There was quiet some buzz around Tephrotic Nightmares (2024), Luke Gearing’s crack at Mork Borg illustrated by Mr. Mork himself, Johan Nohr. The hype is well-warranted. Befitting a setting in a sea of ash, the book has a sooty quality; black boards, grey pages. The black of the ink isn’t very saturated, which makes it look like it might rub off on your hands.

Once there was a forest. Then the Arsonist came and turned the forest into a sea of ash. The peaks of mountains became island fortresses for a variety of factions, but none is greater than Her Stronghold Unvanquished, where the one who brought the fire waits. The majority of the book is dedicated to these fortresses and other points of interest. If there is an ultimate goal, it’s to punish the Arsonist for this tragedy, but to do that, some power needs to be consolidated. All the factions want something, and the players are in the prime position to get it. They just need a boat. Good thing the first chapter is about boats.

While the locations get the most space, I think the factions will probably provide the most interesting play dynamics. How can you go wrong with cannibal counts and burnt offerings (am I reading this right, the thing they want is for you to burn off one of your limbs?), bloodhunters, raiders, dry witches who trade secrets and hurl curses, lunatics who want to escape this plane of existence. And the university, that just want to understand it all. You’re probably going to want to deal with them, maybe.

It’s a delicious exercise in bleakness, a somber yet perfect companion for the core Mork Borg experience.