Review: Mork Borg

Welcome to the dying lands of Mork Borg (Swedish for Dark Fort). It's a scary place filled with all the Black Metal atmosphere you can handle. I had anticipated that Mork Borg would be a lethal dose of old school roleplaying and I was not disappointed. 

Presentation: The art and layout for this game is utterly mind-blowing. I was struck with amazement at how crisp and darkly beautiful all the art is. This is the doing of artist Johan Nohr and it's easy to say that this is some of the best rpg art and design that I've seen. The pages are somehow grim yet splashed with bright pinks, yellows, blues, and reds. The contrast between the morose black & white and the vibrant hues is a fantastic choice. Throughout the book, Johan also dabs in some silver foiling to further push that Metal vibe. As for the state of the book itself, it is high quality and well put together. They even change up the types of paper in the book to mingle in some of those old school zine vibes. Another great choice was to put helpful tables on the front and back covers that give you what you need to keep the game going smoothly.  It's all bound perfectly with a nice little ribbon and comes in an easily transportable 8.5x6 inch package.

Writing: Pelle Nilsson goes above and beyond to make Mork Borg an immersive world filled with apocalyptic dread and foreboding horror. The writing made me feel like I was enshrouded in necromantic darkness while delving into the pages of some horrid occult tome. It's ripe with profane delights and keeps you enamored all the way through the approx. 90 page read. I was especially interested in some of the monsters that Pelle had created for the game. These are not your typical D&D monsters my friends. These are pitch black horrors pulled straight from the Netherworld. Many of them have Morale ratings which characters have to roll against just by observing them. One of my personal favorites was the Lady Porcelain, which are vengeful undead children wrapped up to look like porcelain dolls. Very creepy! The book is finished off by a delightfully disturbing adventure called Rotblack Sludge. Along with the engaging authorship comes a set of rules that are simple and easily modified if the GM chooses to alter something. 

Conclusion: All in all, this is a fantastic game and I find very little that I can criticize. The only thing I will say is that I would've liked to have seen the author push the adult content envelope even more than he already did, but that's just my personal preference. 

Pros: Fantastic art & layout, very engaging authorship, easy to use system, and many convenient tables.

Cons: If you're squeemish about dark themes and grim aesthetics, then this might not be a good choice for you.