Nobody Wake the Bugbear

Mörk Borg is a doom metal apocalyptic fantasy tabletop roleplaying game, published by Free League Publishing in 2020. It was created by Pelle Nilsson and Johan Nohr. The game is famous for its aggressive, award winning graphic design and incredibly bleak tone. Players navigate a dying world destined to end, playing as miserable scoundrels, heretics, and broken souls simply trying to survive their final days. The system it is heavily inspired by is Old School Renaissance (2000s) Description In Mörk Borg, you do not play heroes. You play tomb robbers and outcasts exploring a grim, rotting world under a black sun. The setting is actively counting down to the apocalypse as prophesied by the two headed basilisk. Gameplay is highly lethal, fast paced, and completely unfair. It prioritizes atmosphere, quick rulings, and embracing the inevitable doom of your character. System Overview & Key Features Player Facing d20 Rolls The core mechanic is incredibly simple. Players roll a 20 sided die (d20) and add a stat modifier to beat a Target Number, which is usually 12. Players roll for all attacks and all defense. The Game Master never touches the dice during combat. The Calendar of Nechrubel The world is literally ending. Each morning, the Game Master rolls a die to determine if a Misery occurs. When the seventh Misery is rolled, the world burns and the game is permanently over. The players cannot stop this. Omens Characters have a small pool of Omens each day. These are points that can be spent to reroll a failed test, maximize damage dealt, reduce damage taken, or neutralize a critical hit. In a highly lethal game, Omens are the only thing keeping a character alive. Unpredictable Magic Magic is cast by reading ancient Unclean or Sacred scrolls. Any class can attempt to read a scroll, but doing so requires a Presence test. Failing this test results in a terrifying Arcane Catastrophe, causing massive damage or permanent mutations. Zero HP and Broken Bodies When a character reaches zero Hit Points, they are Broken. The player must roll on a brutal table to determine their fate. They might simply be knocked unconscious, lose a limb, or die instantly and gruesomely. Additional links youtube.com MÖRK BORG RPG Trailer morkborg.com - Official Mörk Borg website freeleaguepublishing.com - Official Free League Publishing website

D&D 5.5E (officially the 2024 core rules revision) is the modernized, updated evolution of the immensely popular Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (2014). The new and updated version of the system was released to coincide with the game’s 50th anniversary. Rather than replacing 5th Edition with a completely new "6th Edition," 5.5E refines and expands upon the existing 5E framework and most of the already existing mechanics. It is maintaining backwards compatibility with the  adventure and source books from 5th Edition. Description D&D 5.5E is the continuation of the iconic d20-based heroic fantasy roleplaying game. Players take on the roles of daring adventurers and the Dungeon Master (DM) describes the world, the events, controls the monsters and non-player characters, and referees the rules. The 5.5E revision was driven heavily by years of player feedback and data on how tables actually run the game. As a result, the new core rulebooks, the Player’s Handbook (September 2024), Dungeon Master’s Guide (November 2024), and Monster Manual (February 2025) are better organized, have clarified language and wording, and try to bring a stronger balance between spellcasting and martial classes. It plays exactly like the 5th Edition, but with tighter mechanics, fewer confusing edge-cases, and more tactical options for the players to have a more unique approach and feel to their characters. System Overview & Key Features Weapon Masteries This is a massive change to how martial classes are played in combat. Weapons now have specific "Mastery" properties, such as Cleave, Graze, or Push. This allows the characters to apply tactical, battlefield-controlling effects on their strikes rather than only rolling for standard damage on their turns. Subclass Standardization All character classes now choose their defining subclass at Level 3. This standardizes character progression and prevents the narrative weirdness of a Level 1 character instantly unlocking ultimate magical bloodlines before they've even adventured. Streamlined Conditions & Mechanics Historically clunky rules have been completely overhauled. For example: Surprise Instead of enemies randomly losing their first turn, surprised combatants simply roll their Initiative with Disadvantage. Exhaustion Replaced with a much simpler, cumulative 1-to-10 scale where each level of exhaustion simply subtracts from your d20 rolls and reduces your movement speed. Hiding Normalized so that successfully hiding essentially grants the "Invisible" condition, removing ambiguity for the DM. The Bastion System Introduced in the new Dungeon Master's Guide, this is an official customizable base-building system. It allows players to construct and manage their own strongholds. From arcane observatories to gambling dens. Apex Monsters & Upgraded Threats The 2025 Monster Manual expanded the roster to over 500 creatures, redesigning legacy stat blocks to be more dynamic in combat. It also introduced "Apex Monsters". These are a higher Challenge Rating versions of classic monsters (like an Apex Hag) designed to serve as more challenging bosses or enemies adding more danger and flavor to the basic version of the creature. Backwards Compatibility The core promise of 5.5E has been that you can still run older 5E adventure modules or campaign settings, even while adapting and using the newer ruleset and systems. If a table wants to bring a 2014 character class into a 5.5E game, the rules are there to accommodate, though it is highly encouraged to transition older characters to the updated 2024 mechanics, as the new systems bring  horizontal expansions to various classes and abilities. Additional links D&D Beyond Basic Rules - Free basic ruleset for the 5.5E D&D

If you are new to Dungeons & Dragons, getting started can be a daunting task. The game has over 50 years of history, rules, knowledge, changes and players. Just picking it up and getting started will seem like a lot of work. Let’s break the whole process down to simple steps you can follow. What is D&D? How is D&D? Why is D&D? Gather your gear Finding a group Creating your character Go play What is D&D? The core of the game is collaborative storytelling. Instead of following a linear path, the game takes the players through a story. One that doesn’t generally have a set structure or end-goal.   Lets explain it through an analogy - a book. The players decide that they want to play D&D, and one of them steps up and states that they are willing to be the Dungeon Master. The DM is the one who will come up with the world, the setting, the locations, various events and even history for the world the game will take place in.   And the others are the players (although the DM should also be considered a player as well, but we will separate these two roles for now). The players will be the main characters of the story. Mighty heroes, accidental adventurers or incompetent bandits - as long as the story the DM will be running makes sense for those characters. The game is a collaborative story, where the DM will present the players with various characters, situations, problems and encounters and the players will try and figure their way through all those. Either by talking their way out of them or getting into combat and resolving the situation in another way. There is no right path to take in D&D - the DM can never anticipate what the players will do in a certain situation - and the players will have no way to know what the right approach would be. But stumbling through these situations will be the story. Whether things work out for your characters and you become heroes, or you fail at doing the most mundane tasks, leading to humiliation, failure and a lot of laughs - this makes it your story. /images/general-media/1776431683_KlnMNNhS.jpg How is D&D? The game has a lot of rules - this might seem daunting, but generally you will try and understand them as you start playing. If your DM (or other group members) have more experience than you, you can rely on them to help you figure things out. Nobody knows all of the rules by heart - referencing the rulebooks is a part of the game. But how exactly is D&D played? Is there a game board? Is it a computer game? This is what separates D&D from traditional board and video games. It is a narrative game. You will play the game through explaining what your character would do. Whether you succeed or fail, is determined by rolling dice (and applying some rules). There is no board to move your figurine on. Instead the DM describes (verbally) what you are seeing, hearing, smelling and so forth. Based on all that information, you can tell the DM what your character would like to do - “I would like to find someone who looks like a guard” / “I would like to punch the first person I see in the face” / “Looking around, do I see something that looks like a dragon?” And so forth.   As a player, you are in control of your characters intentions and actions. The success of all of that is determined by the Dungeon Master and their response. If your characters have reached a dungeon and are looking for a hidden door in the room, the DM might tell you to roll Perception. Whether your character is good at that stat or not, will affect the likelihood of you succeeding. Once again, it is a story that your character is going through. How you solve different situations is up to you. You are limited by what is realistic for your character to be able to do and what kind of an approach you come up with.   D&D is a game where there is no exact way of winning. You are not playing the game against the others - as an adventuring group, your focus should be on cooperation - to overcome various obstacles by working together, relying on others and their characters’ abilities. If you leave the game session and you had fun - that really is the only way to be “winning” at D&D. Why is D&D? While the article revolves around Dungeons & Dragons, almost all of it can be taken and applied to any other tabletop roleplaying system. The hobby space does not only consist of the behemoth that is D&D. Ever since the first edition of the game was released back in 1974, a vast number of other tabletop systems have been created by other creators. You can find various other systems listed in the library here. Dungeons & Dragons is a great gateway to the hobby thanks to it's rather streamlined gameplay process, rules structure and publicly available resources and knowledge. And many of the skills and knowledge can be transferred over to other systems, even if their focus is on more mechanical systems or different themes. While you will be able to find more groups and other players for D&D, once you are more familiar with the whole TTRPG genre, you should branch out and experiment with other systems to get a better understanding of what kind of a game system you would actually prefer. Gather your gear To start playing, you don’t need much. You need other players and someone willing to be the Dungeon Master. You may have seen various memes about the dice. D&D is famous for dice and dice-related obsessions and while some players get themselves a set of dice and hold onto those for their entire tabletop gaming career - there are others (commonly referred to as dice goblins) who can’t stop buying new dice. But dice are dice, at the end of the day. But you don’t even need dice - there are various digital dice rolling tools to replace the need for physical dice. Then there are the rules. Fortunately the free basic rules are available online. You can familiarize yourself with the rules free of charge and get the general idea of the system. With the rules at your hand, you need to create a character. Your character is boiled down to your character sheet - a document that holds a technical overview of what your character is. How strong they are, how smart, how charismatic, how good they are at picking a lock and many other aspects that make your character unique. If you are just starting out, it is recommended to not spend too much on trying to remember and understand all the rules. Without context (since you haven’t played the game before) the rules are likely to not be very intuitive and understandable. Same goes for creating a character. Sure, you might have the idea of a character floating in your mind, but it is important that your character’s concept fits the story the DM will be setting you into. Creating a silly character might not be the best fit, if the story will take place in a dystopian vampire-infested world. /images/general-media/1776431690_WRNbTOBM.jpg Finding a group A typical D&D party consists of 3-6 players. This is definitely not a hard limit (on either end), some game groups are two players and a DM, some are eight. Although the sweet spot of 3-6 generally might be the most enjoyable for a new player. The best way of finding a group is forming one with your friends or family - you most likely know these people already and know whether you’d like to spend 3-5 hours at a time with them. The second best way is Groupfinder. Sure, we might be a bit biased here, but Groupfinder is here to solve one of the biggest hurdles a newcomer might encounter when trying to start playing - finding a group. Create your profile, introduce yourself and it is highly recommended to add the “Newbie friendly” tag to your profile. If you are looking for an in-person game or to play online, Groupfinder will help you find your group for both. Read: DnD Looking for Group: How to find your next table Creating your character Once you have found a group of players, you will need to create a character before your first game. It is highly recommended to have a “Session Zero” before the game actually starts. That is the session before the first session where the DM will tell you about the world, what kind of a story he is hoping to run you through and other technical details regarding the games. Now knowing what the theme and topic of the game will be, you can finally create a character that fits the game. Head over to dndbeyond.com and create your character there. The whole process should be more or less intuitive. But don’t feel like you have to figure everything out on your own. Talk to your DM and other players if you feel lost at any point. In addition to the technical aspects of your character (Their species (human, elf, halfling etc.) and their class (rogue, ranger, wizard etc.) and their stats) figure out who your character is. What makes them them. On paper they might be a human fighter - but they should have a backstory, who they were before the adventure began. What they like and dislike. Do they have hobbies, favourite dish, friends or family? The more you flesh our your character, the more real they become. The realness of the character is one major aspect that distinguishes D&D from a traditional board game. Instead of playing as the “boot” in Monopoly, you are playing as a character with a personality, with unique quirks and thoughts - all of these will shape the way they approach different situations in the game. Go play Hopefully you will have a better understanding of what D&D is, how to get started and how to take your first steps into the hobby space.   You can start off by heading over to the Groups page on Groupfinder and browsing through the various games that still need players. Or instead post your player profile and introduce yourself. Of course remember to be proactive. Just posting your profile might not be enough - reach out to groups that are looking for players and let them know that you are interested in joining.