Looks like Mork Borg is the current fascination with large sections of the OSR  so like a moth to the flame I decided to poke nose into it and see what the hubbub is.

I’m not going to go into a detailed review here.  That’s all pretty much been done and my thoughts are the same.  A simple rules lite OSR-style game with crazy layout that makes it at times difficult to use. But I’ve got other thoughts as well.

What I really like is that the setting/tone isn’t afraid to color outside the lines.  I admit that I’m no metal head but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like the vibe.  And well, I like to run/play in a variety of styles of campaigns. Sometimes I want your standard fantasy type world. Sometimes I want something more like Conan/Sword & Sorcery. And then sometimes I want weird and well something like Mork Borg.

I can’t help but the vibe of some of the early Lamentations of the Flame Princess stuff before it became shock for just shock and “It goes to 11”. You know what I mean.  Also, (IMHO) the tone of game is set more by the GM and players than the actual rules.  Sure those can help and guide you but when it comes down it you can take the dark themes of a game and easily transplant them into whatever other rule set you want. With that in mind, I’m looking at Mork Borg as more of a setting and inspirational rather than a game which means it still a cool thing to have and use.

And I guess that’s my biggest problem with Mork Borg. While the rules are simple and kind of neat, it’s not one of those games that it will be easy to convert on the fly to other old-school games. It’s very much it’s own thing. It’s not bad, it’s just different. It’s probably easier to convert stuff out of Mork Borg into your rules of choice rather than try to convert an adventure on the fly.

Yes, Mork Borg is useful and a good thing to have. Sure there’s some yucky stuff so to speak.  And it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. The rules are a solid old-school style alternative.  But the real gem is the inspirational and setting material hidden in the pages.

And there’s a couple of cool Kickstarters out there, Strange Citizens of the City and The Masticator Gate.

You find out more and all sorts of resources and links on the Mork Borg site.