we always do it. The writers are prompted to come up with a motif for every 8-10 pages of the manuscript; they write a description (sometimes including other images for inspiration), which is then forwarded to the artist. Of course, there is always a discussion about which motifs to choose, and sometimes the project lead (me, in this case) will step in to tweak or make changes. But as a rule, the designers and writers must decide what should be illustrated.
Is it possible for Symbaroum to get darker?
Haha, for sure! I would argue that there is quite a lot of light, joy, beauty, and pure intentions in the world of Symbaroum, even if they are mostly there to accentuate the darkness. It is a balancing act – if the setting grows too dark and serious, without contrasts, you will end up with something that feels only gray.
Does this setting work with the 5E rules set as well? Are the rules important to the atmosphere?
The Agrella module has not yet been converted to our 5e gameline, called Ruins of Symbaroum, but it probably will. The rules are important, even crucial when it comes to Symbaroum, as they highlight and gamify the core concepts of the setting: corruption, spiritual shadows and the sense of “real” danger. Both available rulesets (original Symbaroum and Ruins of Symbaroum 5e) are built to reflect said concepts, and playing in the setting without those elements would not be the same.
What is the biggest influence on the Symbaroum setting?
If I have to rank them, I would first and foremost say our world, as perceived by us designers, writers, and artists. Second would be the continuous adventure campaign for Swedish Drakar och Demoner (now Dragonbane) that me and my friends played in our youths. Honorary mentions should go to Game of Thrones, Princess Mononoke, and French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu.
Has social media ruined TTRPGs?
Not for me. On the contrary, I believe that the boom in roleplaying (and gaming in general) over the last decade owes a lot to social media.
What’s the toughest part of the creative process for you?
The finishing touches, no doubt. Having ideas and even penning them down in an orderly fashion is a pleasure, but the closer you come to the finish line, the closer you get to readying the print files, the tougher it gets – especially when it comes to 176-page adventure modules that must function as instruction manuals for thousands of gamemasters with different preferences, tastes, and backgrounds in gaming.
What other projects would you like to work on?
I am fortunate enough to work at Free League, meaning that I get to write and edit manuscripts inspired by a wide variety of genres – sci-fi, post-apocalypse, horror, magical realism, and different flavors of fantasy. Currently, what I long for the most is to start designing the new main setting for Symbaroum: the City States.
Simpsons or Futurama?
Lisa Simpson and Bender. That would be a show!
Dungeons or Dragons?
Easy: Forests and humans (the latter being my favorite monster).
Truth or Beauty?
Truth (as opposed to willful lies) is beautiful, and seems to grow rarer by the day.
Symbaroum – City Of Eternal Euphoria is out now!
