Under the Sign of the Black Mark- MÖRK BORG’s Twin Basilisks Speak.

As the phenomenon of role playing continues to make inroads...

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What a fantastic interview, great work Andi! I dig the shit out of this game and have only played (as the DM) twice. The second time as I prepped for the same adventure but for a different group I found a stronger narrative to the sparse details given, that made me excited even more than the first time.

These dudes know what they're doing.

Mork Borg maasasaasssaay be my favorite RPG of all time. Seriously. It is fundamentally perfect for my tastes, aesthetics, and wants in terms of rules. The setting is minimal but what’s there blows all of Forgotten Realms of the map.

I ran Rotblack Sludge on Sunday for a group of kids...I thought I ought to tone it down, but they really rose (lowered?) to the occasion and got into the atmosphere with more ruthlessness and PG- rated brutality then I expected. They were invited to play D&D but I thought why would I have these kids play that when Mork Borg is simpler, more evocative, and more fun?

It isn’t any more complicated than Knave, one of the lightest rule sets out there. But the system is slightly more developed and refined than Knave. The combat system is just brilliant- so quick and so deadly. It’s all CR based, including monster attacks, which the players roll for.

Playing this game, more than any other rules light OSR game, really shows how much you DON’T need rules, lore, and other wasteful verbiage and statistics to play a fucking RPG. Make it up, make rulings on the fly, improvise. Roll a die on a table and see what happene, don’t write all this shit out. Burn your DMG. This is the way.

I am not kidding that playing this game made me want to burn all of my other games and only play it moving forward. I’m sure I’d regret that, but that is how strong my feeling toward this incredible game is.

It should be noted too that the book itself is amazing-. They are -bar none- the best looking and best designed RPG book I’ve ever seen. It’s modern, artful, and totally captures the spirit of the game.

I am actually going to buy a couple of their t-shirts. I have never owned a piece of gaming related apparel in my life.

Dr. Mabuse wrote: What a fantastic interview, great work Andi! I dig the shit out of this game and have only played (as the DM) twice. The second time as I prepped for the same adventure but for a different group I found a stronger narrative to the sparse details given, that made me excited even more than the first time.

These dudes know what they're doing.

Cheers man.

Yeah, they know what's up for sure. The community content is of a really high standard too. I guess that comes of having a well-curated and presented selection crafted in collaboration with the original creators. It's a great approach that provides deeper engagement whilst keeping things consistent. Vibrancy and vision. Chaos and control.

Michael Barnes wrote: Mork Borg maasasaasssaay be my favorite RPG of all time. Seriously. It is fundamentally perfect for my tastes, aesthetics, and wants in terms of rules. The setting is minimal but what’s there blows all of Forgotten Realms of the map.

I ran Rotblack Sludge on Sunday for a group of kids...I thought I ought to tone it down, but they really rose (lowered?) to the occasion and got into the atmosphere with more ruthlessness and PG- rated brutality then I expected. They were invited to play D&D but I thought why would I have these kids play that when Mork Borg is simpler, more evocative, and more fun?

It isn’t any more complicated than Knave, one of the lightest rule sets out there. But the system is slightly more developed and refined than Knave. The combat system is just brilliant- so quick and so deadly. It’s all CR based, including monster attacks, which the players roll for.

Playing this game, more than any other rules light OSR game, really shows how much you DON’T need rules, lore, and other wasteful verbiage and statistics to play a fucking RPG. Make it up, make rulings on the fly, improvise. Roll a die on a table and see what happene, don’t write all this shit out. Burn your DMG. This is the way.

I am not kidding that playing this game made me want to burn all of my other games and only play it moving forward. I’m sure I’d regret that, but that is how strong my feeling toward this incredible game is.

It should be noted too that the book itself is amazing-. They are -bar none- the best looking and best designed RPG book I’ve ever seen. It’s modern, artful, and totally captures the spirit of the game.

I am actually going to buy a couple of their t-shirts. I have never owned a piece of gaming related apparel in my life.

Haha I'm not burning my DCC or 1e shit just yet., but yeah- this singular tome, even without the abundance of supplementary material emerging, has really made good on the promise of the OSR for rules light but thematically stacked systems. I've actually got two of the shirts and I too have never wanted a meeple on my chest or some shit. It doesn't hurt that they look like badass band shirts to the casual observer.

I'm curious as to how you rendered the cannibal butcher in PG13 tones though hahaha. Are these kids parents ever going to allow them back to your place?

You've probably just seeded a troubled future adolescence for a bunch of now proto-goths. I hope you're pleased with yourself. Monstrous.

Top, top, top content, really stellar stuff once again Andi.

I've tried various RPGs with my kids but it just isn't landing for them. It's odd because their favourite past-time is to lock themselves in their room and make up their own plays/stories, but I guess they are just super-averse to anything that ties their imaginations down to rules or systems. I was much the same in my youth - my friends and I would always start out with the best intentions then end up ditching character sheets and rulebooks and just roleplaying off-the-cuff. I guess that the strictures of roleplaying systems would allow us to get as far as creating rational characters for the gameworld we were inhabiting and were thus abandoned so rapidly purely because they were simply the catalyst to get us started. We would have loved something like this back then though.

mezike wrote: Top, top, top content, really stellar stuff once again Andi.

I've tried various RPGs with my kids but it just isn't landing for them. It's odd because their favourite past-time is to lock themselves in their room and make up their own plays/stories, but I guess they are just super-averse to anything that ties their imaginations down to rules or systems.

Cheers man, much appreciated and thanks for reading. As for your kids-it sounds like they're doing just fine without any rulebooks to guide them! Keep that spark in them alive