Pirate Borg Review: Heavy Metal Buccaneering In The Dark Caribbean

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is the latest tabletop RPG from Free League Publishing, incorporating the ruleset to great effect. As its title implies, this book is all about grog-loving buccaneers and the high seas, and it has all the dark humor and brutality associated with a offering. With nautical lore, naval combat, and Lovecraftian horror, is everything anyone could want in a sea-faring TTRPG.

The previous release from Free League proved as a rules system could work well outside its typical horror genre while still maintaining those dark fantasy elements, and drives this home even more. This is a TTRPG, after all, so GMs are free to run it as they please — but mostly feels like injected with a huge dose of heavy metal and splatterpunk. It can be darkly hilarious or downright terrifying — and sometimes both at the same time.

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is set in the Dark Caribbean, and as the name implies, this tropical locale is no beach vacation. Ghosts, undead mariners, sirens, and «Deep Ones» (pictured below) all inhabit the seas here, along with creatures pulled straight out of folklore like Davy Jones and Leviathan. The illustrations, a mix of black-and-white and color that look like a tattoo artist's fever dream, are gorgeous, and the book is written in an easy-to-digest format that appeals to TTRPG novices as well as veterans.

There are so many elements to love about Uncharted islands are excellent for parties wishing to explore, while treasure maps offer riddles and clues for anyone hunting for a big reward. There are also over a dozen ships to choose from, which can serve as a hub for the party and a means of transportation through the Dark Caribbean. Elements like the