Sarkash
Ancient Skin
Content: A complex and variable (not to mention twisted) crawl through Sarkash
Writing: Efficient but vivid descriptions of locations and inhabitants punctuated by grim wit
Art/design: Marvelous maps; type design helps map the connections amongst locations and items
Usability: Provides checkboxes to track variables (but if you mark this pamphlet, you’re a heathen and you deserve whatever misery befalls you)
Brain Pest
Content: Mushroom powered hyper intelligent goblins.
Writing: Mechanics provide an interesting abstraction of tactical superiority.
Art/design: Tiny goblins plague a victim behind the prominent text bars.
Usability: Bounty not included.
Dead Girls in Sarkash Forest
Concept: “You are lost. You are dead.”
Content: A random pointcrawl through Sarkash, 6 original thematic classes, and optional rules and gear that add more conceptual depth and distinction without straying from the Mörk Borg core
Writing: Brooding and grim with an undertone of forlorn optimism; extremely effective in conveying the intended tone and atmosphere
Art/design: Visually diverse art and typographical choices unified by a focus on the setting and themes
Usability: Deliberately deals with sexism and trauma; intended as a self-contained module, but the adventure and classes can be used with other Mörk Borg content
Drafts: Dead Girl Classes, Dead Girls in Sarkash Forest, Encounters in Sarkash Forest
Gravrövare
Content: Graverobbery for a mysterious benefactor.
Writing: A simple organic reproduction of a violently transformational movie.
Art/design: Loud compositions, vibrant colors, grunge, and visual interest.
Usability: Memorable, referenceable, legible.
Lavandeiras & Biosbardos
Content: Nocturnal spirits who entice you to do your own laundry, for weal or woe; a ruse of an adventure with multiple potential climaxes
Writing: Includes descriptive text sets the scene and mechanics to determine the outcome; very concise but with adequate, compelling imagery and appeal
Art/design: Efficient design choices delineate segments and make for easy use and reference; primarily textual with a fun text-based map
Usability: A two-in-one bargain
Lord of Chains
7 contributors
Content: A Graven-Tosk digging, Sarkash roaming, Bastion storming, Shadow King’s prophecy averting point crawl.
Writing: Energetic and near melodramatic plot sets the tone for a truly torturous adventure.
Art/design: Loud when it ought to be, quiet when it counts. Metal throughout.
Usability: Self-contained, shadowed, and bound in iron chains.
Samson’s Dead, Where’s His Head?
Content: An adventure hook and stat blocks for a chase through Sarkash
Writing: Concise, unambiguous, and to the point
Art/design: Well organized and cleanly laid out
Usability: GM will need to fill in incidentals, but the framework is there
Shadow of the Past
Content: An archeological exploration of the Dying Lands, with 21 sites, their current inhabitants, and everything valuable not bolted down.
Writing: A survey of iconic locals, with enough historical detail, rumor, and information to plan a failed treasure hunt.
Art/design: Yellowed artifacts splatter a clean single-column layout.
Usability: Available in plaintext and “night mode” with an off-white background to ease electronic reading.
Tales and Poetry of Sarkash
Content: Rules to get lost by, monsters to be caught by, and places to be haunted by. With diseases, flora, fauna, artifacts, tables, fables, and poety to distract you from the darkness.
Writing: Folktales, poetry, and marginalia shed light on the dark canopy of Sarkash.
Art/design: Muted warm palette to hide from the illustrated terrors it contains inside.
Usability: A organized and legible guidebook for any who wander Sarkash.
Tar Spirit
Content: A rather persistent dance partner.
Writing: That delicate balance of whimsy and clinging horror familiar to Sarkash natives.
Art/design: Adorable little lumps, a happily dancing marionette, and a menacing pink flame.
Usability: Quick to reference, fulfilling to read.
The Beastlord Will Feast on Your Flesh
Concept: “The wild beastlord WENDIGO, the living heart of the woods, holds a potent, unshakeable hatred of you.”
Content: Incorporates tons of community creations into a predator-prey scenario
Writing: Tables for conflicts, resolutions, and locations; lots of amusing one-liners
Art/design: Solid choices of illustrations and graphics
Usability: Ergonomic in digital and print forms
The Death Ziggurat
Content: Pre-apocalyptic hexcrawl with random elements
Writing: Fairly elaborate with plenty of horrible imagery
Art/design: Captures the mood, setting, and characters well
Usability: Fun and lethal; separate player and GM maps are quite helpful
The God King
Content: A legend of one seriously pretentious bastard, and a possible origin story for the Dying World as we know it today.
Writing: A miserable little myth befitting a doomed and dying world.
Art/design: Some uppity reagent overshadowed by his own legend.
Usability: Introduce it to your players. Let them decide how true it is.
The Lichen Knight of Sarkash
Content: A two-part encounter consisting of the initial challenge and the follow-up chapel crawl
Writing: Clear, readable prose with loot tables, location descriptions, and overview of the encounter structure
Art/design: Typography and color delineate sections for easy use and reference
Usability: A straightforward but spirited adaptation of the medieval poetic plot
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.