Calo’s Book of Monsters
Content: 20 monsters as well as a region for them to inhabit and local rumors for PCs to overhear
Writing: Provides lots of exposition on each monster as well as multiple adventure hooks and detailed stat blocks
Art/design: Features detailed black-and-white illustrations against a stylized Mörk Borg-yellow ground
Usability: GMs would be well-advised to read each entry carefully and take note of the copious details
Cities of the Dying Land
Content: Two dozen tables to create a living, breathing settlement
Writing: Tons of little details to add real personality to locations
Art/design: Good use of Mörk-Borgy colors while being easy on the eyes; physical version glows under a black light (awesome)
Usability: Keep a notepad handy; there are too many characteristics to remember unaided
Corny Groń (Black Peak)
Content: Adapts and builds on the Dark Fort concept with wilderness locales, dungeons, and thematic enemies and items
Writing: More elaborate than its source material, but adds more mechanical intricacy and plenty of character
Art/design: Wiśniewska’s woodcut-inspired illustrations create a distinct sense of time and place
Usability: Complex but not overly complicated
Corpsewake Cove
Concept: “There is no nest of scurvy rats as foul or felonious as the pirates of Corpsewake Cove!”
Content: A self-contained, sandbox-style swashbuckling adventure from inciting incident to bloody climax
Writing: Text-heavy but clean, clear, and effective on all levels; includes lots of description as well as stat blocks, tables, and other mechanical components
Art/design: Balances out the verbal elements with lots of vivid, nautically themed designs
Usability: A fair amount of content and moving parts to manage, but nothing a seasoned and conscientious GM can’t handle
Cult of the Bubbling Waters
Content: Tenets and random tables for those seeking to enjoy the Warm Embrace
Writing: As with any cult, alternatingly cheery and welcoming or seethingly malicious
Art/design: Primarily text with graphic elements to aid use
Usability: Faster than a real bath and almost as pleasant
Dark Fort
Content: A solo dungeon crawler; useful as a generator alongside Mörk Borg’s GM tools
Writing: Clear and concise; primarily mechanical but with bits of effective descriptive text
Art/design: More traditional than Mörk Borg’s, but still atmospheric
Usability: Extremely efficient layout
Death and Pestilence
Content: A deadly, disturbing dungeon full of pure weirdness
Writing: “Quasi-ethereal necromagical death-tendrils” is an apex example of what you’ll find here
Art/design: Excellently integrates text and graphics into the dungeon map
Usability: A little visually overwhelming at first, but easy to navigate once you have a feel for it
Death Temple Sztun
Content: Some nasty creatures and permanent effects (including abrupt deaths)
Writing: Concisely creates a strange, ominous atmosphere
Art/design: Maps are clear without sacrificing visual style
Usability: Color and typography strongly supports easy navigation
Backer reward for the Feretory funding campaign
Deck of Corpses
Concept: “A deck of 36 corpses the GM may turn to whenever the PCs stumble across yet another dead body.”
Content: A heap of bodies, some of whom also have loot
Writing: Some strange and gruesome remains; not for the faint of heart, but definitely for Mörk Borg
Art/design: Conservative but effective
Usability: Includes a unique mechanic involving the official Corpse Plundering table and clock time
Deck of Evil Objects
Content: A 15-card deck with 3 additional cards (2 for the Deck of Treasures and 1 for the Deck of Secrets)
Writing: The descriptions will make you want to use these even though the mechanics will probably kill your character
Art/design: Sets the tone well without overcrowding a small space
Usability: Draw a card. Read the card. Repeat.
Deck of Secrets
Concept: “Use this deck during character creation […] to add background.”
Content: 36 violent, sordid, and bizarre selections to flesh out your characters’ personal histories
Writing: Well-crafted to inspire players’ imaginations and add compelling depth to characters
Art/design: Nice, macabre art on card backs, and textured backgrounds add some visual depth to each side
Usability: Just draw and then despair
Deck of Terribly Broken Bodies
Concept: “Instead of rolling a d4 and checking the table in the core rules, draw a single card from this deck whenever a PC reaches zero HP.”
Content: 38 severe injuries at 4 levels of severity (correlating to the 4 results on the Broken table in the core rules) with different results for different damage types
Writing: Visceral, vivid, and violent (obviously)
Art/design: Overall nice design; use of vivid yellow skulls to emphasize severity is a solid, well-devised feature
Usability: Very straightforward so you can focus on suffering from the wound instead of deciphering it
Deck of Treasures
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
Doorway to Blasphemy
Content: A Mörk Borg adventure and Slipgate into the world of Qvke Borg
Writing: Efficiently describes the many dynamic environmental effects and triggers the define Quake level design in text.
Art/design: Sickeningly detailed map with bold colors that emulate classic Quake texture. Clean text layout with efficient sidebars for each room.
Usability: Surprisingly self-contained, only the explosive rules require Qvke Borg to run. Excellent preview to the full Qvke Borg experience.
Escape the Dullahan
Concept: “When the dark rider calls, you have two choices: flee, or join the flight of the damned.”
Content: A deck-based randomized adventure; a creative concept and well executed
Writing: Clean, atmospheric writing with sharp imagery
Art/design: Excellent illustrations and layouts
Usability: Well-organized main sheet, and encounter stats on each card, and available in multiple formats to suit printing preferences
Every God Will Fall
Content: An varied assortment of divine (presumably) entities
Writing: Backstories and descriptions contribute genuine (often sympathetic) character
Art/design: Illustrations and other design elements equally contribute to characterization
Usability: Yes, please
Fisk Borg
Content: Primarily an optional rules supplement but also includes a new class, fishing gear, hirelings, and a sprawling aquatic bestiary
Writing: Knows that it’s a grimdark fishing simulator and revels in that
Art/design: Combines various image types and styles to create an eclectic visual character; text is laid out for easy reading and navigation
Usability: Absolutely packed with content, but the table of contents and graphic design make it easy to find what you’re looking for
Flails Akimbo
Content: An arena-style adventure with special mechanical conditions
Writing: A good balance of exposition and stats
Art/design: Brings a familiar but distinctive character to Mörk Borg’s aesthetic
Usability: Kill your way to freedom
Forbidden Psalm
Content: A full, stand-alone 28mm wargame based on (and compatible with) Mörk Borg
Writing: There’s a lot of it—which is necessary for a tactics game—but it’s straightforward and clear in its exposition
Art/design: A balance of familiar graphic and typographic maneuvers balanced with the technical clarity and readability demanded by a more complex system
Usability: A more methodical, strategically oriented game, but a good fit for fans of wargames and Mörk Borg
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.
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.