Delving Wolf

This week I'll continue my character creation series, continuing the series of Borg-like games characters made for a future project of mine. These will be alternating with other kinds of posts, like my solo campaigns recaps and some gameable content coming from my Duet Pirate Borg home game. This time we're going with MÖRK DÖD by Sunzenaut , a "Brutal Death Metal Chainsaw & Sorcery TTRPG" set in the same Dying Lands as Mork Borg, but with oil, industry and a lot of brutality! The horde rules are one of my favorite things of this game, something I'll probably port into other Borg games. Anyway, without further ado, let's begin! 1. Let's start by rolling our  CLASS , d6: 2,  Bonesaw Surgeon , which gives us  Bonesaw Surgery : Heal d6 HP to yourself or someone else. On a 6 you heal 6 HP, on a 1, the injured limb is amputated dealing d6 damage instead (if the surgery is to repair a vital organ or critical wound, the result of 1 is instant death instea...

The following is part 7 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! -Not yet a man covered in tattoos replied without stopping. - Did any of the skeletons turn to ASH?  asked the woman with the eye patch, raising her head to look out of the hole. -I didn't tell you to stop digging said the Captain with a sigh.  We'll take a look around, and if we find any you can have a dose when you find the treasure . - Thank you Captain!  She resumed her digging with renewed vigor, humming a song to give herself and the others the rhythm. Now that he was looking at her more carefully, Sam could notice the signs, sunken eye sockets and darkened lips. That woman was addicted to ASH, the powdered remains of the undead. Sam had seen many people having the time of their life with it, but even more...

This week I'll continue my character creation series, continuing the series of Borg-like games characters made for a future project of mine. These will be alternating with other kinds of posts, like my solo campaigns recaps and some gameable content coming from my Duet Pirate Borg home game. This time we're going with a new Pirate Borg character (since the first one I created, Samuel Robert Thomas , is already busy in his own adventure ), but to give it a twist it'll be a character from one of the optional classes, Tall Tale! These can range from a Merfolk (with a fish-like lower half), an Aquatic Mutant ("an abominable union between man and the sea") or a Sentient Animal (which is self-explanatory). Without further ado, let's begin!  1. Let's start with finding our  CLASS , d6: 6,  Sentient Animal , so we have another roll to determine which animal we are, d6: 1,  Foul Fowl : a demonic chicken with the ability of one random relic and one random ritua...

The following is part 6 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! There wasn't much of a choice, therefore Sam grabbed his boarding axe and stepped forward; in that moment Catherine, whom he had forgotten about for a bit, reappeared right beside the skeleton he was about to attack. He panicked and swung his axe around as if to swat away a fly, eventually hitting the skull; he barely made a denti into it, though. The skeleton tried to swing its knife towards Sam, but he was ready: a quick sidestep and he immediately saw an opening to strike back...only for the axe to get stuck between the ribs! The situation looked dire, but he somehow managed to free his weapon and take a step back. [This last bit is me rolling a nat 20 on defense, giving me a free attack, where I rolled a nat 1, imme...

This week I'll continue my character creation series, continuing the series of Borg-like games characters made for a future project of mine. These will be alternating with other kinds of posts, like my solo campaigns recaps and some gameable content coming from my Duet Pirate Borg home game. This time we're going with Ronin, a Borg hack set in an alternate reality version of feudal Japan, of which you can find a Barebones version for free here . Let's begin! 1. We start by rolling our  CLASS , d10: 10,  Sword Saint , a master of duels; 2. Then we roll our  ABILITIES , incorporating the class modifiers: -   Swiftness : 12+2=14, +1; -  Spirit : 13-1=12, +0; -  Vigor : 13+2=15, +2; -  Resilience : 14+1=15, +2; 3. The last ability is  HONOUR , but it works a bit differently: we roll 3d6 (modified by the class, in our case +1) and we keep this score as is; under 10 our character is considered  Dishonourable , while a result above 10...

The following is part 5 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! -You see, Sam,  Bilge continued,  the Captain is a honorable pirate, who treats us very nicely, much better than other crews I've been in before. The only thing is that she has some Rules she wants us to follow, and if we don't her mean side shows up. They're not many, don't worry, and nothing difficult, but be careful to follow them, otherwise...oh boy! -Otherwise?   asked Sam. -You don't wanna know the otherwise. -That's insane! How can you be okay with being treated like this? -Oh come on, don't be silly! We all have our little quirks. And the Captain is brave and strong enough to afford a bit more quirkiness, that's it. Besides, are you telling me the high ranks of the Royal Navy are all ...

This week I'll continue my character creation series, continuing the series of Borg-like games characters made for a future project of mine. These will be alternating with other kinds of posts, like my solo campaigns recaps and some gameable content coming from my Duet Pirate Borg home game. This time we're going with the (diseased) mother of all Borg game, Mork Borg itself. For this one I'll refer to the  Barebones edition  of the game, which is just the same as the full game, just without art and downloadable for free. Kudos to Johan Nohr! Let's begin! 1. We start by rolling for our  EQUIPMENT : - d6: 5, A small wagon or smaller item (after seeing the rest of the rolls I opted for a sack which can hold up to 10 items); - d12, 8:  A metal file and lockpicks ; - d12, 6:  A toolbox with 10 nails, tongs, hammer, a small saw and a drill . 2. Next we pick our  CLASS , d6: 4,  Wretched Royalty ; 3. It's now time to roll our  ABILITIES : -...

The following is part 4 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! -Anyway, why are you on this island? And where are we going now?  asked Sam. -Oh, this is a good one! We're here to loot a treasure! And not just any treasure, no sir: we're about to find the one and only treasure of Captain Morel, who he hid 15 years ago. -Captain Morel? I thought that was just a myth. -Oh no, Sam!  He definitely existed. Captain Morel was among the first Europeans to reach these shores; he was present when the dead started coming back, and shortly after he left the Spanish Armada and became one of the first pirates. Eventually the Spanish got him and executed him, but they never managed to find his treasure. It was thought that it got lost to the sea when Morel was captured, but it turns out he hi...

This week I'll continue my character creation series, marking the beginning (like I said in my year recap post ) of a series of Borg-like games characters made for a future project of mine. These will be alternating with other kinds of posts, like my solo campaigns recaps and some gameable content coming from my Duet Pirate Borg home game. For the first one, we'll start with Cy_Borg , the cyberpunk version of Mork Borg created by Christian Sahlén and Johan Nohr of Stockholm Kartell. As any Borg game, character creation (and the game itself) is fast and dripping with style. As with other games before, I'll be using the Italian version of the game, so some tables might be translated slightly differently. Let's begin! 1. We start by rolling a d6 for our  CLASS : 6,  Forsaken Gang-goon , someone who used to be part of a gang but is not anymore. Why? The dice will tell us soon! We roll 3d6-2 for our Strength and get a reduced difficulty to all Presence and Agility tests. Not...

The following is part 3 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in!   One member of the crew, a woman with a patch over her right eye, erupted in a howl. That seemed to break the tension, and one moment later Sam, the Captain and the rest of the crew were laughing at the sudden outburst. Captain Ramirez turned to a short man with a hook instead of his left hand beside her:  I entrust you with the newbie, Brother Bilge. Make sure he knows how to behave and that he pulls his weight . Aye aye, Captain  replied the man, who then turned to Sam with a smile:  Walk with me, mister. I'll show you the ropes as we follow the captain . Where are we going?  asked Sam  And how ccan you trust me already? I wouldn't, if I were you . Brother Bilge chuckled.  Ah, don't ...

The following is part 2 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can find episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! He closed his eyes and started running, not caring where he was going or about any danger he could meet. Nothing could be worse than that. He ran and screamed, screamed and ran, trying to suppress any thought his brain might have; his thoughts seemed to have a different voice, but it didn't matter. Not in that moment. All of a sudden he ran into what felt like a massive stone wall, hitting it so hard he bounced and rolled backwards, ending face down on the ground. He tried to open his eyes, but everything was still black. He was definitevely alive, though; he was in too much pain to be dead. He was vaguely aware of voices around him, but it was hard to determine whether they were coming from outside or inside his ...

The following is part 1 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . Let's dive right in! Samuel Robert Thomas screamed as he kicked a seashell into the sea. After ten years, ten long and painfully obedient years serving in the Royal Navy, all he had to show was a dirty uniform and a fishing rod, which had been given to him as a favor by Captain Ellis. To give you a chance to survive , he said. How the hell was he supposed to survive alone on a desert island? And even if by some miracle he managed to get back to civilization, he was also a wanted man with a bounty on his head! Sure, it wasn't a big one, but still! And, last but not least, they shaved his head! Ok, maybe it was the least important thing among those listed, but it still bothered him; he'd never forget the faces of those he considered his comrades in arms laughing while two m...

As I mentioned in last week's post , I have been eyeing Pirate Borg for a while, but I never pulled the trigger on it. Now that I have, though, I'm very happy that I did! It reignited my passion for TTRPGs like no other game before, so much so that not only I immediately made a character for it, but I also started to set up a solo campaign for it! I also hope to play in or run games with other people if possible, obviously, both in person and online (and for that I already joined their Discord server), but in the meantime, and to get a feeling for the game, a solo campaign is a good place to start. I've already run a few sessions of solo gaming before, namely in Basic Fantasy and Labyrinth Lord  (I still have a couple of sessions of that to post, they'll come in the near future), but I wanted to try my hand at something bigger in scope. I have started a journaling game of Apothecaria , which is for now being preceded by Creation Myths  to flesh out my character for it,...

This week, to add to my series of character creation posts (which started a few weeks ago with a Cairn 2e character ), I'll make a Pirate Borg  character. This game is one of the countless Borg games that sprouted from Mork Borg, and recently had a wildly successful Kickstarter  for its expansion Down Among the Dead and its Starter Set. I've wanted it for a while, and finally got it last weekend at the release event of its Italian version. Other than the character sheet, it has a very useful guided PC creation sheet that shows the various steps in a single A4 sheet. Let's create a pirate!  1. First we roll for our starting  GEAR : - d6 for the  container : 5, a large sea chest (can contain 20 items); - d12 for  cheap gear : 2, d4 (2) candles (1 hours each); - d12 for  fancy gear : 3, fishing rod. 2. Next we roll for our  ABILITY SCORES . We roll 3d6 in order for the 5 abilities, but then we convert the total into a modifier between -3 and +3: -...

This week, to add to my series of character creation posts (which started a few weeks ago with a Cairn 2e character ), I'll make a Vaults of Vaarn 1e  character. This game, which recently had a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign  for its 2nd edition, originally came out as a series of zines which detail a bizarre sci-fantasy setting, which can be adapted to most OSR games. Issue 1, though, also contains a ruleset inspired by Knave and a character creation process. Let's go through it! 1. First we roll 3d6 in order for the 6  ABILITIES :  Strength ,  Dexterity ,  Constitution ,  Intellect ,  Psyche  and  Ego . We can then swap two of them, if we want (I'll keep them in order, as I don't have any character in mind). The peculiarity of this system is that we don't add up the dice, but instead the value of the lowest die in each set becomes the ability's BONUS, to which we add 10 to find its DEFENCE value. Let's roll: - 5, 2, 2 for Stre...

This week, to add to my series of character creation posts (which started a few weeks ago with a Cairn 2e character ), I'll make a Mausritter  character. This is a game derived from Into the Odd like Cairn, with which it shares some similarities. The main difference from it (and most other OSR or D&D TTRPG) is that in this game we play as mice, and all adventures are mouse-sized; therefore, where in a traditional game a fearsome enemy might be a dragon, Mausritter would have a cat for example. It's been praised for being very good for kids and for first time players, because it's easier to imagine a mouse facing a cat than it is to picture a man facing a floating eyeball monster full of tentacles; I can see that, honestly.  1. First let's generate the ATTRIBUTES ( STR , DEX and WIL , just like Cairn) by rolling 3d6 and keeping the highest 2, which will usually mean a lower score than Cairn: - 6, 3, 1 for 9; - 5, 3, 3 for 8; - 6, 4, 1 for 10. The attributes are rol...

This week, to add to my series of character creation posts (which started a few weeks ago with a Cairn 2e character ), I'll make a Fabula Ultima  character. This game, which is presented as a TTJRPG, takes inspiration from Japanese RPG videogames such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest or Xenoblade Chronicles (among others). It is quite a different system from D&D or any other in the OSR sphere, but I encourage you to check it out if you like the games it takes as inspiration.   I've been intrigued by this game for a while now, but always held back on trying it. The standard party in this game is made of 4 PCs, which is what I'll probably use if I ever get around to play it solo, but for now I'll create the first character. Unlike other entries in this series, this time I start with a character idea already in mind; the rulebook has some tables to roll on, and even some "classic characters" templates to give you ideas in case you need them. Note: I have the It...

This week I continue with the recap of my Labyrinth Lord solo adventure, starring Darien the Elf. This is the third of the six sessions that took me to complete this adventure; if you haven't yet, you can check out part 1 here . Enjoy! THE ABANDONED TOWER   Part 3   The door appears to be in surprisingly good conditions, but as Darien pushes it open it squeaks loudly. Darien freezes for a moment, but no sound comes from the other side; he looks and finds out it's because it's just a 10x10 feet square room with another door on the other side. He tries to open this second door more cautiously, but it squeaks just as loud as the first one: Darien stops again, then slowly enters the room when silence isn't broken for a few moments [1 in 1d6 chances of random encounter: 4, no] and it does indeed seem that this one is empty, for a change. A burnt-out torch stands against the right-hand wall, and a rivulet of water runs down that wall, across the room and down the stairs ahea...

This week, to add to my series of character creation posts (which started a few weeks ago with a Cairn 2e character ), I'll make a Maze Rats character. This book, created by Ben Milton (Questing Beast), is known mostly for its  many  random tables, usable for NPCs and monster creation, dungeon stocking, worldbuilding and much more, but it's also a game system. It has some similarities with the Into the Odd family of games, although with some major differences. First of all, it uses 2d6 (or 3d6 keeping the highest 2 if you have advantage) for its saves, instead of 1d20, and instead of rolling under your ability score you aim at beating a set difficulty of 10 (or the enemy's armor in combat) by adding your attribute (which start between 0 and 2 and can't get higher than 4) to what you roll on the 2d6. It also has levels, up to level 7, after which you're encouraged to "retire" your character and start a new one at level 1, but even at level 7 characters are...

This week I continue with the recap of my Labyrinth Lord solo adventure, starring Darien the Elf. This is the second of the six sessions that took me to complete this adventure; if you haven't yet, you can check out part 1 here . Enjoy!   THE ABANDONED TOWER   Part 2 Darien approaches the door at the end of the room and gently checks it, finding it unlocked. He slowly opens it and  [1-2 on 1d6 for a random encounter: 1! 1d6 to see what he meets: 4 = 1d6 giant rats: dangerous]  in the same moment one of the two doors at the other end of the room slams open and  [1d6:3]  three giant rats swarm in!  [Dex check: 5, success]  Darien immediately backs out of the room, closing the door and using his own weight to keep it shut as the rats claw at it from the other side.  [Would he know that giant rats are terrified of fire? Int check: 5 again, success]  He quickly develops a plan, so he unsheats his longsword and, while holding firmly the torch ...