Friday Faction: Art by Nohr

Johan Nohr has had an almost unparalleled effect upon the roleplaying home. Together with Pelle Nilsson, he created Mörk Borg, the pitch-black pre-apocalyptic fantasy roleplaying game which brings a Nordic death metal sensibility to the Old School Renaissance, designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. Since its publication in 2019, has gone to become the basis of several other roleplaying games, such Cy-Borg, Pirate Borg, and Death in Space, as well as a host of other supplements, scenarios, fanzines, and other third-party content. It has not only retained its popularity, but become a firm fixture of the Old School Renaissance hobby, even if it does not share the same origins. In particular, Johan Nohr created the look of Mörk Borg, beginning with the distinctive chromium yellow of its cover to the swathes of deep black and neon pink inside. The look and style of Mörk Borg is art punk, inspired by the post-punk rock sophistication that drew on the theory of art.

Art by Nohr, subtitled ‘Drawings and Doodles by Johan Nohr, Made Between 2006 and 2033’ and published by Stockholm Kartell following a successful Kickstarter campaign, is part retrospective, part showcase of the graphic designer and illustrator’s work from before, during, and after Mörk Borg. It is a coffee table artbook, that in truth is dominated by his art for Mörk Borg and other roleplaying games, but there is more than that just here, some it of simple sketches, some of it more. Some of it is simply annotated, most left to speak for itself. From the beginning there is always a jagged edge to Nohr’s style, figures and monsters lurking in the gloom, such as ‘The Skull Crone. Malevolent forest spirit I made up when living in the woods’, the annotation a story in itself, the old woman caught in the shadows of the tall trees, clawed hands reaching out, the skulls piled atop her head hiding her face in their shadows as green flames flicker from their eye sockets. Others seem to stagger at the viewer, whilst other images draw on classic heroic heavy metal fantasy, great horned helmets and mighty weapons, but here the weapons are cracked and stained through use, the helmets keeping the warriors anonymously inhuman. Witches wail and goblins cackle, strange figures stare accusingly at the reader.

‘Barkhäxan’ looks at an earlier collaboration with Pelle Nilsson, a folk horror roleplaying game, a startling simple black and white suggestion of horror and the unknown that contracts sharply with the more widely seen Mörk Borg style. This is widely showcased in the book, with covers and internal illustrations from titles both official and third-party. Some are accompanied by fuller explanations, such as that given for ‘Wickheads’ who have lanterns for heads and who lurk in the dark only for their lights to blaze and blind, before going dark again and striking at the temporarily sightless. They are shown in four images, charting the development of the creatures. For the Mörk Borg there are interesting images of books that have never appeared, such as ‘The End’ which would have depicted the ‘36 Miseries’ which marked the end of the world. The illustrations for third-party both show how popular Mörk Borg has been and act as an illustrated catalogue. The artwork for Cy_Borg is given a similar treatment, but typically less monochrome and more frenetic in its use of colour and energy, but clearly a Mörk Borg-style game.

Nohr changes tack for Into the Odd Remastered with a more subdued style that consists of collages that depict a world of industrial horror and mystery. There is a subtlety to this not seen in the punchiness of the illustrations elsewhere in the book. It is a shame that there is not more of this, both here and in other roleplaying games. ‘Other Projects’ covers a range of promotional posters, album covers, and other roleplaying products. Other sections highlight the other sometimes near illegible typography employed in Mörk Borg, whilst the most fun are the ‘Cardboard Drawings’ that Nohr decorates packages he sends out, whilst the artbook comes to a close with some of the maps he drew for Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days and its predecessor.

Physically, Art by Nohr is an imposing book. All of the artwork is crisply reproduced and it is fantastic to see so much of it presented in double its original size given that its typical format was digest-sized. It also provides an opportunity for the reader to see a lot of art that can only be found on the covers of hard-to-find books and fanzines. Fans of the Old School Renaissance and fans of the artpunk will both enjoy this book, but ultimately Art by Nohr is definitely a book for fans of Johan Nohr and for Mörk Borg, who will appreciate seeing the collection and development of the artpunk style.

—oOo—

Stockholm Kartell will be at UK Games Expo which takes place on Friday, May 30th to Sunday June 1st, 2025.

Friday Fantasy: The Sorcerer’s Enclave

Far to the north stands the island of Ormil. At the heart of the island is the Great Lake. In the centre of the Great Lake is Olla’s Island. Standing on Olla’s Island is the Sorcerer’s Enclave. This is the last high point of civilisation in the north and no man should have reason to go beyond. This is a bastion for the study of magic and it can only be reached by the Dragon Ferry. A village, warded against those who would wish the Sorcerer’s Enclave ill, stands at the foot of the sorcerous sanctuary, but it is a mere steppingstone to the enchanted enclave that looms over it. Inside the Sorcerer’s Enclave, numerous schools of magic are studied and practised, some even simply recorded lest the knowledge be lost and need to be rediscovered in later generations. Druidic magic is one such school, part religion, part sorcery, which combines magics from across numerous later schools. The Druid’s way is practised outside, like the study of natural magics—practitioners insist the schools are very different, whilst inside, all wizards and wizards have the opportunity to learn how to use their magics offensively and defensively in the Duelling Pit, where that rarest of sights is seen—a Battle Magic wizard or witch in actual armour! Deep in the bowels of the Sorcerer’s Enclave is the Golem Manufactory where raw heartstones are infused with magic and inscribed with runes to dictate the behaviour of Golems they are placed deep within. Elsewhere alchemical arts are studied in their own laboratories, portents and omens are tracked across the sky from the observatory atop the Sorcerer’s Enclave, whilst mystic signs and alignments are tracked immediately below using a giant orrery.

The wizards and witches of the Sorcerer’s Enclave are even whispered to practise demonology, for how else can they explain the behorned, sometimes bewinged sprites that serve as their servants and assistants? All of these Minions wear hooded caps with bells on the end to prevent their presence from never being heard. After all, who wants demonic minions sneaking about a wizards’ school? Winged Minions work in The Arcanum or Great Library or the Sorcerer’s Enclave guard, members of which are recognised by their height of four foot or more, their bronze masks, and their hooked polearms. The members of Sorcerer’s Enclave are also served by Familiars as is traditional in many other schools, but here the Familiar is not duty bound to bond with a master or mistress. Instead, the Familiar Whisperer—a position of honour amongst the Minions—trains Familiars to accept that bond. This is the setting for The Sorcerer’s Enclave.

The Sorcerer’s Enclave is not a roleplaying book in the traditional sense. Published by SquareHex—best known for The Black Hack—The Sorcerer’s Enclave is more artbook than sourcebook, describing and depicting the rooms and locations of a great magical redoubt, hidden away from curious eyes and from accidentally unleashing some disastrous dweomercraft upon civilisation! The Sorcerer’s Enclave begins with a map of ‘The World as it is known’, showing the islands and their relationship. This is, unfortunately, too small to pick up on any detail on the page, but The Sorcerer’s Enclave is accompanied by a small poster map that shows the geography to far better effect. Our journey literally begins aboard the Dragon Ferry, crewed by Minions—many at the oars—with its dragon wing keel and rudder, and dragon head prow. This, like the whole of the Sorcerer’s Enclave, is shown in cross section with the Minions working and resting and there being actually little room for passengers.

Once ashore on Olla’s Island, the tour of the Sorcerer’s Enclave takes us roundabout and inside the enchanted establishment. Each location or section of the Sorcerer’s Enclave is given a two-page spread which showcases the room or facility itself as well as highlighting its location within the building as a cutaway on a silhouette of the Sorcerer’s Enclave. There are lovely little details such as a snoring wizard asleep in his chair, his feet resting on a Minion who is working on some notes and of the wooden tower atop a tree alongside the towers of the Sorcerer’s Enclave which is home to study of the Natural Arts. There is also a sense of story to The Sorcerer’s Enclave, one that becomes apparent as the reader turns its pages and progresses through the book and moves from the left to the right of the Sorcerer’s Enclave and its towers. Thus, the reader goes from the Dragon Ferry and the Dragon Jetty from the Druid’s Way and its menhir through the laboratories of the Alchemical Arts, the Great Library, the storehouse of the Masters of Secrets, and perhaps out beyond via the Portal Chamber. As the guide moves rightward, danger looms and so do the darkest secrets of the Sorcerer’s Enclave. First, there is the Thing Below, a betentacled creature lurking in a cleft in Olla’s Island, altered like many other fish and beasts of the lake by magic and alchemical spills, and then the tower that is home to the enclave’s lone necromancer, whose studies concern at least two of its Grand Magi and are revealed to the reader…

The Sorcerer’s Enclave is written and drawn by Aaron Howdle whose lovingly detailed pen and ink artwork is clearly influenced by the style of artwork being used by Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures in the nineteen eighties such as the late Russ Nicholson and Ian Miller. Even the appearance of the Sorcerer’s Enclave as a silhouette echoes the castle logo of Citadel Miniatures. This is all confirmed by the artist’s biography at the end of the book, which actually contains more text than the rest of the book. Physically, The Sorcerer’s Enclave is lovely, the artwork is a delight, worth poring over for its exquisitely detailed locations and characters.

In game terms, there is almost nothing in The Sorcerer’s Enclave that is actually game-related. There are no stats or similar details. This means that whilst it is not immediately useful for a roleplaying game setting or rules set, the Game Master is entirely free to apply the numbers and mechanics that she wants to the setting to use it in her game world. One obvious direction of development for this, like the direction of the book’s exploration of the Sorcerer’s Enclave, would be to bring the threat of the establishment’s lone Necromancer and his plans into play. Others might be to use as a location and world to visit via the Portal Chamber or from somewhere within its own world, or to use it as a place of study for a wizard or witch-focused campaign. Of course, as a magical institute, the Sorcerer’s Enclave holds numerous tomes, potions, and other secret artefacts, all of which would interest the Player Characters.

The Sorcerer’s Enclave is simply a lovely book to own, a delightful and detailed homage to British fantasy artwork of the eighties that fans of Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures will appreciate. As a gaming resource, The Sorcerer’s Enclave, very much awaits the input and development of the Game Master, but is especially suited to the Old School Renaissance.

Get the D&D Look

Art & Arcana: A Visual History is a celebration like no other. It is a massive slab of a book, some four-hundred-and-forty pages in length, which celebrates the visual look and design of Dungeons & Dragons over the forty—and more—years of its history. Beginning with Original Dungeons & Dragons, it takes the reader through the art of the various editions of the game, plus its offshoots, adverts, and ephemera, supporting it with history and interviews. This is a book written for fans by fans. Notably, Jon Peterson is the author of Playing at the World, the preeminent history of Dungeons & Dragons, whilst Michael Witwer is the author of Empire of the Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons, the biography of the game’s co-creator, E. Gary Gygax. They are joined by Witwer’s brother, the actor, Sam Witwer, and filmmaker, Kyle Newman. Together, they have raided the TSR, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast archives to present the prettiest Dungeons & Dragons ever.

The book is divided into nine chapters, seven dedicated to each of the editions—Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 gets a chapter all of its on—and two exploring two important events in the history of TSR, Inc. and Dungeons & Dragons, these being the Crash of 1983 and the fall of TSR. The chapters are lovingly and very knowingly named after classic Dungeons & Dragons spells. So the first chapter, about Original Dungeons & Dragons is called ‘Detect Magic’, whilst ‘Explosive Runes’ is the title of the chapter devoted to the Crash of 1983 and ‘Bigby’s Interposing Hand’ is the title of the chapter devoted to TSR, Inc.’s demise. It starts with Greg Bell taking inspiration from Marvel comics for many of his illustrations, before looking at the work of Dave Sutherland and then David Trampier—the latter’s iconic cover for the Player’s Handbook for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons being the obvious touchpoint here, Larry Elmore’s cover for the Basic Dungeons & Dragons Box Set, and on and on up to the most recent edition of the venerable roleplaying game. 

Throughout various repeated sections cast a spotlight upon aspects of Dungeons & Dragons. ‘Arteology’ examines the stories behind particular pieces of art and go hand-in-hand with an ‘Artist Favourite’, for example, Errol Otus, described here as ‘D&D’s Surrealist’ and examining his iconic cover to the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set from 1981. ‘Deadliest Dungeons’ highlight the roleplaying game’s most iconic dungeons, the very foundation of our playing Dungeons & Dragons, such B2 Keep on the Borderlands and S1 Tomb of Horrors. ‘Evilution’ and ‘Many Faces of…’ do similar things, showing the look of how a monster or personality changes from edition to edition, such as Acererak of Tomb of Horrors fame and the Purple Worm, of the Beholder and Drizzt Do'Urden. Lastly, ‘Sundry Lore’ examines elements of Dungeons & Dragons history that are parallel to the main story of the roleplaying’s art and history. Thus ‘Wired for Adventure’ looks at the development of Dungeons & Dragons online and ‘The Animated Series’ explores the cartoon of the eighties.

Now Art & Arcana is very clearly a visual feast for eyes, whether front covers, monster illustrations, maps, advertising, or ephemera, but none of it would really work if was presented as is. This is where the authors’ text comes to the fore—Jon Peterson’s knowledge as a historian of Dungeons & Dragons and of TSR, Inc. in particular—providing the context for the artwork. So it examines how the look and style of the roleplaying game’s art went from the earliest ghosted from Marvel comics and the works of artists like Frank Frazetta to the development of its own style, through the removal of demons and devils from the art in response to the moral panic against Dungeons & Dragons in the eighties and their return as the panic subsided, and then on through the various editions of the noughties, and beyond… In many ways the history brings the art alive, but the reader also comes back to the art, the turn of every page revealing a surprise or triggering a memory.

Art & Arcana is not wholly uncritical of Dungeons & Dragons. Notably it does touch upon the panics associated with it, the disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III in 1979 and the moral panic at the perceived Satanism in the game that would hound its reputation throughout the eighties. It is actually surprising to see the inclusion of a newspaper article dedicated to the former in the pages of the book. Of course, Art & Arcana is only a relatively light history and so cannot go into any great depth about these or any other aspects of Dungeons & Dragons' history. So what this means is that its exploration of Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition and its failings—in a chapter aptly titled ‘Maze’—comes across as somewhat grudging as if no one wanted to write it and perhaps there is less to say also about Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition given that it is so new and given that there have been relatively few books released for it in comparison to previous edition.

Physically, Art & Arcana: A Visual History is a lovely book. That of course, is the point. Everything is crisply presented and every turn of the page a surprise. If there is an omission, it is of index to particular sections, so no index for the entries in the ‘Deadliest Dungeons’ or ‘Evilution’ sections, for example.

If you are a serious student of Dungeons & Dragons’ history, then Jon Peterson’s Playing at the World is the book you are going to want to read. If you are a serious student of the gaming hobby’s history, then Shannon Applecine’s Designers & Dragons is the series you going to want to read. In one sense, Art & Arcana: A Visual History is a visual companion to both, especially Playing at the World, but it is also a history in its own right, although a quite casual one. In another sense, it is much more than that. This is a book of memories, a chance for the Dungeons & Dragons devotee to go back to the great scenarios and settings, to the fearsome monsters he has faced, and remember the amazing adventures he has had with his fellow players. Quite possibly the most impressive Dungeons & Dragons book of the year, Art & Arcana: A Visual History is the book that every Dungeons & Dragons fan will want—whatever their favourite edition.

Horrors for Halloween

S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors: A Field Observer’s Handbook of Preternatural Entities and Beings from Beyond The Wall of Sleep begins with a lovely conceit. Its foreword bemoans the lack of readily available and credible information—such as that supplied by the original, classic Petersen Field Guides—has adversely affected the current crop of preternaturalists in their field studies and acknowledges that those same original Petersen Field Guides have become collectors’ items. Which is sort of true twice over. Originally published in 1988 and 1989 respectively, S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters and S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands presented various entities—gods, races, servitor species, and creatures—of the Mythos and of the Dreamlands in full colour, with scientific notes on their habitat, distribution, and life cycle as well as annotations and commentaries. Famously, they each included easy identification means for each every one of their entries, such that a user could ask himself a series of simple questions and within moments identify the ‘thing’ before him and so determine whether he was facing a Byakee or an Elder Thing. (Unless of course, the field researcher has gone mad before he had time to answer all of the questions…)

With both S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters and S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands long out of print—and as suggested in the foreword, now collector’s items (in-game and out)—Chaosium, Inc. has taken both and collated them as one single hardback volume, S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors: A Field Observer’s Handbook of Preternatural Entities and Beings from Beyond The Wall of Sleep. Originally published as a Stretch Goal as part of the Kickstarter campaign for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the supplement covers Azathoth and Byakhee to Tsathoggua to Yog-sothoth, Abhoth and Atlach-Nacha to Wamp and Zoog, and more, some fifty or so entries cataloguing the monsters of the Mythos and the Dreamlands.

The volume is divided into two halves, one dealing with the Mythos, the other with the Dreamlands, with following the same format. There is a questionnaire for identifying the monsters of each, the answers quickly leading to an identification and a page reference. Every entry consists of a two-page spread which includes an appropriate quote from H.P. Lovecraft, followed by a description of the creature or monster and entries which in turn detail its habitat, life and habitats, and what distinguishes it from similar things. In the majority of the entries, a besuited, behatted sometimes armed, sometimes somewhat relaxed silhouette of a male figure is seen alongside smaller illustration of the monster, echoing perhaps the silhouette cutouts included with the first, second, and third edition boxed sets of Call of Cthulhu. Amusingly, the entry for the Byakhee shows this figure actively running away, being chased by the monster, so perhaps that encounter was one too many for said silhouette?

This is opposite a full illustration of the entry. These are done in full colour, muscular and imposing, weird and unearthly, strange and shocking… Some of the smaller images come from the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Rulebook, but the main illustration of each entry is new. Thus S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors: A Field Observer’s Handbook of Preternatural Entities and Beings from Beyond The Wall of Sleep is the ‘colour supplement’ to ‘Monsters, Beasts, and Alien Gods’, the fourteenth chapter of the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Rulebook. Here, the illustrations are clearer and more fearsome, and of course, even more horrid. Plus there are no game stats to break the mood.

Rounding out the supplement is a size-comparison chart, in sepia tones, which captures the scale of these entities, the lone silhouette all but lost in the corner of the two-page spread. This is followed by a list of Recommended Reading. It starts with what you would expect—works of fiction by H.P. Lovecraft and gaming supplements by Chaosium. Inc., but then it wanders into the realms of scientific fiction, such as Ivan Mustoll’s ‘Emergency Procedures During Controlled Obsession of Yog- Sothoth’, published in the Annals of the Innsmouth Society and The Natural History of the Leng Spider by Rondo Meeb. None of these books are real of course, but you wish that they were—at least in the context of the Call of Cthulhu game world. (Certainly, one idea for Chaosium would be to develop these titles into Mythos tomes, which themselves would be the subject of their own gaming supplement, in this case, an academic companion to S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors: A Field Observer’s Handbook of Preternatural Entities and Beings from Beyond The Wall of Sleep.)

Physically, S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors is a lovely hardback. It is beautifully illustrated, the imagery a worthy accompaniment to the text even thirty years on after this content first appeared.

Of course, there is the question of what to do with S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors. Is it an in-game source? If so, then perhaps it is better suited to a setting where the entities, races, and entities have been more studiously categorised and are thus more of a known quantity and threat? Thus, the Keeper is likely to be happy with the players and their Investigators having ready access to it at the table. Is not an in-game source? Then the Keeper is less likely to want to have it at the table and to have her players readily perusing its pages lest they learn something their investigators are not ready for. Certainly, having it as an in-game resource will change the tone and feel of a Call of Cthulhu campaign.

The supplement lends itself to other options though. Most obviously, as an enticement to play, to show off to prospective players of the roleplaying game some of the mysteries to be encountered in doing so. The other option is as inspiration for the Keeper. Careful reading of the fiction of this as a real-world reference work and certainly of the entries in the bibliography may serve as hooks or ideas source for the Keeper to develop into encounters with the forces of the Mythos of her own design.

On the downside, this supplement is not comprehensive, it does not include every monster that has appeared in a Call of Cthulhu supplement or indeed, every entry in the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Rulebook. Nor could it, for that would result in a tome of massive proportions—and arguably, since S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors is a meant to be field guide, were it to be so large a book, it would be impossible to effectively use it and refer to it in the field. Instead it only touches upon the most commonly encountered creatures and monsters, although the Dreamlands entries are perhaps more obscure, being less well known. For that, the Keeper will have to wait for a second edition of the Malleus Monstrorum. Despite that, one of the most obvious entries a reader, player, Keeper, or investigator would expect to find in the pages of this supplement is an entry for Cthulhu itself, but it is not here—despite there being an entry for Star Spawn of Cthulhu. This then is most disappointing thing about S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors.

S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors: A Field Observer’s Handbook of Preternatural Entities and Beings from Beyond The Wall of Sleep is a lovely reprint. Devotees of Call of Cthulhu—old and new—who lack copies of either S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters or S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands will doubtless enjoying having access to this supplement for the first time. Veterans will appreciate it best for having the two original volumes in one and in a sturdier, prettier package. It is not essential to own this supplement in order to run Call of Cthulhu, but S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors: A Field Observer’s Handbook of Preternatural Entities and Beings from Beyond The Wall of Sleep is something attractive to own, sometimes to peruse, sometimes to show off, sometimes to inspire. 

The Art of Symbaroum

Artwork and illustrations alone cannot sell a roleplaying game, but whether great art or signature art, it can help sell a roleplaying game. From Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and SkyRealms of Jorune to Legend of the Five Rings and Mouseguard as well as supplements such as The Book of Unremitting Horror and Green and Pleasant Land, the artwork in these roleplaying games supplements do more than illustrate places, people, monsters, and things. They capture the feel and tone of their respective settings, they impart a sense of wonder or of horror, and they entice the reader—or viewer—into wanting to explore their respective settings as described in the accompanying text. One recent roleplaying to be lauded for its consistently evocative artwork is Symbaroum. Originally published by Järnringen, but now published by Free League, and distributed by Modiphius Entertainment, this Swedish roleplaying game takes place on the edge of civilisation and beyond. The civilisation is the young kingdom of Ambria, barely two decades old, it was founded on the ruins of the ancient and long-lost empire of Symbaroum as the refuge for the survivors fleeing north over the mountains from the Kingdom of Alberetor as it fell to an onslaught from the necromantic Dark Lords. The edge is where the barbarian tribes and goblins make their lives, the beyond is the Davokar Forest, an endless tract of thick woodlands into which treasure hunters venture, hoping to learn its secrets, locate long lost ruins of Symbaroum, and perhaps return with treasures of the past that will make them rich.

From the core rulebook and The Copper Crown to the more recent Thistle Hold – Wrath Of The Warden and Karvosti – The Witch Hammer, the Symbaroum line has been greatly praised for its artwork. Whether it is illustrating the majesty and mystery of the forest under the eaves, the dark and desperate nature of life in Thistle Hold—Ambria’s primary frontier town, the magnificence of the Titans, the mountain range which divides Ambria from Alberetor, the great elemental beasts and the Elves of the season that step out of Davokar to attack and menace Thistle Hold, and the characters—the various types that the players will roleplay in the game, what comes across in Symbaroum is its dark and brooding atmosphere, its fear of the unknown, and the fraught nature of life on the frontier. Fully painted by artist Martin Grip, now much of that artwork has been collected in The Art of Symbaroum.

The Art of Symbaroum comes as a handsome cloth-bound square hardback, just eight-and-a-half inches square, its content printed on glossy paper against a rich black background. It contains just four chapters—the numbers subtly matching the runes on the front cover—‘Symbaroum’, ‘Ambria & Davokar’, ‘Creatures’, and ‘Covers’, across which are presented some seventy or so paintings. Images in ‘Symbaroum’ hint at the grandeur and scope of the ruins of the fallen civilisation and the strange threats that linger, such as the noble spiders and their master, the ruthless warlord known as the Spider King. ‘Ambria & Davokar’ takes the reader from the civilisation of as yet unexamined Ambria, via the rude settlement of Thistle Hold with its infamous arena—as detailed in Thistle Hold – Wrath Of The Warden—out under the fecund eaves of the forest. It includes images of the Titans, the mighty mountains that provided an escape route out of fallen Kingdom of Alberetor, as well as those of the stronghold of the High Chieftain—inside and out—which counter any suggestion that the barbarians are uncultured. ‘Creatures’ includes not beasts and monsters, but also persons. Rounding out the seemingly slim volume—at over hundred pages, it is not actually all that slim—is ‘Covers’, which presents the covers used to grace the front of various sourcebooks and supplements for Symbaroum. Of course, they are what attracted us to the game in the first place and so it is good to see them here, free of titles and logos.

Many, but not all of the paintings are accompanied by short pieces of text. These include snatches of poetry and portents as well as anecdotes from treasure hunters and adventurers who have ventured into Davokar and elsewhere. These add a little flavour and complement the artwork without getting in the way of it.

Other artbooks for roleplaying games might have gone large, but the small square format for The Art of Symbaroum actually works in its favour. It works as both an illustrative primer for the setting and as a handy reference at the table when the Game Master wants to show her players what their characters are seeing in game. Here its small size means that it takes up little room at the table or when being handed round. So there is a practicality to the tiny tome. It should not necessarily be consulted freely, for as the blurb on the back cover states, “When journeying through the pages of this book, remember the warnings spoken by the wardens of Davokar: tread carefully and do not disturb the ruins of old, for the darkness of Symbaroum is about to awaken.”

Above all though, The Art of Symbaroum is a lovely art book, full of evocative, brooding, beautiful artwork. The paintings of Martin Grip do not just showcase the setting of Symbaroum, they are a part of Symbaroum, and it is a delight that the publishers should recognise this by releasing The Art of Symbaroum.