The One-Sided Dance of Death#

Unlike traditional RPGs where GMs roll for enemies, MÖRK BORG’s combat system places all dice rolls squarely in the players’ hands. You roll for your attacks, your defenses, and even your armor’s effectiveness. This design choice creates an intense psychological experience where your fate literally rests in your own hands.

The magic number is always 12. Whether you’re swinging a rusty blade, dodging a demon’s claw, or channeling dark powers, you need to roll 12 or higher on a d20 (plus modifiers) to succeed. This simplicity keeps combat moving at breakneck speed while maintaining deadly tension.

Initiative: Who Dies First?#

Initiative in MÖRK BORG follows the game’s philosophy of elegant brutality. One player rolls a d6:

• 1-3: Enemies attack first
• 4-6: Player characters act first

For those preferring individual initiative, players can roll Agility + d6 to determine specific turn order, though many groups prefer the simplicity of group initiative to maintain the game’s frenetic pace.

Combat Attributes and Actions#

The system ties combat actions to three core attributes:

• Strength: Melee attacks with weapons
• Presence: Ranged attacks and powers
• Agility: Defense rolls to avoid damage

When attacking, roll d20 + relevant attribute modifier. Meeting or exceeding 12 means you hit. When defending, roll d20 + Agility—failure means taking the full brunt of enemy damage.

The beauty of MÖRK BORG’s combat lies not in its complexity but in its speed. Most fights are over in minutes, not hours, keeping tension high and momentum flowing.

Armor: Your Questionable Protection#

Armor in MÖRK BORG doesn’t provide static protection. Instead, you roll to see how much damage it absorbs:

• Light Armor: d2 damage reduction (roll d4, divide by 2)
• Medium Armor: d4 damage reduction
• Heavy Armor: d6 damage reduction

This randomness means even heavy armor might fail you when you need it most—perfectly fitting the game’s nihilistic tone.

Critical Hits and Fumbles#

Rolling a natural 20 or 1 triggers special effects that can dramatically shift combat:

Death and Dismemberment#

When hit points reach zero, death isn’t necessarily immediate. Roll a d4 to determine your fate:

1. Unconscious: Out for d4 rounds, wake with d4 HP
2. Broken: Roll d6 on the injury table—lose an eye, break bones, or worse
3. Hemorrhaging: Die in d2 rounds unless healed
4. Dead: Immediate death, no questions asked

This system creates memorable death scenes and gives players a slim chance of survival even when things look hopeless.

Powers: Magic with Consequences#

The power system reflects MÖRK BORG’s unforgiving nature. At dawn, roll Presence + d4 to determine how many powers you can use that day. Choose your powers from the available list, then hope the dark forces cooperate.

To use a power, roll d20 + Presence against DR 12. Failure doesn’t just waste the attempt—it renders you dizzy, costs d2 HP, and causes all powers to fail catastrophically if attempted again that day. Critical failures can trigger horrific results from the miscast table, turning your magical attempts into nightmares.

Monster Creation: Building Nightmares#

The Feretory supplement introduces an elegant monster generation system using three d12 rolls to create unique horrors. Each roll determines appearance traits while also setting combat statistics:

• Highest roll: Morale rating
• Lowest roll: Damage die
• Highest table: Armor tier

Additional tables add motivations and terrible traits, transforming random rolls into memorable adversaries. A creature might desperately want to “permanently traumatize one survivor into total insanity” while “loving to choke victims and observe their slow death.”

Morale: When Monsters Break#

Not every enemy fights to the death. When you kill a group’s leader or reduce a solo enemy to one-third HP, roll 2d6. If you exceed their morale rating, roll d6 to see if they flee or surrender. This mechanic prevents every combat from becoming a total massacre and adds tactical considerations to target selection.

Key Takeaways#

• Combat in MÖRK BORG is fast, lethal, and player-focused with all dice rolls in players’ hands
• The universal DR 12 keeps rules simple while maintaining deadly stakes
• Armor provides random damage reduction rather than static protection
• Death at 0 HP isn’t always immediate, creating dramatic near-death experiences
• Powers are limited daily resources with catastrophic failure consequences
• Monster creation tables in Feretory enable quick, flavorful enemy generation
• Morale checks prevent every fight from ending in total annihilation

Embracing the Brutality#

MÖRK BORG’s combat system perfectly embodies its apocalyptic setting—fast, unforgiving, and darkly humorous. The one-sided dice rolling creates unique tension where players control their fate through every roll, while the simple DR 12 mechanic keeps gameplay flowing without sacrificing depth.

Whether you’re creating nightmarish monsters with Feretory’s tables or watching your armor shatter from a critical fumble, every combat encounter tells a story of desperate survival in a world spiraling toward doom. The system doesn’t just facilitate combat—it makes every fight a memorable descent into chaos.

Related Topics#

• MÖRK BORG character creation guide
• Feretory supplement review
• OSR combat system comparison
• Grimdark RPG recommendations
• MÖRK BORG GM tips
• Death and injury tables in RPGs
• One-roll monster generation systems