Rotblack Sludge (Mörk Borg)
Yesterday I ran my first game of Mörk Borg for my online group. The group is a mix of experienced 5e players where we take turns in the GM seat and sprinkle in other systems between campaigns to fill the gaps. Our previous excursion was Daggerheart, so this was on the opposite end of the spectrum of D&D’esque TTRPGs.
Much virtual ink has been spilled about Mörk Borg as a visual artifact, the book is bold and glorious in the way it smashes its idols and unapologetically puts the world and its flavor before considerations of readability or accessibility. Many have criticized this approach, but the book provides great tools in the endpages to make the visually striking work more accessible and once the underlying logic of its organization is internalized, this is actually a well structured book. It helps that this is a very light system and I have found that it is actually much easier to orient yourself in the book if you are more of visually inclined person, e.g. the damage hierarchy of weapons is very easy to remember if you recall the graphic presentation in your mind. Similarly, the design creates a visual narrative that conveys a lot of information about the vibe of the world. The design thus transports a lot of intangible information that other books bury in lengthy textual descriptions. So for me, the layout and design does more good than bad, but this is certainly something that everyone has to figure out individually.
In terms of running the game, this is probably one of the easiest ways of starting to play D&D. Simple logical rules that fit on a single page, an excellently organized starter dungeon and no distracting fluff that might sidetrack inexperienced GMs. The player facing rolls even alleviating the burden of “killing” player characters, as now they are doing it to themselves. The game also turned out to be less deadly than it presents itself to be, the Omens are doing a lot of heavy lifting to keep the players breathing and the murderous vibe made players doubly as cautious in exploring the world.
However, it does take some adjustment, especially for 5e centric players, that had to get used to the side initiative and finding answers outside of their character sheets. I am positive though, that time would solve this issue, especially if the GM leads by example, e.g. having monsters use the environment to their advantage etc.
The adventure itself, Rotblack Sludge, is probably the best laid out adventure I have ever run and makes it a breeze to run off the page. At times a little bit more interconnection of themes and items in the dungeon would have been nice to reinforce the sense of discovery for players. Why do the skeletons play music? To pacify the worm. Easy enough to figure out a fix like this yourself, but the module does not contain any info on this crucial element that is telegraphed through the entire dungeon. This might be to keep complexity low for a beginner dungeon, but it would have pushed this module into an easy 10/10 category. A special mention to scvmbirther as an excellent tool for rolling up exciting characters.
Overall this was a really enjoyable read and especially easy scenario to run. It seems to me, that the Mörk Borg formula with its plethora of offspring has somewhat taken the position as a spiritual successor to OD&D, as it beams with DIY spirit and fills a gap for an easy ruleset that can adapt to any world while wearing its DNA proudly on its sleeve. Being available for free in its entirety as well as wielding an extremely generous third party license only adds the cherry on top. It won't be the last visit to this doomed world. 9/10