Forbidden Psalm: Last War
Content: A 28mm miniature agnostic small-scale skirmish game set in the wastes of the Last War.
Writing: Tangible combat mechanics cut through the false justifications, the final plague, and the fog that remains to reveal the of true horrors of The Last War.
Art/design: Ragged illustrations full of the dull palette and subdued tension of the trenches. Official documents mix with marginalia in a found document style.
Usability: Standalone rules for solo, cooperative, and versus miniature engagements.
Forbidden Psalm: Rotten Bits
darkest kind: Westfalia and KRD Designs bring you a new way to experience the Forbidden Psalm.”
Content: An expansion for Forbidden Psalm with scenarios and stats for Westfalia’s Mörk Borg miniatures line.
Writing: Scenarios which reflect the four active stages of Grief. Mechanics reinforce the character of many of Mörk Borg’s iconic creations.
Art/design: Effectively incorporates the gorgeous concept art and sculpts of Westfalia’s line.
Usability: Drops easily into existing Forbidden Psalm campaigns. Requires Forbidden Psalm.
Forbidden Psalm: They Came from the Necropolis
Content: Mercenaries for your Forbidden Psalm.
Writing: Effective mercenary stat blocks that provide a sense of individuality and character.
Art/design: Clean and consistent design that showcases each gorgeously sculpted and painted miniature.
Usability: Requires a copy of Forbidden Psalm to play.
Frozen Hellscape
Galgenbeck Sacrifice
Glimpses of a Dying World
Concept: “Savage creatures lurk in the depths of forgotten crypts, incomprehensible relics lie waiting in the shadows of crumbling tombs, mystics argue incessantly trying to find a escape to the impending doom, and the powerful occupy themselves with vengeance.”
Content: A sprawling offering of all things Mörk Borg
Writing: Captures the tone and atmosphere of the Dying World through the descriptive text as well as the character of the mechanics
Art/design: Adapts the aesthetics and tactics of the core book with extensive use of modified public domain art
Usability: There’s something here for everyone
Grave Matters
Concept: “New uses for dry corpses”
Content: Undeath-themed classes, gear/weapons/scrolls, optional rules, monsters/NPCs, encounters, and an adventure site
Writing: Loads of creative concepts presented through expressive, inspiring, and witty prose
Art/design: Modified public domain images and original art support the theme along with layouts, typography, and colors that make this undeniably Borgy
Usability: References amongst entries create a sense of cohesion and interconnection; an excellent resource for a game or arc themed around skeletons, zombies, and corpses
House of the Hollow
Concept: “A mysterious moonlit manor – home to a retired adventurer in the midst of a terrible transformation”
Content: A horror-themed, investigative adventure
Writing: Highly focused on delivering important details and atmosphere with a minimum of words
Art/design: Clean, neat layouts optimized for easy use
Usability: The narrative surprise and subtlety may be lost on players who tend to rush in with swords drawn
IKHON
Content: 4 sets of 8 powers granted by dead folk gods
Writing: Simple and straightforward mechanically; minimalist but seething with character and tone
Art/design: Black-and-white art on black ground beside white text; the graphic design is as maliciously expressive as the visuals
Usability: Covers are blank to ensure random selection; red page headings facilitate quick reference
In the Bluelight
Kennels of Karnage
Content: A 10-room dungeon with an additional class, a short solo prequel, variant Misery, and exclusive monster
Writing: Sharp and full of character
Art/design: Clearly, cleanly laid out with evocative illustrations
Usability: Includes death and abuse of animals, but nothing graphic or explicit
This entry was sponsored by Bookkeeper as part of the Ex Libris RPG crowdfunding campaign.
Murky Bog
Content: A 13-point adventure with 5 original monsters
Writing: Concise and accessible
Art/design: Laid out for maximum visibility of map without sacrificing easy reference to additional information
Usability: Includes a blank map for players and a suggested soundtrack
This entry was sponsored by the creator as part of the Ex Libris RPG crowdfunding campaign.
“Carnivorous plants! Human sacrifice! A rampaging undead mammoth to chase you around the bog! Some physical copies available.”
Mörk Ages
Mörk Borg Cult: Feretory
15 contributors
Content: Includes a random monster generator, rules for distance travel and subsistence, The Death Ziggurat and Goblin Grinder adventures, rosters of mundane and profane gear, the Grey Galth Inn setting, a gambling minigame, the Black Salt environmental hazard, new character classes (Cursed Skinwalker, Pale One, Dead God’s Prophet, Forlorn Philosopher), and new Powers
Writing: Mörk Borg imagery and tone in wide a variety of styles
Art/design: Matches content to myriad layout and design strategies
Usability: The mechanical and expository elegance you expect from Mörk Borg; the monster generator particularly uses dice in a clever way
Mörk Borg Cult: Heretic
9 contributors
Content: Generators for cults and curses, feats, 2 classes, black-powder weapons, 2 long adventures, a pair of 1-page dungeons, and a quartet of monsters/NPCs
Writing: Varies by author but consistently emphasizes images and concepts that are grim, creepy, and/or outright weird
Art/design: Every entry’s layout, graphic design, and coloration are distinct, creating a lot of visual diversity and easy navigability; sweet foil printing on the cover and first page; fold-out covers just to cram as much content into this zine as possible
Usability: The only obstacle is deciding what to read first.
Mörk Borg GM Screen
Content: NPC generator, gear & services, basic rules reference, core Powers list, generic enemy stats, weather, and d100 Items & Trinkets; inserts include Tablets of Ochre Obscurity and tables for traps, taverns, and city events
Writing: Concise with tones of grittiness and grim humor
Art/design: Player-facing side depicts major locations and characters; GM-facing panels are yellow enough to melt your eyeballs (but they’re perfectly readable and have clever, novel layouts for the expanded content)
Usability: Includes “photo corners” to hold GM’s choice of additional content on the left and right panels
Mörk Maus
Content: The Mörk Borg lore, atmosphere, and aesthetic adapted as a nuclear disaster setting for the Mausritter RPG
Writing: Equal parts entertaining, endearing, and horrifying
Art/design: Each contributor captures and conveys the look and feel of Mörk Borg but with appropriate, frequently humorous twists
Usability: I don’t know Mausritter’s rules, but this makes it look pretty user-friendly
Pork Borg
Putrescence Regnant
9 contributors
Content: A bog crawl and soundtrack filled with sludge, corpses, and brutality; also includes the Gilded Wolf character class
Writing: The prose resurrects the core book’s weird imagery and ominous tone; mechanics text is accessible and easy to use
Art/design: The Mörk Borg style we know and love, but left to putrefy in a swamp
Usability: Places three factions in explicit large-scale conflict, creating a complex backdrop for players to explore and GMs to exploit
QVKE BORG
Ravaging Plague I: Rusted Iron, Words of Power
Content: Extreme metal-inspired offerings across the board
Writing: Laden with metal-inspired imagery and themes
Art/design: Brutalist text layouts balanced with organic, gritty graphics all presented in stark black & white
Usability: No table of contents or index, but layouts and different deployments of positive and negative space are good visual aids for navigation
Recared’s Unclean Pamphlet
Content: Some seriously brutal Powers
Writing: Mixes mechanics with visceral, violent imagery
Art/design: Some striking, appropriate art and helpful typographical choices
Usability: It’s a tri-fold pamphlet. Make sure you fold it correctly, or you're probably doomed.
REGICIDE
Content: The end of an empire. A parasite deposed.
Writing: Many hooks and threads ensnare a micro setting at one instant in time.
Art/design: A tightly wound, regal design befitting a 700-year reign at an end.
Usability: Easy to navigate. Requires some translation at the table to be fully compatible.
Slasher Zine / Jam Compilation
18 contributors
Strange Citizens of the City
Content: A throng of bizarre personalities, hirelings, bystanders (some with personal connections to each other); also includes some locales and rumors
Writing: Suitably dark and disturbing with plenty of rimshots
Art/design: Fairly straightforward layouts with art that brings a strong arcane-mechanical flavor to the table
Usability: Very useable, and motivates you to do so
Strange Inhabitants of the Forest
Content: A variety of adversaries, encounters, travelers, and items to loot from their corpses
Writing: Includes copious backstories and adventure hooks
Art/design: A wide, evocative variety
Usability: Straightforward and simple to navigate
Strange Visitors to the City
Content: More NPCs, hirelings, rumors, and sites to populate the city
Writing: Descriptive text provides motivations and hooks, with many unique special abilities
Art/design: A mix of colorful weirdness for major NPCs and more subtle, baroque art for the rest
Usability: Will often refer you to Strange Citizens, so make sure you keep that volume handy
Sword of Hailstone
Content: A primarily app-based adventure game built on Mörk Borg mechanics
Writing: Entirely descriptive; mechanics are handled by the app
Art/design: Pixelated depictions of Kergüs and its inhabitants
Usability: Physical copies and digital materials are available but not required to play
Swordpoint
Content: A pair of 10-point tables and a 24-tile hex map with 4 locations
Writing: Establishes a setting and pretext for delivering the 20 quest seeds
Art/design: Fairly intuitively laid out with a suitable map and some neat cover art
Usability: GMs will need to devise and populate whichever adventures the players pursue; note that numbers on the map don’t correspond to table results
Teind of Álfheim
Content: A relatively brief but compelling, supernatural dungeon
Writing: Poetic text reinforces the dark, haunted theme and provides DM with inspiration as well as interpretive flexibility
Art/design: Some extremely rich colors with A LOT of creepy baby doll faces, even by Mörk Borg standards
Usability: Paginated by room for easy operation
Temple of the Kraken God
Content: An adventure filled with maritime weirdness and cosmic horror; includes a corruption rule
Writing: Sharp and esoteric in descriptive text but clear and efficient when addressing mechanics
Art/design: A variety of layouts and visual styles ranging from brooding to vibrant
Usability: Isolated island setting makes this a good option for anyone seeking a survival-horror adventure
The Church of the Forbidden Gate
Content: Fairly straightforward dungeon with heretical overtones
Writing: An accessible mix of exposition and stat blocks
Art/design: Reserved use of color provides emphasis, aids navigation
Usability: Supported by explicit visual connection of text and locations
The Cleaving in Buskstätt
Content: A pointcrawl amidst malicious overgrowth
Writing: Concise; mostly devoted to stats & mechanics
Art/design: Map and art are prominent without encroaching on the text
Usability: Small text emphasizes the visual elements but may be difficult to read
The Cook at the Crossroads
Concept: “The Inn at the Crossroads … Nothing bad ever happened here. Or did it?”
Content: An insidious secret at an unassuming inn
Writing: Predominantly devoted to setting the scene for roleplaying
Art/design: Text-focused and more traditional than many other third-party publications
Usability: Linear; some redundancy eliminates page flipping
The Demesne of Conflagration
Content: A fire-themed mansion crawl
Writing: Extremely concise but with enough bizarre detail to fuel the imagination
Art/design: Good use of color to guide focus and to add character in key places
Usability: Pamphlet is nicely laid out for quick, easy use in-game
The Endless Demon Deck
Content: 36 tarot-size cards containing monster heads, trunks, and legs
Writing: Each card contains stats and abilities (and the occasional pet)
Art/design: Monster components are diverse but coherent when aligned; mostly greyscale figures against vivid yellow grounds with occasional highlights or shocks of color
Usability: Requires additional resources in The Masticator Gate for full functionality
The God of Many Faces
Content: A strange hexcrawl through Galgenbeck’s heretical underbelly; also includes a set of 4 thematic Powers
Writing: Provides some compelling images and scenery in a small amount of space
Art/design: Strikes a strong balance between Mörk Borg aesthetic and the setting’s character
Usability: Efficient layout with helpful checkboxes for tracking the party’s progress
The Hexed Gauntlet of Kagel-Secht
Content: A combination poster-size comic/dungeon
Writing: Contains stat blocks, item descriptions, and a point-map of the dungeon layout
Art/design: Panels convey a narrative and illustrate the dungeon’s locations; colors and style strongly recall the Underground Comix movement; sweet art on the reverse side
Usability: Could double as a play mat if you hide the stats (or don’t care if players see them)
The Living Statue of Alk Baum
Content: An adventure that ties into the Unclean Leporello mythos; includes a release valve for blockage against an immortal foe and alternate endings based on PCs’ (in)action
Writing: Mostly descriptive with a stat block and Specials for the titular monster, including a mechanic for titanic attacks
Art/design: Textual design facilitates navigation on the fly; graphics depict the two central characters
Usability: “Use this pamphlet as best fits your needs.”
The Masticator Gate
Content: A three-part campaign, a new class for unlucky PCs, and a lot of monsters
Writing: Lots of description and discussion of the overall situation and locations; more specific locations’ text is broken down into quickly navigable paragraphs and points
Art/design: Tends toward an efficient 2-column layout but breaks from the norm to facilitate usability and accommodate the grim, gritty artwork
Usability: Designed for a fresh game with 0 Miseries; requires The Endless Demon Deck
The Unclean Leporello of the Foul Wizard Baum / The Sacred Teachings of Titus the Unliving Magus
Content: A roster of 20 unclean scrolls / A roster of 14 sacred scrolls
Writing: Reflects the less-grim-than-Mörk-Borg-standard content / Conveys the more Mörk-Borgy grimness and fatalistic tone
Art/design: Both have efficient textual layouts and vibrant graphic designs
Usability: A creative concept for a physical product (not yet released), and the PDFs are straightforward
The Vaults of Torment
Concept: “Explore a demon-infested hell-hole below the city of Schleswig.”
Content: A modular, procedurally generated dungeon replete with ambient hazards, elaborate set pieces, monsters, tables for generating inhabitants, a pantheon of demonic gods, and powerful artifacts; also includes terrain “tiles” to print, cut, and assemble during the game
Writing: Well written with a grim, gruesome tone and copious imagery to match
Art/design: A variety of page layouts crafted and organized for easy usability at the table
Usability: Easy to use on both the GM and player sides; Zombification provides a countdown clock that adds additional lethality
The Vermilion Throne
Content: A pulse pumping, blood-drenched, flesh crawl.
Writing: As consistent and efficient as the beating heart, without feeling too clinical.
Art/design: Accessible and fluid design which doesn’t clot alongside thematic illustrations which do.
Usability: A considered and effective table reference.
The Western Wall
Content: A fvcking mountain crawl.
Writing: A mountain adventure that is easy to read, but hard to climb.
Art/design: Austere as a view from the summit. Does exactly what’s needed to convey both subject and tone.
Usability: Hope you brought climbing equipment. Dying on the way there is half the fun.
Tower of Scoundrels
Concept: “The heroes search for shelter from the impending downpour. Lightning flashes, illuminating the forest and revealing a tower.”
Content: A tower crawl designed to distract from larger plots and quests
Writing: Provides background on the tower and descriptions of each room and character
Art/design: Woodcut-style graphics, vibrant colors, and other visual flourishes set the tone well
Usability: Album sleeve doubles as a GM screen with concise maps of each level and a summary of enemy stats and key features; booklets are organized by floor with descriptions and stats in close proximity to maps
Treasures of the Troll King
Content: A randomized, shifting sewer crawl with multiple set pieces, random encounters, some new Powers, and one nasty f’ing troll
Writing: Provides copious descriptions and multi-sensory imagery to help GMs immerse their players
Art/design: A mix of layouts and design choices meant for expressiveness and usability
Usability: Seriously, the last boss is going to be really tough
Trench Coats and Trench Cats Last War Expansion
Content: Trench coats. Trench cats. Trench warfare. New scenarios
Writing: Amusing variety of coats and cats—and trench warfare.
Art/design: Public domain depictions of aggressive cats, bell ringers, whisky drinking horse skulls. A terrifying miniature of a bloody creature. All in a newspaper layout.
Usability: Requires Forbidden Psalm: Last War
Unwanted Fragments #1
Concept: “This micro-zine was an experiment of sorts as I posted most of pages to the TALK MÖRK BORG group on Facebook and asked for votes on the possible content for each page.”
Content: A slew of weird, creative locales, monsters, NPCs, and loot; as the name says, a kit of bits and pieces rather than a unified dungeon
Writing:
Art/design: Great OSR-style interior art; incredibly expressive character portraits
Usability: Lots of background and details; study carefully if you want to use anything verbatim
Valley of Forbidden Churches
Vaults of Unfaith
Content: An occult dungeon with random events and escalating enemies
Writing: You may learn some new words; use them to terrify your players
Art/design: Establishes atmosphere; concreteness provides easy navigation
Usability: Very intuitive and efficient layout