Tabletop RPG · since 2022 · #95 most discussed

Pirate Borg

Dangerous, cursed pirate adventures with ships, treasure hunts and supernatural threats, played in a fast, grim style.

Old-school (OSR)Pirated20classeshigh lethalityrandom generationtravel proceduresShort arcsNeeds a GM

6.9

Geek rating

From 17 firsthand play reports in 4 r/rpg threads. The threads alone average 8.0.

Player rating— / 10

No visitor ratings yet.

Discussion5.4 / 10

103 r/rpg posts named it, October 2023 to October 2026.

Rules weight

Light. Hype 5.0 for its age.

Have you played it?

Rate Pirate Borg from 1 to 10. One rating per browser and device; you can change it any time.

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What players say

At the table

Players who have run Pirate Borg report a chaotic, funny, easy-to-learn game. It works best for one-shots and short campaigns, and deaths come often. Firsthand reports run from a few sessions to about 20, and some threads are mostly promotion or debate.

What works

The atmosphere and world are praised, with a tone that runs from silly to horrific, and the GM tools and generators help at the table. (thread)
Naval rules and quick character generation are well liked. (thread)
A loosely sketched setting gives players a starting point and leaves room to build the world during play. (thread)
Random generation and tables make low-prep one-shots easy, and frequent deaths and silly characters produced memorable stories. (thread)
The first-party adventures drew praise. Buried in the Bahamas suits new players or a campaign kickoff, and Dead Man's Cove shows off ship battles. (thread)

What tables struggle with

Presence is still an overpowered stat, though less so than in Mörk Borg, and some spell ranges and effects need GM rulings. (thread)
Some content is missing, such as drug prices and ship purchase rules. The author says the ship omission is deliberate. (thread)
The light rules may not hold interest over long campaigns. One player prefers WFRP, Troika, RuneQuest or 5e for longer play. (thread)
HP gained on level-up inflates quickly, so PCs soon match the toughest bestiary monsters. (thread)
Poorly rolled replacement characters can have 1 HP and die almost at once, and high lethality may not suit every table. (thread)

Who it suits

Groups that want a stylish, rules-light game for one-shots or short campaigns.
GMs who like improvising from tables and generators and are comfortable making rulings.
Tables that enjoy comedy and high character mortality.

In players' words

"I've never had a game of Pirate Borg that didn't feel like we were right in the middle of one of the Monkey Island adventure games." (thread)
"Buried in the Bahamas was one of the best game sessions I've ever run. It was absolute chaos but all the players had a blast." (thread)
"I think if I ran it again, I'd throttle the HP PCs get when they 'level up'" (thread)

The threads behind it

Each thread is rated for the play it describes, from the firsthand reports in it. Load one here or read it on Reddit.

8.3

Tell me about your best Pirate Borg experiences!

Play of Pirate Borg, per these reports, is chaotic, funny and easy to pick up. Deaths are frequent, and tables enjoy the improvised stories that follow, including the pre-written adventure Buried in the Bahamas. The only real mechanical complaint is that HP grows too fast on level-up, and the one clear negative is a vague 'wasn't fun enough' comment. 8 firsthand · 10 comments

Open on Reddit

7.6

Pirate Borg vs Honor + intrigue

Posters who actually ran Pirate Borg, in one-shots and campaigns of 13 to 20 sessions, mostly enjoy it. They praise the atmosphere, the GM tools and the flexible tone, and their complaints are minor: gaps in the rules and light mechanics for long campaigns. Much of the thread compares it to Honor + Intrigue or discusses it without having played, and those comments were ignored. 5 firsthand · 28 comments

Open on Reddit

7.5

Pirate Borg is absolutely fantastic

The thread is mostly a debate about Mörk Borg, rules-light design and the OSR label. Only two commenters describe actually playing Pirate Borg, and both say it was fun and easy to pick up. The OP hasn't run it yet. 2 firsthand · 162 comments

Open on Reddit

8.0

Pirate Borg On the Bundle of Holding

The thread is mostly a Bundle of Holding promotion and a discussion of whether the bundle is worth buying, so there is very little actual table-play reporting. The few commenters who appear to have run Pirate Borg material, mainly the first-party adventures and the Limithron starter scenarios, are positive. 2 firsthand · 11 comments

Open on Reddit