K-1: Kavlov’s Sanctuary (2024) is one of those RPG books that was produced via a Kickstarter I never saw and then, suddenly, all at once, lots of people I know had the book and were excited about it. That’s about as good an endorsement that the Universe can give a book, really,

This version is the second edition and keyed to Mork Borg, though I believe there is (or will be) an OSE version. What you get is a pleasant town to use as a base of operations, a modest wilderness and 13 dungeons to explore. When you characters die, there are seven new and horrible classes to try with the replacements, like the Mycotic Fiend, which is a fungi parasite controlling a host body (which I initially read as Mycotic Friend, which is funnier) or the Degenerate Cannibal, whose main purpose seems to be to provide a nourishing meal for the rest of the party after they’re dead (a benefit  complicated by the strict laws of the settlement around the handling of the dead, aside of, you know, basic decency).

The strands of a plot are lying all around. There’s a demon imprisoned under the church, part of an ancient conflict. His bonds are breaking, though, and should he be free, that conflict would erupt again. Perhaps the party can find out how the sorcerer who imprisoned the demon accomplished the feat and renew it? Or not, there are plenty of other things to do and explore as well. Much of it draws directly from fairly generic creatures and fantasy concepts, but none of it feels generic, if that makes sense. It’s almost as if a lot of these things we are so familiar with, dungeons, specific monsters, fantasy plot lines, have transcended to archetypes that never get old, and can be constantly reconfigured to provide new meanings.

Also, sort of delightful to have a Mork Borg book be super clean and legible.