Text and game design

Pelle Nilsson
Graphic design and art

Johan Nohr
and dead people
Man? Woman?
Lost souls all.
d6 d8 Name
1 1 Aerg-Tval
d10 occult treasures
2 Agn
3 Arvant 1. Ash-grey ring a finger- 7. This torch burns for an
4 Belsum width wide. All that passes immortal hour. Hold it and
5 Belum through is obliterated. live. You can lose limbs and
6 Brint 2. The keening music of this enter negative HP but won’t
7 Börda small, vile flute animates die unless you drop the
8 Daeru a fetus-sized meat golem in torch or it burns out.
a nearby corpse. 8. Silver bird cage slays
2 1 Eldar whatever is placed behind
2 Felban HP 5 Morale - No armor
Bite d4, immune to Powers. its bars, slowly, over one
3 Gotven long night. That which is
4 Graft 3. A note explains: one taste killed reanimates twice
5 Grin from this Famine Spoon means as strong, as a raging
6 Grittr death from slow starvation. uncontrollable undead.
7 Haerü 4. The image of a being in this 9. Black Crown of the Crippled
8 Hargha malevolently-accurate mirror King. Wearing this crooks
shows only the shameful your body as you become
3 1 Harmug truth of their soul. aware that you and every
2 Jotna 5. Vampiric phurba. Heals you creature within 100 yards
3 Karg as it harms your target (d3), gain +10 to your rolls but
4 Karva but beware: after stealing your maximum HP is halved.
5 Katla a total of 6 HP, test Rolls modified to go above
6 Keftar Presence DR14 or become 20 count as crits. The
7 Klort addicted—you must then worn crown can only be
8 Kratar test Presence DR12 daily. removed in the pale light
Fail and you must stab of a full moon.
4 1 Kutz someone with the knife 10. Anyone wearing this ancient
2 Kvetin before next sunrise. blindfold becomes invisible
3 Lygan Or wither to ash and die to those who breathe though
4 Margar as the sun rises. the undead attack them
5 Merkari 6. A black pearl. If dropped obsessively and nearby
6 Nagl in darkness it rolls towards corpses awaken in moaning,
7 Niduk the nearest exit to day. unholy wrath.
8 Nifehl
5 1 Prügl
2 Qillnach
3 Risten
4
5
Svind
Theras
Traps and Devilry d12 Weather d12
6 Therg 1. Well dressed corpse, booby trapped 1. Lifeless grey
7 Torvul 2. Wall-holes shoot poisonous arrows 2. Hammering rain
8 Törn 3. Bells and marbles on the floor 3. Piercing wind
4. Scorpion-filled basket poised to fall 4. Deafening storm
6 1 Urm 5. Fish hooks hanging at eye level 5. Black as night
2 Urvarg 6. Chest marked with explosive runes 6. Dead quiet
3 Vagal 7. Lock trapped with vial of poison gas 7. Cloudburst
4 Vatan 8. Jewel removal leads to roof collapse 8. Soup-thick mist
5 Von 9. Slanted floor, translucent oil, pit 9. Crackling frost
6 Vrakh 10. Snake-cages on collapsing ceiling tiles 10. Irritating drizzle
7 Vresi 11. Evil urns release cold ghosts 11. Roaring thunder
8 Wemut 12. Coins coated in grime and poison 12. Gravelike cold
Corpse plundering d66
11-16: The remains of something worthless crumbles in your hands.
21. Pot filled with extremely 41. Map to a place 51. Black Kergüs
potent itching ointment. that cannot dagger. 2d4 damage.
22. Necklace of human teeth. possibly exist.
23. Bag of angry, venomous moths. 52. Labelled poison
Test Toughness DR6 or die. 42. Unmarked bottle bottle. Test
with a liquid that Toughness DR12
24. Pocket full of broken glass,
shifts between red or lower random
PC takes d2 damage.
and green. ability by d4.
25. Mad manifesto. If read,
43. Bond. A local The ability can
test Presence DR12 or lose
potentate owes be increased when
1 Presence permanently
the holder a your character is
from confusion.
sizable amount. improved.
26. Key to nearby locked door.
Stolen. 44. Death mask of 53. Scalp with long
31. Map to a weak but wealthy one of the PCs. black hair.
family’s house. 45. The ‘Water of 54. Golden ball with
Life.’ Heals d8. an invisible seam,
32. A hopeless amount of spiders.
Test Toughness twists open.
33. Metal cylinder with gunpowder
DR10 or go blind. 55. Bloodstained
and fuse. Roll a d6. 1–2 you
Highly alcoholic. knuckle-duster.
lose a hand. 3–6 3d10 damage
wherever it lands. 46. There was something 56. Two weighted dice.
very wrong with
34. Known and liked/despised
this one. Hands
witch-hunter’s face. Flayed. 61-66:
covered with
The result
35. Note with PC’s names. something lukewarm,
in silver.
One is crossed out. brown and acidic.
36. Tortured pixie Take d2+1 damage
with torn-off and smell terrible
wings and gouged for d4 days.
out eyes.
PLAYTESTING Adrian Madden, Christian Sahlén, Dan Algstrand,
Elin Hedström, Felix Dester Hultgren, Gunnar Landqvist,
Karl Stjernberg, Markus Linderum, Nina Åkesson, Simon Perstrand,
Stefan Hedström and Tobias Tarnvik-Laesker.

PROOFREADING/EDITING Christian Sahlén, Dan Algstrand,

Fiona Maeve Geist (MRC), Jarrett Crader (MRC),
Johan Eriksson, Levi Huntsman and Skander Fanni.

ORIGINAL TRANSLATION Johan Nohr

THANKS TO Calle Niblaeus, Christian Plogfors, Christian Sahlén,

Dan Algstrand, Domkraft, Fredrik Jarl, Gunnar Landqvist,
Heimat der Katastrophe, Helene Rothstein Sylvesten, Jim Magnusson,
Joakim Malmquist, Johan Eriksson, Jonas Stattin, Karl Druid,
+AQK3¯JEQMBEQG .I°KAR7IR¯ED¯ 3ILNM0EQR¯QAMD 3N†E.NHQ 
Tiina Pyykkö Nilsson, Tomas Härenstam and all our backers,
fans and haters.

Print: Livonia Print, Latvia 2019

Paper: Magno Satin 170g, Munken Pure Rough 120g, Magno Natural 140g
Typefaces: Over a hundred

Music that helped

Ash Borer. Batushka. Bell Witch. Belzebong. Black Tremor. Bongripper. Bongzilla.
Cathedral. Conan. Dark Buddha Rising. Darkthrone. Domkraft. Dragged Into Sunlight.
Dödsrit. Earth. Electric Wizard. Eyehategod. Gnoll. Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
KTL. Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. Mayhem. Mephorash. Monolord. Morbid. Murg. Phurpa.
Primitive Man. Profetus. Shadowmaster. Sleep. Slomatics. Sunn 0))). The Body.
This Gift Is A Curse. Thou. Tiamat. Ufomammut. Urfaust. Weedeater. With the Dead.
 Original text, ideas Graphic design
and game design and artwork

Pelle Nilsson Johan Nohr

and a couple of
Public Domain images

English writing and

creative consultation Patrick Stuart

MÖRK BORG is © Ockult Örtmästare Games & Stockholm Kartell 2019

MÖRK BORG is Swedish for DARK FORT and is pronounced MURK BORG
 he wind from the west.
From the sundered land.
Rot rides it, and the stench
of blood. Cursed walker,
Will you travel there? To the
Valley
Unfortunate Undead ?
of
the
Our young ones are taken by the
child-thief Tergol ,
known for his vile crimes
and alchemy of flesh.
Distances shift. As if this pale, Most likely, it makes little
Paths between lightless world difference. No one has seen
places warp. possessed a will the sun in years. The old
and bitter life. care more for sacrifice and
Its mercy curdled to wrath over god-offerings than their
a too-long age. bawling spawn. Doomsayers
are proved right time and
Who are you? The grave robber again and embraced by hidden
with silver glittering between powers. Maybe it’s best to
cracked fingernails? The mystic surrender—to trust your own
who would bend the world’s instinct and skill rather
miserable heart away from than the whim of the dice?
its inevitable end? Before all is drowned in
welcome silence. Life locked
and failing in a DARK FORT.

3
4
 Anuk
Schleger, monk of the Creton order, encountered the basilisk
Verhu in the year 565 and set down that creature’s whispered
prophecies. These lost texts came to be known as the Nameless
Scriptures. 300 years later, while working on a new Cathedral,
The Two-Headed Basilisks, an orthodox branch of the Creton order
uncovered Schlegers tomb and with it the Scriptures. Since then
all events described within have come to pass. The prophecies are
absolutely, factually true and have, thus, supplanted all other Scripture.
Around this cathedral has grown Galgenbeck, the greatest city that ever was.

The_Basilisks are two and two-headed.

The four heads have argued for hundreds
of years. Verhu predicts inexorable
annihilation and, since he’s always
right, has become utterly full of
himself. His is also the head
worshipped most. If you could learn
the codes of the apocalypse perhaps
the right offerings might avert it?
Verhu loves his position and hungers
for temples to be raised in his name.

5
 W hen the world was but water, dust and clouds thick
with plague-fat flies came S H E , first of the basilisks.
From the cracks of Bergen Chrypt S H E crawled. S H E bears
the head of Denial, Lusi, who looks up and down. Yet all shall
be well. Her twin Arkh, Head of Deception, claims to be the
first prophet of truths now prostituted by Verhu. Few have ever
seen her, the oldest, but many walk her twin paths.

⁂
S H E spawned many since the dawn of time,
their conceptions not without agony. All were cast down
the cliffs of Bergen Chrypt, only H E survived. Down in
the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead his eyes locked
upon the mountain’s peak, H E spits out curses
upon his evil mother. The head Gorgh is bitter,
rank with envy that only his twin Verhu knows
the damned truth. Time and time again his
prophecies are brought to be. The piles of
gold-gift riches from his faithful teeter
and slide, so tall are they.

6
 THE WORLD DIES EVEN NOW. Reality decays, truth becomes
dream and dream, truth. Cracks grow in the once-stable
structures of the past, allowing things misshapen and vile
to worm through, emerging into day’s wan light. The know
n
world closes in, bounded to the west by the massive
Bergen Chrypt with its catacombs and ice-caked peaks
and surrounded by the Endless Sea to the
north, south and
east. Many have ploughed the wave
’s furrow in search of
new lands. They all return,
against their will. Alive or dea
d.

7
 The Endless Sea
S
The AR
KAS
Endless
Sea H
GRAVEN-TOSK
K E R G Ü S

TVELAND
Grift
M

Valley GALGENBECK
Ú
of the
R
Unfortunate
? Undead
W Ä S T L A N D

SCHLESWIG

The Endless Sea

8
Galgenbeck in the land of Tveland is the greatest
city that ever was. No King or Queen rules in Galgenbeck
but an arch-priestess: Josilfa Migol. Deep beneath the Cathedral of
the Two-Headed Basilisks, in a cool black chamber crossed by shards of
light, lies her throne. Josilfa, old but still young, commoners gossip that
she colludes with the god Nechrubel, who gave her eternal life.
Nechrubel: the shadow that covers all. Nechrubel is melancholy,
crop failure, conflict and war. It is said he whispered
the apocalyptic prophecies in Verhu’s ear.

As time grows ever shorter the Two-Headed Basilisks become ever-more desperate
LQWKHLUUHFUXLWPHQW7RWDNHRQH¶VRZQOLIHLVFRQVLGHUHGVLQIXOcowardice. The road to
VDOYDWLRQOLHVWKURXJKPRUWL¿FDWLRQRIWKHÀHVKWKHDSRFDO\SVHLVWREHPHWZLWKH\HVZLGH
open. Only then can the soul be allowed passage to the Shimmering Fields. Heretics and
apostates are hunted down and corrected, in public and at length, by the Inquisition.

In Tveland
also lies Sarkash.
The forest seems, lately, to spread unnaturally fast. Paths tangle and wind
in the overgrown gloom, leading wanderers astray. Far in the depths of
Sarkash, always where one least expects to find it, in a halo of dying trees,
is GRAVEN-TOSK. A truly ancient cemetery filled with mausoleums,
blank-eyed cherubs, stagnant fountains, plague pits and ordinary graves.
But hasn’t
it grown
warmer in
this usually
cold place?
Do you hear
the frantic
scratching?
The air feels
heavy, stale
and hard to
breathe.

99
 Rising over Graven-Tosk
like rage rising over pain is the

Palace of the
Shadow King
A gothic black castle, like a mirror
to the Cathedral of the Two-Headed
Basilisk in Galgenbeck. Most of the
palace lies in crumbling ruins,
home to unfortunate souls sheltering
beneath its broken halls. None dare
dream what might lie under the rubble
covered catacombs and cellars. Tunnels
sprawl beneath like writhing roots, digging
deeper into the cold earth like cancerous
veins. The inner wing still stands, acting
as the home of the Shadow King,
a being obscured by ritual7KHbVODYHV
RIWKHVHUYDQWVof the courtiers of the
King come forth and do his will.

The title is hereditary: sons are always born

to the Shadow King. It’s whispered Princes
of that line disguise themselves as ordinary
men wandering the ruins engaging in
games and tricking travelers, multiplying
the miseries of their people.

10
From ages past, Grift grew upon an
eastern peninsula of the Endless
Sea. Cut from the world by the
bottomless Múr, the thriving city
state can be reached only by
three bridges of such might and
cyclopean size it is said that
only enslaved giants could have
raised them. Grift was once a
place of harmony and the light of
reason, a shelter from the plague-
wracked, war-torn world beyond.
But the world turns and even the
Múr cannot protect Grift from its
inevitable fall.

King Sigfúm the Kind is mocked

in the street. Much of Grift has
fallen into disrepair as vile
creatures begin crawling from the
dried, cracked earth. Each night
the bridges scream and roar like
great ships grinding upon rocks.
Sigfúm is defeated. He knows
the end is near, believes the
prophecies of Verhu and so, kindly
and calmly, prepares his people
for death. Huge parchments dot
the streets, calendars of despair
marking each correct preparation
and its time. Each day a leaf
is turned and when the last
page comes, Sigfúm will march
his people to the cliff Terion
to fulfill what was written.
Terion, a thousand meters of
vertical rock with the raging
sea biting at its base.

The inquisition of the Two-Headed

Basilisks is not too keen on the
heretical suicide scheme
of Sigfúm the Kind.

11
11
 KERGÜS

Desolation rolls over Kergüs like a frost-

barren wind. The lawless and forlorn trek
across its ice-wracked expanse, crawling
over the plains or cowering in the cracked
earth to flee Blood-Countess anthelia.
North, where the wind is born, lies Alliáns,
a storm-piercing spire-city of black glass.
Within stands a castle like a waterfall
of white stone: the throne of Anthelia.
She as pale as her castle’s walls, as youthful
as a drop of melting ice. Some say she is
eternally young. The gulls cry the names of
Knights who sought her hand, a reminder
that suitors and signs of Anthelia’s age
disappear in conjunction. But who listens to
a gull? And in Kergüs, even gulls freeze in
the cold that rolls from the dreams of the
Countess. Dreams of her unending youth.

Anthelia's Ambivalence

Anthelia is well aware time is short.

Neuroses burden her. “Why is everything
so pale? So cold?” She cries out for colour
or warmth. She drains the world of both
with every glance, touch and breath. Those
who bring her vibrant life are promised
great rewards. All fear to do so. Excuses
are made, explanations found. The feelings
of the Countess are fragile, her powers
absolute. Court life entails grey opulence,
excitement and fear.

12
13
 , called Wästland in the songs
of the simple and rhymes
of the poor, once home to
peace and wealth when
Lake Onda gifted fish and
the river-trade thrived.
Now, terror and despotism
stalk. In the secret citadel
of the sad-but-gaudy city
of Schleswig King Fathmu IX
schemes. Paranoid, fat and
increasingly mad, he is
consumed with psychosis
and invisible fears.

Obsessed with the prophecies of

Verhu, the King raids and invades
houses and villages, barns and
temples. Nowhere and no one is safe,
especially the poor. Taxed into
starvation, the contents of their
larders and storehouses are carted
off by Fathmu’s men.

14
A place few wish to speak of is the

Valley Unfortunate Undead.

of
the

Rumors whisper the Basilisk HE is coiled within its crypts, a sight

infrequently survived. Lies and legends enshroud the valley, obscuring
any truth. Peddler’s tales say the soil, the very air, is lethal—bringing
a sleepless, stumbling death. This is no clean fate but a slow-growing,
fathomless despair, weighing down
the traveler with poisoned memories Those without hope travel here
seeking an end to pain, a golden
and dark thoughts until the spark of afterlife beyond this dark and
life is mutated into a mournful, ruined world. They gather in
suicide cults and the valley’s
hopeless undeath. few twisted trees begin to droop
strange fruit from hempen rope.

O
thers claim lost wanderers can Others plumb the crypts seeking
Verhu, believing they can persuade
fall and find themselves in the him of other fates. Some simply and
Realm of the Dead when the stupidly leave gifts and sacrifices
to a power they cannot comprehend.
black soil hungrily drags them Gloom grows, obscuring the
world like an oil-stained image.
under the earth.

15
 The world trembles. One can
feel it in ways sharp and subtle,
mysterious and clear. One by one,
inevitable events demand their place.

I llustrating this, the Game

Master (GM) rolls a die each
dawn. A result of 1 activates
7:7
The seventh Misery will always
be 7:7, and the world finally dies.
one Misery. The die used is The seventh seal is broken for
determined by the GM and the seventh and final time.
the group. The game and your lives end here.
The GM then rolls d66 to determine Burn the book.
which Misery occurs. The same
Misery will not befall the world twice.

When will all this agony end?

Years of pain A bleak half-year A fall in anguish A cruel month The end is nigh!

t100 t20 t10 t6 t2

16
 The Calendar of Nechrubel – The Nameless Scriptures. Transcribed by Anuk Schleger the monk.

PSALM I PSALM IV

1:1 The City shall be made hollow. Of those 4:1 For five days and five nights mothers flesh
who rest in hollowness, they shall not be seen. shall be the cloak of demons.
1:2 And the earth shall shake and be riven. 4:2 And for five days and five nights shall
And from the cracks shall rise a poisonous fathers weep.
mist, and in ten days it will shroud the world. 4:3 Look to the West. Forth comes fire, and
1:3 Of those who build mightily, stone by a horde, and the Kingdoms burn.
stone, so shall they fall, stone by stone. 4:4 The liar, Arkh shall make knots of the
1:4 And the depths of the underworld hearts of men, sundering the strongest of bonds.
shall bring forth flying spectres and crawling 4:5 Behold now the Endless Sea, where
beasts. In their passing the worm grows fat, Leviathan causes waves to be as mountains.
the vulture weary. 4:6 And Leviathan shall come among you.
1:5 Doubt is crowned. The loyal shall turn Children winter-born and fated to fall before
their blades on those who silver gave. snow, both shall it take.
1:6 And blood-cough shall spread like fire
across the wastelands of the drought. PSALM V

PSALM II 5:1 The lake and brook shall blacken and the
water become tar.
2:1 As at the beginning, so at the end, all 5:2 The trees shall wither, shrivel and die.
manner of fly and wasp shall fill the air. 5:3 And birds shall fall dead from the sky.
2:2 And the ground pale with maggots. 5:4 In one night all those not yet of seven years
2:3 And from the Spears: a frost. Born from and seven days shall pass. Born and unborn.
Bergen Chrypt and covering all. And dawn shall give them life as eaters of men.
2:4 And in ten days and one the writings of 5:5 The sky shall weep fire and a great stone
sorcerers will be made pale as air. shall plummet as a city fallen from heaven.
2:5 And glass shall become quartz. Its gift is Death and madness is its herald.
2:6 And SHE shall see HIM grow stronger. 5:6 And the last King and the last Queen
And SHE reveals herself and all shall be slain. shall wither to dust. Their wretched courts are
devoured by wolves.
PSALM III
PSALM VI
3:1 At Graven-Tosk the soil shall grow warm
and those who rest be made to walk. 6:1 You shall know the last day is come. The
3:2 In the heart of Sarkash fog and dusk sun shall set and never rise.
shall breathe beneath the waking trees. That 6:2 And day shall be as night and night as day.
which was hewed by man shall now hew in You shall not sleep, neither shall you wake.
its turn. 6:3 Anthelia shall have her will and drink
3:3 And hunger shall come among you. all colour from the world.
You shall dig roots and pull children from the 6:4 Those who walk on two legs shall be
breast. The gaunt shall prey upon the gaunt. nameless as the beasts of the field.
3:4 The great shall be made poor and the 6:5 The earth shall vein, bringing black
poor poorer still. serpents forth from within the earth.
3:5 Then shall come rain unending and the 6:6 And the unnamed enter the earth,
day shall be made night by its coming. passing through the Veil as it is sundered by
3:6 Brother shall slay Brother and Sister Daejmon, the left underling of Nechrubel.
poison Sister.
PSALM VII THE LAST

7:7 All praise Yetsabu-Nech, the underworld’s

nightmare, the black disk which stands before
the sun! All praise Verhu, beaming with delight!
All praise the fire which burns all! And the
darkness shall swallow the darkness.

– 17 –
 In this world there are those who seek riches
or redemption. Some say the apocalypse is
escapable, that it might even be stopped. And
there you walk in discord and despair. One hand
holds 2d6 × 10 silver (s), the other holds a
waterskin and d4 days worth of food. Your soul
and your silver are your own and equally easy to lose.
To begin with, you are what you own:

18
18 MÖRK BORG is dedicated to Pelle ‘Dead’ Ohlin (1969–1991) Let the good times roll.
 and

d6
1–2 nothing 1
d12 d12
rope 30 feet
1 life elixir d4 doses
(heals d6 HP and removes
2 Presence + 4 torches infection)
3 backpack for 7
normal-sized items 3 lantern with oil for 2 random sacred scroll
Presence + 6 hours 3 small but vicious dog
4 sack for 10 4 magnesium strip (d6+2 HP, bite d4,
normal-sized items only obeys you)
5 random unclean scroll
5 small wagon or one 6 sharp needle 4 d4 monkeys that ignore
item above of but love you (d4+2 HP,
7 medicine chest Presence+4 punch/bite d4)
your choice uses (stops bleeding/
infection and heals d6 HP) 5 exquisite perfume worth 25s
6 donkey, not bad.
8 6 toolbox 10 nails, tongs,
Or one of the above metal file and lockpicks
hammer, small saw and drill
of your choice 9 bear trap (Presence DR14
to spot, d8 damage) 7 heavy chain 15 feet
10 bomb (sealed bottle, 8 grappling hook
d10 damage) 9 shield (-1 HP damage
11 a bottle of red poison or have the shield break
d4 doses (Toughness DR12 to ignore one attack)
or d10 damage) 10 crowbar (d4 damage)
12 silver crucifix 11 lard (may function as
5 meals in a pinch)
12 tent

Scrolls are the twisted magic of MÖRK BORG.

Read more on page 34.

Create a Player Character (PC)

1. Randomize your starting equipment on this page.
2. Randomize weapon and armor.
3. Roll your abilities.
4. Roll your Hit Points.
5. Name your character if you wish.
It will not save you.

Optional Rules: †
Start by choosing or randomizing a
class (page 46 and on) and follow
the class’ instructions on rolling for
equipment, weapons and armor.
Roll on the tables on pages 39–43.
†

Roll a number of Omens (page 38).

†

19
19
Creating a Player Character
 WEAPONS d10
*

(d6 if you begin with a scroll)

1.

Femur (d4)

20
 (d4)
rd
2.Staff (d4) hor tswo
3. S

4.Knife (d4)

5.
Warh
(d6) er
amm
6. S
word
(d6)

7. Bow

* (d6
MED
UNAR age Pre , with
am sen
d ce +
d2 1 0 a
rro
ws)

21
 Flail
(d8)

10
(d10)
9
(d8, with Presence + 10 bolts)

Crossbow
 1.
Armor (only d2, if you begin with a scroll)
d4

o (tier 0)
no armor

2. light (fur,padded cloth, leather etc,

-d2 damage, tier 1) 20s

3. medium armor (scale, mail etc,

-d4 damage, tier 2) 100s
DR +2 on Agility tests including defence.

4. heavy armor (splint, plate etc,

-d6 damage, tier 3) 200s
DR +4 on Agility tests, defence is DR +2.

shield -1 damage 20s

You can choose to ignore all damage
from one attack but shield breaks.

Scrolls will never work when wielding

zweihand weapons or medium/heavy armor.

24
equipment
Backpack 6s Holds 7 normal-sized items
Weapons
d8 Battle axe 35s
d6 Bow 25s
Bear trap 20s Presence DR14 to spot, d8 damage d6 Club 10s
Blanket 4s d8 Crossbow 40s
Caltrops 7s d4 damage + infection on 1 in 6 d8 Flail 35s
d4 Femur worthless
Chalk 1s
d6 Handaxe 15s
Chewing tobacco 1s d4 Knife 10s
Crowbar 8s d6 Mace 25s
Crucifix, silver 60s d4 Shortbow 13s
Crucifix, wood 8s d4 Shortsword 20s
d4 Sling 8s
Dried food 1s 1 day
d4 Staff 5s
Exquisite perfume 25s d6 Sword 30s
Firesteel 4s d6 Warhammer 30s
Grappling hook 12s d2 Whip 5s
d10 Zweihänder 60s
Hammer 8s
Heavy chain 10s 15 feet 20 arrows 10s
Iron nails 5s 10 nails 10 bolts 10s
Ladder 7s
Lantern oil 5s Presence + 6 hours
Lard 5s May function as 5 meals Services
Large iron hook 9s Night in hospice 3s
Lockpicks 5s Drink 1s
Magnesium strip 4s Steady meal 2s
Manacles 10s Bribe, guard 20–40s
Bribe, clerk 30–60s
Mattress 3s
Bribe, rabble 5–15s
Meat cleaver 15s
Medicine box 15s Stops bleeding/infection and +d6 HP. Presence + 4 uses
Metal file 10s
Mirror 15s
REPA IR ARMO R*
Muzzle 6s Tier 1 to 2 25s
Noose 5s Tier 2 to 3 40s
Oil lamp 10s
Poison (black) 20s Toughness DR14 or d6 damage + blind for one hour. 3 doses
Poison (red) 20s Toughness DR12 or d10 damage. 3 doses
Preserved corpse 66+d6s
Rope 4s 30 feet *Armor cannot be repaired to
a tier higher than its original.
Small wagon 25s
Tent 12s
Toolbox 20s 10 nails, hammer, small saw, tongs
Torch 2s

Beasts
Sack 3s Holds 10 normal sized items
Salt 4s
Scissors 9s Dog (trained) 25s
Scroll worth roughly 50s to the right buyer Dog (wild) 10s
Sharp needle 3s Horse 80s
EQUIPMENT

Mule 10s
Waterskin 4s 4 days of water
Rat (tame) 8s
Improvised weapons do d4 damage.
Who wouldn’t forgo fisticuffs for a grappling hook? 25
 ABILITIES
AGILITY Defend, balance, swim, flee
PRESENCE Perceive, aim, charm, wield Powers
STRENGTH Crush, lift, strike, grapple
TOUGHNESS Resist poison/cold/heat, survive falling

Roll 3d6 and using the table on Abilities

the right to generate each ability 1–4 –3
score from −3 to +3. The sum is not 5–6 –2
used in the game once the character 7–8 –1
is created, only the table value. 9–12 ±0
Player Characters not created with 13–14 +1
the optional classes can roll 4d6 15–16 +2
and drop the lowest die for two of 17–20 +3
their abilities. When the character
is later improved an ability can
never exceed +6 or −3. Difficulty
Ratings (DR)
6 so simple people
laugh at you for
failing
8 routine but some
TESTS chance of failure
10 pretty simple but
Tests are made against a Difficulty not simple enough
Rating. To succeed roll d20 ± to not roll
your ability with a result equal to 12 normal
or greater than the DR. Creatures 14 difficult
don’t use abilities, they just roll a d20 16 really hard
against DR. For example, find bear 18 should not
trap DR14 or resist red poison DR12. be possible

26
 CARRYING CAPACITY
for example You can carry Strength+ 8
crowbars, lard, scrolls, torches normal-sized items without
but not a problem. After that when
anvils, chests, ladders, corpses testing Strength and
Agility DR increases by 2
(from 12 to 14 etc.).
It is impossible to carry
more than twice Strength+8.

27
 Hit Points
Begin with
(HP)

Toughness + d8
In worst case 1 HP, but never less.

ZERO HP NEGATIVE HP

broken dead

28
 Violence

INITIATIVE
Players roll for both their attacks

The DR for attacks and defence are modified as with any test.
and defences. Creatures and enemies
don’t roll dice in combat.

Roll d6
 EMELIERGNER†QR¯
MELEE
 0#RGN†QR¯ Test STRENGTH DR12
Agility + d6 for individual
initiative or to determine
UHNGNER†QR¯UI¯HIM¯HE
group. RANGED
Test PRESENCE DR12

DEFENCE
Test AGILITY DR12
If you fail the enemy hits you.
Enemies attack once per round
unless noted otherwise.

Crit (natural 20)

Attack: Double damage,
Broken (d4) armor/protection is
–d6 (3rd tier)
1 Fall unconscious for d4 rounds, –d4 (2nd tier)
awaken with d4 HP. also reduced one tier. –d2 (1st tier)
2 Roll a d6: 1-5 = Broken or Defence: PC gains a free attack.
severed limb. 6 = Lost eye.
Can’t act for d4 rounds then Fumble (natural 1)
become active with d4 HP.
Attack: The weapon breaks or is lost.
3 Hemorrhage: death in d2 hours
Defence: PC takes double damage
unless treated. All tests are
and armor is reduced one tier.
DR16 the first hour. DR18 the
When armor is damaged penalties to
last hour.
Strength and Agility tests are not modified.
4 Dead.
Armor reduced below 1st tier is ruined
and cannot be repaired. For armor repair
costs, see Equipment on page 25.
29
Violence
 nd?
How long isouaghrotiume to make an
en
A round is and traverse
use a Power)
attack (or Th er e are
ed room.
a normal-siz ds in on e minute.
ro un
usually 10
REST
Catch your breath, have a drink. Restore d4 HP.
A full night’s sleep restores d6 HP.
Without food or drink no HP is restored when resting
and after two days a starving PC loses d4 HP per day.
An infected characterDNERMN¯BEME†¯FQNLQER¯IMG
Instead, d6 HP is lost daily.

REACTION (2D6)
2–3 KILL!
4–6 ANGERED
7–8 INDIFFERENT
9–10 ALMOST FRIENDLY
11–12 HELPFUL

When meeting creatures whose

reaction is uncertain.

MORALE
-NR¯EMELIERUIKKMN¯†GH¯¯N¯HEKAR¯DQNONFBKNND
Roll for morale if the leader is killed
Half the group is eliminated
A single enemy has only 1/3 of its HP left

If you roll greater than the creature’s Morale value with 2d6,
it is demoralized. Roll d6 to see if the enemy (1-3) flees
or (4-6) surrenders.

31
32
Getting
better The game master decides when
a character should be improved.
or
worse

It can be after completing a

scenario, mighty foes
killing
or bringing home treasure.

When this happens the followin

the follo things
wingg thin r:
occur:
gs occu

More HP: Ability changes:

Roll 6d10. If the result Roll a d6 against every
is equal to or greater ability. Results equal to
than your current maximum or greater than the ability
HP, increase it by d6. increase it by 1, to a maximum
of +6. Results below the
ability decrease it by 1.
Left in the d ebris you find : d6 !BIKI®IERŸFQNLŸèŸ®NŸ 
0-3 nothing
are always increased by 1
4 3d10 silver
unless the d6 result is 1.
5 an unclean scroll
The ability is then reduced
6 a sacred scroll
by 1, but never below -3.
33
 Powers
A few so-called Powers
are known and they are
usually found written
in scrolls.

Roll Presence + d4 every morning

to determine how many times you
can use Powers that day; choose
from your available scrolls.
When reading a scroll, test
Presence DR12. If you succeed,
the Power is activated and you
subtract one use from your daily
total. If you fail, the Power
doesn’t work, you lose d2 HP and
you become dizzy for the next
hour. During this time,
Powers will always fail in the
worst possible way.

The GM decides the effect on a Crit or

Fumble, but on page 44 is an optional
table of arcane catastrophes.
POWERS

34
UNCLEAN SCROLLS d10

1. 2 Tongue of Eris A creature of your choice

Palms is confused for 10 minutes.

Open the Te-le-kin-esis Lucy-Fires

III 4

Southern Move an object up 1d10×10 feet Levitation

Gate for d6 minutes.
Hover for Presence
A ball of fire hits d2 5 + d10 rounds.
creatures dealing
d8 damage per
creature.
Daemon of Capillaries
One creature suffocates for d6 rounds, losing d4 HP per round.
VI.
Nine Violet Signs
Unknot the Storm
8
Foul Psychopomp
Summon (d6): 1–3 d4 skeletons,
Produce d2 lightning bolts dealing 4–6 d4 zombies.
d6 damage each.

Death
X
7
Metzhuotl Blind 9
Eyelid Blinds
Your Eye the Mind
d4 creatures fall asleep All creatures within
A creature becomes invisible for 30 feet lose a total
for one hour unless they
d6 rounds or until it is damaged, of 4d10 HP.
succeed a DR14 test.
attacking/defending with DR6.

SACRED SCROLLS d10

I
Grace for 2 A creature of your choice
gets +d6 on one roll

Grace of a Dead Saint a Sinner (damage, test etc.)

d2 creatures regain d10 HP each. III Whispers Ask three questions to a

Pass the Gate deceased creature.
Aegis of
4
A creature of

Sorrow
your choice
gains 2d6 extra
HP for 10 rounds.
5
Unmet Fate
One creature, dead for no more than a
week, is awakened with terrible memories.
VI
Bestial Speech VII
False Dawn / Night’s Chariot
You may speak with
Light or pitch black for 3d10 minutes.
animals for d20 minutes.
Roskoe’s
9 10
Enochian
8 Hermetic Step Consuming
You find all traps in your
path for 2d10 minutes.
Glare One
Syntax
d4 creatures lose creature blindly obeys
POWERS

d8 HP each. a single command.

35
36
SHE
The Basilisks demand (d20)
1. A sword that has killed exactly one dozen times
2. A widower’s wedding ring
3. Sliver from a sinner’s grave
4. Eyes that have seen the Shimmering Fields
5. The year’s first-born goat
6. Blutday bread
7. The cuticle of an executed innocent
8. A troll’s heart valves
9. A dagger onto which the condemned
carved their victims’ name
10. Rare anti-obsidian from the Urilian crypts
11. The forbidden brew of the hermit of Terion
12. An orgh-maggot from the ice of Kergüs
13. A body mutilated by those who loved it in life
14. Joy’s lampoon written in blood
15. The gall of the Chrypt-vulture
16. Moss upon which a dying man has slept
17. A child born with the third eye
e Onda
18. A body drowned in Lak
19. The rear molar of the Gluttonous
20. Gems from overflowing pockets

37
 Omens deal maximum
damage with
one attack

C
“järtecken” or
learly the eyes reroll a dice
of Other powers roll (yours
are upon you, or someone
Eldritch watchers else’s)
or the tangled
or
Fates of alternate
worlds. Call it luck if you like. lower damage
Every class gains a number of dealt to you
Omens. If you play without by d6
classes every character begins
with d2 Omens. When depleted or
roll the class’ designated die neutralize
(d2 if playing without classes) a Crit or
and regain that many Omens Fumble
after resting at least six hours.
Use Omens to: or
lower one
test’s DR
by -4

38
 Optional Tables

TRAUMA, A BAD
CHILDHOOD,
HIDDEN HISTORY
OR A TWISTED
FATE ATTENDING
YOUR BIRTH
ALREADY
SHAPED YOU.

Terrible 1. Endlessly aggravated 12. Cowardly

Traits d20
2. Inferiority complex
13. Lazy
3. Problems with authority
14. Suspicious
Roll twice 4. Loud mouth
15. Ruthless
5. CRUEL
16. Worried
6. Egocentric
17. Bitter
7. Nihilistic
18. Deceitful
8. Prone to
substance abuse
19. Wasteful
9. Bipolar 10. Shrewd
20. Arrogant
11. Vindictive
39
 11: Long tangled
hair, at least
one cockroach
in residence.
12: Broken,
d20 crushed ears.

13: Juddering and

1: Staring,
stuttering
manic gaze.
from nerve
damage or
2: Covered in stress.
(for some)
blasphemous 14: Corpulent,
tattoos. ravenous,
drooling.
3: Rotting face.
Wears a mask. 15: One hand
lacks thumb
and index
4: Lost three finger,
toes, limps. grips like
a lobster.

5: Starved:
gaunt and
pale.

16: Red, sw
ollen
alcoholic’s
no se.
6: One hand replaced
with rusting hook 17: Resting maniac
(d6 damage). face, making
friends is hard.

7: Decaying teeth. 18: Chronic athlete’s

foot. Stinks.

8: Hauntingly beautiful, 19: Recently slashed

unnervingly clean. and stinking eye
covered with a
9: Hands caked with sores. patch.

10: Cataract slowly but 20: Nails cracked

surely spreading in and black,
both eyes. maybe about
to drop off.

40
d20
d20
1
1 Obsessively collect small sharp stones.
2
2 Won’t use a bladeArms
without testing it on your own flesh.
knitted with scars.

3
Can’t stop drinking once you start.
Gambling addict. Must bet every day.
4
4
If you lose, raise and bet again.
Cannot tolerate criticism of any kind.
5
5
Results in rage and weeping.

6
6 Unable to get to the point. Have never actually finished a story.
7
7
Best friend is a skull. Carry it with you, you trust no
tell it everything, one more.

8
8
You pick your nose so deep it bleeds.
9
9
Laugh hysterically which you then
at your own jokes explain in detail.

10
10
A nihilist. You insist on telling everyone you
are a nihilist and explaining why.

11
11
I n v e t e r a t e b u g e a t e r.
12 Stress response is aesthetic
12
display. The worse things get the fancier you need to be.
113
3 Permanent phlegm deposit in throat.
Continuously cough, snort, spit and swallow.

1144
Pyromaniac
5
115 Consistently lose important items and forget vital facts.
6 I N S E C U R E S H I T - S T I R R E R . W I L L TA L K A B O U T
116
WHOEVER JUST LEFT THE ROOM.
117
7
Yo u s t u t t e r w h e n l y i n g .
8 You
118 giggle insanely at the worst possible times.
1199 You whistle while trying to hide. You will deny this.
Whistle when 5, 7, 9, 11 or 13 is rolled on a d20.

20
20
You make jewelry from the teeth of the dead.
If this can be considered a bad habit.

41
H
T
U
O
M
N
E
E
R
G

The whole group can share the same backstory, or groups

within the group can share a tale. Or the GM can quickly
E

give history to a seemingly mundane character.

H
T
O
T
N
I

Roll d20 or throw a knife

L

at the page to the right.

W
A
R
C

42
 D
E
1 2 3

A
4
Pursued for In massive Have a

T
debt. The debt
Have a
manslaughter.
rare, sought cursed never-

H
is being traded to
There is a
bounty.
successively more after item. healing wound.
ruthless groups.

I
S
5 6 8
7

Had an illegal, Escaped cult An identity Banished and

O
immoral and member. thief who disowned for
secret affair with Terrified and

N
recently killed unspecified
a member of the paranoid. Other deeds. Can

L
and replaced
royal family. cultists are
this person. never go home.

Y
Has proof. everywhere.
12
11

T
9 10
Evil creatures
Very recently A puzzle cube has

H
Deserted military love the scent of
after witnessing a murdered a been calibrated
your spoor and

E
incorrectly (or has
massacre, bounty close relative. are drawn to it,
it?), awakening
on head. Hunted Very recently. a slumbering bringing disaster

E
by former friends. abomination. in your wake.

N
D
13 14 15 16
A battle wound left Violence forced you Cursed to share At permanent war

O
a shard of metal into the wilderness.
the nightmares of with all corvids.

F
slowly inching You think waving
trees are whispering. others, you sleep No contact without
closer to your heart.
Every day there
You talk to, scream far, far away. some violence.
at, attack trees.
You carry a sling.
E

is a 2 % chance it
reaches it.
V
E

18 19
17 20
R

Being tracked
After dreaming of an “Burn or Your flesh heals
Y

and observed by
underground temple a golem after be burned” twice as fast, but
T

to a forgotten god an agreement your companions

is the fate
H

you understand which you know twice as slow. You

the songs of insects has been wiped you accept.
I

from your mind.

see a many-eyed
and worms. “guardian angel.”
N
G

43