Dungeon Crawling
Syma is a low-fantasy, dungeon crawling tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG), wherein the goal is for the player characters to find and loot the tombs of Exalted Saints of the Church of the Imperial Sun, which is a religious arm of the Sorsdeus Impregnium, the foreign empire that conquered and held in thrall the lands of Syma until recently.
The rules are fairly straightforward and easy to implement. Because there is not a lot of “crunch” to the system, the rules will be understandable to TTRPG rookies. What players and the facilitator will have to learn and practice the most is the looser, more narrative approach to playing and running the game than something like Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, Traveller, or Dungeons and Dragons. Additionally, this game is meant to be played with no more than pencil, paper, a standard set of TTRPG gaming dice, and the unlimited power of everyone’s imagination. No apps, online accounts, or meticulously hand-painted miniatures are necessary.
While the clean but limited rules make the game easy to get into and play, it also limits the scope of the game itself. The subtitle clearly states what the game will be about, so it’s accurate to what’s on the tin, so to speak. If players are looking for a game with a lot of investigation, intrigue, in-depth exploration, tactical combat, or even something like being part of revolutionary action against the remaining Sorsdeus forces, the rules as presented don’t do much to accommodate for that. Though the flexibility of the rules means some of that is technically possible, it would require a lot of work. For perilous delving into enemy-infested tombs that each have lootable relics and undead, magic-wielding saints, this game delivers.
Dice Entropy
A central mechanic of the game could be called dice entropy. Each time a player uses a skill to try and overcome an obstacle, the dice for that skill gets stepped down by one until someone calls to “Catch Your Breath,” or the adventure ends. For instance, if a player wants to make a perilous jump from one ledge to another, he or she rolls the dice for their Dash skill, which in this case we’ll say was 1d8. Whether the player succeeds or fails, after using this skill, Dash is reduced to 1d6 and if used again to 1d4, which is the baseline. Equipment works the same way, moving down in its dice effectiveness until repaired during a rest. While there are a few additional rules to try and avoid this dice entropy, it is the core idea that makes the players weigh their options and calculate the risks and rewards of any potential action, and it is an expression of how dangerous an adventure becomes the longer it persists.
Playing Without a Facilitator
A section of the rulebook details how the play without a Facilitator, which is Syma’s equivalent of a Dungeon Master or Game Master. While this section isn’t comprehensive or always specific, it does a fair job of showing how the game can be played if everyone, in fact, wants to be a player in the adventure. These instructions can be good practice for a Facilitator, too, if he or she wants to simply see how the game plays or even test a scenario or adventure. This part of the rulebook also means Syma can be played solo, which makes it a fairly good game to have around for even a quick, one-shot adventure if other players cannot make it to a game session. These rules were adapted from the Sacrifice game by Blackoath Entertainment.
Hard Out Here for an Adventurer
In part because of the concise nature of the rulebook, some aspects of the game are not a clear as they could be, especially for anyone not already familiar with tabletop roleplaying. For instance, more examples of how to use skills would have been helpful. It’s understandable that part of the point is to make players think about their skills and justify using them, but a couple examples would go a long way, or even a few pages of sample play. There isn’t a lot of specific information on how to build encounters, which puts more of a burden on the Facilitator to come up the fiction. Again a few “adventure hooks” would have helped with this problem if not an outright sample adventure. A few important rules also fall into this trap a bit. For example, there are supposed to be increasingly dire complications from using “Catch Your Breath,” but what those complications are or how they might play out isn’t well explained. There doesn’t have to be a chart of ever-increasing hostility or anything like that, but some examples or models to guide a Facilitator could take off some of the burden and would fit with the possibility of solo play.
Inspiration
The game designer says that Lions of Al’Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay is a major source of inspiration, but the mood, danger, and occultism make Syma feel closer to the videogames Dark Souls or Blasphemous.
Syma: Incense and Iron Dungeon Crawling is worth getting for many reasons. It has a low price point, and the PDF can be purchased at drivethrurpg.com for less than $15, which is far less than the cost of entry for many TTRPGs. The instructions allow for solo play and randomly generated adventures on the fly, making this a game that’s quick to start and play. It is rules-light and easy to learn, so it makes both an excellent introduction to TTRPGs or as a diversion, compliment, or pallet-cleanser when paired with another game.
Source
Bahr, Alan. Syma: Incense and Iron Dungeon Crawling. Gallant Knight Games, 2023.