Support Ex Libris Mörk Borg on Patreon
Ex Libris Mörk Borg A directory of content, tools, and resources

Rules

Optional and alternative rules.

Dark Fortean Times: Pwdre Sêr

Concept: “( /pu/ – /dre/ – /ser/ ) 1. n. excrement of the stars 2. n. Star Jelly”
Content:
Apocalyptic options for alternative weather events
Writing:
Variously horrifying, bewildering, and humorous
Art/design:
A variety of visual styles in diverse and energetic layouts
Usability:
Straightforward on the GM side; player choice has a notably important influence on phenomena

Dashed Hopes & Twisted Pleasantries

Concept: “Need to give your players a small bit of hope or respite? Then roll on this table. Want to take away that hope? The event has an optional dark twist.”
Content:
12 light occurrences and ways to pervert their charm
Writing:
Well written with especially good comedic pacing and timing
Art/design:
A useable, visually interesting table with particularly fun guiding graphics
Usability:
Rolling a d10 is the easy part; deciding to crush the PCs’ souls a little bit more is the fun part

Dead Limbs

Concept: “Are you in need of another arm, leg, ear, or other bodily protrusion? Fear not!” 
Content: Replacement limbs, and what to do with them. Maybe also what they do to you.
Writing: Framed as research notes, compiled and annotated by a paranoid scvm.
Art/design: Anatomy study chic.
Usability: Intact and not too crazed. 

Death Is But a Doorway

Concept: “This set of rules bridges character death to a multitude of undead classes and fates worse than death.”
Content:
Why settle for a boring death when you can adopt a different class and get back in the game?
Writing:
Guides the player with a series of questions posed by a surprisingly sympathetic demon
Art/design:
Designed for easy use and readability; splashes of color add emphasis
Usability:
An excellent resource for matching fateful deaths with meaningful character (re)creation

Death Is Not an Escape!

Concept: “It isn’t your time. Rise revenant and roll for Death’s gift upon your first death.”
Content:
20 abilities that provide certain benefits and detriments
Writing:
Some creative concepts concisely expressed
Art/design:
Illustration and color lend an appropriate, on-brand character
Usability:
Just roll d20 to see what gift you bring back from beyond the grave

Death's Head at a Feast

Concept: “A new group of antagonists and a new ability for Mörk Borg player characters”
Content:
Includes a filthiness score mechanic, new sacred and unclean scrolls, and mechanics for rerolling failed tests (and additional effects for outcomes)
Writing:
Primarily devoted to mechanics but includes some introductory descriptive text
Art/design:
Text-heavy but stylized with blackletter (sometimes yellowletter) and some illustrations for macabre flavor
Usability:
Requires tracking an additional filthiness quantity, but the mechanics are simple

Deck of Consumption

Concept: “Use a deck of mundane cards to easily bring forth time’s suffering: hungering stomaches, extinguished lanterns, and wandering monsters.”
Content: Rules to measure time, light, and suffering—with a deck of cards.
Writing: Clear and flexible rules for time management. Alongside explanations of their consequences/benefits.
Art/design: A surprisingly content dead king presides over the whole presentation.
Usability: Requires a deck of playing cards. 

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 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

Deep Waters Run Deadly

Concept: “A tool for solo, gmless and on the fly dungeoneering involving moisture.”
Content: A moisture generator, d20 soggy denizens, fishing rules, d12 miserable fish, and treasures.
Writing: A generalized but descriptive style. Inspiring rather than dictating mechanics.
Art/design: A geometric and textured layout with tailored AI art.
Usability: A specific emulator for cruel and unusual bodies of water. 

Defiling the profane

Concept: “No more rules light. Now, only heavy.”
Content: Rules for stamina, staggering, and action economy in Mörk Borg
Writing: Interlocking mechanics incorporate new strategies and tactics.
Art/design: Splashes and grit accentuate a clean two-column layout.
Usability: Headers and italics establish a consistent hierarchy for reference. 

Demon Dog

Concept: “Sure, you had to make a PACT with a DEVIL, (or at least one of them..) But it’s worth it for revenge!”
Content: Dog creation, rules, monsters/NPCs, tables, and sheets for a medieval splatterpunk setting.
Writing: A mouthy, coarse, and irreverent style. A drunken mix of gutter and grave.
Art/design: A violently sharp visual style that separates many illustrative and textual elements.
Usability: Designed to pick up and play. Starting straight into character creation and working toward the setting. 

Dire Mutterings

9 contributors
Concept: “Spat out from the mouths of fools or collated from the cackling of the insane, this tome contains a myriad of lies, untruths and sheer fantasies for Mork Borg”
Content: A compilation of classes, encounters, items, rules, and an adventure.
Writing: Accumulated rumblings generally framed as folk wisdom, legends, and superstitions. 
Art/design: Vigorously variegated illustrations distress slabs of structured text 
Usability: A table of contents complements visually distinct entries assist navigation.  

Dread Nights

6 contributors
Concept: “Honest work for those with a death wish, a lack of fear, or just desperate enough to do anything.” 
Content: A standalone gaslamp era gothic horror expansion for Forbidden Psalm, including 15 creatures of the night, infections, and a gothic horror themed campaign of grisly nocturnal scenarios.
Writing: Familiar horror tales stalk just beyond the illumination provided by clear mechanics and crisp scenarios.
Art/design: An elegantly restrained palette of red, black, and white. Shadowed by macabre illustrations in a variety of styles.
Usability: Clear index, reliable sections, quick reference, roster sheets, and consistent formatting make it a utilitarian wargaming rulebook. 

Dual Wielding

Concept: “House ruling for dual wielding, simple and brutal”
Content:
Rules for attacking and defending with two weapons
Writing:
Delivers mechanics pretty efficiently
Art/design:
Nice adaptation of public domain art to Mörk Borg aesthetic
Usability:
“simple and brutal”

Dukk Börg

Concept: “As a hurricane, you approach the gates of Dukk Börg.”
Content: Includes optional rules for Clan and lineage, a thematic Miseries and classes, stats for monsters and NPCs, items, and descriptions of locations within the setting
Writing: Revels in mashing up cyclopean grimdark imagery with Duck lore
Art/design: The diverse typefaces and arrangement of graphic elements scream Mörk Borg while the illustrations combine that spirit with the whimsical grandeur of the works of Carl Barks and Don Rosa.
Usability: It may or may not fit with your vision of Mörk Borg, but it’s a gem in its own right.

Dïce Borg

Concept: “Completely remove all dice that are not d6 from the world’s Mörkiest Borg!”
Content:
Mechanics for playing using only d6(s)
Writing:
Clear explanation of some relatively complex dice mechanics
Art/design:
Condensed version includes some graphic stylization; main document uses clear, traditional design and layout fitting the content’s nature
Usability:
Includes quick-start bookmark as well as fully elaborated rules and tables; throwing knife not included

Eat, Prey, Kill

Concept: “When stomachs growl and there’s no inn in sight …”
Content:
Mechanics for hunting and whole ecosystems of prey
Writing:
Macabre imagery and characterizations help flesh out the nature of the Dying World
Art/design:
Illustrations provide additional character and spark GM interpretation
Usability:
Clean, straightforward layout supported by color and typographical choices

Ekstasis

Concept: “Dance! Dance because there is no tomorrow!”
Content: Dancing for omens.
Writing: Desperate mechanics capture the frenetic energy of ecstasy. 
Art/design: Text and visual elements suggest an out of body experience.
Usability: Best performed in a wide open space. 

Eldritch Elevations

Concept: “Blessed are the Powers granted to us by the Basilisks and Blessed are we by their use!”
Content:
20 options for critical success when using Powers
Writing:
Clear, concise descriptions of narrative and mechanical effects
Art/design:
Economical type choices; presentation emphasizes the textual subject
Usability:
Roll & read

Enemies Closer

Concept: “The price of doing business”  
Content: Faction mechanics, reputation, lore, and a scenario generator for Pharmagothica.
Writing: Some wild and thoroughly amusing factions to help/hinder your freelancers.
Art/Design: Classic art once again stands in contrast to a modern-day US bioweapons wasteland.
Usability: A functional, organized, and inspirational guide. Requires Pharmagothica.

Eskalating Eskatons

Concept: “Eskalating Eskatons ties the players’ spending of Omens to the Calendar of Nechrubel with a nifty rule and tracker.”
Content:
The number of omens spent gradually reduces the size of the die rolled on the Calendar
Writing:
Not wordy. Doesn’t need to be.
Art/design:
Provides visual cues for use in the full-graphic version and verbal instructions in the printer friendly version
Usability:
GM will need to keep careful count of omens used, but it’s obviously not a major chore

Familiars

Concept: “Bizarre-looking miniature human figures (homunculi) created from non-human biological matter”
Content:
Rules for creating and running familiars plus tables for names, communication, personality, specialties, food, death, name, and rarities
Writing:
Straightforward with some particularly humorous entries
Art/design:
Designed for easy usability and includes some illustrations as examples or inspiration
Usability:
Potentially useful and entertaining

Farewell to Arms REDUX (Ashcan Version)

Concept: “The Dying Lands have never been peaceful... Yet now, few would call that old world violent – not like this.”  
Content: A setting primer, sample adventure, and rules for playing Grvnt’s in the Dying Lands.
Writing: Clear introduction and tutorial to the alternate rules and setting, with guidance on where the complete game will expand upon them.
Art/Design: A colorful but simple layout, minimal but well-chosen art, designed for practical reference. 
Usability: Ready for war. Or at least a skirmish. 

Fiendish food & hunger-related madness

Concept: “‘A food and cooking related supplement ideal for the alimentation of the wretched... Recommanded by 9 out of 10 dead prophets” 
Content: Misery and eateries. Roadside meals for scvm, The Meat Cult, cooking on the trail, heartburn (and worse), mushrooms, supplements, a menu, and a fucking demon.
Writing: Highly stylized, specific, darkly funny. Designed to generate those memorably Miserable moments scvm know and love, and to let players embrace their awful characters. 
Art/design: Crammed with all the provisions they could muster. A smorgasbord of fonts, illustrations, and layout structures.
Usability: Stylized, yes. Legible, mostly. Organized... better than it first appears. 

Fight Like Hell

Concept: “Even möre ways to get your face chewed off!”
Content: Grazing attacks, improvised weapons, combat maneuvers, environmental attacks.
Writing: Detailed rules with included combat examples.
Art/design: Gritty spot illustrations and crisp type over spraypainted plaster.
Usability: For those moments where diplomacy fails you. 

FIRE

Concept: “Guidelines for starting, growing, and extinguishing fires. All on a 4x6 index card.” 
Content: More fuel for the fire.
Writing: A core usage-die-based fire tending mechanic, with flexible modifiers to (hopefully) prevent things spiraling out of control...
Art/design: Printed text in an index card format.
Usability: Distressed text effect requires reading with care. 

Fisk Borg

Concept: “An expansion that adds somber and ominous fishing”
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

Forth Comes Fire

Concept: “A short supplement about fire”
Content:
Rules for fire and its effects in combat (and afterward)
Writing:
Concisely conveys the expanded mechanics
Art/design:
Visually conveys the flame motif on every level
Usability:
A handy reference for general use or in special situations

Frost Fever

Concept:  
“‘The ability to speak to dead gods! 
The will to eat righteous guts! 
To study how long the fingers can shiver without nails!
And a frozen load of even more hypothermic fun!’
 
- A trustworthy Kergüs Mortician”
Content: Frost Fever and d12 frozen fatalities.
Writing: Frigid and frostbitten humor. Smooth as black ice.
Art/design: Glacial illustrations with icy blue accents.
Usability: Largely legible, but ice-blue sections may cause snow-blindness. 

Ghoulish Grin: Issue 1

Concept: “This is the Dying World, so it’s possible no one will notice the difference.”   
Content: "a tide of COSMIC HORROR upon the Dying World.” Two new classes, a magic domain, mutation mechanics, and Mythos Miseries.
Writing: Eldritch horror played for laughs. Surprisingly informed about the unknowable.
Art/design: A generous kaleidoscope of public domain horrors with a layout like frantic diary notes.
Usability: Available as both indescribable zine and plaintext edition. 

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

Glorious Undeath

Concept: “You are cursed, til death and beyond.” 
Content: Checkpoint mechanics, the Dying Land’s way.
Writing: A morbid flourish to structured rules text.
Art/design: Coarsely accented spot illustrations frame a title over crisp white text boxes.
Usability: Available in printer-friendly and yellow. 

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

Gravestone Graffiti

“d100 names, d66 honorifics and 2d6 origins … Print and bring it to the table. Your gravestone will thank you.”

Grinding the MMORKG

Concept: “Want to use Mork Borg modules as a virtual reality simulation in your Cy_Borg game? Or to give your Mork Borg players a taste of Cy?”
Content: Five interconnected dungeons bridging the gap between Mörk and Cy, rules for scvm conversion, sweet from rigs, and some sim-addicted punk.
Writing: A fluid and in-depth investigation that focuses on the politics of Cy and humorously subverts the core conceit of Mörk Borg.
Art/design: Deftly blends the visual style of both source material.
Usability: A well reference and stylized adventure text with self contained rules that are partitioned for easy reference.

GVix’s Mörktober 2023 – 31 Phantasmagoric Entries

Concept: "31 Phantasmagoric Entries”
Content: “A compilation of all my postcard-entries for Exeunt Press' MÖRKTOBER challenge”
Writing: An impish collection of grisly gifts, ghastly guests, and grim tables for rules and quests.
Art/design: Heavy-bordered postcards of inked and crosshatched illustrations in an array of bright uniform colors.
Usability: Available in individual postcard PDF, or advertisement spread png. 

Hast thou...

Concept: “Optional rules to decide when a character should be improved.”  
Content: Seven questions for seven Miseries. Rules to decide to Get better (or worse) by. 
Writing: Practical guidance on experience and encouraging the Miseries you want in your game.
Art/design: Spooky skeleton meditation. Simple and effective design.
AUsability: A print-friendly resource. 

Haunt the Bastards!

“You died, it's teribly sad, but not necessarily the end...”

Heralds of Doom

Concept: “A comet of unnatural hue hurtles across the sky… What strange fate does this harbinger of evil foretell?”
Content:
Tables of portents, prophecies, and potential solutions
Writing:
Copious apocalyptic imagery and some fun allusions
Art/design:
Color and typographical choices support the concept and writing
Usability:
Not to be confused with Harolds of Doom, an acapella metal quartet

Hexed Solo Rules to Die For

Concept: “an expansion to MÖRK BORG that allows players and Referees to randomly generate a hex crawl map to explore.” 
Content: Rules for hex map generation; tables for environs, weather, and encounters; creatures; three new scvm; and four void dieties.
Writing: Rules as preamble to hexes and tables full of misery fitting a Dying Land.
Art/design: Ornate headers for rules, plain headers for reference. Generated images in a variety of styles.
Usability: References Feretory, Heretic, and Solitary Defilement. Intended for use with a solo oracle. 

Horrible Wounds

vil

Concept: “Alternative death/ broken mechanics for Mörk Borg, including a simple way to deal with ‘sanity damage.’”
Content:
Includes wound types and categories, conditions, and rules for healing
Writing:
Straightforward instructions with vivid (and occasionally humorous) descriptions of wounds
Art/design:
Poster version includes more visual flourish while print version is more visually conservative and economical
Usability:
Printable version sacrifices visual character for easier readability on standard paper

Hovel of Miseries

Concept: “Life is short. Steal a fort.”
Content:
Events. Hirelings. Fortifications. Amenities. Renovations. Allies. Animals. Curses. Hooks. Taxes. Everything you need to run a stronghold.
Writing:
Atmospheric, informative, and witty
Art/design:
Graphically diverse, with efficient layouts and typographical choices
Usability:
Some related content isn’t in close proximity, but page gestalts and section headers make it easy to find what you’re looking for

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. 

Impending Doom

F&F
Concept: “A solution for a frequent critique and often reported problem.” 
Content: Solving dud combat rounds with the help of Miseries.
Writing: A simple mechanic, and some advice on its use.
Art/design: A pile of skulls beneath miserable yellow text on a black background.
Usability: Useable. 

Instrument of Agony

Concept: “the first draft of Mörk Borg torture rules and items.”
Content: Torture devices (and their prices), torture mechanics, torture tables, torturer “titles”, torture, torture, torture, and a shadowy fiend. 
Writing: As the above may suggest, less gratuitous and slightly more gonzo than it at first appears.
Art/design: A condensed torturer’s reference, with technical lithographic prints.
Usability: Flows elegantly down the page. Available in print-friendly, bloodied, or faded yellow. 

Into the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead

“My attempt to combine two of my favorite tabletop roleplaying games: Mörk Borg and Cairn.”

It Came from the West

Concept: “Fulfill the 4:3 Misery by interpreting dice rolled over the world map.”
Content:
Delivers on its promise and incorporates the dice’s spatial positions in addition to their numerical results
Writing:
Contains some excellent, atmospheric descriptions and some really clever mechanics for interpreting the rolls that include some ingenious metagame actions and consequences
Art/design:
A more traditional visual style and layout but still very on-brand and aligned with the content
Usability:
Must be printed unless you want to roll dice on your screen; in the latter case, I recommend heavy, sharp, pointy metal ones

IV:III

Concept: “A tiny system for MÖRK BORG when rolling 4:3.”
Content:
A blank map of the Dying Land to track the progress of the prophesied fires
Writing:
Includes instructions for use and a dire warning
Art/design:
Elegant and visually engaging in its contrasting aspects
Usability:
A clever material (rather than mechanical) tool
Loading next page...
Previous page Page 3 of 5 Next page