Summary
- Pirate Borg is a tabletop RPG that combines nautical lore, naval combat, and Lovecraftian horror for a darkly hilarious and sometimes downright terrifying gaming experience.
- The game takes place in the Dark Caribbean, filled with undead mariners, sirens, and creatures from folklore, all depicted in stunning illustrations that appeal to both novices and veterans of TTRPGs.
- With a variety of character classes, customizable enemies, and endless possibilities for exploration and adventure, Pirate Borg offers players the freedom to be as weird or horrifying as they want, showcasing the game's emphasis on creativity and player agency.
Pirate Borg is the latest tabletop RPG from Free League Publishing, incorporating the Mörk Borg ruleset to great effect. As its title implies, this book is all about grog-loving buccaneers and the high seas, and it has all the dark humor and brutality associated with a Mörk Borg offering. With nautical lore, naval combat, and Lovecraftian horror, Pirate Borg is everything anyone could want in a sea-faring TTRPG.
The previous Cy_Borg release from Free League proved Mörk Borg as a rules system could work well outside its typical horror genre while still maintaining those dark fantasy elements, and Pirate Borg drives this home even more. This is a TTRPG, after all, so GMs are free to run it as they please - but Pirate Borg mostly feels like Pirates of the Caribbean injected with a huge dose of heavy metal and splatterpunk. It can be darkly hilarious or downright terrifying - and sometimes both at the same time.
Pirate Borg Story & Book Overview
Pirate Borg is set in the Dark Caribbean, and as the name implies, this tropical locale is no beach vacation. Ghosts, undead mariners, sirens, and "Deep Ones" (pictured below) all inhabit the seas here, along with creatures pulled straight out of folklore like Davy Jones and Leviathan. The illustrations, a mix of black-and-white and color that look like a tattoo artist's fever dream, are gorgeous, and the book is written in an easy-to-digest format that appeals to TTRPG novices as well as Mörk Borg veterans.
There are so many elements to love about Pirate Borg. Uncharted islands are excellent for parties wishing to explore, while treasure maps offer riddles and clues for anyone hunting for a big reward. There are also over a dozen ships to choose from, which can serve as a hub for the party and a means of transportation through the Dark Caribbean. Elements like the wind, flotsam and jetsam, and both natural and supernatural events are factors during naval exploration, too. There are so many options, including "Make Your Own Enemies" and "Pirate Generator" sections, that the possibilities really do seem endless.
Pirate Borg Classes & Character Creation Overview
The character creation options in Pirate Borg are, of course, all nautical-themed. The Brute, Buccaneer, Swashbuckler, and Rapscallion may all be obvious choices for a game like this, but Zealot and Sorcerer are offered for more mystic options. There are, however, optional classes like the Haunted Soul (an undead pirate, basically, with several options to choose from) or the Tall Tale (merfolk, aquatic mutants, or sentient animals like a talking parrot are all options here). In other words, players are free to be as weird or as horrifying as they want to be, and it's this kind of creativity and player agency where Pirate Borg really shines.
"The Curse of Skeleton Point" Pirate Borg Adventure Review
The back of the book includes an adventure, "The Curse of Skeleton Point," that can serve as an introduction to Pirate Borg but is a fun module in its own right. No story spoilers, but this adventure is more of a sandbox than anything, and as an introduction to GMing, it may be overwhelming (there's a disclaimer at the front saying as much). For players, though, this means there's lots to do as they explore multiple locations that cover a wide range of environments - Black Coral Bay, Carcass Beach, The Lake of the Nameless One, and Death's Head Swamp are just a few of the ominously-named areas here.
"The Curse of Skeleton Point" offers plenty of encounters, strange NPCs, and foreboding locales, and this means it's difficult to one-shot. A group looking for a quick intro module - or a group that has a new GM - may not want to dive right in. There are plenty of helpful notes in the book, but because of how open-ended exploration elements can be, the adventure can get unwieldy fast. Still, it's worth a try, and part of the fun is figuring out exactly how Pirate Borg's rules and content work together.
Overall, Pirate Borg is a fantastic addition to the Mörk Borg line that's going to be hard to top. There's laughing, there's crying, and there's certainly dying - but for anyone who's a swashbuckler at heart, Pirate Borg is like a cup of grog after a long time at sea.
Screen Rant was provided with a copy of Pirate Borg for the purpose of this review.
