SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS SEASON
As I was sitting in the dark, damp basement of this abandoned insane asylum I thought to myself what sort of scary things would be appropriate to write about for this devilishly fun season? Naturally my mind went to the delightfully twisted TTRPG about the players’ attempts to stave off ruination that even their best efforts can’t overcome, Mörk Borg. The game falls into the OSR genre of RPGs in that it hearkens to the “feeling” of playing Dungeons and Dragons during its early days back in the 70s. Boy does Mörk Borg really go for that idea hard.
Players are aware that there will be an end to the world that their characters are playing in and play with the knowledge that odds are (unless the GM actually goes crazy while playing) they will die and lose in the end. There’s literally a timer in the game that is counting down the time they have left before the apocalypse, assuming they don’t pull off the impossible and prevent it. I mean the creators themselves, Ockult Ortmastare Games and Stockholm Kartell, describe this nightmare fueled train-ride through hell as “a pitch-black apocalyptic fantasy RPG about lost souls and fools seeking redemption, forgiveness or the last remaining riches in a bleak and dying world.” If that isn’t horror enough for you then I weep for your adrenal glands.
In all seriousness, if you’re looking for a fun time fighting a terrifying uphill battle right off a cliff then check out Mörk Borg this Halloween season!
THE TTRPG ISN’T WHY WE’RE HERE!
Well if you’ve enjoyed a game of Mörk Borg in the past or if it sounds like fun, but maybe seems a bit difficult to set up a continuous game with friends you may be happy to know that there will soon be a card game version of this frightfest! A BRAZEN CROWN is the first Mörk Borg card game. Now to clarify, the designer and publisher Long Tail Games has stated that the card game is “compatible” with the Mörk Borg RPG. While there aren’t further details on that differentiation, my personal take is that A BRAZEN CROWN will not necessarily be a direct translation of the RPG into a card game. This makes sense since the tabletop version obviously contains a nearly infinite number of ways that things could turn out between the players’ agency over their characters and the game master refereeing those decisions. I imagine it to be like any of the D&D board games or video games, even the novelizations, that exist within the worlds of Dungeons and Dragons, but will play out predetermined plotlines or offer a limited pool of possibilities during gameplay. It is just a card game after all. Though the compatibility may come in the form of using the card game as a means to structure your gameplay in the TTRPG.
Like I said before, if you’re wanting to dabble into the esoteric and ghastly world of Mörk Borg then a nice game of A BRAZEN CROWN might be just the ticket. No doubt it will be a staple for any fan of the apocalyptic fantasy game as well. At this time, the Kickstarter hasn’t gone live, but you can sign up for the Launch notification to keep informed when Long Tail Games gets it going.
Let us know your experiences through the dying world of Mörk Borg in the comments below! Or if you’ve never played then what are your plans for Halloween?
Til Next Time!
