temple/church
Darker Forts
Concept: “Adds THREE new dungeons and accompanying characters to DARK FORT”
Content: New settings, characters, monsters, items, and optional rules for solo play; useful for generating themed dungeons on the fly
Writing: Primarily informational but with just the right amount of creative flair
Art/design: Strongly reminiscent of Dark Fort
Usability: Like its predecessor, each variant fits on one sheet of paper; doesn’t include custom character sheets
Dungeoneer's Black Book
Concept: “Welcome to the Dungeoneer's Black Book, a collection of boggy holes and haunted cellars. No evening shall pass without the gruesome, ultimately inevitable death of a beloved character.”
Content: 16 dungeons in a disturbing array of contents and formats
Writing: A variety of adventures await you with their own unique styles. The only guarantee is misery.
Art/design: A engrossing (sometimes gross) exploration of dungeon layout and illustration.
Usability: With a variety of design formats, make sure to read your selected dungeon before the session.
Content: 16 dungeons in a disturbing array of contents and formats
Writing: A variety of adventures await you with their own unique styles. The only guarantee is misery.
Art/design: A engrossing (sometimes gross) exploration of dungeon layout and illustration.
Usability: With a variety of design formats, make sure to read your selected dungeon before the session.
Galgenbeck Sacrifice
“Half of Galgenbeck's population is gone. Most have fallen to Josilfa's scythe. The city seems eerily empty, but nobody notices the citizens' absence. Galgenbeck was always half empty. All is as it should be.”
Gregor's Folly
“There would be agony and pain enough to draw the eyes of Nechrubel. Gregor would lead the faithful from perdition into the Shimmering Fields.”
Hammer of a Killing Crown
Concept: “It’s a simple agreement: You retrieve the artifact. Aalgut exacts his revenge … After that, the unbounded power of the Killing Crown is yours.”
Content: A dungeon crawl. Bufonic treasures. Murderous Crowns. Toadstools. Toads. Spells. Plague.
Writing: Strong and consistent theme and symbolism. Clear mechanics. Incorporates playing cards.
Art/design: Mörk Borg with toadstools (and toads).
Usability: Aesthetics complement the readability. A breeze to read and reference.
Content: A dungeon crawl. Bufonic treasures. Murderous Crowns. Toadstools. Toads. Spells. Plague.
Writing: Strong and consistent theme and symbolism. Clear mechanics. Incorporates playing cards.
Art/design: Mörk Borg with toadstools (and toads).
Usability: Aesthetics complement the readability. A breeze to read and reference.
Harrowshade
Concept: “In the town of Harrowshade, tucked away in northern Grift, a somber gloom engulfs the lives of the inhabitants.”
Content: A Sölitary Defilement Grift-crawl to string you along and leave you in stitches.
Writing: Contains enough rotten detail for engaging solo or GM-less play. With secrets hidden in the navigable text.
Art/design: Inky illustrations and rich textures in a fluid and navigable layout.
Usability: Contains portions of The Grisly Fare, The Fleshmonger, and Vorgs by Unit Six. Available in a variety of full-color and print-friendly formats.
Content: A Sölitary Defilement Grift-crawl to string you along and leave you in stitches.
Writing: Contains enough rotten detail for engaging solo or GM-less play. With secrets hidden in the navigable text.
Art/design: Inky illustrations and rich textures in a fluid and navigable layout.
Usability: Contains portions of The Grisly Fare, The Fleshmonger, and Vorgs by Unit Six. Available in a variety of full-color and print-friendly formats.
Idle Borg: avert the apocalypse
Concept: “You come to find that the apocalypse can be averted. Hope is rekindled in a hopeless world.”
Content: An apocalypse-averting, temple-building, village management minigame.
Writing: Rules to pass your final days, spend your last silver, and roll the Misery dice between adventures.
Art/design: A series of generated village locations, defined by bordered text laid upon bordered scrolls.
Usability: Adventure minigame included for stand-alone play. Table of contents included. Reference sheets provided.
Content: An apocalypse-averting, temple-building, village management minigame.
Writing: Rules to pass your final days, spend your last silver, and roll the Misery dice between adventures.
Art/design: A series of generated village locations, defined by bordered text laid upon bordered scrolls.
Usability: Adventure minigame included for stand-alone play. Table of contents included. Reference sheets provided.
Immortal Soul (Alma Imortal)
Concept: “This is a story of horror and revenge, driven by individuals who do not accept their fate, reject death and want a second chance.”
Content: A purgatory-escape-crawl for dead Scvm, complete with consequences for the dying world should their spirits perish in the attempt.
Writing: Establishes distinct regions of purgatory to explore, complete with set-piece destination encounters. Supplying enough context, tone, and style to produce flavorful travel encounter in each region as needed.
Art/design: Somber, expansive, and severe imagery compliments harsh setting descriptions to establish purgatory as the crucible that it is.
Usability: Adventure to establish a new campaign, or regroup and return to the dying world stronger after a TPK. Google translation from Portuguese to English makes for the occasional anomaly.
Content: A purgatory-escape-crawl for dead Scvm, complete with consequences for the dying world should their spirits perish in the attempt.
Writing: Establishes distinct regions of purgatory to explore, complete with set-piece destination encounters. Supplying enough context, tone, and style to produce flavorful travel encounter in each region as needed.
Art/design: Somber, expansive, and severe imagery compliments harsh setting descriptions to establish purgatory as the crucible that it is.
Usability: Adventure to establish a new campaign, or regroup and return to the dying world stronger after a TPK. Google translation from Portuguese to English makes for the occasional anomaly.
Into Those Drowning Bells
Concept: “Track a group of foolish treasure seekers through the ruins of a cursed town devoured by the bitter earth.”
Content: The journey from a flagging village to an abandoned “pyramid”.
Writing: Sober depiction of desperation and despondency would certainly invoke sympathy if you weren’t scvm.
Art/design: A clean draft adventure with easy to reference layout. Table of discontents that hints at more adventure to come.
Content: The journey from a flagging village to an abandoned “pyramid”.
Writing: Sober depiction of desperation and despondency would certainly invoke sympathy if you weren’t scvm.
Art/design: A clean draft adventure with easy to reference layout. Table of discontents that hints at more adventure to come.
Usability: Still in draft, but has a fully formed opening section that can easily be built upon.
Kult Proroka Pnączy (The Cult of the Vine Prophet)
Concept: “Odkryj tajemnicę złowrogiego Kultu Proroka Pnączy i staw czoła jego groźnym wyznawcom w ekscytującym jednostronicowym module do Mörk Borga!”
Content: A overgrown, larva-infested, basement cult-crawl.
Writing: A convincing cult hideout. With agency, ecology, and ingenuity. Captured in a moment.
Art/design: Grimy and vine-choked isometric map captures a moment in time.
Usability: Stylish and organized. Polish & English language.
Content: A overgrown, larva-infested, basement cult-crawl.
Writing: A convincing cult hideout. With agency, ecology, and ingenuity. Captured in a moment.
Art/design: Grimy and vine-choked isometric map captures a moment in time.
Usability: Stylish and organized. Polish & English language.
Monastery ov the Horned One
“King Fathmu's Chancellor Graf promised me 400 silver to create this scrawled map. Perhaps it was for naught... If you lay your hands on it, ask for more.”
Monolith 1: Harvest
8 contributors
Concept: “A quarterly publication that focuses its cyclopean gaze on a single system with every issue”
Content: “A journey through dilapidated townsteads, rejuvenated fields and terrifying dungeons, with all the horrors you meet along the way”
Writing: The pedagogy of planting and population planning, and a forgotten temple to begotten basilisks, all aggressively annotated.
Art/design: Darkly grotesque cultists, disturbed floral prints, cultured public domain illustrations, and colorful marginalia highlight the body text.
Usability: Organized, aside from a few intentionally frustrating almanac charts. But I’m sure you can manage those with a little old-fashioned spit and polish.
Content: “A journey through dilapidated townsteads, rejuvenated fields and terrifying dungeons, with all the horrors you meet along the way”
Writing: The pedagogy of planting and population planning, and a forgotten temple to begotten basilisks, all aggressively annotated.
Art/design: Darkly grotesque cultists, disturbed floral prints, cultured public domain illustrations, and colorful marginalia highlight the body text.
Usability: Organized, aside from a few intentionally frustrating almanac charts. But I’m sure you can manage those with a little old-fashioned spit and polish.
Mörk Borg Cult: Heretic
9 contributors
Concept: “A zine full of MÖRK BORG stuff. Most of it is created by our wonderful community and will be (or already is) made available for free download on morkborg.com, but there is also exclusive official material.”
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.
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.
Parasitic Infestation at Flame Tongue Temple
Concept: “From the safety of her chamber… the Mother preaches of the gifts Consumer may bestow upon her luckiest of followers.”
Content: A tongue-gets-eat survival horror dungeon crawl. An arsenal of religious paraphernalia.
Writing: The history and rites of a mysterious cult. A cathedral turned labyrinth. A parasite that thrives in dark and wet places.
Art/design: Gritty gothic structure with occasional baroque elements. Illustrations which contrast in their perverse clarity.
Usability: Dark, light, and full color. Digital and printable options available.
Content: A tongue-gets-eat survival horror dungeon crawl. An arsenal of religious paraphernalia.
Writing: The history and rites of a mysterious cult. A cathedral turned labyrinth. A parasite that thrives in dark and wet places.
Art/design: Gritty gothic structure with occasional baroque elements. Illustrations which contrast in their perverse clarity.
Usability: Dark, light, and full color. Digital and printable options available.
Perfidious Protoplasma
Concept: “An expansion that gives the humble ooze its due”
Content: A roster of oozes with rules for the creature type, an ooze-symbiote character class, and an ooze-centered dungeon
Writing: Efficiently presents information in each section
Art/design: Subtle and relatively traditional but still effective in visually reinforcing the concept; dungeon features clean, efficient layouts and design for easy use by GMs
Usability: Class is more powerful and versatile than some other classes, but balanced by the monetary and/or inventory cost of feeding the ooze
Content: A roster of oozes with rules for the creature type, an ooze-symbiote character class, and an ooze-centered dungeon
Writing: Efficiently presents information in each section
Art/design: Subtle and relatively traditional but still effective in visually reinforcing the concept; dungeon features clean, efficient layouts and design for easy use by GMs
Usability: Class is more powerful and versatile than some other classes, but balanced by the monetary and/or inventory cost of feeding the ooze
Psalm IV:I
Concept: “A grimdark adventure module [that] gives the GM a plug-and-play way to explore the 4:1 misery”
Content: An adventure in religion, heresy, deceit, and revenge; incorporates opportunities for PCs to join multiple competing factions, and includes a mechanic for fear effects
Writing: Deftly conveys the scenario’s dynamics and delivers information in manageable portions with plenty of gory and macabre details
Art/design: Efficient layouts and design choices make information accessible while making room for loads of expressive, original illustrations
Usability: A more visually elaborate take on the Rotblack Sludge approach to facilitating quick comprehension and easy use
Content: An adventure in religion, heresy, deceit, and revenge; incorporates opportunities for PCs to join multiple competing factions, and includes a mechanic for fear effects
Writing: Deftly conveys the scenario’s dynamics and delivers information in manageable portions with plenty of gory and macabre details
Art/design: Efficient layouts and design choices make information accessible while making room for loads of expressive, original illustrations
Usability: A more visually elaborate take on the Rotblack Sludge approach to facilitating quick comprehension and easy use
Slasher Zine / Jam Compilation
18 contributors
“Slasher Jam was a jam I ran over the course of October 2021 that got 20 entries. I have compiled those entries into 2 volumes. Volume 1 contains classes, items, and monsters. Volume 2 contains the adventures of Slasher Jam.” – Michael Mars, ed.
Take then thy bond
Concept: “The voice inside your head commands you: Travel to the wastelands and find the wretched peak. Scour its halls. Bring me its heart, the rest of the treasure is yours.”
Content: A putrid pyramid crawl full of heart—and other organs.
Writing: Encounters are lively and responsive, often in unexpected ways. Pregnant with activity.
Art/design: Bold cover art of the titular encounter. Table of contents and mini-map layout aid in navigating this moderately sized adventure.
Usability: Encounter descriptions diminish accidental revelations. Surprises reach player and GM simultaneously.
Content: A putrid pyramid crawl full of heart—and other organs.
Writing: Encounters are lively and responsive, often in unexpected ways. Pregnant with activity.
Art/design: Bold cover art of the titular encounter. Table of contents and mini-map layout aid in navigating this moderately sized adventure.
Usability: Encounter descriptions diminish accidental revelations. Surprises reach player and GM simultaneously.
Tame Your Demons
Concept: “‘Come! Come! Sit with me. Let us bask in the glorious light of the Prescient Flame. Gaze into its depths. The Flame sees all. What do you see?’
—Seskel the Flamekeeper”
Content: A tallow-melting, candle-burning, demon-facing altar crawl.
Writing: An atmospheric and sensory experience suitable to horror and suspense.
Art/design: A single-column adventure with simple spot illustrations and a clear top-down dungeon map.
Usability: Organized and system neutral, with stats for Mörk Borg and 5e D&D.
Content: A tallow-melting, candle-burning, demon-facing altar crawl.
Writing: An atmospheric and sensory experience suitable to horror and suspense.
Art/design: A single-column adventure with simple spot illustrations and a clear top-down dungeon map.
Usability: Organized and system neutral, with stats for Mörk Borg and 5e D&D.
Tatterhood
Concept: “None of you know anything about fighting daimons, wyches, or restoring heads to princesses, but the whole world’s dying anyway and a job’s a job.”
Content: A strange, surreal fetch-quest with lots of bizarro elements and flavor
Writing: Well-written, laden with subtle humor and overt viscerality
Art/design: A more traditional OSR presentation, both textually and graphically
Usability: Includes a separate map and bestiary for quick reference
Content: A strange, surreal fetch-quest with lots of bizarro elements and flavor
Writing: Well-written, laden with subtle humor and overt viscerality
Art/design: A more traditional OSR presentation, both textually and graphically
Usability: Includes a separate map and bestiary for quick reference
Temple of Trechery
Concept: “An LSD trip of an adventure for Mörk Borg”
Content: As above (so below).
Writing: A deeply rooted plot that’s sure to decay into a psychedelic trip, whether idylic or hellish is up to your scvm.
Art/design: A collection of print illustrations, and a few tastefully generated portraits which produce that strange hallucinatory feeling.
Usability: Well-organized and flexible. Available in German, with English translation in the works.
Content: As above (so below).
Writing: A deeply rooted plot that’s sure to decay into a psychedelic trip, whether idylic or hellish is up to your scvm.
Art/design: A collection of print illustrations, and a few tastefully generated portraits which produce that strange hallucinatory feeling.
Usability: Well-organized and flexible. Available in German, with English translation in the works.
The Beggar’s Shrine
Concept: “Local children are being abducted, and dragged to a long abandoned dungeon … carved into a gigantic, mysterious crystal skull.”
Content: A twisted (and twisting) dungeon full of blood, corpses
Writing: Vivid and visceral—sure to please GMs and players
Art/design: Nice map and conservative but still aesthetically pleasing design; text is visually dense but not excessively so
Usability: Stat blocks aren’t specifically labeled, which may slow reference during play
The Book of Vile Dungeons
“A collection of one-page, one-shot dungeons”
The Burning of Galgenbeck Cathedral
Concept: “Onlookers still gather, unsure whether to fight against the blaze and save the temple, or to fan the flames and sate their avarice with molten gold.”
Content: A cathedral-saving sewer crawl (presumably); packed with characters, hazards, and options for dealing with them
Writing: Sets the atmosphere and then devotes itself to delivering mechanical information
Art/design: Artwork and color choices work very well together
Usability: Cathedral map’s numerical markers can be tough to spot amidst the art
Content: A cathedral-saving sewer crawl (presumably); packed with characters, hazards, and options for dealing with them
Writing: Sets the atmosphere and then devotes itself to delivering mechanical information
Art/design: Artwork and color choices work very well together
Usability: Cathedral map’s numerical markers can be tough to spot amidst the art
The Church of Katharszisz
Concept: “The Church of Katharzsisz demand your assistance in returning the head of the Saint-Mother Magdus.”
Content: A coerced crawl through a corpse-haunted cathedral
Writing: Includes an elaborate introduction with plenty of atmospheric details throughout
Art/design: Graphic design consisting predominantly of earth tones with other muted hues reinforces the sensation of exploring a dim, murky cathedral
Usability: Well organized by page (intro, descriptions, map, monsters) for easy reference
Currently unavailable
Content: A coerced crawl through a corpse-haunted cathedral
Writing: Includes an elaborate introduction with plenty of atmospheric details throughout
Art/design: Graphic design consisting predominantly of earth tones with other muted hues reinforces the sensation of exploring a dim, murky cathedral
Usability: Well organized by page (intro, descriptions, map, monsters) for easy reference
Currently unavailable
The Church of the Forbidden Gate
Concept: “As long as THE GATE remains active, all death is meaningless to the faithful.”
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
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 Escort
Concept: “Esther will pay you with money, information or a rare cursed scroll. All you have to do is to escort her to the church. That’s it. Really.”
Content: An escort mission. Really.
Writing: “Like, really slow. Painfully slow. Pain. Fully. Slow.”
Art/design: I can tell from the art that Esther is a real charmer. The layout is too.
Usability: Use at your own risk. Players will get impatient. Antics will ensue.
Content: An escort mission. Really.
Writing: “Like, really slow. Painfully slow. Pain. Fully. Slow.”
Art/design: I can tell from the art that Esther is a real charmer. The layout is too.
Usability: Use at your own risk. Players will get impatient. Antics will ensue.
The Haruspex of Anzû-Uz
Concept: “In this vile, Babylonian-inspired, one-page encounter, players will encounter a cult who practice haruspicy upon fattened victims.”
Content: Includes backstory, hooks, and descriptions of rooms and boss
Writing: Fairly concise without sacrificing character
Art/design: Text heavy with fairly traditional design and layout
Usability: Easy to navigate with numbers coordinating the text and map
Content: Includes backstory, hooks, and descriptions of rooms and boss
Writing: Fairly concise without sacrificing character
Art/design: Text heavy with fairly traditional design and layout
Usability: Easy to navigate with numbers coordinating the text and map
The Lichen Knight of Sarkash
Concept: “You meet a strange knight in the wilderness and he dares you to cut off his head.”
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
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 Murderous Monks of Mournful Moor
Concept: “Adventurers stopped to rest in a once-beautiful Abbey at the edge of Kergüs. […] Only time will tell if they have the mettle to escape.”
Content: 8 rooms of survival horror
Writing: Includes extensive descriptions of rooms and NPCs
Art/design: Entirely typographical, but establishes a visual hierarchy for quick navigation
Usability: May pose a challenge to more spatially oriented readers
Content: 8 rooms of survival horror
Writing: Includes extensive descriptions of rooms and NPCs
Art/design: Entirely typographical, but establishes a visual hierarchy for quick navigation
Usability: May pose a challenge to more spatially oriented readers
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