Philip Reed
Deck of Treasures
Concept: “If you need a random treasure, draw one card and roll a single six-sided die.”
Content: 36 items with mechanics for incorporating the canonical Corpse Plundering Table
Writing: Nice descriptions of items and enumeration of their mechanics
Art/design: Relatively conservative but effective
Usability: Straightforward in itself, but requires some reference to the core rules
Content: 36 items with mechanics for incorporating the canonical Corpse Plundering Table
Writing: Nice descriptions of items and enumeration of their mechanics
Art/design: Relatively conservative but effective
Usability: Straightforward in itself, but requires some reference to the core rules
Fathomless Despair
Concept: “Death is the least of your concerns if you are foolish enough to visit this horrible and dark place. The air and soil are filled with the stench of undeath as a lingering evil makes its presence known to all who explore this desolate land.”
Content: A pocket map of the Valley of Unfortunate Undead. Complete with its creatures, and contents.
Writing: A historical account of the valley’s many ruins and follies, and a brief taxonomy of the undead they left behind. Intended to inspire not direct.
Art/design: Efficient grouping, color coding, and placement accommodate each aesthetic flourish.
Usability: Can be folded to fit in your pocket. Designed to minimize flipping. Pre-record the creature stats to truly optimize your experience.
Content: A pocket map of the Valley of Unfortunate Undead. Complete with its creatures, and contents.
Writing: A historical account of the valley’s many ruins and follies, and a brief taxonomy of the undead they left behind. Intended to inspire not direct.
Art/design: Efficient grouping, color coding, and placement accommodate each aesthetic flourish.
Usability: Can be folded to fit in your pocket. Designed to minimize flipping. Pre-record the creature stats to truly optimize your experience.
Krampus
Concept: “The Christmas rumors are true. The Krampus does exist.”
Content: Stats and a hook for the race of kidnapping, meat-hungry krampi
Writing: A balance of mechanics and descriptive text
Art/design: Fits lots of text onto the page alongside some nice art
Usability: Straightforward but certain aspects may be off-putting to some players
Content: Stats and a hook for the race of kidnapping, meat-hungry krampi
Writing: A balance of mechanics and descriptive text
Art/design: Fits lots of text onto the page alongside some nice art
Usability: Straightforward but certain aspects may be off-putting to some players
Malevolent Mixtape
Concept: "A custom-printed USB flash drive loaded with free third-party Mörk Borg PDFs by Philip Reed."
Content: A 1 GB Flash Drive, pre-loaded with Philip Reed's Mörk Borg content.
Writing: An excellent title on a convenient flash drive. *complete with legal text
Art/design: A nostalgic cassette format that feels like a Mörk Borg mix tape.
Usability: Thin profile that could easily fit into a wallet or bag.
Content: A 1 GB Flash Drive, pre-loaded with Philip Reed's Mörk Borg content.
Writing: An excellent title on a convenient flash drive. *complete with legal text
Art/design: A nostalgic cassette format that feels like a Mörk Borg mix tape.
Usability: Thin profile that could easily fit into a wallet or bag.
Mustekala Velho
“On their home world, the octopi is unmatched and unchallenged. … This particular octopus arrived here weeks ago and seized control of a small army of skeletons.”
Backer reward for Trio of Twisted Decks
Backer reward for Trio of Twisted Decks
Niklaus
Concept: “As snow falls on the city, the people whisper of a murderer who has recently taken to the streets.”
Content: A murderous pseudo-Santa possessed by an alien entity known only as the Christmas Spirit
Writing: Twists St. Nick to fit right into the Dying World
Art/design: Exactly what you’d expect of a Mörk Borg murderhobo Santa
Usability: More elaborate than some monsters but not overly complex
Content: A murderous pseudo-Santa possessed by an alien entity known only as the Christmas Spirit
Writing: Twists St. Nick to fit right into the Dying World
Art/design: Exactly what you’d expect of a Mörk Borg murderhobo Santa
Usability: More elaborate than some monsters but not overly complex
Recared’s Unclean Pamphlet
Concept: “This pamphlet includes 13 new unclean powers.”
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.
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.
Return to the Valley of Despair
Concept: “More ideas to use when the player characters make the mistake of visiting that wretched valley of undeath.”
Content: Random (& less random) encounters, monsters, and artifacts for those who roam The Valley of Unfortunate Undead.
Writing: Pithy adventure ideas which can easily be woven together or into an existing campaign.
Art/design: Vibrant and well-integrated high fantasy art. Functional and emphasized random table elements.
Usability: Optimized for a poster format, but easily navigable as a digital file.
Content: Random (& less random) encounters, monsters, and artifacts for those who roam The Valley of Unfortunate Undead.
Writing: Pithy adventure ideas which can easily be woven together or into an existing campaign.
Art/design: Vibrant and well-integrated high fantasy art. Functional and emphasized random table elements.
Usability: Optimized for a poster format, but easily navigable as a digital file.
Savahtapot
“An octopus warrior along with an idea on dropping this cosmic stranger into your game”
Backer reward for the Unclean Leporello of the Foul Wizard Baum crowdfunding campaign
Skeletal Horror
“Animated by necromantic powers best left untouched, the walking skeletons of the world are as varied and many as the things that creep and crawl through the city’s sewers.”
Backer reward for Tome of Skulls
Snowman
Concept: “A snowman makes for a powerful guardian in frosty dungeons and snow-covered towers.”
Content: Contains a stat block, descriptive text, and adventure hook
Writing: Puts a sadistic twist on a classic holiday icon
Art/design: Fits well with the creature concept
Usability: For optimal efficiency, set thermostat below 30° Fahrenheit
Strange Citizens of the City
Concept: “Roll 2d6 and meet a stranger”
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
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
Concept: “There is an infinite number of unusual, dangerous characters in the forests that surround the city. This book details a handful of them.”
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
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
Concept: “Let us return to the city where we may meet visitors from other places … and kill a few of them.”
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
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
Sudden Scum
Concept: “...accelerate the character creation process and get you on to what matters most: dying at the hands of a blood-drenched skeleton.”
Content: Character creation in a deck of cards. With simple rules and bonus quest hooks.
Writing: The clever combination of abilities and character features makes for unique and memorable scum.
Art/design: Bold color, crisp design, and grim illustrations.
Usability: Separate, shuffle, write, and enjoy.
Content: Character creation in a deck of cards. With simple rules and bonus quest hooks.
Writing: The clever combination of abilities and character features makes for unique and memorable scum.
Art/design: Bold color, crisp design, and grim illustrations.
Usability: Separate, shuffle, write, and enjoy.
Swordpoint
Concept: “A micro-hexcrawl”
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
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
Tactical Battlescape
“A 24-inch by 24-inch playmat you can print and use”
The Broken Sword of Vile Souls
Concept: “When Lorenz Hattendorf was murdered, one member of his party managed to escape. […] she knows where the man’s magic sword fell when he was torn limb from limb.”
Content: A seemingly unassuming tower crawl with a murderous climax (and some loot along the way)
Writing: Mostly devoted to background and description but includes stats for enemies and the titular sword (which is pretty brutal even while broken)
Art/design: Graphics add character and ambience, and the maps provide easy navigation for the GM
Usability: It’s a tower. There’s nowhere to go but up.
Content: A seemingly unassuming tower crawl with a murderous climax (and some loot along the way)
Writing: Mostly devoted to background and description but includes stats for enemies and the titular sword (which is pretty brutal even while broken)
Art/design: Graphics add character and ambience, and the maps provide easy navigation for the GM
Usability: It’s a tower. There’s nowhere to go but up.
The Living Statue of Alk Baum
Concept: “The PCs hear a horrible rumble outside. Followed by a cacophony of screams, shrieks, and panicked voices.”
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.”
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 Secret Teaching of the Foul Wizard and the Unliving Magus
Concept: The collected powers and teachings of Baum, Recared, and Titus.
Content: A compilation of Philip Reeds sacred and unclean scrolls and Powers in a hardcover A5.
Writing: Some truly brutal Powers, for either good or ill, with forceful imagery throughout.
Art/design: Efficient textual layouts and vibrant graphic design.
Usability: Easy consistent design elements make for easy navigation, though I do wish Recared’s scrolls were also numbered.
Content: A compilation of Philip Reeds sacred and unclean scrolls and Powers in a hardcover A5.
Writing: Some truly brutal Powers, for either good or ill, with forceful imagery throughout.
Art/design: Efficient textual layouts and vibrant graphic design.
Usability: Easy consistent design elements make for easy navigation, though I do wish Recared’s scrolls were also numbered.
The Sorcerer’s Corpse
“A five-track dirgewave EP … Includes one encounter hook for each.”
The Unclean Leporello of the Foul Wizard Baum / The Sacred Teachings of Titus the Unliving Magus
Concept: “Powers that truly should have remained forgotten.” / “Original creations of 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
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
Tome of Skulls
Concept: “Skeletal, undead monsters that exist solely to – if all goes well – slaughter the player characters and put an end to their misadventures”
Content: 6 new undead enemies
Writing: Includes descriptions and stats for each entry along with tables of activities each is engaged in when encountered
Art/design: Nicely pieces the contents together within the layouts while keeping them clearly differentiated
Usability: Designed as a physical fold-out poster; may affect digital usability or home printing
Content: 6 new undead enemies
Writing: Includes descriptions and stats for each entry along with tables of activities each is engaged in when encountered
Art/design: Nicely pieces the contents together within the layouts while keeping them clearly differentiated
Usability: Designed as a physical fold-out poster; may affect digital usability or home printing
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
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
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