The Other OSR: Creatures of the Dying World

Mörk Borg is not short of monsters. Since its publication in 2020, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing, has been supported by numerous third-party supplements and scenarios, which includes numerous new threats. The world of Mörk Borg is a dangerous, even lethal one with relatively little chance of survival for the Player Characters, so new monsters are always going to be useful. Primarily to confront the characters with foes that their players have never seen before, so in game such as Mörk Borg, a bestiary is invariably going to be useful. Creatures of the Dying World: A Bestiary by Jonny Bloozit #1 gives the Game Master some twenty-one monsters, parasites, magical constructs, lurkers, and other threats, all of which are presented in full, succulent colour. This is because they are written and drawn by the author and in some ways, Creatures of the Dying World: A Bestiary by Jonny Bloozit #1 is as much an artbook as much as it is a roleplaying supplement. There is a looming, lurking quality to the art style, often spattered with the muculent and malodorous mess of the midden. All of the entries get a full-page entry with the minimal stats of Mörk Borg monsters leaving plenty of room for the illustrations and the descriptive text. The latter varies in length from one entry to the next and places an emphasis on the folklore to the creatures described. Even this varies from one entry to the next. However, Creatures of the Dying World: A Bestiary by Jonny Bloozit #1 is no A Folklore Bestiary, The Merry Mushmen’s gold standard by which any Old School Renaissance or Old School Renaissance-adjacent bestiary must be measured. In fact, the folkloric elements are underwritten in place and the Game Master will need to extract them from the text rather than use them as written.

There are some common themes running through Creatures of the Dying World: A Bestiary by Jonny Bloozit #1. There are creatures from swamps and marshes and associated with filth and decay, such as the Bogmen which seek to suffocate, envelop, and digest its victim, but is immune to weapon damage, whilst the ‘Giant Leechworm’ is exactly what you think it is. The ‘Miasma’ is an evil spirit attracted to filth and decay and spreads diseases like the sniffles and the plague, whilst the ‘Plague Fly’ settles on carrion, fresh battlefields, and rubbish dumps in swarms, causing fever-like symptoms in those it bites and laying eggs in open wounds. Worm-like creatures are common too, such as the Cavern Worm that is like a deep sea tube worm that hides in crystalline tubes only to snap out and bite at its victims, The weirdest of the worms are the ‘Howling Worm’, a magical plant-human hybrid which howls and shrieks loudly when anyone comes near, so they are used as alarms much to the annoyance of anyone else living nearby. 

Not all of the entries in Creatures of the Dying World: A Bestiary by Jonny Bloozit #1 are simple foes that the Game Master can throw at his players and their characters. There is a version of the ‘Crystal Skull’ that is a combination of magical artefact and personality, containing the bound soul of a priest or herbalist who is not very happy about being so bound. Consequently, he is ill-mannered, angry, and contemptuous of the Player Characters, but might be persuaded to help. What is in no doubt is the Game Master will have fun portraying the unfortunate soul! The entry for ‘Dagon’ is really more illustration than description and adds little that is of use. The ‘Plague Doctor’ is an adaptation of the seventeenth century figure that sought to treat the bubonic plague, both as NPC and Player Character. It is suggested that the towns and cities setting of the Dying World are home to many Plague Doctors, who attempt cures through bloodletting, which can be dangerous if failed, and similarly use magical cures to shorten illnesses, though such an attempt will lengthen the illness if the attempt fails. In comparison to other Classes for Mörk Borg, this is underwritten, but there is perhaps scope for development.

Creatures of the Dying World: A Bestiary by Jonny Bloozit #1 is a slight affair at just twenty-one entries and sparse descriptions for too many of them. Similarly, the emphasis upon folklore in the entries veers towards the meagre rather than the substantial, and in places, that lack gives less for the Game Master to work with and work into her campaign setting. And whilst there is no denying the effectiveness of the artwork in Creatures of the Dying World: A Bestiary by Jonny Bloozit #1, it cannot wholly make up for the underwritten nature of some of the bestiary’s entries. Creatures of the Dying World: A Bestiary by Jonny Bloozit #1 does not wholly suffer from a case of style over substance, but the Game Master is likely to want to develop some of that substance herself to make fuller use of the bestiary.

Miskatonic Monday #413: The Phantom of Gloaming Thicket

Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition is a curated platform for user-made content. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—

Name: The Phantom of Gloaming Thicket

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Andy Miller

Setting: Dark Ages Britain

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Forty-four-page, 41.17 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise

If you go down in the woods today, you better go in disguise”

—Henry Hall, Teddy Bear’s Picnic

Plot Hook: No matter if you are going north or south, there is horror to be found on the other side of the Watford Gap.

Plot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Investigators, seven NPCs, eight handouts, two maps, some Mythos and other monsters, and two artefacts.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Inspired by B10 Night’s Dark Terror

# Side-trek for Cthulhu Dark Ages

# Includes advice to adapt to other eras and settings

# Easy to slip into a campaign

# Easy to prepare

# Catoptrophobia

# Hylophobia

# Scoleciphobia

Cons

# From its size, the Keeper may be expecting more

Conclusion

# Extended ‘things in the woods’ encounter

# Very serviceable addition to any Cthulhu Dark Ages campaign (and other campaigns with some effort)

The Other OSR: Candle

The Player Characters know that they are in trouble when they appear somewhere different than to where they were. The Player Characters know that they are in trouble when they appear somewhere to the stench of incense, blood, and burnt hair, and the sounds of screams echoing around the high-vaulted ceiling of the room lit by blood red candles. The Player Characters know that they are in trouble when they appear in a summoning circle, one marked with lines filled with salt and powdered silver, and two of the five cultists in the room dead on the floor, their throats cut. The Player Characters know that they are in trouble when they appear somewhere and towering over them is a devil, skin like blackened iron, his horns craping the ceiling, and steam rising from every one of his pores. He is looking down on them and he is furious. As well as knowing that they are in trouble, the Player Characters have no idea where they are, how they got there, and even if there is a way out of where they are, let alone the reason why the devil is angry at them. And they definitely have no idea that the situation they are in is entirely their own fault.

This is the set-up for Candle: A Reverse Dungeon Crawl. Published by Loot the Room, this is a scenario for Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. Although the scenario can be run at almost any time, it actually requires a bit more set-up, ideally in several adventures run before Candle. This is because of the ‘candle’ of the tile, which is what puts them in their new and terrifying situation. The candle, or Taper, consists of two feet of thin, twisted wax with a goat’s hair wick. When lit it provides light equivalent to a candle visible to the person holding and anyone touching the wielder. Although it burns with the strong smell you would expect from burning hair, the wax never melts and the candle burns indefinitely, and its light is only visible to the wielder and those touching him. The intent is that Player Characters get used to benefiting from it, being able to move in the dark without being seen—although the smell will be a giveaway. At which point, the Game Master runs the scenario and the Player Characters suffer the unforeseen consequences of the Taper’s use and origins.

The devil’s name is Gomduloch. Not only does he hate being summoned, he thinks the Player Characters are somehow connected to his being summoned, and now he hates them. Having butchered some cultists—and definitely willing to butcher more—he is coming for the Player Characters. So not only do the Player Characters have to find their way out of a dungeon filled with cultists, dead bodies, roaming imps and devils, and all the perversity and horrors you would expect of a cultists’ lair, but they have to do that whilst being chased by a very angry devil.

The scenario begins in what would be the last room in any other dungeon, the room where the summoning would be about to take place were this any other dungeon. Then it proceeds to present its rooms backwards, from thirty-three counting down to one, and the exit. Divided over two Levels, one above ground, the other below, the dungeon is relatively linear, but instead of the Player Characters going in and discovering its secrets as they get to towards the end of the dungeon, here they begin by discovering those secrets on the way out. There are plenty of secrets to be found and discoveries to be made. The secrets will help the Player Characters, often to withstand, at least temporarily, the influence and reach of Gomduloch, whilst the discoveries tend towards the gruesome. What else would you expect though, it is a scenario for Mörk Borg after all. The challenge, ultimately, is to discover a way to banish Gomduloch and get away. In the case of Candle, survival is its own reward, so the players and their characters should expect very little reward beyond that.

Physically, Candle: A Reverse Dungeon Crawl is well presented. Each location is given a one-page description and the map for the relevant Level is also included on the two-page spread. Bar the Taper itself, there is no artwork in the book. The only issue with the presentation is in the choice of fount for the sidebars, which is too fine and too light to be read with any ease.

Reverse dungeons are not new. In most cases, they set up the Player Characters as prisoners and expect them to escape their confinement, making them about breaking out, not breaking in, but others flip the dungeon by making the Player Characters the monsters not the heroes. Reverse Dungeon, published by Wizards of the Coast in 2000 is an example of the latter, whilst Escape from Astigar’s Lair, published by Judges Guild in 1980, is an example of the former. Of course, Candle: A Reverse Dungeon Crawl is definitely an example of the former, but given the nature of the Player Characters in Mörk Borg, it could also be argued as being an example of the latter. That said, as much as the Player Characters are monstrous in Mörk Borg, they face worse monsters in Candle.

The problem with Candle: A Reverse Dungeon Crawl is the Taper. The Game Master has to set the scenario by luring the Player Characters not only into finding it, but also using it and coming to love. Without that, the scenario is far less effective. There is no advice for the Game Master to ease or overcome that problem. Nevertheless, once set-up, Candle: A Reverse Dungeon Crawl opens with a bang and keeps the horror going with the desperate Player Characters going to be so glad to have escaped their imprisonment in the cultists’ lair, let alone the anger of Gomduloch!

The Other OSR: The Thing from the Swamp

On the edge of civilisation lies Lake Onda, pregnant with rain, its waters ready to break. Already, they gulp at its banks, choking the earth and saturating the trees and the plants and subsuming them into a mire that spreads and spreads. The inhabitants of the surrounding villagers eke out what life they can, drowning from the moment they were born on the hot, moist air, never knowing the comfort of a respite from the rot and the stench. The lucky few escapes to a life of poverty elsewhere, free of their sodden origins. The unlucky few falls prey to a coalescence of mouldering vegetation and undergrowth into a brain sparked into life by the violent storms that wrack the skies above the lake, its only feeling being one of hunger. The villagers only know it to be something foul and want it ended. King Fathmu’s royal biologist wants a cutting from the creature for his gardens. Some have had visions of a nascent godling born in the swamps and know they would be well rewarded were they to nurture and protect it to its intended status. There is said to be a temple in the swamp with an entrance to the underworld where great riches lie ready for the taking. The right flowers of the swamp can be harvested for useful remedies.

This is the set-up for The Thing from the Swamp. Published by Loot the Room, this is a scenario for Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. The scenario focuses not on the swamp, but on the remains of a building that has slumped into the swamp and what lies underneath its cracked roof. This is a complex of rooms dedicated to researching and testing the creature that lives in the fetid caves beyond, that with the building’s collapse have succumbed to the stagnant waters of the swamp, the walls pierced with tough roots and dripping slime and mould, the air thick with spores ready to infest the lungs.

The remnants of the research and experimentation can be found throughout the complex, but they are not the only things to be found in the waterlogged ruins. There are riches to be recovered—but this is a scenario for Mörk Borg, so not very much, and the fabled flowers to be harvested, but there are also signs of Frankenstein-like experiments too and encounters with various parties with an interest in the creature, perhaps to capture it, perhaps to kill it, and there is also a worshipper of the creature, bidden to tend unto godhood. Most of these will be encountered at random. Perhaps the strangest thing that the Player Characters will find is ‘The Walker’, a mobile mecha suit powered by a human heart, which could be used to attack the creature, but is almost as dangerous to operator as it is to anyone it attacks.

As atmospheric as The Thing from the Swamp is, it is poorly set up. Like other scenarios for the Old School Renaissance, it is designed for emergent play, but it suffers from emergent comprehension too. In other words, the elements of the story that can come into play as the Player Characters explore the complex, also emerge as the Game Master reads the scenario. This is poor design that hinders the Game Master’s preparation efforts. The Game Master should have been given this information upfront as a necessity. However, the technological elements of the scenario, including the obvious signs of pseudo-scientific research being conducted in the complex and ‘The Walker’, make the scenario far more flexible than one would think. Of course, it is easy to plonk almost anywhere remote on the island of Tveland, the default setting for Mörk Borg, but with adjustments, The Thing from the Swamp could work just as well with CY_BORG or Pirate Borg.

Physically, The Thing from the Swamp is well presented. There are some nice touches away from the scenario such as its content warnings being presented as The British Board of Film Classification film classifications from the 1970s. Away from this, the layout is clean and tidy with the map presented on each two-spread marked with the locations being described. It is light on artwork, but the descriptions make up for that. It does need an edit though.

The Thing from the Swamp is an atmospherically soggy dungeon whose secrets will emerge as the Player Characters explore, though they should have been signposted earlier for the Game Master. It otherwise is a classic self-contained dungeon for Mörk Borg, easy to add to a campaign or run on its own.

The Other OSR: Vast Grimm – Space Raiders

It has been over six hundred years since the First Prophecy of Fatuma came to pass. The SIX, the Disciples of Fatuma, who following the prophecies put down in the Book of Fatuma, made a pilgrimage to the Primordial Mausoleum of THEY and deployed the Power of Tributes to decrypt the Mystical Lock sealing the Mausoleum. It was then that the They drew in the stale air of the Mausoleum, becoming one with the THEY and breathing out the parasites. The Six scattered, bringing the word and the infection of THEY to every corner of the ’verse. Then the Gnawing began. The parasites of THEY gnawed their way out of the infected. They spread. They gnawed their way out of planets. They spread. The infected split open. The planets split apart. Now mankind clings to life, looking out for any signs of THEY or hiding it inside them in the hope that it never erupts and spreads… The Earth is gone. Shattered into large pieces. There are places and planets where the remnants of Mankind survive, squabbling over resources and power, fearing the parasitical infectious word of THEY, but not without hope. There are whispers of a means to escape the end of this universe by entering another, one entirely free of THEY. It is called the Gate of Infinite Stars. Yet time is running out. The First Prophecy of Fatuma came to pass and so has every other Prophecy of Fatuma since. Except the last Seven Torments. Will the last Seven Torments come to pass and allow the Würms and the Grimm to consume the ’verse and with it, the last of Mankind? Or will the lucky few find their way to the Gate of Infinite Stars and at last be free of the Würms and the Grimm in a better, brighter future? That is, of course, if everyone fleeing through the Gate of Infinite Stars is free of the gnawing…

This is the set-up for Vast Grimm. Published by Infinite Black, it is a pre-apocalypse Science Fiction roleplaying game compatible in tone and structure with Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. In the near unspeakable horrors of the future that is Vast Grimm, the survivors do what they can to survive, banding together as Legions that can work together to explore what remains of the galaxy, scavenge what they can, deal with emerging threats to survivors, and all as long as they can until they and the survivors can flee this universe. Not all choose to join a Legion. Instead, they band together to raid other survivors, to plunder and pillage what remains of civilisation, to salvage what they can, and survive in whatever way they can—and that way is not always humane or even necessarily human. They are not Legion. They are Space Raiders!

Vast Grimm: Space Raiders introduces a new way to play Vast Grimm—Factions! To go with the Factions, it adds new Classes and then it adds a galactic hexcrawl, as well as presenting a history of Space Raiders. The Space Raiders of old mostly picked through the wreckage of failed colonies and stations, with only a few groups being more sinister and vicious. That changed with the Prophecies of Fatuma coming to pass and the infection of THEY beginning to spread. The nastier, more rapacious groups have grabbed their own territories and only in recent times have their ships been seen beyond their borders. It cannot be too long before they are fighting. There is a map in Vast Grimm: Space Raiders onto which the Game Master place the factions. The new Classes are the Brutal Savage, the Merciless Mercenary, the Plunderluster, and the Salty Dog, whilst the Factions are the Claws of Doom, Cybersharks, Killer Clowns, Greyskrulls, Jolly Dodgers, Reapers, and Revenants.

The Brutal Savage is almost soulless, but very ferocious scoundrel. Strong and tough, he may have been a survivor who would have starved had he not eaten the flesh of his dead comrades or was thrown into an airlock by her mother before she and the colony he grew up on became one of The Grimm. ‘Skillz’ might be having ‘Gangrenous Goo’ for an arm that feeds on his arm, but can also rots away at anything that it touches, or he might have a stare so worthy of the Abyss that it saps morale. What morals the Merciless Mercenary had have long since been replaced by greed, having either been maltreated by Shit King Saule once too often and grown tired of being his muscle or dreams nightly of a display tank of decapitated heads that with enough credstiks will be his. Strong and menacing, his ‘Skillz’ might be good with building bombs or as a natural troublemaker, whether it is his attitude or the smirk on his cut up face, he attracts attention at the start of every fight, giving his allies an advantage. The Plunderluster does everything with a swagger. Graceful and charismatic, he either grew up in a troupe of traveling performers, stealing as they performed, or is actually a service bot, reprogrammed to talk like a pirate! His ‘Skillz’ might be that everything he does is done with flair, increasing his Critical roll range, or that his Grimm Compass has been hacked to spin wildly when The Grimm are near! The Salty Dog grew up a raider, perhaps after having been found by raiders abandoned in an escape pod and not eaten or even thirteen years ago, was teleported from an ancient festival where he was dressed and acting like a pirate into this hell of a future and has yet to work out if he is actually hallucinating. His ‘Skillz’ include being able to talk to ships and thus has a bonus to repair or modify them or is a skilled pillager and has a bonus on scavenging.

These are just some of the options for each Class, but all four play around with a combination of the classic pirate figure and the space pirate or raider a la the film Serenity. So, some are of a more brutal and nastier nature than others, the Brutal Savage and the Merciless Mercenary versus the Plunderluster and the Salty Dog. Vast Grimm is a bleak, often savage setting, and all four Classes fit its ‘Grim Dark’ post-apocalyptic future. Of course, it is up to the Game Master to decide whether they fit the game she is currently running, but all are going to require mature players.

All seven Factions are given a quick description, some Netwürk Chatter about them that can be speculative, partially proven, or cross-reference, and some further details that can include sample NPCs and crew descriptions as well as equipment. The Claws of Doom is an all-MAnchiNE raider Faction whose members replace a single arm with a strong claw and are led by DOOM-1, whose has replaced his other with a pincer, the crevices of his cyberware filled with dried blood. The Cybersharks crew ships which attack other ships with tentacles and replace their jaws with metal mandibles. The Killer Clowns want to make the ’Verse more colourful and wear clown masks and carry brightly coloured balloon animals filled with toxins on balloon belts, lead-filled rubber chickens, or squirting flowers that shoot acid! They even know the Collapsible Clown Car Tribute that miniaturises a starship and kills everyone aboard. This is intentionally, absurdly silly and are even available as a Space Raider subclass which replaces the ‘Skillz’ of another Class.

The Greyskrulls are former reapers, sympathetic to The Grimm, but with only a couple of known Crew detailed, are under described and developed, as are the Jolly Dodgers, a faction of smugglers lead by a captain known as Princess pain for her capacity to withstand torture at the hands of Shit King Saule. In comparison to the other Factions, there is not a lot of flavour to them and the Game Master will need to develop the Netwürk Chatter a little harder to attract the attention of his Legionnaires. The Reapers are the oldest Space Raider Faction and are infected by The Grimm, whilst the Revenants are led by Captain Sully Bloodbeard, who was vented by his crew over three centuries ago and returned as a Void Revenant, occupying one body after another, his remains hidden deep within the Graveyard where the best wreckage can be found!

The Revenants are the target in the hexcrawl adventure included in Vast Grimm: Space Raiders. The Player Characters’ Legion is hired (or bullied) by a Space Raider Faction to search the Graveyard for the remains of Captain Sully Bloodbeard or Shit King Saule levies a bounty on Captain Sully Bloodbeard’s ship, the Revenant’s Revenge. Collect either, or even both, and the Legion gets plenty of credstiks, a possible ally, and an even greater reputation. Deckplans are given for the Revenant’s Revenge as are a set of tables for generating the ships—including their type, condition, and what might be found aboard—within the Graveyard and the location of Captain Sully Bloodbeard’s remains. This can be run as a procedural adventure on the go or prepared by the Game Master, perhaps with access to Vast Grimm: Space Cruisers to provide expanded detail about the ships found in the Graveyard, and ultimately brings the Player Characters up against a major faction in the major Vast Grimm universe that will likely end in an epic battle aboard the Revenant’s Revenge.

Lastly, Vast Grimm: Space Raiders details some extra Tributes besides Collapsible Clown Car and some Space Raider Mods such as Black Flag and Plank Walker. A set of tables also provides plenty of Space Raider booty for the Player Characters to loot.

Physically, Vast Grimm: Space Raiders adheres to the Artpunk aesthetic of both Vast Grimm and Mörk Borg, with its use of vibrant, often neon colours and heavy typefaces. It looks amazing, a swirling riot of colour that wants to reach out and infect everything, but where the core rules were not always the easiest to read, the simplicity of the content in this supplement make it easier to read and use.

Vast Grimm: Space Raiders sends the Vast Grimm universe off in another direction, piratical at the very least, but likely even grimmer than Vast Grimm. This is a sourcebook of Space Raider adversaries, but also a sourcebook for roleplaying Vast Grimm as even more self-interested space bastards than usual. The latter probably lends itself to a shorter, one-shot scenario or campaign than the former, but either way, Vast Grimm: Space Raiders makes the Vast Grimm universe an even grimmer—and with the addition of the Killer Clowns (from outer space)—sillier future.

—oOo—

The Kickstarter campaign for Vast Grimm – Escaping Stasis, a starter set and expanded rules can be found here.

The Other OSR: Three Weeks In The Streets

Galgenbeck is the last refuge of humanity and the last refuge of all in the land of Tveland. As the seas rise, the crops fail, wars continue without reason, the dead walk, plague runs rampant, the burden of taxes weighs heavier on all, and the peasantry seek help and succour within the walls of the city. Perhaps from the Shadow King, King Sigfúm, perhaps from the church of the Two-Headed Basilisks, its cathedral in Galgenbeck dedicated to the god Nechrubel and headed by the arch-priestess Josilfa. Both king and priestess heed the prophecies of the Two-Headed Basilisks that the herald the end of the world and are slowly becoming true. What happens though if the city itself is cursed, or worse, infested? What will authorities do to prevent the spread of the infestation beyond its walls? How will those trapped inside cope with increasingly limited supplies of food and water survive? Will law and order hold, or will the city descend into mob rule? When arch-priestess Josilfa declares Galgenbeck to be infested with the Mind Parasites, the city is closed and ringed by the implacable soldiery of the king’s Shadow Guard, and the city’s thousands of inhabitants, rich and poor, are trapped within its walls—the Player Characters amongst them. How will the Player Characters survive Three Weeks In The Streets?

Three Weeks In The Streets describes itself as a city-prison scenario for use with Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and also published by Free League Publishing. Published following a successful Kickstarter campaign,it even comes with its own official playlist to provide a soundtrack and begins with an encounter or two on the way to the city. It kicks off with the official announment made by the town crier, that the mind parasite is spreading and the arch-priestess has ordered the city closed. What do the Player Characters do? Do they try to fight or sneak their own way past the king’s Shadow Guard, the chance of being successful being very doubtful? They must try to find ready supplies of food and water, and every day the mob grows—and may even absorb the Player Characters—fuelled by truths and rumours that spread as surely and as quickly as the mind parasites. They are likely to encounter some of the worst and the best of Galgenbeck’s citizenry, those not wealthy enough to lock themselves up in their fortified and guarded mansions. One day after another takes on a regular pattern, of dread as yet another day dawns, of doom as night falls. As the rumours swirl and food and water supplies dwindle, the inhabitants of the city grow desperate and the tension rises, the collective stress and anxiety threatens to explode into mass hysteria. And then…

Only the first week of Three Weeks In The Streets is meant to be played out in this fashion and then it is meant to jump two weeks to the conclusion of the quarantine. By this time, the Player Characters, as well as everyone else in the city, is starving and dehydrated, but it is now that the arch-priestess Josilfa decides to step out of the Cathedral of the Twin Basilisks and deliver her judgement upon the people of Galgenbeck. It is as monstrous as you would expect.

The process is handled through an array of tables that explain survival and foraging, the waxing and waning of the mob and its mentality—gloriously depicted above a depiction of a mob a la Les Misérables, rumours and truths, events by day and by night, cover ‘Red-Eyed Rowdiness’ and ‘Drunken Debauchery’, and more. The events by day—the ‘Daily Dread’—may be as simple as the Church distributing food (with a chance of violence) or as horrible as citizens being dragged by their hair, screaming, to the town circle for execution, whilst those for the night—the ‘Daily Doom’—might see the mob breaking into the city stores for food or younglings being sold for food or labour, and a malaise sets over the city. ‘Mass Hysteria’, when it breaks out, is worse and ranges from the town burning for five days to the mob scouring entire city for personal items that it is sure is infested with the Mind Parasites.

The advice for the process is explained at the end of the scenario. This notes the fact that NPCs are likely to fall victim to group-think and that there are various factions that the Player Characters can take advantage of or ally with. The mob is described as a looming threat, one that the Player Characters can only avoid for so long. Similarly, there is advice too on what to do if the Player Characters simply decide to hunker down and try to wait it out with the supplies they have. Also detailed are various NPCs and creatures that threaten the city under lockdown, including the Shadow King’s Guard and Clerics of Josilfa Migol, plus the Galbeckian Pale Ones that do not understand why they might be blamed for the Mind Parasite infestation, Nerhrubel’s Rats that steal items (including those of the Player Characters), Wolves that specifically gather to prey on the weak, and more. Above it all are the bells of the cathedral, rung daily by Josilfa Migol, as she curses the city!

Three Weeks In The Streets is a toolkit that turns all of Galgenbeck into a prison in which the guards are as much inmates as the Player Characters and the rest of the city’s inhabitants. It has an incredible sense of uncertain, but still escalating calamity and probable rather than potential doom as the mob swirls in and out of the rumours and truths that ripple back and forth. It requires an experienced Game Master since it is not quite as tightly procedural as it could have been. That said, because it is not as as tightly procedural as it could have been, there is room for the Game Master to add her own content. Some of the scenarios or content which could be used in conjunction with Three Weeks In The Streets includes The God of Many Faces mini-hexcrawl and the various NPCs from Strange Citizens of the City, which could be woven in and around the events already outlined.

Physically, Three Weeks In The Streets apes the Artpunk style of Mörk Borg, but without overwhelming the look or legibility. The choice of artwork is appropriate and the result is that Three Weeks In The Streets is a decent looking scenario.

Three Weeks In The Streets is executed in a slightly chaotic fashion, so it is not quite as easy to run from the page as it could be. Nevertheless, Three Weeks In The Streets is a genuinely original and clever idea for Mörk Borg, giving the Game Master everything necessary to run a city-wide prison riot and have the Player Characters try to survive starvation, paranoia, and mass hysteria!

The Other OSR: They Came From The Necropolis

They Came From The Necropolis is supplement for Forbidden Psalm and Forbidden Psalm: End Times Edition is a miniatures game published by Space Penguin Ink. It is a 28 mm skirmish level miniatures game playable with just five miniatures per warband per player and as a systems-agnostic setting, those miniatures can be from any range and publisher. It is also notable for a number of things. First, its background means that it is compatible with Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. That means that Player Characters from the roleplaying game can be converted for use with Forbidden Psalm and with a bit of effort, content for Forbidden Psalm, could be adapted to Mörk Borg if a more physical, combative game is desired. Or the Game Master and her players want to scale their game up to handle skirmish encounters on a battlefield rather than in the theatre of the mind.

They Came From The Necropolis is a short affair that provides further additions to the dark and dirty world of Forbidden Psalm. The danger of conflict is a constant threat and every incident of conflict is brutal and uncaring, with few surviving such occurrences unscathed. Yet for the right amount of coin there are some that will enter the employ of others. Mercenaries or sellswords, they can join a warband and serve until the task they have been hired for is complete. Their advantage is that they bring their own equipment, but they will jealously guard it as it represents their livelihood, their capacity to go from one job to another. In game terms, what this means is that a mercenary can be hired for 25 gp and will replace a member of a warband at least temporarily. The mercenary does not have to be outfitted, but will not share or drop his own gear.

The supplement describes and gives stats for twelve such mercenaries. Each not only comes with his equipment, but also details of a feat, a flaw, and a special aspect. They include Pigmen, a Duke, a warrior, Knights, a Falconer, the Wounded, an Alchemist, a Zealot, a Bombardist, Necropolis Priests, Village Heroes, and a Knight and Retainer. For example, the Feat for Warrior lets her player roll two dice and take the better result, but the Flaw of never leaving combat, and the Special of granting a bonus to Melee to other members of the warband, whilst the Wounded has the Feat of being hard to kill and takes less damage with each hit, and the Flaw that when he is downed and gets back up, his Toughness increases, and the Special that he is cheap to hire. What is really is that the combination of the Feat, the Flaw, and the Special builds character in each mercenary, adding a little story potential as well as making them different to play. For example, the Village Heroes have the Feat of ‘Defenders of the Innocent’ which gives them a bonus to damage to monsters and a Flaw of being ‘Untrained’ and suffer a penalty to attack rolls, but their Special is that if they kill a monster, they lose the flaw.

The supplement also includes a ready list of names to give the mercenaries and details one monster. This is the Horse Head Knights, which of course, have the head of a horse, are immune to darkness conditions, and are undying. There is a chance that when they are killed, that they will return to life with full Hit Points!

Physically, They Came From The Necropolis is decently presented, with only a hint of the artpunk styling of Mörk Borg. Most of the mercenaries are given a page each which includes their stats and an illustration, which is that of a fully painted miniature (drawn from the Black Crab Miniatures! range). These are very nicely done, the Pigmen having a beady-eyed porcine face, the Wounded limping along on a stick with his right leg capped at the knew, Necropolis Priests possessing a certain creepiness.

They Came From The Necropolis is a solid expansion for Forbidden Psalm. The stats and mercenaries are quick and easy to add to a warband and each one is interesting enough to make play just that little bit different for the single session or battle, they are hired for.

The Other OSR: Vast Grimm – Blood Altared

It has been over six hundred years since the First Prophecy of Fatuma came to pass. The SIX, the Disciples of Fatuma, who following the prophecies put down in the Book of Fatuma, made a pilgrimage to the Primordial Mausoleum of THEY and deployed the Power of Tributes to decrypt the Mystical Lock sealing the Mausoleum. It was then that the They drew in the stale air of the Mausoleum, becoming one with the THEY and breathing out the parasites. The Six scattered, bringing the word and the infection of THEY to every corner of the ’verse. Then the Gnawing began. The parasites of THEY gnawed their way out of the infected. They spread. They gnawed their way out of planets. They spread. The infected split open. The planets split apart. Now mankind clings to life, looking out for any signs of THEY or hiding it inside them in the hope that it never erupts and spreads… The Earth is gone. Shattered into large pieces. There are places and planets where the remnants of Mankind survive, squabbling over resources and power, fearing the parasitical infectious word of THEY, but not without hope. There are whispers of a means to escape the end of this universe by entering another, one entirely free of THEY. It is called the Gate of Infinite Stars. Yet time is running out. The First Prophecy of Fatuma came to pass and so has every other Prophecy of Fatuma since. Except the last Seven Torments. Will the last Seven Torments come to pass and allow the Würms and the Grimm to consume the ’verse and with it, the last of Mankind? Or will the lucky few find their way to the Gate of Infinite Stars and at last be free of the Würms and the Grimm in a better, brighter future? That is, of course, if everyone fleeing through the Gate of Infinite Stars is free of the gnawing…

This is the set-up for Vast Grimm. Published by Infinite Black, it is a pre-apocalypse Science Fiction roleplaying game compatible in tone and structure with Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. Yet there is news of an incident that threatens the future of the survivors even as the ’Verse is abuzz with word of another Torment about to come to pass. Doctor Hellina Hazel, lead quantum scientist working on the Gate of Infinite Stars, has been kidnapped! Although multiple factions have claimed responsibility, the abductors have been identified as members of an elite sect of the Devout. Worse, rumours over the Netwürk suggest that she has been transported to the Mausoleum of They where she will be sacrificed to a giant würm. Without Doctor Hazel’s knowledge, the likelihood is that the Gate of Infinite Stars will never be completed and thus all hope will be lost for mankind.

This is the set-up for Vast Grimm – Blood Altared, a scenario and setting supplement that expands the future depicted in Vast Grimm. The setting is the planet of K2-116B, a bare red-oxide rock renowned for its highly toxic atmosphere. The kidnapping of Doctor Hazel is not necessarily the only reason for the Player Characters to make the trip to the hellhole that is K2-116B—several other reasons are given, which makes the journey much more personal. These can be backed up with Netwürk chatter, but either way, the Player Characters find themselves on a Fatumite colony at the foot of the monolithic Mausoleum of THEY, surrounded by a Rotting Forest. Guile or stealth is required to get past the Devout of the colony and climb the giant würm bones of the tower temple. This is a race against time, a brutal brawl and trawl against fanatics dedicated to preventing anyone from stopping their divine purpose from coming to pass. Should the Player Characters fail, the ramifications are quite literally colossal and campaign changing… The Mausoleum of THEY is linear in structure, and so straightforward to run. Ultimately, the play of the scenario will vary upon how the players and their characters decide to approach it, stealth or out and out attack…

Interestingly, there is another way of running the scenario—and that is defence. There is no scenario for this given in Vast Grimm – Blood Altared, but it is difficult to imagine quite what to do otherwise with the new options for Player Characters given in the supplement. They include the Devoibot, reprogrammed to protect the Fatumites on K2-116B, though they are actually quite cynical about doing so. The character type includes reason why the Devoibots are on the planet and suggest skills such as a Big Databrain which has greater knowledge of THEY, a Blaster Bot with the blaster in its hand, or a Jammer Jaw that emits a high frequency signal that blocks all nearby electronics. The Disciplined Devout is a host to a würm and so might be able to smell the blood of those also infected by the würm, gain a temporary adrenal boost, or have it act as a back brace to increase his armour. The Rotter are descendants of the early missionaries who came to the poisonous world of K2-116B who are inured to its toxic environment, but must take and imbibe the red oxide of the world with them to survive. The Rotter might have toxic spores in his lungs that he can cough at others, an understanding of Tributes so deep that he might be able to understand encrypted tributes, or even possess his father’s skull and talk to it for advice! The Sword of Fatuma is a trained soldier of THEY, who might be tough as nails and survive situations that would kill others, wear a gauntlet made from the plated skull of a würm and bearing the mark of Fatuma, and possess battery-powered that make his eyes shine in a bioluminescent blue and thus look like one of their to the Grimm.

Numerous weapons like the Body Burner—a flamethrower fuelled by decomposing bodies, and Sonic Scream Sticks which cause the blood vessels of victims to pop when struck are detailed, as are cosmic treasures, including Fatuma’s Mitre and the Fang of Fatuma. Stats are provided for Fatumites as monsters as are the Fiendhünds, invisible hounds that hunt the wastes of K2-116B, and Rocnars, insectoid creatures that paralyse prey with a stinger, often multiple times, and then feed on their decaying flesh.

The Mausoleum of THEY, the Fatumite colony, and the surrounding Rotting Forest, are not the only places of interest on K2-116B—or rather under it. A network of caverns is home to the Rotters, those who were born and have adapted to the harsh environment of K2-116B and Teginoids, genetically and necromantically engineered humanoids. The cavern network and its Rotter colony are described in some detail, as some quite nasty weapons, like a blow gun used to target victims with the pellets of compressed Rotting Forest tree bark which causes the terrible, terrible itching, known as the ‘Scratch & Sniff’, that becomes increasingly difficult to resist… The Teginoids are the descendants of experiments which combined Würm and human DNA which live alongside the Rotters and which worship their Würm ancestors and all Würms. They are hostile to non-Rotters.

The caverns are not somewhere that the Player Characters are likely to visit readily. Though that might change by ‘Rotters on Board’, a scenario triggered by the landing of the Player Characters’ ship on K2-116B. Four Rotters board their vessel, perhaps attempting to stow away, steal parts and cargo, or even steal the ship. This could happen whilst the Player Characters are attempting to assault the Mausoleum of THEY, adding a complication to their attempts to get off world, likely in a hurry whether they have saved Doctor Hazel or not.

Physically, Vast Grimm – Blood Altared adheres to the Artpunk aesthetic of both Vast Grimm and Mörk Borg, with its use of vibrant, often neon colours and heavy typefaces. It looks amazing, a swirling riot of colour that wants to reach out and infect everything, but where the core rules were not always the easiest to read, the simplicity of the content in this supplement make it easier to read and use.

There is a weird dissonance in terms of scale in Vast Grimm – Blood Altared, with a big, bruisingly desperate strike mission against the clock to rescue an important scientist at one end of that scale, and the minor, irritating matter of potential stowaways or thieves getting aboard the Player Characters’ starship at the other end of the scale. If the Game Master runs the first mission, there is relatively little reason for the Player Characters to return and potentially encounter the second. There are a handful of adventure sparks which the Game Master can use to get the Player Characters to K2-116B, but will need to develop. Then are the Fatumites as Player Characters, just what is the Game Master to do with them when it is difficult for many of them to even leave K2-116B due to their need to inhale the planet’s toxins? Let alone the fact that they are normally the enemy in the world of Vast Grimm? Ultimately, whilst rescue mission into the Mausoleum of THEY is the selling point of Vast Grimm – Blood Altared, it really should have come at the back of the book and thus be the last thing that the Game Master sees and runs from it, enabling a campaign to build up to its momentous nature and giving to a chance for the Player Characters to explore the vileness of K2-116B a little bit first…

The Other OSR: Vast Grimm – Space Cruisers

It has been over six hundred years since the First Prophecy of Fatuma came to pass. The SIX, the Disciples of Fatuma, who following the prophecies put down in the Book of Fatuma, made a pilgrimage to the Primordial Mausoleum of THEY and deployed the Power of Tributes to decrypt the Mystical Lock sealing the Mausoleum. It was then that the They drew in the stale air of the Mausoleum, becoming one with the THEY and breathing out the parasites. The Six scattered, bringing the word and the infection of THEY to every corner of the ’verse. Then the Gnawing began. The parasites of THEY gnawed their way out of the infected. They spread. They gnawed their way out of planets. They spread. The infected split open. The planets split apart. Now mankind clings to life, looking out for any signs of THEY or hiding it inside them in the hope that it never erupts and spreads… The Earth is gone. Shattered into large pieces. There are places and planets where the remnants of Mankind survive, squabbling over resources and power, fearing the parasitical infectious word of THEY, but not without hope. There are whispers of a means to escape the end of this universe by entering another, one entirely free of THEY. It is called the Gate of Infinite Stars. Yet time is running out. The First Prophecy of Fatuma came to pass and so has every other Prophecy of Fatuma since. Except the last Seven Torments. Will the last Seven Torments come to pass and allow the Würms and the Grimm to consume the ’verse and with it, the last of Mankind? Or will the lucky few find their way to the Gate of Infinite Stars and at last be free of the Würms and the Grimm in a better, brighter future? That is, of course, if everyone fleeing through the Gate of Infinite Stars is free of the gnawing…

This is the set-up for Vast Grimm. Published by Infinite Black, it is a pre-apocalypse Science Fiction roleplaying game compatible in tone and structure with Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. To get around the shattered solar system of the Vast Grimm’s ghastly future, let alone out into ’verse, the survivors are going to need transport and places to go. This is where Vast Grimm: Space Cruisers comes to the fore.

Vast Grimm: Space Cruisers expands on the rules for starships given in Vast Grimm. It provides the means to both create and modify them, gives rules for starship combat, and it describes three new locations that the Game Master can add to her game and her Player Characters can visit. Lastly, it includes rules for generating abandoned starships. The latter is particularly useful as it adds further uncertainty to the setting, provides somewhere for the Player Characters to explore, investigate, and loot. Effectively, mini-dungeons in space, if you will. Further, such vessels also serve as a ready source of parts and resources to scavenge, as well as potential replacement starships. The latter is important because the last starship to roll out of the shipyards was three hundred years ago. In a universe where the Grimm are the biggest threat that Mankind had ever faced, building the then current spaceship models and developing new spaceship designs was very quickly low on everyone’s priorities. Which means that the Player Characters may start play with one starship and end up with another and then another, just due to wear and tear and use and a lack of parts.

Creating a starship for Vast Grimm is quick and easy. It involves choosing or rolling for a Starship Class and following the various steps listed for each Starship Class in terms of capabilities, equipment, and modifications. Then rolls are made for the Starship’s Abilities, Hit Points, characteristics, battle scars, and Modifications. There are six Starship Classes and there are six options given for each. These are ‘Minimal Crew’, ‘Transports’, ‘Cruisers’, ‘Freighters’, ‘Warships’, and ‘Shotrods’, the latter being intergalactic hotrods. The ‘Minimal Crew’ Class includes ‘Family Truckster’, ‘Intergalactic Trucker’, and ‘DIY Death Trap’; ‘Transports’ like a ‘Yachthole’ or ‘Jailboat’; ‘Cruisers’ such as a ‘Light Cruiser’ or ‘Ram Jam’; ‘Freighters’ include ‘Garbage Getter’ and ‘Crowdfunded Slow Boat’; ‘Warships’ such as a ‘Frackin’ Frigate’ or ‘Dreadnought’; and ‘Chopper’ and ‘Domed Disc’ for the ‘Shotrods’. Starship Abilities consist of Manoeuvre, Accuracy, Fortitude, and Power, ranging in value from three to eight, modified by Class.

Most Starships have an A.I. on board, but it is possible to purchase the code to install a new one or replace an old, possibly damaged one. There is a table of A.I. personalities included, but these is quite short at six entries, especially given the Starship-hopping/Starship-scavenging nature of play. The likelihood is that the Game Master is going to run out of A.I. personalities quickly.

Name: The Slim Grimm Express

Class: Transport
Type: Galaxy Express
Size: 1 Speed: 2 Crew: 2

Armour: Tier 6 (-2d6)

Hit Points: 35
Pilot Presence dR12

Well-Engineered
Starship’s Log: A.I. Overkill (each section of the starship is controlled by a different A.I. personality)
Battle Scars: All original seating gutted. Replaced with lawn furniture.

Modifications: Escape Pod, Surge Protector, Armour (Tier 2), Slam Shocker

Weapon: Laser Turret (3d8 damage)

Manoeuvre 7 (-2) Accuracy 13 (+1) Fortitude 15 (+3) Power 18 (+4)

The process is not difficult and provides a total of thirty-six Starship types from which to choose or generate. Consequently, the likelihood of the Player Characters finding a similar ship to their own is quite low and even if they do, it will still be very different. Starship operation requires minimum Power to operate and also use weapons and other capabilities. A Power Core can be recharged, but can also be scavenged from other Starships.

Starship combat is played out on a hex grid. One player takes the role of Captain, who is then responsible for manoeuvring the starship in combat. Possible other actions available to the Player Characters include using a weapon, a capability, activating a Tribute (data chips containing the Neuromantic energy released at the same time as the Grimm when THEY opened the Primordial Mausoleum of THEY and used for various effects), defending the Starship, conducting repairs, and even a launching a raiding party if the two Starships are close enough. Although the combatants do roll for initiative, damage occurs simultaneously. Critical rolls inflict double damage and reduce the target Starship’s armour by a tier, whilst on a critical Defence roll, the damage bounces back and inflicts damage on the attacker or the attack is Evaded, and the defending Starship manoeuvre’s away. Fumbles include temporary weapon malfunctions, a Player Character spilling a drink on a console and having to clean it up before it works again, and so on. If the Hit Points of a Starship are reduced to zero, then the Starship is broken, possibly leading to a loss of oxygen, all systems shutting down to maintain life support, and worse. If the damage is reduced to below zero, the damage is worse.

In addition to the rules for Starships and Starship combat, Vast Grimm: Space Cruisers details three locations that the Player Characters can visit in their vessel. They include ‘Guthrie’s Fuel & Fix’, a former waste barge turned travelling station and source of parts, repairs, and fuel. There are tables for Power Core recharge rates, availability of parts, and so on, plus stats for its operator, a short and rusty service bot that records everything. ‘Tangle Station’ is a small planetoid run by the necrotic cyborg Kid Arachnid—the only non-robot on the facility—and dedicated to keeping the Netwürk running. He will sell all sorts of information to any manner of buyers, though not all of it is safe. The ‘Roach Coach 2’ is probably the last place that anyone might want to eat, what with its ‘Mystery Meat pie’, ‘Sautéed Gooey Gland’, and ‘Crunchy Sugar Larvae’ on its menu and the fact that it is run by Cockroach Karl, Jr. Then there are the side effects, which might be positive, might be negative…

There is a brevity to the content of Vast Grimm: Space Cruisers, but in many cases that makes the content easy to grasp and use in play, even when rolling at the table. It also leaves scope for the Game Master to develop that content herself and tailor it to fit her campaign. This is made all the easier by the engaging and entertaining nature of the content.

Lastly, Vast Grimm: Space Cruisers comes with lots of tables. The main set will help the Game master determine the appearance, current occupiers, and some sample rooms that might be found aboard a seemingly abandoned Starship. Others include a table of parts that might break down on a trip and tables of things and person who might be found on a Starship.

Physically, Vast Grimm: Space Cruisers adheres to the Artpunk aesthetic of both Vast Grimm and Mörk Borg, with its use of vibrant, often neon colours and heavy typefaces. It looks amazing, a swirling riot of colour that wants to reach out and infect everything, but where the core rules were not always the easiest to read, the simplicity of the content in this supplement make it easier to read and use.

Mechanically, Vast Grimm: Space Cruisers is not as easily explained as it could have been, especially when it comes to Starship combat. Another page and probably an example of play would not have gone amiss and it would make the grasping of what should be relatively straightforward rules that much easier. This is not to say that they are difficult, but that the explanation could have been clearer. besides that, Vast Grimm: Space Cruisers neatly expands on the single aspect of the dark future that is Vast Grimm and provides the means for the Game Master to bring Starships into her campaign in greater and more entertaining fashion.

The Other OSR: The Chapel of the Hanged God

As the world slides towards its seemingly inevitable end, there are those who desperately search for ways to stop its collapse—or at least forestall its ongoing effects, if only not to be the last king, the monarch whose reign would be the ultimate in failure. King Fathmu IX searches for ways in which his realm can be maintained rather than lost and now his eyeless scryers say they have seen traces of Verhu in the catacombs beneath the ruined Hangman’s Church, deep in the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead. Are these visions one more sign of the impending apocalypse or does Verhu’s chapel hide secrets that will enable the kingdom to survive? King Fathmu IX sends the worst of his servants to find out—his crypt breakers. They are given a map and a simple mission. Traverse the ruined paths and lands of the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead, gain entry to the ruins of The Chapel of the Hanged God and descend into the tunnels below, survey their extents, and take what they can, before reporting back to the capital with what information and evidence they can find.

This is the set-up for The Chapel of the Hanged God. This is a pointcrawl and dungeon adventure published by Loot the Room for use with Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. This is a classic scenario for Mörk Borg, packed with its trademark mix of misery, weirdness, and horror. So much so of the latter that it carries a well-deserved content warning for suicide, self-harm, cannibalism, mind control, and more. Make no mistake, The Chapel of the Hanged God contains strong themes, suicide especially, so the warnings are necessary.

In terms of content, The Chapel of the Hanged God is a pointcrawl consisting of eight locations, one of the actual Chapel of the Hanged God. These are connected by a series paths, some known, some hidden, the hidden ones have to be found, but consist of shorter routes. All of the routes, whether hidden or not, shift and change, so that sometimes the journey along them is shorter, other times longer. This is handled by rolling a number of dice to determine how many ‘watches’ it takes to traverse along any one path. Each day consists of six four-hour watches, two of which can be spent travelling, two exploring or foraging, and two resting. So, it might take as little as two watches, or two days, for the Player Characters to make their way along a path, but on another attempt, it might take twenty-four watches, or twelve days.

Similarly, the various locations take a varying number of watches to cross. Seven of these are given a two-page spread, with an illustration on the left hand page and the description, along with a random encounter table on the right hand page. They include ‘The Wetlands’ where those who shamed themselves in service to King Fathmu IX and have been consigned to a pit of black filth which they wade across on stilts trawling the rot and the ordure for treasures that will enable them to return the king’s service; a maze of shifting walls, filled with writhing fat worms, faces leering out of the walls, and beset by torrential rains, as guards stand on the walls to stop the shambling dead and prisoners from escaping, and the Player Characters can search for treasures or a way out; and a Hermit’s Hut, wrapped in thick chains and with thick black smoke and heavy ash pouring from its chimney, whilst inside the hermit is bound and melded to the floor by thorny roots, his mouth the source of both the black smoke and heavy ash, and prophecies of dubious quality.

Eventually, the Player Characters will find their way to the ruins of the Chapel of the Hanged God. Inside is a dead man who speaks with one of three voices, making promises and attempting to persuade them that they can help the Player Characters. Of course, these are all lies and each voice is actually a demon trapped in the corpse. Below lies an ancient crypt dedicated to the Hanged God, full of looters and profane writings and dedications, but long abandoned bar one twisted servant who awaits the return of the Hanged God. There are worse things to be found though, including a gospel of the Hanged God that if read may enrapture a Player Character, proselytise him to worship the Hanged God, and even emulate the Hanged God and string himself up (this is where the content warning is required and the book actually repeats it here again to enforce the point). The ultimate secret below the Chapel of the Hanged God is the existence of the Book of the Hanged God. This vile tome is made from the skin of the god’s last priest, but is not yet complete and at least one of the Player Characters could be driven to follow the directions marked on a number of maps created via foul means—a combination of swallowing a ball of human skin, auto asphyxiation, and vomiting—each of which leads to the location of missing pages from the book. Once the book is complete it creates a book akin to one of the four described in IKHON, each of which provides numerous benefits, but at a cost in terms of sacrifices necessary and potential aftereffects. Although the Player Characters do carry a map marked with routes to the Chapel of the Hanged God, once there, it begins to change and push the owner to seek the catacomb where the Book of the Hanged God is kept, almost as if it wanted to be united with it…

Physically, The Chapel of the Hanged God embraces the neon bright colours of the artpunk style of Mörk Borg, but not the actual style. Thus, the colours are big and bold, and so is the layout with the map of the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead. The cartography, big and blocky, is serviceable at best. Despite the artwork being somewhat better than the cartography, the book does look most basic in several places.

The Chapel of the Hanged God can be run as a one-shot, the Player Characters essentially stumbling upon a map to the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead, but it works better as a scenario in which they in service—willingly or not—of King Fathmu IX and so are driven to search the loathsome, often repulsive confines of the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead to find clues and secrets that might hold back the apocalypse that everyone knows is coming. This is a journey into revulsion and perhaps the only thing driving the Player Characters onwards is the knowledge that they might find something to give them hope in the Chapel of the Hanged God, though this being a scenario for Mörk Borg, they may find something, but it may not be what they, or anyone, is really looking for.

The Other OSR: Vast Grimm

The universe will not end with a bang, but a gnawing. A gnawing in your brain. A gnawing in the asteroid in which you make grimy, ramshackle home. A gnawing in the remnants of planets. A gnawing in the universe. A gnawing that will grow and grow until the parasites erupt. Erupt and unleash as Würms. Würms that will infect others and spread the gnawing. Würms that grow and grow and erupt from planets shattering them into pieces, to grow and grow and become the Grimm. There have been Würms and Grimm everywhere in the universe for centuries, where once they were only in one place. The Primordial Mausoleum of THEY. It was the Six, the Disciples of Fatuma, who following the prophecies put down in the Book of Fatuma, who made a pilgrimage to the Primordial Mausoleum of THEY and deployed the Power of Tributes to decrypt the Mystical Lock sealing the Mausoleum. It was then that the First Prophecy of Fatuma came to pass. They drew in the stale air of the Mausoleum, becoming one with the THEY and breathing out the parasites. The Six scattered, bringing the word and the infection of THEY to every corner of the ’verse. Almost seven centuries have passed and the survivors cling to life, looking out for any signs of THEY or hiding it inside them in the hope that it never erupt and spread… The Earth is gone. Shattered into large pieces. There are places and planets where the remnants of Mankind survive, squabbling over resources and power, fearing the parasitical infectious word of THEY, but not without hope. There are whispers over the Netwürk of a means to escape the end of this universe by entering another, one entirely free of THEY. The Scientifics call it the Gate of Infinite Stars. Yet time is running out. The First Prophecy of Fatuma came to pass and so has every other Prophecy of Fatuma since. Except the last Seven Torments. Will the last Seven Torments come to pass and allow the Würms and the Grimm to consume the ’verse and with it, the last of Mankind? Or will the lucky few find their way to the Gate of Infinite Stars and at last be free of the Würms and the Grimm in a better, brighter future? That is, of course, if everyone fleeing through the Gate of Infinite Stars is free of the gnawing…

Welcome to the dark, grim future of Vast Grimm. Published by Infinite Black, it is a pre-apocalypse Science Fiction roleplaying game compatible with Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and published by Free League Publishing. Not only compatible in terms of mechanics, but also in tone and structure, with little more than a handful of prophecies standing in the way of the Player Characters’ continued survival in the face of uncaring, dying world, in this case, universe. Where it differs though, is offering that hope, that chance of finding the Gate of Infinite Stars and escaping one dread future for another better one. The last Seven Torments are not set in stone though. The Game Master rolls a die, the size collectively chosen by the whole, at the start of each day. If the result is a one, then a Torment comes to pass, randomly determined from the thirty-six given. They are all eschatologically grim, such as “And a pocket will form in the darkness of space. Anything that goes near will be swallowed by its emptiness, and in 11 days the empty will have wallowed no less than 7 planets.” or “Tears of blood will flow from all who have sired children. One hour wept for each seed that has sprouted and taken root.”

A Player Character in Vast Grimm is defined by four abilities—Agility, Presence, Strength, and Toughness. Of the four, Presence is the odd one out. It is not just used for Charisma checks, but also for perception checks, ranged attacks, and wielding Neuromancy. The four abilities range in value from -3 to +3, these being equal to ability modifiers found in Dungeons & Dragons and other retroclones. He will also have a Class of which Vast Grimm offers eight. Each provides equipment, arms and armour, ability modifiers, possible past life events and skills particular to that Class. The eight include the MAnchiNe, a twisted fusion of flesh and machine who fought in the trenches with the Legions; the Soul Survivor, a wretch driven to survive no matter what the cost; the Lost Techno Maniac, who would prefer to be studying the Tributes in order to fully understand Neuromancy; the Twisted Biochemist who has become infected with the Würms in the course of his attempt to find a cure for the infection, and who yet may find that or succumb to the Grimm and self-pity; the Treacherous Merc, a bastard who thinks only of himself and will use violence to prove it; the Emobot’s mechanical mind and body means it is immune to infection, but its soul means it is not immune to the loss of people it cares about to the Grimm; the Devout is a blindly faithful Disciple of Fatuma who works to do all he can to bring about the prophecies of THEY; and the Harvester literally harvests Würms from the bodies of the dead in return for handsome bounties. To create a character, a player rolls for his Abilities, selects a Class, rolls for the details of that Class, and then for his character’s Misspent Youth, Battle Scars, Irritating Idiosyncrasies, and Starting Equipment.

Kratar

Twisted Biochemist

Addicted to Science: Always top of the class, your peers and teachers hated you.

Misspent Youth: Distracted

Irritating Idiosyncrasies: StarDust junkie. If there’s dust around, it’s going into your oxygen tank.

Battle Scars: Missing middle fingers, flipped off the wrong person.

Agility +0 Presence +2 Strength -1 Toughness +1

Hit Points: 6

Armour: Thin grade Carbon Fiber (-d2 damage)

Weapon: Inoculation Dart Gun (range 20’, holds 8 doses)

Equipment: Portable nanotech/chemical laboratory, today’s creations (two doses of Nanite Dance Party and two doses of Ass Blastin), 50 credits

Favours: Two

Mechanically, Vast Grimm is simple. To have his character undertake an action, a player rolls a twenty-sided die, modifies the result by one of his character’s Abilities, and attempts to beat a Difficulty Rating, typically twelve, but it can be higher or lower depending on the situation. Vast Grimm is also player-facing, meaning that the player always rolls whereas the Game Master does not. So, a player will roll for his character to hit in melee using his Strength and his Agility to avoid being hit. Armour is represented by a die value, from -d2 for light armour to -d6 for heavy armour, representing the amount of damage it stops. Medium and heavy armour each add a modifier to any Agility action by the character, including defending himself. This is pleasingly simple and offers a character some tactical choice—just when is it better to avoid taking the blows or avoid taking the damage?

Combat is potentially deadly. If a Player Character has his Hit Points reduced to zero, he is broken. As a result, he may be unconscious for a few rounds, lose a limb or eye and in the process also Ability points, haemorrhage and bleed to death, or possibly die! If his Hit Points are reduced to less than zero, he is definitely dead!

In addition, characters have access to Favours, of which a Player Character typically has one or two a day. They can be used to deal maximum damage on an attack, reroll any die—not just that player’s, lower the damage die rolled against a character, to neutralise a critical success or fumble, or to lower the Difficulty Rating on a test.

Instead of magic or the scrolls of Mörk Borg, what Vast Grimm gives are Tributes. These take advantage of the Neuromantic energy released at the same time as the Grimm when THEY opened the Primordial Mausoleum of THEY. This Neuromantic energy can be captured and stored on data chips called Tributes. They can be found on data chips or randomly downloaded from the Netwürk. A Tribute can be used by any Player Character. All it requires is a successful Presence Test and the expenditure of Neuromancy Points, which are derived from a Player Character’s Presence Ability. The effects are random, although some have been hacked so that work in a way that was not intended, such as “You’ve Been Spaced: One random creature within 30’ of the Tribute has the air around it sucked away for d6 rounds losing d4 damage each round.”, or still encrypted, clean and clear as intended as in, “Hive Mind Speak: To one of The Grimm, ask questions. For 3 rounds it will answer truthfully before the würm inside of them explodes.” Some twenty example Tributes are given. However, failure to activate a Tribute has its consequences. A simple failure results in the loss of Hit Points and dizziness for an hour. Worse are the results for a critical and a fumble result. Then the player has to roll on the Cataclysmic Condemnations table! (This is actually suggested as being optional, but where would be the fun in that?)

Exploring remains of the known universe, perhaps looking for the Gate of Infinite Stars, is fraught with danger. Vast Grimm both details six of these locations, whilst leaving plenty of space for the Game Master to create her own, like the ‘Waste Barges of Khallar’, the dumping ground for the universe’s trash where it builds and builds into mountains of filth and waste, protected by Shit King Saule’s rat-like army of trash people, and the Marauder’s Cryosfear, home to space raiders who have anchored their ships to the ice planet with multiple ships connected to form havens, and the threats that the Player Characters might face. The worst of these are the six parasitic Würms, which have a chance to infect anyone who comes in close contact with The Grimm. Each of the six—the Flesh Würm, the Blood Würm, the Brain Würm, the Heart Würm, the Gut Würm, and the Spinal Würm—is connected to one of the THEY and the Grimm god they each worship. Each parasite induces both pain and pleasure in the infected as it grows and grows, and has its own set of tables for the various effects, until at some point it gains total control over the character who their player must then give to the Game Master. A new character is then needed…

Other threats include random spaceships, rotten Earth Animal Mutations, Astro Zombies, Big Würms, and more, for a nasty selection of things that are almost, but not quite as bad as the Grimm. Oddly, the advice given in the back of Vast Grimm is more for the player than the Game Master, which probably would have been better placed towards the beginning of the book rather than after the entries for the monsters. The roleplaying game comes to a close with a beginning adventure, ‘DEATH aboard the CONUNDRUM: An Introductory Adventure for Vast Grimm’. The Netwürk is abuzz with rumours of an artefact, needed to operate the Gate of Infinite Stars, located aboard a spaceship, and it happens that the Player Characters are nearby. Unfortunately, so is a band of space raiders and then everyone is on their way to ransack the ship and take possession of the artefact. It is a solid ‘dungeon in space’ style adventure with lots of creeping about in the dark and dealing the people and other things already aboard… lastly, there are tables of adventure sparks, encounters, and so on, to spur the Game Master’s imagination.

Unfortunately, beyond randomly determining where the Gate of Infinite Stars might be located, Vast Grimm is short on advice for the Game Master and playing it beyond the single scenario included. Thus, there is no discussion of campaign or long-term play. In so far as the Player Characters will hopefully find the Gate of Infinite Stars and use it before the end of this universe. Then of course, what happens next... Even though it would have been useful, the experienced Game Master will probably have no issue with this, but the Game Master with less experience may struggle to develop a campaign around the nihilistically grim horror of Vast Grimm.

Physically, Vast Grimm shares a lot of its production values with Mörk Borg. Both embrace the Artpunk aesthetic with its use of vibrant, often neon colours and heavy typefaces. It looks amazing, a swirling riot of colour that wants to reach out and infect everything, but it has to be said, it is not always the easiest of books to read.

Vast Grimm could be seen as Mörk Borg in space and that would not be an unfair assessment. However, Vast Grimm scales up the eschatological horror of Mörk Borg’s pre-apocalypse to cosmic levels and scales it down to make it horribly, infectiously personal with the plague of the Würms contaminating and breeding within every aspect of the universe, including, possibly, probably, the Player Characters. Then it offers hope, an objective, in the form of the Gate of Infinite Stars, for the players and their characters to aim for, though sadly it does not develop this aspect of the setting. This objective, though, is just enough to balance out the dread—even ever so slightly—as a glimmer of comfort and hope, and that actually makes Vast Grimm not quite as, well, grim. Overall, Vast Grimm is a eschatologically nasty Science Fiction horror game made all the more enjoyable because there is hope.