The announcement a few days ago of the launch, on 13 November 2021, of the Kickstarter campaign for the creation of CY_BORG RPG, the cyberpunk-themed spin-off of the award-winning role-playing game MÖRK BORG, aroused much curiosity in the Italian RPG world.
We therefore decided to interview Johan Nohr and Christian Sahlén, the authors of this project, to steal some more information and find out what lies behind this product, that presents itself in an extremely convincing way and has already created many expectations in MÖRK BORG fans.
Let's not delay any longer and go immediately to report the interviewer.
CY_BORG RPG, the interview with Johan Nohr and Christian Sahlén
Hi Johan, hi Christian, thank you for your time! Johan is a pleasure to have the opportunity to talk with you again after the interview we did at the release of MÖRK BORG. Christian, nice to meet you!
Tell us something about yourself, when did you approach the world of role playing? And what prompted you to pursue a career as a game author?
Christian Sahlén: I started playing way back. A friend of mine borrowed some games from his older brother and we started playing when we were around 10-11 or so. We soon found other kids nearby who just started and we got a group together.
I’ve always preferred running my own content, but it’s only after I started running games for strangers at different cons that I started to create content for others to run. And even now it’s not a career. This is just a hobby for us, parallel to our regular jobs.
Johan Nohr: My origin story is quite similar; I don’t remember exactly at what age I got into the hobby but from the first moment I’ve been creating my own material--be it adventures, settings or just random maps and dungeons. Me and my friends started with some of the traditional Swedish games but soon we got into freeform, indie- and homebrewed stuff. I guess ttrpgs have always been a creative hobby for us. And that’s what it still is to me, a hobby. Even though I make games and game related stuff professionally (nights and weekends, since I have a full time job) I still see it as a hobby and not a career or a job.
The announcement of the upcoming CY_BORG RPG Kickstarter has aroused particular interest in the Italian role-playing game world: tell us about this new product, what is CY_BORG RPG?
CS: CY_BORG is MÖRK BORG hacked. It’s a nano-infested doomsday RPG about cybernetic punks and misfits raging against an relentless corporate hell. It’s very much to cyberpunk what MÖRK BORG was to fantasy.
JN: It is our take on the cyberpunk genre; our idea of what MÖRK BORG would be like if it wasn’t dark fantasy but rather cyberpunk. It’s based on the original MB game but expanded and refined and tuned to a more contemporary/sci-fi tune. Still with the same approach to game and book design that MB had; so, expect a pretty loud game.
What prompted you to create this cyberpunk version of MÖRK BORG?
CS: When MÖRK BORG was released I had already decided to run a cyberpunk game during 2020, as a sort of homage to the first cyberpunk RPG I got my hands on back in the day. But I couldn’t find a cyberpunk ruleset that suited my taste for rules light systems, so I started hacking MB. First just to run it and when it started to take shape, I showed it off to Johan, the rest of STOCKHOLM KARTELL--and to Pelle of course.
The doom and black metal soul of MÖRK BORG is evident both in the game design of the product and in its artistic system. Thinking about the cyberpunk genre, the 80s synthwave music usually comes to mind; which musical genres is CY_BORG RPG inspired by? And how are they translated within the game?
CS: For me it’s very much about noise and different styles of industrial music. Loud, angry, and intense. The kind of music that overloads your senses and has others questioning if it’s really music at all. The game takes place in the city of Cy, and it is similar to this experience. A sensory overload of noise, lights and smells as you are bombarded by ads and entertainment, both in the corporal world and the always connected virtual world of the Net.
There are some synthwave and ambient in there as well, because even there you can find small moments of peace, probably looking out of a window at rain and neon signs passing by.
JN: To me, the CY_BORG soundscape is a deliberately chaotic mix of many different styles and vibes; a cacophony of noises and tunes from all the things screaming for your attention in the city. So my inspirations span from electronic music like noise, industrial and synthwave, to extreme metal like black, doom and death, and on to genres like hip hop, d-beat, chiptune and obnoxious advertisement jingles (this setting is spamming you with ads every waking moment).
What were the biggest challenges you faced in developing CY_BORG RPG?
CS: Setting wise it was in finding a sort of balance between the outrageous over-the-top and describing a world where people actually live and against the odds, survive. It’s a depressing hellscape of a world, but some people still has to get out of bed and go to work each morning.
For the rules it of course helps a lot that Pelle Nilsson had designed such an elegant core system in MÖRK BORG. The most challenging thing was to keep the elegance and simplicity when adding things that are necessary or expected in a cyberpunk game. It’s very easy that this adds more and more details and complexity, something I tried to stay away from.
The announcement of the release of CY_BORG RPG, in addition to arousing considerable hype, in the role-playing community also raised the following reflection.
One of the reasons for the great success of MÖRK BORG is undoubtedly linked to its atypicality compared to other products in the RPG world and to the "wow effect" aroused by its artistic and typographic system, something truly never seen before. There are therefore those who fear the risk that CY_BORG RPG could be afflicted by the "more of the same" effect.
What do you answer to those who have this kind of concern? How did you act about this with CY_BORG RPG?
JN: I think if you enjoy what we’ve been doing with MÖRK BORG since its release, you’re probably gonna like this. We are deliberately challenging ourselves and pushing the MB formula into unknown territory. The last thing we want is to do “more of the same”. Look at Putrescence Regnant, Ikhon, the whole MBC format; ever since the beginning, MÖRK BORG has been about experimenting and trying new things. But at the same time--we’re not throwing away stuff we know works and people like. CB will be compatible with MB, but it’s not just the same game with neon.
Johan, did you find big differences working on CY_BORG RPG, after the experience with MÖRK BORG? What can you more reveal to us, from an artistic point of view? What did you draw inspiration from?
JN: From the moment I started working on CY_BORG I decided that I didn’t want this to just be MÖRK BORG but with guns; we’re always looking to experiment and push ourselves, conceptually and mechanically of course but also aesthetically. Repetition doesn’t interest us. So even though CB springs from the MB visuals--and it’s still me doing it and I have my style--I’ve tried finding a uniqueness for it that differs from what we’ve done before. It was actually a bit of a challenge to find the right style. I’ve been so deeply embedded in making MB material that it took me a while to snap out of it and find the CY_BORG identity, but after a while I realized: it should be a mix of influences and expressions, just as chaotic and discordant as the soundtrack. A visual representation of what life in the megacity Cy is; sensory overload, a constant bombardment of information screaming for your attention. Where MÖRK BORG is gothic, medieval and antique this is more contemporary, digital. Always with a punk approach and a sense of deterioration and discord. Another notable difference this time is that the art is generally much more detailed. There’s so many logos, ads, pins and patches so if you like scavenger hunts and to look for hidden secrets in the art this book is for you.
The setting of MÖRK BORG is more related to sensations and feelings than to the description of the game world. As a Game Master I literally loved this approach and the freedom you gave us to be able to realize our worldview. Will it be the same in CY_BORG RPG?
CS: Yes! This is not an encyclopedia that goes deep into details of the world, and when details are brought up it is often ambiguous or presented as rumors. You will have to make the world your own. And there is no “official canon” or anything similar.
JN: Generally, I think we’re keeping the concept that you should be able to “get it” by just flipping through the book and breezing through the setting material. It’s a feeling, a vibe, a tone. Something quite abstract. There’s no need to study or follow instructions; the world is yours to define and do what you want with. All we give are suggestions, ideas and maybe inspiration for your own creativity.
The mechanic of the countdown through apocalyptic prophecies is one of the most appreciated aspects of MÖRK BORG. From the press release we know that in CY_BORG RPG there will be something similar, linked to the headlines. Can you give us some anticipation on this aspect?
CS: The main idea is still the same, these miserable headlines are intended to affect the game world in different ways, and we encourage them to be modified so that they have an impact beyond just something the player characters read about once and then forget. In some cases they are designed to be more personal than the Miseries from MB.
JN: One way the Miserable Headlines differ from the MB Miseries is just that; they’re often meant to more directly involve the PCs. And because this is a much tighter, smaller setting (a city as opposed to an entire continent), it’ll be difficult for your group of punks to ignore their effect. In MÖRK BORG, a Misery could affect a faraway Kingdom and you might hear rumours about it or suffer second-hand effects. In CY_BORG, it’s happening here in the city you live in. Sometimes right in your block.
CS: Sometimes to your friends!
Thinking of the cyberpunk genre, William Gibson's sprawl trilogy immediately jumps to mind. Will there be a component in CY_BORG RPG linked to the Net and the cyberspace cowboys? If so, how will it be structured?
JN: The Net is multi-layered and will look and behave very differently depending on how deep you go. The top level is basically a flickering maelstrom of AR and holograms mixed with the real world, and since everyone is always connected, the standard visual experience of the city is a pretty hectic one. You can’t always tell what is real and what is the Net. But as you venture deeper into the Net, you leave reality behind and enter virtual worlds, abstract datacosmoses and unworldly, dreamlike cyberspaces beyond the mortal realm. This is where the real treasures, and the real dangers, lurk. Depending on how you want to run it, the Net could be pretty much everything in your CY_BORG game. It’s all up to you and your ideas and influences.
CS: And when everyone and everything is connected, everything and everyone can be hacked.
And what can you tell us about cybernetic limbs and other cyberware? They are another cornerstone of the cyberpunk imagination...
JN: They’re an important part of the genre and we have a list of cybertech you can either begin with or purchase from more or less scrupulous professionals. I think (and hope) this is one of those things where the community will want to add their own cybertech enhancements and modules, it’s very easy to create your own. In essence, I think cybernetics are CY_BORG’s equivalent to magic/powerful items, except they’re fused with your body and connected to your brain. Of course, this makes them (and you) susceptible to cyber attacks, possible to hack and disrupt. Plugging smart devices into your skull isn’t without risk. And malfunction isn’t pretty.
In an apocalyptic world, crazy and dangerous cults can only arise. From the press release we know that in CY_BORG RPG they will be present, what can you tell us about it?
CS: There’s a few cults mentioned in the book, and they range from sacrifice-hungry demon worship to middle class megachurches worshipping technology. It’s not really certain which of these are the most dangerous.
JN: I think the inclusion of cults is one of these things that make this the MÖRK BORG kind of cyberpunk. Because, even though this is an ultra-modern sci-fi world, you can still go fight some dagger-wielding cultists and steal their shit.
CS: Cults seem pretty apt for a dystopian future, in real life we just had people standing around waiting for a dead man to return to life, expecting him to proclaim that the wrong guy is running a certain country...
A very prolific community has grown up around MÖRK BORG, which has produced a considerable amount of material for the game and has been greatly supported by you. I guess it will be the same for CY_BORG RPG too... For CY_BORG RPG do you plan to release game and zine supplements such as FERETORY for MÖRK BORG?
CS: Right now our only focus is on getting this into people’s hands. We have plenty of ideas for more stuff, but nothing we can talk about at the moment.
JN: Our community is incredible; productive, creative and very welcoming and I hope that they’ll feel as inspired by CB as with MB. I’d love to see their take on the world and game we’re making and see some cybernetic third-party supplements next to the skulls and the flails. Or maybe some kind of monstrous merge of the two?
Do you already have new projects in the pipeline? Can you give us some preview information? Johan, may I ask if you are planning other zines or supplements for MÖRK BORG?
JN: I can’t say much, right now all my waking hours are cybernetic but once CB is out in the wild, my gaze will turn to another project, this time for MÖRK BORG. But again, this will not be more of the same… Stay put, more info will follow!
Thanks again guys for your time and your friendliness.
CS & JN: Thanks to you, it was a pleasure
