Mork Borg: A pulsating bubo deep in the armpit of RPGs ⚔ RPG Review & Mechanics

Get Mörk Borg in PDF at DrivethruRPG (affiliate): bit.ly/MorkBor...
Mörk Borg is a deadly, dark, doom metal-inspired rules-light RPG out of Sweden, published in 2020. It swept the ENNIE Awards that year, won a bunch of other stuff, and enjoys an active, creative community.
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Thanks to Ash Borer for their music!
Find their stuff here: ashborer.bandc...
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Get all into Mörk Borg generally:
Mörk Borg website: morkborg.com/
Twitter ( / morkborg )
Facebook ( / morkborgrpg )
Discord server ( / discord )
Free League shop (frialigan.se/e...)
Free Mörk Borg rules:
morkborg.com/c...
Official Mörk Borg character generator:
scvmbirther.ma...
Official Mörk Borg dungeon generator:
dngngen.makeda...
Collection of all official and unofficial MB stuff (updated weekly):
liberludorum.c...
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Thanks to Peter Willem, KuBo and Magnus for playing. And to Magnus for his linguistic excellence. And thanks to Free League for providing the materials for review. I received no compensation for this review. All opinions in the video are my own.
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[@crushingit5128]

I actually think its a positive note that you dont understand what "metal" genre is. Too many reviews are extremely biased just becaue its metal; "Metal game is so metal. 5 metal stars!". So its nice to see someone give an unbiased review that actually talks about the game and not just about the art vibes alone.

[@JoonasLaakso]

My favorite detail in the whole game is that "leveling" is indeed getting better OR WORSE. You might end up considerably shittier than you were before "leveling".

[@DaveThaumavore]

That’s a nice detail that I forgot to mention!

[@BanjoSick]

What does not kill you makes you stronger..... or traumatizes you physically and mentally, harg harg!

[@MrAttentionHorse]

Mork Borg was my biggest surprise last year, just an awesome game. Also, your channel is still the best channel for RPG reviews and analysis.

[@DaveThaumavore]

Thanks! Yeah, MB is a pretty damned fun product.

[@ejsmith7626]

Seconded on the best analysis

[@0ldSch00l13]

In the few games of Mork Borg we played, it turned out the setting was so ridiculously dark that if flipped over into being funny. It reminded me a lot of the cartoon Metapocalypse.

[@crapphone7744]

Make a great point that a game can be produced that is dark but yet does not have harmful content. That's actually pretty amazing.

[@Henbot]

I love that they actually put a nod to Berserk with that falling from your hanged mother. It’s Guy’s backstory

[@nicholascolares8646]

Guts

[@liamobrien6044]

Thanks for the great review! As a fan of metal and this specific sub-genre of metal in particular, I was so intrigued and happy to see this product gaining so much attention! For those not so into metal, doom metal is basically slow, sludgy metal that takes early Black Sabbath to the extreme (think the song sweet leaf on steroids). I know this game and art style probably won’t appeal to everyone, but as a fan of metal and fantasy rpgs this is so cool! Can’t wait to pick up a copy!

[@DustySquitoNM]

I cannot agree more with the dungeon portion of this book. Just having a mini map in the top corner of each page to let you know where you are is something that I can’t believe other systems and books haven’t been doing. Also, if you get the official DM screen for this game, you can fit basically every rule for the entire game on that screen, and it makes it super easy to reference when you are playing. I feel like the book is something you get so you can read and get excited about the system, but when you are actually running the game, you have a copy of the bare bones rules that you got for free from their website along with the DM screen or something

[@jacobthacker8626]

For years I've always wanted to see a Doom Metal inspired game. It's such a rich gener for settings and worlds and beings imo. I was so ecstatic when I found Mörk Borg

[@jerod256]

As a long time metal head, you kinda hit on a common cultural personality in metal. It's embracing the ugly to the extreme but taking that extreme with a care free attitude. Metal is a personality of contrast, where it's the intense and hardcore but a devil may care spirit. Metal heads love intensity and embraced ugliness, but we all know it's way over the limit and just revel in that

[@eclatshwartzbaumcybertune2063]

I agree ( also a massive metal fan)

[@davidcashin1894]

I like that the world is not overly fleshed out, in my head I use the term "over-produced", that leaves more room for GMs and players. I would like to hear your thoughts on the related add-ons. Forbidden Psalm, Solitary Defilement, and Cloth Goblins.

[@christiandean1099]

I'm a few years late, but i just got into mork borg this year, both as a player and a gm. Great video, but i have two gripes. The game isn't metal themed, because that is a music genre, but its the artwork that has metal inspiration. Gripe two, your con is more of a pro. I noticed that the lore the game does have, gives you the building blocks to create your own campaign. Theres so much wiggle room to make it your own. I'm in the process of writing a campaign that is based on various metal bands. Where everything from encounters, npcs, locations, items, and lore are based on music. The world is called Metalvania and my first area is all Primus. Its going to be a very pulpy game.

[@Delmworks]

Mork Borg remains my favorite RPG system!

[@SamuraiMujuru]

This presentation reminds me of HOL quite a bit, and the game itself gives me a similar vibe. (Albeit with the mid 90s XTREME EDGE carefully extracted without anyone noticing)

[@alexpartenopei1021]

I loved the LARP game hidden inside HoL

[@godfreemorals]

Darkest Dungeon RPG in other words? And probably better than an actual Darkest Dungeon RPG would be. Edit: Just to say, this is a brilliantly objective review. Just really well done dude, some insightful comments.

[@DaveThaumavore]

Thanks! I really loved Darkest Dungeon’s world and theme. I think MB is a little more abstract/open-ended in a lot of ways, but a mashup between the two would be very feasible.

[@desia.brimou]

shoutout to whoever recorded the bits in swedish

[@betterthanflapjacks]

Funny, I was wondering when you’d make this video the other day and here it is.

[@JasonFuhrman]

Love this game, and this is by far the best review of it.

[@connors7078]

The guys at Mystery Quest capture the style of play you describe late in this. Hilarious.

[@1970joedub]

Thanks for this review. I’m glad to hear this RPG is supposed to be funny! We just started playing Mork Borg on Roll20, and everyone is pretty much clueless about the game except the DM, which is awesome. We have just finished playing a 5e module, (Frost Maiden) where every character is the hero, becasue it’s 5e, and this is a refreshing change of pace. I keep joking that we are playing NPCs, I’m having a great time playing characters with 2hp, and I’m usually laughing and giggling the entire time, meanwhile the other players are a bit serious. I’m glad other folks find game play funny because, I was beginning to think I was the odd man out due to chuckling during the in game shenanigans.

[@DaveThaumavore]

The creator of the game says when he plays it with friends they’re just laughing the whole time.

[@VVVHHHSSS]

This review is so strange to me, the material feels so oddly specific to my teen/early 20 years, it brought back a lot of memories of that music scene.

[@samuelbourassa5304]

If I could make a request: I'd love to see you review Zweihander: Grim & Perilous! :)

[@rohanm7695]

Zweihander is one helluva big book! From what I understand he's been reading it since it came out and the review will come in 2022 😳😂

[@MicroMissles]

god damn love mork borg. never expected to hear ash borer in a ttrpg video either!

[@MetalMoff1999]

2:17 has to be a berserk reference

[@marcoperazzolo3090]

I love your videos, best channel for rpg reviews! You made me discover a lot of games and your opinions are very usefull for someone like me who is just starting out on running games. About the metal thing I can say that doom is the metal genre that best resembles the themes of Mork Borg and is usually slow paced and it's about the incoming fatal doom. Metal is often related to rpgs and there's a entire genre about fantasy story furthermore behind the extreme sound and look of the music there are usually just people having fun. You could check out "Emerald Sword" by Rhapsody and "Time Stand Still" by Blind Guardian if you want some glorious "fantasy" metal. Thank you again for your vids and carry on with this fantastic work!

[@DaveThaumavore]

Oh cool, thanks for the recommendations! I’ll definitely check those out. And I’m glad you enjoy my vids!

[@MyKindofStory]

Thank you for recommending Rhapsody and Blind Guardian!

[@paavohirn3728]

Your reviews are amazing. I've watched quite a few more than once. I came back to this one and I'm again surprised how well thought out it is considering what a strange game this is. You really give credit where it's due and constructive criticism as needed.

[@DaveThaumavore]

Thanks for saying so!

[@paavohirn3728]

@@DaveThaumavore Sure thing!

[@vastlyblank]

Great review thanks :) Speaking of the music, they have their own Spotify playlist which is pretty cool

[@MrVulcanator]

Great review, Dave. I’ve been fascinated by this game for a while. I love it’s over the top grim-deep setting. My one criticism of this review is that you didn’t mention the prophecy table that makes bad things happen in the world, ultimately causing the world to end.

[@necrozzz1874]

Great review as always. Keep up the good work!

[@eclatshwartzbaumcybertune2063]

I love the metal bands they mentioned! I have wanted to make something like this my self .

[@alamos52]

Dave, you are getting really good at this :)

[@TheBarnBards]

Hell yes! Awesome review, Dave...and good to see (hear) Magnus once again! I really love this "rules light", thematic system and thoroughly enjoy my occasional diversion into the exceptionally grim side of this RPG, which can and should be comedic at times. I love Mork Borg's gimmicks, such as throwing daggers at the random tables, and I will say, like an exceptionally pungent fungus, I can't wait to see how and where it grows!

[@DaveThaumavore]

The fungus is out of control. There are over 200 published expansions at this point!

[@Boondacious]

Another intriguing review! I remember when this came out, it was being shared and talked about everywhere. I am only now looking into it and it has to be the most striking book out there. I wonder how popular it'll become or if it'll have it's own little fanbase like a lot of titles out there. It would be interesting to see some Actual Plays with the system.

[@DaveThaumavore]

It definitely has a dedicated fan base. Long haulers, from the looks of it.

[@rohanm7695]

I'm pretty sure Free league are posting actual plays on their channel 👍

[@samchafin4623]

I got this for my brother's birthday this past summer. I am sad that I no longer live close enough to him to play.

[@hagerthehorrible1892]

small point: it's a foil cross, not crucifix. Crucifix has Jesus on it.

[@Acmegamer]

The setting doesn't so much for me but the mechanics etc look rather interesting. Good review Dave.

[@Skanah_]

Just to answer one of the questions you posed in the conclusion, death metal is fast, aggressive, possibly (often) crossing into over the top levels of energy, death metal is a pack of wolves eating someone alive in seconds. Doom metal is a slow, brutal assault of all the senses with a heavy sense of gloom to go along with it, it's someone sitting on your chest suffocating you, shoving your head into a rock. I guess the creators feel their setting and art style fit that, im inclined to agree.

[@CountLuciferLeviatha]

This book is pretty metal! I’ll have to check it out and pick up a copy!

[@voggi9450]

Any game with minimal amount on setting is the writer telling me its my world too, and it's vague so I can fill the gaps

[@Sevaerg]

I noticed a few rules mentioning time effects in this game. I'd be interested to learn how GMs handle time in Mörk Borg. Is it like Shadowdark where the hour is a literal hour, or is it just lost time that may or may not affect scenarios during play?

[@mainuquynhnhu6149]

Another great review!

[@ohnoitisnt666]

Another top review

[@eclatshwartzbaumcybertune2063]

Its good that it is fun horror .

[@ajaxplunkett5115]

I got some use out of it but... i did find Mork Borg way overrated. The Art and aesthetic with the Vague setting were the Only thing good about it. A no art version layout might be a 30 page book... maybe. I ran the Rotblack Sludge adventure using a simple b/x clone and it was fun. Maybe a Mork Borg heavy art settings book would be cool and play it with a deadly b/x clone ( which is what i did , as most all b/x clones are deadly ) - Not saying its crap but with Fantastic medieval adventure game White Box ( 4.23 $ ) and the free version of Mork Borg for the setting and tone - and your done

[@rohanm7695]

I have to stop watching your reviews Dave because they are making me poor! I go from 'knowing' I am not interested in a game before watching the review, to aching to own it after!! 😳😂😂😂 Honestly though, another great review, thank you. Now I have to buy "Merk Boree" as well 😁

[@DaveThaumavore]

Sorry! But yeah, I try to only review the good stuff. 😅

[@blamp666]

Right on the back of the front cover, you have a "traps and devilry" table, were are the stats for that? Anyone has a clue?

[@ivan_says_hi]

Can anyone please tell me what DR12 ans stuff like that means? I get D10 or D20 or even D4 is meant to represent rolling a dice with that many sides but what on earth does DR mean? Dice result? Damage reduction? Something else?

[@DaveThaumavore]

Difficulty Rating. A target number for a test. e.g. meet or beat that number. In most games it’s roll-over, as in meet or exceed the DR on a roll to succeed. Sometimes a game is roll-under, as in roll at or lower than the number to succeed.

[@ivan_says_hi]

@@DaveThaumavore thank you! So in the example of this game a DR12 means that you have to roll higher than 12 on a D20 after modifiers to successfully do whatever it is the DR12 is referring to? That makes sense :)

[@DaveThaumavore]

@@ivan_says_hi that’s correct.

[@pjlupin]

Well that was...informative. It's just so much to cram into my head, but I really hope I can rember all of tNice tutorials. I have a bunch of ideas for

[@goukeban6197]

10:05 Hmm

[@DaveThaumavore]

Support the channel by joining my Patreon! www.patreon.com/thaumavore Newsletter sign-up: bit.ly/ThaumavoreNewsletter

[@Putsili]

I am one of the four people... thx a lot for the vid.

[@konatelassina5301]

Wow! This was super well done! Can’t wait to receive my copy!

[@allluckyseven]

Good stuff, Dave. While I was listening to this, I felt the real urge to like this video another 3 or 4 times. The whole graphic presentation of the game is really impressive. It reminds me a bit of punk fanzines from the late 80s mixed in with later, more recent graphic design styles. And yes, those adventure pages look simply fantastic. As soon as I put my eyes on them, I was, well, first flabbergasted, then confused as to why I hadn't seen that everywhere until now. That is how it should be done, [insert your favorite expletive here]! Addendum: I usually dislike games that have ultra specific mechanics, like if something happens you roll this and this, if at a different time something else happens, here's another rule just for that... But in the case of this book it seems really fun.

[@paulvalentine4157]

Home from church, time for some relaxing entertainment! Thanks for the effort.

[@LyonPercival]

Hi Dave! The book looks amazing, can you see what it says inside the front pages where it is printed?

[@benpuffer7891]

Still trying to figure out if this rpg is style over substance.

[@DaveThaumavore]

This book alone? Style over substance. This whole franchise of supplements, all the first-party of which are completely free in their website? Metric tons of substance.

[@benpuffer7891]

@@DaveThaumavore I love that this exists, and it really is a peice of art. My hesitation is that if I'm a DM trying to talk my group into trying something other than 5e, do I pick this over DCC or Old Scool Essentials?

[@DaveThaumavore]

@@benpuffer7891 the simplicity of MB over those others you mentioned make this more of a casual game. Almost a drinking game, really. If they want more crunch and fiddly rules, then MB will not work for them.

[@benpuffer7891]

@@DaveThaumavore Noted. Thank you. Maybe it was an unfair comparison to make.