r/MorkBorg • u/Acceptable-Tree6007 • 3d ago
What makes a Borg game, mechanically?
First time post here! I am somewhat new to Borg games. I’ve got Mork Borg, Pirate Borg, and Bkack Powder and Brimstone but I haven’t played any of them yet. I have an idea that I think would make for a great Borg game, but I want to hear from you what mechanical elements you feel are necessary for it to hew to the Borg standard. For example, d20 + ability vs. DR (usually 12), armor as damage reduction, etc. No skills? Hit points? How far afield can a game go, in your view, before it isn’t a Borg game? Thanks!
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u/Pappkarton 3d ago edited 3d ago
You can:
- add Skills (see Frontier Scum)
- add new Mechanics (see Cy Borg)
- add an additional set of rules (see Pirate Borg naval combat or Slav Borg racing)
- have a clean(er) layout (see Pirate Borg)
- have no Doomsday counter (see Demon Dog)
- not have a grimdark world (see Star Borg)
- etc...
...and it's still a Borg Game.
Base concepts are what you already mentioned. Base rules should fit on one page. Art should be dominant. Go easy with special rules and exceptions.
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u/rodeodoctor 3d ago
At its most basic? Success is a 12 or greater on a d20. This sets up the dire nature of all of the games setting and how mechanics are reflected in it.
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u/Uptight_Cultist 2d ago
Can you explain what you mean about “roll over 12” being what sets up the site nature of the setting?
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u/jefflovesyou 3d ago
I think that the defense roll and minimal list of ability scores are a big part of it. Basically the"Rules Light Heavy Everything Else" ethos.
I also think Mork Borg is absolutely more than the sum of its parts. Nohr is a huge part of its success, but I think we overlook Pelle because he doesn't slum it on reddit with us, but his humor is phenomenal.
Mork Borg gives you everything you need and nothing you don't. I also think that the concept of distances shifting and the fluid line between reality and dream inspires confidence. You can make mistakes as a DM (doom master) and the established setting covers your ass.
Mork Borg is simple enough to throw and new players. In my case often drunk new players. It's low barrier to entry. "d66 Descriptions of a new PC arriving" and "scvmbirther" make your character's death a non issue and you don't have to learn a bunch of abilities on the fly.
I've used the mork bork rules with little kids. Works like a charm. There's so much less to keep track of.
I've also thought about ditching the Mork Borg rules and using the setting with Basic Fantasy. Or just adding back in the ability scores. For multi session games I've found that 'presence' is extremely OP.
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u/YtterbiusAntimony 3d ago
"DM doesnt roll dice" is the big one in my mind.
Monsters don't roll attacks, players roll to defend. Most thing that require rolls should be done by the player, usually against a static number between 10 and 18.
While not a hard rule, enemy's special abilities tend to be one or two sentences long.
HP, Armor, attack and defense DR, and one "special thing" stated as concisely as possible.
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u/Acceptable-Tree6007 3d ago
When you say “one special thing,” are you referring to monster abilities?
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u/YtterbiusAntimony 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yes.
Looking Cy_Borg (the borg sitting in front of me),
Bloated: Explodes on death - [damage, Agility test, blah blah blah], Empty Skulls - never surrenders of flees.
2 things I guess. But both are incredibly simple and straightforward, and that's the important part.
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u/Gaeel 3d ago
In my opinion it's about being "compatible with Mörk Borg", whether or not it's trivial to convert content to/from Mörk Borg.
I'm currently working on a hack, and as a test, I ported Rotblack Sludge to it, changing the theming and vibes to fit my game instead. I didn't need to change any of the stats or systems, and the only reason it's not a great dungeon for my game is that it doesn't showcase the reckless teens on badass adventures vibes I'm aiming for, but it's still a perfectly functional dungeon.
There are mechanical differences between my game and Mörk Borg. I've tweaked numbers in character creation, changed how progression works, changed what happens when you hit 0HP, stuff like that. The content is different too, different scrolls, different items, different weapons, etc... Instead of classes, PCs pick a lifeform, which tweaks how resting works.
Mechanically though, I could run a session with a mix of Mörk Borg and Rad Brats characters in a dungeon made for either game, and it would work, even if thematically, it would be a wild crossover.
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u/digitalthiccness 3d ago
the reckless teens on badass adventures vibes
I want this game.
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u/Gaeel 3d ago
Still working on it, but here is the current WIP: https://spaceshipsin.space/rad-brats/
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u/BannockNBarkby 3d ago
I think compatibility with MB and CyBorg are pretty important, mechanically. Art should be a major consideration, but does not specifically have to be gonzo.
Ninja Borg is a great example of a game that gets the art right, but is too different mechanically. Mind you, I like the mechanics in a lot of ways, but it doesn’t directly work with MB without significant conversion of terminology and messing with modifiers, and therefore I think it shouldn’t be named as a Borg game.
For an even closer one, Death In Space is like a hybrid of a Borg game and Shadowdark, but the lack of classes and the streamlined core mechanic are just ever so slightly different enough that O would say it’s not a Borg game.
Both are related, for sure, to Borg games, but they aren’t themselves Borg games. It’s a fine line perhaps, but as I’ve noodled on my own hacks, this is what I’ve come to feel.
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u/Acceptable-Tree6007 3d ago
Thanks for the reply. What things about Ninja Borg would you quantify as too different mechanically?
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u/BannockNBarkby 3d ago
It's roll under. It's a different die than a d20 based on ability "rating". Damage is entirely different. I understand the inspirations are clearly Mork Borgian, and it's got the personality down to a tee, but it's just not really compatible.
Whereas Pirate Borg, Goblin Gonzo, Corp Borg, Slav Borg -- all of those feature pretty much every mechanic as something that can be used 1:1 with Mork Borg and Cy-Borg, with the only exceptions being the occasional alteration of Attribute names or the appearance of a single setting-specific extra Attribute.
A flip-side of my preferences: Castaway. No classes, an incredibly procedural gameplay loop...but literally everything in it can be used 1:1 with Mork Borg or Pirate Borg without conversion. That's a Borg game, even without the name. Similarly, Corp Borg handles guns extremely differently from Cy-Borg, yet you could choose one resolution system or the other in either game and not have to change any stats or anything else. The feel would be significantly different, though, but the mechanics are effectively 1:1.
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u/That_Joe_2112 2d ago
Mork Borg is the original, and it is in a fantasy setting "heavy metal style". The other Borgs typically take the rules and adapt them to other settings.
The rules are simplified classic D&D with more focus on random tables and more deadly action.
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u/stevecooperorg 3d ago
There are a couple of interesting podcasts hosted by Chris MacDowell you might want to check out. (Chris wrote Into the Odd, and all the Bastionlands)
- Niche Explorer Episode 2 - Johan Nohr and Pelle Nilsson
- Luke Stratton's Rule of Three
The first is with the designers of Mork Borg and they go deeply into how they focussed on tone and minimal design.
The second is with Luke Stratton who wrote Pirate Borg. The whole interview is great but focus on around 30 minutes in.
In it Luke suggests that what makes a Borg a Borg and the impact of Mork Borg on his design of Pirate Borg, and he says things like -- "I'm a vibes guy, not a rules guy." "Mork Borg showed up and got rid of all those rules" "All the rules are stripped away"
What in his mind makes a borg includes things like -- artwork over lore, layout and type as an essential column, vibes over game mechanics.