Into The Valley

Of The
Unfortunate
Undead
Into The Valley Of The Unfortunate Undead is an independent production by Jacob Marks
and is not affiliated with Ockult Örtmästare Games or Stockholm Kartell. It is published
under the MÖRK BORG Third Party License.

MÖRK BORG is copyright Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell.

Most of the rules, and some of the text, is taken from Cairn. Cairn is
published by Yochai Gal and the text is licensed under a CC-BY-SA
4.0 license.

Cover art and one interior piece are public domain

paintings by Ladislav Mednyánszky. One interior piece is
public domain art by Gustave Doré. The remaining
art is by Jacob Marks and is created using public
domain 3D models from various museum
collections.

I would like to thank Chris McDowall

for creating Into The Odd: One of the
primary inspirations for Cairn.

This work is licensed under a

CC-BY-SA 4.0 license. Feel
free to make your own
version as long as you
credit me and use the
MÖRK BORG
Third Party
License.
What Is This Zine?
All starting gear and ability scores are HP is rolled the same as in Mörk Borg
rolled the same as in the Mörk Borg core rules. In addition to HP there is
core rules. Optional classes may also also Grit. All characters start with d6
be used: possibly with minor changes Grit. Grit does not indicate the
and rules adjudications. There is not a character’s health or injured status,
rolled amount of Powers. Instead a instead Grit indicates that character’s
system that uses Fatigue is described ability to avoid damage in combat.
later. Damage is first applied to Grit during
combat, and later applied to HP. Grit
going to 0 does not indicate death.
This is covered in more detail later.
Inventory is mostly handled the same
as in Mörk Borg core rules. Except if
a character fills all of their inventory
slots their Grit is set to 0. If the party takes a short rest for a
moment, possibly exposing them to
random encounters, all Grit is fully
restored. With a full night’s rest d6
HP is healed. Medicines and magic
Ability tests are performed the same may heal HP, but not Grit.
way as in Mörk Borg core rules.
These abilities are not used as often.
Strength, Presence, and Agility are
not used during combat. Presence is
not needed as often for using If a character is Deprived of a crucial
Powers, but does still come into play need, like food or rest, they are unable
when risk of failure is imminent. to benefit from short rests. Infection
in the Mörk Borg core rules causes a
character to be Deprived. If a
character is Deprived for more than
a day, Fatigue must be added to their
Getting Better no longer occurs when inventory each day. Fatigue is also
the Game Master decides. Instead added when using Powers. Fatigue
selective aspects of characters will get takes up an inventory slot that cannot
better when they receive Scars in be used for anything else. Items may
combat. This will be covered in more have to be dropped to make room for
detail later. Fatigue. All Fatigue is removed after
a night of rest.
Enemies and players alternate turns Any armed attack does a minimum of
in combat. Enemies take the first d6 damage.
turn. In order to act before enemies
players must succeed at a DR 12 If a character is fighting from a
Agility test. position of weakness , their attack is
Impaired and they must roll a d4 for
damage regardless of their normal
damage die.
No rolls are necessary to hit in If a character is fighting from an
combat. Instead damage dice are advantaged position, their attack is
rolled, armor is subtracted from that Enhanced and they roll a d12 for
damage, and the final value is damage instead of their normal
subtracted from the opponent’s Grit. damage die.
Armor dice are not rolled. Instead the
tier of the armor is subtracted from
the damage. If Grit is sent to exactly
0, then a Scar is received. If Grit
would be sent below 0, the remaining If a character is using two weapons to
damage is subtracted from HP and fight, they roll both damage dice at
Critical Damage should be checked the same time and only keep the
for. highest result.

If Grit would be sent below 0 in an If multiple attackers target the same

attack, the remaining damage is then opponent, they all roll their damage
subtracted from their HP. A player dice and only the highest result is
must then succeed at a DR 12 kept.
Toughness test or they take Critical
Damage. Non player characters
instead roll a d20 + HP and take
Critical Damage if less than a 12 is
rolled. If Critical Damage does Any attack that will effect multiple
occur, the character begins bleeding opponents (like a bomb, fire, or many-
out and will die if not helped within headed flail) has the Blast quality.
an hour. The character may only Separate damage is rolled for every
crawl weakly. individual in an area.
When a player character’s Grit is reduced to exactly 0 they gain a scar. The amount
of damage rolled determines what scar is gained on the Scar Table.

Lasting Scar: Roll 1d6 | 1: Neck, 2: Hands, 3: Eye, 4: Chest, 5: Legs, 6: Ear. Roll 1d6. If the
total is higher than your max Grit, take the new result.
Rattling Blow: You’re disoriented and shaken. Describe how you refocus. Roll 1d6. If the total
is higher than your max Grit, take the new result.
Walloped: You’re sent flying and land flat on your face, winded. You are deprived until you rest
for a few hours. Then, roll 1d6. Add that amount to your max Grit.
Broken Limb: Roll 1d6 | 1-2: Leg, 3-4: Arm, 5: Rib, 6: Skull. Once mended, roll 2d6. If the
total is higher than your max Grit, take the new result.
Diseased: You’re afflicted with a gross, uncomfortable Infection. When you get over it, roll a
d6. If the result is higher than your Toughness, increase it by 1.
Reorienting Head Wound: Roll 1d4 | 1: Agility, 2: Presence, 3: Strength, 4: Toughness.
Roll a d6. If the result is higher than that ability score, increase it by 1.
Hamstrung: You can barely move until you get serious help and rest. After recovery, roll a d6.
If the result is higher than your Agility, increase it by 1.
Deafened: You cannot hear anything until you find extraordinary aid. Regardless, make a DR
12 Presence test. If you succeed, increase your Presence by 1d4.
Re-brained: Some hidden part of your psyche is knocked loose. Roll a d6. If the result is
higher than your Presence, increase it by 1.
Sundered: An appendage is torn off, crippled or useless. The Warden will tell you which. Then,
roll 2d10. If the result is greater than or equal to your max HP then increase it by d6.
Mortal Wound: You are Deprived and out of action. You die in one hour unless healed.
Upon recovery, roll 2d6. Take the new result as your max Grit.
Doomed: Death seemed ever so close, but somehow you survived. If your next save against
Critical Damage is a fail, you die horribly. If you pass, roll 3d6. If the total is higher than your
max Grit, take the new result.
Scrolls take up 1 item slot. No Presence roll is needed and no Powers are used up.
After using a scroll, Fatigue must be added to fill up an inventory slot. If there are
no empty inventory slots for Fatigue, if the character is Deprived, or if the
character’s HP is 0, then the character must succeed at a DR 12 Presence test. If this
roll is failed then an Arcane Catastrophe from the Mörk Borg core rules occurs.

Any other rules not addressed in these pages should be assumed to be like standard
Mörk Borg rules. If the standard rules do not fit then either adjudicate it yourself, or
refer to the Cairn rules for further guidance.

When using Mörk Borg content the Assuming stat blocks similar to B/X
only things that will need adapted are or OSE style, monsters and other
weapons, armor, and non player characters should be simple to adapt.
character stats.
Morale and HP can stay the same.
All weapons do a minimum of d6
damage. Weapons also never have a Damage stays the same; however any
bonus to hit because there is no roll to armed attacks that do d4 damage are
hit. increased to d6.

Armor does not use dice. Instead only Assuming ascending armor class is
the tier is used and subtracted from being used, Grit is set to AC - 6.
the damage.
If the AC is greater than or equal to
Non player characters follow the 14, armor is set to 1. If the AC is
same rules about weapons and armor. greater than or equal to 16, armor is
HP stays the same. Grit is set to the set to 2. If the AC is greater than or
difficulty rating to hit - 4. Usually to equal to 18, armor is set to 3.
hit rolls in Mörk Borg are DR 12: this
means most characters have a Grit of All abilities will require more careful
8. Goblins from the Mörk Borg core adjudication and may not always fit
rules are hard to hit and usually the game.
require a DR 14: this means goblins
have a Grit of 10.
Grit 10 HP 6 Armor 1 Grit 6 HP 32 Armor 1
Morale 7 Knive/Shortbow d6 Morale special Fists 2d6
Special: always goes first. Special: when Grit reaches 0
immediately retreats.

Grit 8 HP 7
Morale 8 Knife d6 Grit 8 HP 7 Armor 1
Morale - Claws/Bite d4

Grit 6 HP 13 Armor 1
Morale 9 Weapon same as book Grit 8 HP 11 Armor 1
Morale - Claws/Bite d4
Special: always goes first.

Grit 10 HP 15
Morale - Touch d4 + special
Grit 6 HP 18 Armor 3
Morale - Claws d6 Eye-beam d8

Grit 8 HP 0 Armor special

Morale 8 Shortsword d6
Special: armor is 1 against piercing Grit 8 HP 10
weapons. When Grit goes to 0 the Morale 7 Knife d6
skeleton is destroyed.

Grit 8 HP 15 Armor 2 Grit 8 HP 25 Armor 2

Morale - Strike d6 Morale 10 Bite/Sting d6