Product– Pirate Borg
System- Pirate Borg
Producer– Free League Publishing
Price– $19.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/441728/pirate-borg-core-book?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR– If you like Borg, you need to journey to the Dark Caribbean! 97%
Basics– YAAAARR! Pirate Borg brings Mork Borg to the high seas during the age of exploration. Avast and shiver timbers and anything else you would expect in this VERY deadly RPG. I will tell you right off the bat, if you don’t like Mork Borg, go away now! If you love Pirates of the Caribbean and simple, fun, and deadly RPGs, hop aboard!
Mechanics or Crunch– This book does exactly what a splat book should do. Pirate Borg provides classes, lots of random tables, rituals, and even sea shanties the players can use to fight things in the Caribbean. But, it also massively builds on the base setting by providing vehicle combat rules. You CAN’T have pirates without ships for them to plunder and fight. At worst, the book adds a new mechanic called Devil’s Luck. These act kind of like hero points in Pathfinder but in a much crazier way. You can use Devil’s Luck to prevent fumbles, reroll dice, and even reduce damage to your character. That alone with just a string of random tables will give you fun things to add and steal from this book. What’s here works and builds on the Borg system in a fun and fresh way. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– I like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Mork Borg, and Lovecraft. That’s honestly the sales pitch. You have crazy cultists, magic rituals, and the 1700s English just being evil to attract you to a world where you and your pals take to the high seas in a new sandbox that you can play in. All of this is laid out in what the book calls the Dark Caribbean. I am not leaning too hard on the Pirates of the Caribbean comparison, because you absolutely tell where this book comes from. It’s not copying the Disney homework, but adding its own bizarre, crazy, and amazing touches to build a world I enjoy. I love all those things, as my podcast feed can attest to, and if you’re this far into the review, you will too. 5/5
Execution– If the Borgs have one fault, it’s the dedication to being Borgs. The borgs are not badly laid out, but they are laid out like metal vinyl record inserts. That dates me and if you have seen them, those inserts prioritized style over legibility. That’s the one fault here. It might not read as easy as the latest DnD manual. That said, I own vinyls and love the metal aesthetic, so it’s fine with me even if the occasional page might look a tad too much like death metal band name logos. The other thing I don’t like is the lack of pregens. Now, I get that you can literally roll a character in about 2 minutes, but bring out some dead to make my life a bit easier. But, there are multiple character generators, so its not a major issue. Aside from those gripes, it’s a well done book. My complaints about being too artistic means the book is very artistic. It beautifully looks like Darkest Dungeon. And given the deadliness, that might be an amazing comparison. The digital version has books for JUST the players. I love that. What’s more, the base book comes with a whole sandbox adventure. It might be a bit deep for starter GMs, but honestly I LOVE when books do that. Any help a book and publisher can give me to just buy a book, skim, and get me and my buddies playing in 10 minutes wins my heart and soul over to you. The PDF even comes with character sheets for your ships! This books dedication to itself might hurt newer Borg players but is more of the quality I expect from all things Borg. 4.5/5
Summary– The Borgs are a fun family of games. I love everything about them, but they are what they are. It’s Death Metal: the RPG. This is Pirate Metal: the RPG. I enjoy that aspect of this game, but I can see how your average players wanting heroic fantasy might not want this. That said, this book builds into a fun place with excellent worldbuilding and craft. The period of exploring the high seas is fantastic and adding the magic and mysticism of Borg is a fun touch. This is a game you should check out if you want any of that at your table. 97%
Throat Punch Games 