Mork Borg is interesting. I found the game through a recommendation from a friend, and being that it’s described as a doom metal (it’s more black in my eyes) fantasy RPG I knew it had to be part of my collection. Early on I played a few games, and found it a pretty awesome way to get a game to the table super fast, but not too much more than that. However, a huge community has built up around it, and taken it’s skeletal framework and built on the bones and created something ridiculous and fun, and taken this blackened metal dungeon generator, and created something that transcends what it started out as and created it’s own psychotronic RPG genre.

So here we are 3-4 years later with CY-BORG, Vast Grimm, and now Pirate Borg showing that the “Borg” games need not be fantasy, and that this bizarro grim and hysterical game can fit in almost any type of setting. The other day Pirate Borg landed in my mailbox, and I have to admit I’m not really into pirates. I thought ALL of the Pirates of the Caribbean moves were fairly terrible, and aside from a few older Hammer films that featured pirates, I’m usually not on board with the genre, so when I opened the book, and found myself unable to put it down for about an hour, I was SHOCKED.

To start out I’ll say that if you know anything about the Mork Borg universe of games, you will know that Pirate Borg does not offer a typical pirate, swashbuckle fest. This is not 7th Sea, this is a dark horror version of a pirate adventure filled with Eldritch entities, and even a bizarre form of drug addiction (Ash, made from grounded up undead creatures). That’s not to say it doesn’t touch on actual pirate related things Davy Jones is here, and there are clashes with international naval vessels, so that itch is scratched.

The system is based on Mork Borg so everything is rolled on a D20 against a target stat (mostly 12). There are more tables in this book , and deeper elements of play nailed on such as ship to ship combat, and optional rules for things like wind and how it applies to ship. movement. There are a number of character creation options including Buccaneer, Swashbuckler, and Rapscallion as well as mystical entities like Zealot and Sorcerer.

There is also a sample adventure “The Curse of Skeleton Point.” Unlike Mork Borg’s dungeon-crawl “Rotblack Sludge” this is a sandbox and not straight-forward. I would make sure you know the rules or are an experienced GM before attempting this, that being said it is WONDERFULLY WEIRD, and well worth your time. It has bizarre locations around the Dark Caribbean, cool NPCs, and fun encounters. Of course, no “Borg” book can be reviewed without mentioning the art, and I’ll say it, this one might be my favorite as art is concerned. It has a dark psychedelic atmosphere that had me from the first page. It alternates from black and white to bright crazed colors, and I loved it. All this together, and I have to say Pirate Borg comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!