“MEKBORG and STEEL PSALM” introduce a gameplay experience that combines post-apocalyptic themes with mechanical, MEK-KNIGHT warfare, set in a universe close to destruction. The games prioritize aesthetics and atmosphere over complex mechanics, aiming to be accessible and engaging.

An early backer incentive includes a special MekBorg pin in MÖRK BORG yellow, available to those pledging for a physical reward within the first 72 hours. This pin will not be available for purchase after the initial 48 hours.

“MEKBORG” allows players to navigate the role of a MEK-KNIGHT in a disintegrating galaxy, combating various mechanical and monstrous threats. “STEEL PSALM,” on the other hand, provides players with command over a full unit of MEK-KNIGHTS, participating in tactical skirmishes that can be played solo or competitively. Each book is designed to stand alone or be combined for a more integrated experience.

The campaign also features customization options, with players able to choose from existing factions like the Black Order, the Mages of N’ta, Cyanide Industries, and House Xanth, or create their own.

Included in the campaign is the “Ammo Box,” which bundles themed dice, pins, patches, and more. Backers who select this tier within the first 72 hours also receive the limited edition yellow enamel pin.

“MEKBORG and STEEL PSALM” utilize the familiar d20 system, ensuring that both newcomers and seasoned players of MÖRK BORG can easily engage with the new games.

Submissions will be accepted from May 1st through May 31st. Participants who follow the submission guidelines will receive an exclusive KNOWN CONSPIRATOR antique pin and a CABIN FEVER die-cut sticker.

The entries will be judged by a panel comprising several notable figures from the RPG community, including Brian Colin from Infinite Black, Jason Hunt and Brett O’Donnell of Pirate Borg Ex Libris, Bridgette Jeffries of Chaosium, Doug Shute from Free League Publishing, and Luke and Tyler Stratton from Limithron.

The event will conclude with the selection of sixteen entries to be featured in a print-on-demand hardcover book. Each selected creator will receive a copy of the book and a share of a $3,000 prize pool, with the top entry receiving $1,000. The book will be made available at cost on lulu.com, and a free PDF version will be accessible via pirateborg.com.

Alongside the game jam, Limithron will release the Pirate Borg Design Primer. This guide provides content creators with writing and layout tips, information on the fonts used in Pirate Borg, and a list of resources to assist in the development of high-quality submissions for the game and its Dark Caribbean setting.

Ahoy, tabletop RPG enthusiasts! Free League Publishing, and game creator Luke Stratton, also known as Limithron, have launched a new RPG that merges pirate fantasy with cosmic horror—PIRATE BORG. Released to coincide with International Talk Like a Pirate Day, the game promises to send you on a whirlwind adventure where your cutlass and flintlock might not be enough to save you from skeletons, the Kraken, or even your mutinous crew.

What is PIRATE BORG?

PIRATE BORG is a spin-off of the critically acclaimed MÖRK BORG RPG and is now available via the Free League webstore, hobby stores globally, and as a PDF at DriveThruRPG. In this RPG, you become a filthy, greedy scoundrel who must loot, kill, and drink rum to survive the brutal world of pirating. Your journey will be riddled with raiding, plundering, and endless high-sea escapades as you vie for fame and fortune—or meet a watery grave.

Game Features

The game comes packed in a 166-page book featuring:

• Eight Character Classes: Choose from a variety of roles to suit your plundering style.
• Naval Combat Rules: Simple yet detailed mechanics to decide the outcomes of ship-to-ship encounters.
• Stats for 18 Vessels: A wide range of ships to captain, from simple rowboats to grand galleons.
• 80+ NPCs & Monsters: Face a multitude of foes, including mythical creatures and disgruntled crewmates.
• 90+ System Agnostic Tables: For generating adventures, obstacles, and treasures.
• The Curse of Skeleton Point: A sandbox-style adventure set in eleven pirate-themed locales.

PIRATE BORG is a spin-off of the critically acclaimed and gold ENnie-winning RPG MÖRK BORG. Written and illustrated by Luke Stratton, also known as Limithron, this new game invites players into a world of piracy inspired by history, fantasy, and horror. The pre-order is now open at the Free League webstore, with immediate access to the full PDFs ahead of the official release. A sneak peek of the game will also be available at Gen Con.

The 166-page PIRATE BORG rulebook plunges players into the lawless world of piracy. In this daring game, players recruit a crew, raid and pillage, upgrade their ships, search for treasure, face off against monstrous sea creatures, and inevitably meet their demise on the high seas.

Included in the PIRATE BORG book are eight character classes, easy-to-learn naval combat rules, stats for 18 vessels, 80+ NPCs & monsters, 90+ system agnostic tables, and The Curse of Skeleton Point, a sandbox-style adventure with eleven pirate-themed locations.

The game’s creator, Luke Stratton, is known for his detailed pirate-themed battle maps and has long held a fascination with the Golden Age of Piracy. Stratton, who turned to creating RPG content at the start of the pandemic, has amassed a loyal following on Patreon. PIRATE BORG is his latest contribution to the RPG community, following his successful Limithron’s Guide to Naval Combat for 5th Edition.

Stratton’s PIRATE BORG promises to immerse players in a world where survival is a constant struggle and death is just a cannon blast away. Despite the odds, players are encouraged to ‘get a live one’ and keep their tales of daring and debauchery alive. For more information, visit limithron.com, pirateborg.com, or linktr.ee/limithron.

This new RPG builds upon the success of MÖRK BORG, a dark and edgy RPG that took the role-playing game scene by storm in 2020. Since its release, it has won numerous awards, including ENnie’s Product of the Year, and has built a dedicated cult following. In 2022, Free League and Stockholm Kartell continued the Borg legacy with the release of the celebrated spin-off game CY_BORG. PIRATE BORG sets sail to continue this successful trend, bringing horror and adventure to the seven seas.

The module marks Evenson’s first-ever role-playing game, an endeavor steeped in a rich narrative drawn from decades of his fiction. Designed around the simple yet immersive MÖRK BORG RPG system, players are invited to traverse a world characterized as “hot, suffocating, strange, and satiating.”

Players will journey through a multitude of foreboding locales, from the Desiccated Hills to the Rocky Barren Land and beyond the Necrotic Fields, facing horrors that can mutilate and morph flesh. Notable adversaries include the Necrotic Priest, who hides behind altars unless provoked, and equips only a ceremonial knife.

Adventurers can arm themselves with a variety of strange weapons like “The Honeybone,” a bone-white sword that offers protection against limb severance and “Vorna’s Thirsty Edge,” a vampiric zweihänder that replenishes health with each successful hit but consumes the bearer’s life force when a strike misses.

“The Dark Glinting with Metal – MÖRK BORG” is a complete setting and adventure module. For those unfamiliar with MÖRK BORG rules, they are available for free online.

Source

The Portents of the Degloved Hand deck is compatible with MÖRK BORG, a dark and chaotic tabletop roleplaying game. It allows players to exchange their character’s omen for a portent that will give them an extra advantage during gameplay. To activate a portent, players must draw a random card from one of the four decks – Disaster, Disease, Destruction, and Death – and fulfill the effect of the card during their turn.

The standard edition of the deck includes 52 full-color cards divided into four suits, a custom four-sided die, and a custom coffin-shaped box with a sleeve and four color-coded deck cartons. The limited edition deck includes the same items, with the addition of a glow-in-the-dark four-sided die and a screen-printed art print on Domtar Cougar cover weight paper, measuring 18” x 24”.

Exalted Funeral has also added an exclusive signed edition of the screen-printed art print for backers of the limited edition deck and art print pledge. Those who miss out on this edition can still purchase an unsigned edition through BackerKit as an add-on post-campaign.

The Portents of the Degloved Hand deck promises to add more chaos, misfortune, and dark humor to MÖRK BORG sessions, providing players with a unique and thrilling experience. The campaign is set to end on May 5, so be sure to get your hands on this deck before it’s too late.

Source

IKHON introduces players to an array of new challenges and obstacles, as they seek to unfetter the Profane Profound. However, the god-vessels known as IKHONs are despised by the Two-Headed Basilisks, and those who carry them will be hunted down by the inquisition.

The boxed set includes rules on how to unfetter the Profane Profound, as well as four tracts, one for each god-creature, detailing their gifts and punishments. Written by Pelle Nilsson, the game has been given a darker, stranger form by Fiona Maeve Geist and Jarrett Crader of the MoonRat Conspiracy. The game is illustrated by the masterful Paraguayan artist Samuel Araya, whose oil paintings bring the Profane Profound to blasphemous life.

MÖRK BORG is a blackened artpunk RPG that has become a cult hit with a dedicated following since it ravaged the role-playing game scene in 2020. The game won four gold ENnies, including Product of the Year, Best Layout & Design, Best Writing, and Best Game.

Source

From the campaign:

EACH MISERABLE DAY THAT PASSES, THE UNIVERSE INCHES CLOSER TO ITS INEVITABLE DEMISE.

Vast Grimm is a stand-alone, art-filled, punk-fueled OSR role-playing game about the few humans remaining in a universe being consumed by growing parasitic würms.

Are you a MAnchiNe ravaged by war, pieced together with remnants of bots and the little flesh left of your body? Maybe you’re a twisted biochemist shoving needles into your arms in hopes that this next fix will be the one that saves you and what’s left of humanity? Or perhaps you are a soul survivor, like a cockroach, doing whatever is necessary to stay alive even if it means the rest of your Legion must perish.

This is a game about survival, no matter how gruesome things get, humanity must survive.

The campaign is up and running now with 24 days left to go.

Source