[Fanzine Focus XLIV] Börk Morgue

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another Dungeon Master and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. A more recent Old School Renaissance-style roleplaying game that fanzines are being based upon and inspired by is Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance retroclone designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing.

Börk Morgue Issue #666 is a fanzine for Mörk Borg, ‘An unofficial zine for a Dying World’ from GreysonWHY that contains a mix of options for both players and the Game Master. There is new arms and armour and combat options, new Powers, and new cultists and monsters as well as two new scenarios for the Game Master. The first of the two scenarios is ‘The Börk Morgue Cvlt’. The Player Characters dream of a book being consumed by flames over which stands a berobed figure with two heads beseeching them to destroy the book and free them from this reality. Until the Player Characters decide to act on this, they are doomed (as their Omen is penalised) and so they are drawn to the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead where a cult is hiding out in the forgotten town of Börk. Its headquarters are, of course, located in the Börk Morgue, and for the most part, the Börk Morgue cultists will welcome the Player Characters as they believe that the Player Characters will want to join up… Of course, the Player Characters are free to react however they want, but of course, this is a scenario for Mörk Borg, so absolutely is not going to be on the level. It is a solid enough affair with the clear layout that makes it easy to run from the page.

‘Fvcking with the Dice’ suggests ways to make the Advantage and Disadvantage mechanic of a great many contemporary fantasy roleplaying. It suggests that both Advantage and Disadvantage—as in rolling extra dice for bonuses and penalties—are too great an Advantage or Disadvantage. It suggests replacing the standard die with a larger or smaller dice as necessary, effectively a dice step mechanic in terms of bonuses and penalties, and goes so far as replacing the twenty-sided die with rolling two ten-sided dice instead to give a probably curve that flat increments. The piece is subtitled ‘a small essay that no asked for by yours truly’ and there is no denying the veracity of that claim. Ultimately this is a house rule explained and up to the Game Master whether she thinks it is a good idea and her players agree.

The house rules continue with ‘Heavy Metal Reforged’. These give cutting and impaling weapons advantage in terms of damage, but so does armour! For five times the cost, a weapon can be forged as fine and do extra damage. Blades do not break on a fumble, but can be dulled and lose any Advantage on damage, or be bent and twisted. It expands the different types of armour available, from light to extra-heavy, plus shields adding extra detail here throughout along with new weapons like the estoc, katar, and katana. A Player Character can also track down Svara the heretical blacksmith and convince her to stick some spikes on his armour. They inflict damage anyone who comes too close and is intimidating, so can influence any Moral check! This all adds detail and may come at the cost of playability. It depends on the group.

Of course, the Player Characters in Mörk Borg are going to get hurt, so the counterpart to ‘Heavy Metal Reforged’ is ‘Scars and Other Ways to Break’ adds scars and injuries to make it just a little more forgiving for them. Injuries of a different type are examined in ‘Dental Manvscript’, which perfect for the Game Master who wants dentistry in her Mörk Borg game. The teeth vary in type and effects depending upon if they are sewn, implanted, or even crushed! For example, ‘Deserter’s Fangs’, whether taken from the dead or the living, can be implanted to increase the damage of a Player Character’s bite attack or the crushed molars blown into the face an enemy to potentially give them Toothrot! This is a gruesome set of options, but perfect for Mörk Borg.

The monsters in Börk Morgue Issue #666 include the ‘Jabborgmörky’, inspired by the nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll, which also introduced the vorpal blade and a version of that, the Mörkal Sword, is included too. ‘Cultists of Dying Gods’ is less interesting, a list of cultists who adhere to the worship of the old gods, many of them former inquisitors still willing to torture heretics of all sorts—cultists and non-cultists—in the name of their faith. It adds the ‘Pstress’, or ‘psychic stress’, which is gained from being tortured or suffering other trauma, including encountering something truly horrible. Fortunately, the subject of torture is treated very broadly, and it applies only to NPCs, who instead use Morale. When a Player Character accumulates Pstress six points greater than his Presence, he suffers a penalty to any action taken against the source, but a bonus to resist any more Pstress. If he gains Pstress double this value, a Player Character can suffer a heart attack, fall into a coma, and so on. Thus, what we have here is actually the equivalent of a Sanity mechanic for Mörk Borg, which unfortunately has been given a clunky name. After the details of the Pstress mechanic, there are stats for various cultists with very little detail of the cults, so actually not that useful or interesting.

The world of Mörk Borg is doomed, but what if there was a chance that it could be forestalled, if only temporarily? ‘Seven Palms for Seven Psalms’ is a strange, but friendly encounter with a seven-armed, seven-headed figure with goat’s legs who offers to play games with the players and if they win, will stop the current Misery. Slightly mocking and knowing in tone, the games are played between the player and the Game Master rather than Game Master and Player Character, and if the player wins, the Misery is definitely delayed. There is some intentional metagaming going on here between the figure and the players, and the figure may reappear later to play for another Misery. Of course, the degree of metagaming means that if the figure is not around, it will probably be enjoying the company of another group of Player Characters and playing games with them. Reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal in which a medieval knight plays Chess with Death by way of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey in terms of tone.

Other worshippers of other dead gods sometimes find their longships washed ashore on the Dying Land from across the Endless Sea. ‘The Odic Force’ adds Vikings complete with Seafaring Priests, Seafaring Marauders, and Seafaring Berserkers as well as Rune-carved tablets of power which work in a similar fashion to scrolls, but neither unclean nor sacred. A raging, pillaging encounter for the Game Master to create with some strange magical effects to loot. Of course, if the Game Master wants to run a session or two in a which the Player Characters are the raiders, then she could have them discover the world of Mörk Borg whilst running Berserkr.

Börk Morgue Issue #666 switches tone and style for its second scenario, ‘Trapped in a Mauß Borg’, which is inspired by Mausritter – Sword-and-Whiskers roleplaying and a dash feline cosmic horror. What if some mutant mice, living in a tumbledown cottage in the woods, want to be free of having to sacrifice their own to Cathulhu and beseech the Player Characters to help, promising in return that they will be treated as gods? Defeating Cthulhu is not going to be a problem, but the fun comes afterwards when the Player Characters discover that they have a cult devoted to them, that they can bless their cultists, and that some of the mice want to go on a pilgrimage with them. The mice can only communicate via an obsidian pebble, but can remember a single Omen for their gods or collectively replace it with one of their own. The resulting situation is very silly, but brings some joyous absurdity to the world of Mörk Borg.

Lastly, ‘Hand of Zauberei’ is a red and black, lacquered gauntlet for the left hand, grimy and worn, infused with the collective stenches of decay, vomit, and sulphur, ready to be found in a treasure hoard. It promises the wearer great power if fed the souls of the undead. This is the ability to reach into the spirit realm and rip out the soul of a single enemy. Of course, the ‘Hand of Zauberei’ wants souls no matter what and will take the wearer’s if it can and take control of the wearer’s body. There is a guide too, for what happens if a Player Character decides to eat a soul. As you can imagine, the results are mostly bad. This is a delightfully nasty magical item and suits the setting of Mörk Borg luring the Player Characters with great power, but at potentially a great cost.

Physically, Börk Morgue Issue #666 is presented in the Artpunk style of Mörk Borg, but not to the usual degree of being challenging to read. Otherwise, it uses publicly-sourced artwork to good effect, whilst the cartography is bland. 

Börk Morgue Issue #666 is a Mörk Borg medley. It contains some solid content for the roleplaying game including two good scenarios—one of which is actually amusing—and some interesting rules options. Some of the latter are more useful than others, for example, the contents of ‘Heavy Metal Reforged’ likely to find its way into a game than the other articles. Overall, Börk Morgue Issue #666 is worth picking up and picking over to find the best bits.