Cairn vs Mörk Borg
Compare Cairn and Mörk Borg side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Cairn | Mörk Borg | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy, Horror |
| Tags | Rules-Light, Classless, Deadly, Dungeon Crawl, Exploration, Inventory Management, Fiction-First, Random Character Creation, Random Tables, Strong GM Support | Rules-Light, Deadly, Dungeon Crawl, Dark Fantasy, Grimdark, Atmospheric, Random Character Creation, Random Tables, Roll to Cast, One-Shot Friendly |
| Core Mechanic | To avoid a risky outcome, roll d20 equal to or below STR, DEX, or WIL; a 1 succeeds and a 20 fails. Only the participant most at risk rolls an opposed save. Attacks deal damage automatically, reduced by armor and then Hit Protection (HP). Damage beyond HP reduces STR and requires a save against the reduced STR to avoid critical damage. | Roll a d20 plus an ability modifier and meet or exceed a difficulty rating to succeed. Players roll both attacks and defence in combat. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 3 of 5 book tools |
| License | CC BY-SA 4.0 | MÖRK BORG Third Party License |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Creative Commons text reuse | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Cairn Press | Free League Publishing |
| Year | 2024 | 2020 |
| Languages | English, Finnish, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish | Swedish, English, French, Italian, Japanese |
| Best For | Groups who want dangerous woodland expeditions where equipment and preparation matter more than optimized character builds. Suits campaigns shaped by exploration and the consequences of encounters. | Groups who want short, lethal dungeon expeditions in a world approaching its foretold destruction. |
| Highlights | Fatigue occupies the same ten inventory slots as equipment, making spellcasting and hardship compete with useful gear. Dungeon turns and wilderness watches tie exploration choices to events and resource costs. Training and significant encounters can change abilities without an experience-point track. | The Calendar of Nechrubel generates worsening disasters until the seventh Misery ends the world. Optional Omens let characters spend limited luck to avert disastrous rolls. Random equipment and character traits make replacement adventurers quick to generate. |
| Considerations | Automatic attack damage makes direct confrontation dangerous even when characters wear armor. The Warden decides when fictional advantages remove the need for a save instead of using graded difficulty targets. Advancement depends on experiences and negotiated training rather than a predictable level progression. | Characters can begin with just one hit point and die immediately below zero. Failed spellcasting damages the caster and prevents further casting for an hour. Advancement can lower abilities as well as improve them. |