We had the pleasure of trying Mörk Borg Cult: Heretic, an expansion for the popular OSR tabletop RPG Mörk Borg (and here you can find our review of the core rulebook).
The manual was written in part by the original author Pelle Nillson, and illustrated and paginated by Johan Nohr. Proofreading and editing was done by Walton Wood, Fiona Maeve Geist (MRC) and Jarrett Crader (MRC). For this, the work fits perfectly with Mörk Borg‘s theme and style, simply expanding its versatility and providing ideas for GMs. It is important to note that this is a collection of different contents, many of which are available for free on the official Mörk Borg website. This print is therefore intended to provide a compact and possibly physical version of that material.
The manual is available in physical version on the Free League website for around 18 euros, and in PDF format on DriveThruRpg for 10 euros.
Andiamo ora ad analizzarne i vari aspetti!
Review of the Book of Mörk Borg Cult: Heretic
The volume consists of 68 pages, all illustrated in a grotesque and spectacular way. The art is in fact designed by Nohr himself, author of the original manual by Mörk Borg. Consequently, the layout and the crazy style will also be the same. Therefor this makes this work a real collector’s item.
The main focus of the work is to expand the gameplay provided by the basic manual, without distorting it particularly but providing statblocks, tables and interesting ideas. There are also numerous dungeons which make it a great tool for the GM looking for something quick to play.
Cults, Tables and Candles
As a good old school manual, Heretic is littered with wonderful tables with the most disparate uses.
The first allows us, for example, to create our own personal cult, offering narrative ideas to both players and GMs.
Immediately after we find one of the best ideas of the manual, exploitable thanks to the roll of a d66: the “Unheroic Feats“, talents acquired by characters without a class. These will definitely make it more fun to play a character with no starting powers, as they will offer a unique progression with powerful abilities and interesting bonuses. There is also a rule that allows you to obtain these talents through the natural progression of the character in the story: for example, a character strangely related to rats could obtain “Pied Piper”, thus gaining the ability to communicate with rodents.
We can’t talk about tables without mentioning my absolute favorite: “You are cursed“. 20 curses, 10 characters able to break them (perhaps), 10 prices to pay and 12 rituals to try to save your unfortunate character. Layout on a black background and artistically curated by Johan Nohr, this little masterpiece offers instant plot cues. Whether it was for an one-shot or to temporarily derail a campaign, I have used this very useful tool numerous times, and it has never let me down.
The Merchant, the Dust and the Darkness
Another important part of the manual is the shop of the “Merchant”, a mysterious figure who will sell powerful items in exchange for the souls of the characters.
The actual price will actually be one ability point (or one hit point). All the items are interesting and can easily make a character unique, whether in a safe way or not.
The items for sale will change based on where players find The Merchant, making him more dynamic and unpredictable.
Dungeon Crawling at Will
The rest of the volume contains many adventures suitable for ones-hot. These are richly decorated and have simple maps surrounded by notes and tips for the GM. The style is very reminiscent of the One Page Dungeons.
Personally, I found Graves Left Wanting particularly smooth and enjoyable; it is an adventure set in a gloomy abandoned cemetery, where bodies still need to find their way. Excellent both for starting a campaign and as an one-shot, this small module will accompany us from the mysterious resurrection of the player characters, up to their eventual escape from the Shadow King’s territory.
The adventure takes place all inside a boundless cemetery, surrounded by fog and darkness. It will be up to the players to decide the direction in which to move, exploring corrupt places such as the Vomatorium, the Roach Herder’s Lair and many others. However, the adventure takes to a specific place: the Undertaker’s Hut. Here the dead resurrected in a similar way to the characters live in a form of simple society, unable to escape after killing the owner of this place. It will be here that players will face the ultimate challenge of this adventure, the ÜBERTAKER. In keeping with the well-known difficulty of this game system, the creature will prove to be a formidable opponent, but also an extremely entertaining battle.
I must point out that most of the material in this chapter is available as a free download on the official Mörk Borg website. The layout and the art are, as always, the strong point of this roleplaying game and even here they do not disappoint at all. Despite the apparent chaos, all the content is easily usable.
The GM’s Screen and Extras
Two high-quality accessories were also sent to us along with the Heretic basic manual.
The first is a wonderful master screen. On one side there are incredibly thematic and inspired illustrations, on the other all the most important rules and tables. It is currently available on the Free League website at a price of € 18.55.
The second is The Hexed Gauntlet of Kagel-Secht, a singular mix between a comic and a dungeon in poster format (A2). Players will explore it one panel at a time, each representing an area of the spooky castle. Unfortunately, this accessory does not seem to be available at the moment.
Final Thoughs of the Review of Mörk Borg Cult: Heretic
This collection of diverse content certainly offers numerous insights. The art style very similar to that of the core rulebook makes it basically a collector’s item, or even an art book. I recommend the purchase if interested in the printed version or in general collecting. Despite the great amount of material for the low price, almost everything is legally and free of charge in PDF form.
On a qualitative level, on the other hand, it is confirmed as excellent in terms of writing, flavor of the adventures and efficiency of the new game mechanics.