Physical Expansion Provided by Free League Publishing
An unlikely release arrived earlier this year for MÖRK BORG and this time Free League Publishing and Stockholm Kartell have expanded the game with a mystery box style expansion pack. Known as the IKHON series, they have released a series of randomization into the already dark and twisted tabletop role-playing game. Let’s check out what they’ve unleashed.
What’s In The Box
These boxes aren’t very large and are easy to unwrap. Opening the box, you will find four different black-covered booklets. Each of these booklets is a new god and through the pages, you will find a creature (or other) number one through ten. That’s it!
These packages are pretty straightforward and don’t come with much of an instruction. There is a cryptic message on the bottom of the boxes lid for you to read. Now, from here, it’s time to utilize your new game elements.
Gameplay
Now, each purchase comes with four gods, each of which is packed with ten different numbered aspects within. These can be implemented in any way the game master wishes, but the idea here is to draw randomization. There is no direct instruction telling you how to utilize these booklets, but here’s my suggestion and applied ideas in my test sessions.
The players reach some form of a god-like statue. On this statue is sketched writing that they can’t understand. Through the chance of receiving a gift rather than a trick, they can pray to this altar. The game master then rolls a D4 to pick which of the new booklets is drawn from and the player who has prayed to the statued god rolls a D10 to see what is about to appear or happen.
Ultimately, the number of ways you can utilize this expansion is pretty diverse. It is nothing short of more content to expand the lore and adventure within this dark TTRPG. How will you utilize it?
Artwork
Matching the style of the rest of the game, it looks like the gods, creatures, and names were all designed by a group of retired metalheads looking to keep up with the style they used for old album cover ideas. It’s all very sharp and jagged, showing a form of darkness even in the brighter-colored designs. It is all mostly in black-and-white as well, giving a very distinct style that makes any semblance of color pop - which is typically just in the titles of each page. So, in short, it looks scary and badass!
What It Could Have Done Better
They did send me out two packets, but when I opened both it turned out the same four gods were in them. I’m not sure if this was a fluke or if the mystery boxes all contain the same four gods, but if it is all the same then that’s not much of a mystery box. If they are going to go with a mystery box style, it is important to have a wide collection of different options that could arrive.
Verdict
IKHON is a great expansion to the MÖRK BORG game series. It gives game masters more to play with and it gives players more to fear. Plus, as an experienced game master myself, I can never turn down more randomization to throw at my players! If you thought your world was getting a little dull or are looking for a reason to start up the next adventure in this dark series, then here is a solid tool to spark some creative homebrewing juices!
IKHON is available on the Free League Publishing website - but check availability!
