Stefano Buonocore
In this article we are pleased to offer you the review of Red Borg. First of all we want to thank Mondiversi and the author, Marco Marangoni, for sending us a physical copy of this game borg-like role that has revolution as its central theme. The project has one behind it crowdfunding campaign successful, also thanks to the work of Meninges Workshop who took care of it together with communication.
Anyone interested in purchasing can find Red Borg on the Mondiversi e-shop. The manual costs 25 euros for the physical version, with the digital one included and is available in both English and Italian. There are also various accessories; the T-shirt is simply magnificent.
Review of Red Borg: the Volume
Red Borg It is a 112-page volume in paperback format with a flexible cover. The latter is not fragile but quite delicate, also because its aesthetics are extremely refined. On the contrary, the pages are not only beautiful, but extremely resistant. They provide a good feeling to the touch, which certainly indicates a quality product. In this way, it is decidedly resistant and, above all, the colours are highlighted.
As with every borg-like, in fact, the aesthetic side of the volume is not important, but fundamental. In this case, it inspired the entire project: Red Borg it is very clearly based on the propaganda posters of Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century and of the Soviet period. Dark colours dominate without too strong contrasts, with full silhouettes and volumes. Carlo Piu, credited as a “proletarian artist”, has accomplished work that surpasses excellence, becoming simply extraordinary.
The TTRPG of the Revolution
The premises of Red Borg are very simple. We are at the beginning of the twentieth century, the world is oppressed by a capitalist dictatorship that crushes the proletariat. The latter is called to rebel by joining the World Absolutist Party, a communist body whose objective is precisely to subvert the regime.
Each player therefore plays a revolutionary, a proletarian who is committed against the various levels of oppression imposed on him from above. The totalitarian state is certainly the first, but it is not the only one. There is obviously capital, a closed group of high-profile industrialists who take advantage of the situation of social tension and collusion with the state apparatus. There is religion, the “opium of the people”, which poisons the unity of the proletariat. And again the warlords, keep the external conflict high for their own interest, whether social or economic. And a whole dense constellation of secret associations that can be allies or rivals, depending on the direction the game takes. Regarding the latter, a small clue: Morse.
Setting Review of Red Borg
The setting is deliberately smoky, to leave a greater margin for action to the narrator (here called the Supreme Soviet). The game focuses on creating an atmosphere that recalls the early twentieth century, but disconnects it from specific historical reality. All of these various elements of political tension are described and notes are given on the Nation, the place where the heart of the events takes place. Kubacanàn, Pinerolia and Hamilcara, other nations, are then more summarily described.
You don’t need a PhD in contemporary history to understand the parallels, however. This is a choice aimed at outlining Russia, Cuba, Italy and Spain of that period. In this way there is a softer approach to historical sensitivities, however allowing a strong characterization in the collective imagination. The hammer and sickle are also replaced by two crossed hammers. Curious, since it is the symbol of the workers’ movements and not of communism, which however is openly mentioned in the manual.
A (Too) Broad Panorama
Unfortunately, this choice generates some focus problems in the manual. Although the names of the nations are reinvented and real references avoided in their descriptions, as you progress through the reading there are quite a few references to actual cities. And even from the point of view of the atmosphere, there are some uncertain hints.
The narrative pact of the game proposes the fight against totalitarianism in a setting strongly inspired by the beginning of the twentieth century. However, it is easy to imagine extending everything to the Cold War period. But at a certain point, the game begins to have suggestions that integrate with difficulty with the initial premise. There is a hint of the weird science trend that still holds up solidly, integrating well into the context.
But some adventure ideas and some setting elements lead into open science fiction, in some cases even into the supernatural. And not in the kabbalistic type of ritualism that is sometimes associated with the world’s elite, but precisely with elements at the limits of contemporary fantasy. Red Borg is a game with a well-definable identity, which is undermined by the attempt to broaden its ideas by integrating elements that are too foreign to the proposed experience.
These are certainly options created to broaden the gaming experience, but staying more relevant to the focus would have been enough to obtain an excellent result. In any case, these are not fundamental elements so, if they are not appreciated, they can easily be removed from your sessions.
The Mechanics of Red Borg: the Review
There isn’t much to say about the rules part. Red Borg, as the name suggests, is a borg-like. Then use the mechanics of Mörk Borg , the famous RPG OSR of the Swedish Free League. A regulation is famous for its extreme simplicity and high mortality. Here it has less weight while remaining integrateable as an optional rule through the most lethal elements of the game from which it descends.
These are functional rules and immediately ready to play. Obviously, there is a work of contextualization. The Omens of Mörk Borg become events that influence the course of the revolution, even if they inevitably remain more of a background event. In general, the advantages of having a system with OGL already widely tested and widespread are balanced by the fact that the mechanics do not bring a unique value to the specific gaming experience.
Mörk Borg i’s an OSR, a high-mortality dungeon crawling game with highly grotesque tones, to the point of becoming paradoxically ironic. Red Borg much more could have been focused on the dynamics of the revolution. It is clear that it does not want to be a political game, but that it just wants to give strokes of colour that recall the context of the socialist and communist struggles of the early twentieth century. Nonetheless, it is a context that could have had greater weight in the mechanics, since it does not have the possibility of capitalizing on the grotesque nor exploiting its strengths.
Characters
Definitely one of the strong points instead Red Borg manages to exploit only the characters, to the point of also proposing them as possible integrations for sessions of other borg-like games in which they make sense. Even here it’s possible to play without class. In this case, the character will have higher starting statistics and greater variety in equipment.
The creation step always involves strong randomness, as per the tradition of borg-likes. This doesn’t stop the classes from being heavily themed around the game. From Military, who turned against the regime that sent him to die on the front, which turns out to be the real firepower of the game. The Stakanovist is very similar to him, because he realized that he was sent to die in the factory; in this case we are talking about the muscles of the revolution.
Review of Classes from Red Borg
The Doctor he has no intention of seeing more people die because the capitalists demand to pay for every single medical treatment. A Cosmonaut, with his skills as a pilot, simply has a dream too lofty for the regime to allow him to realize, and he needs to knock it down. The Uncensored Artist he is the voice of the revolution, the one who spreads the word among the crowds and helps to incite them against the regime.
Finally, two slightly more delicate classes. The Anarchist it’s very interesting as a concept, especially with its very on-theme ability to be able to change a game rule once per session. But conceptually his figure overlaps a bit with that of the generic protester and the attacker. Finally the Suffragette of the Revolution is instead interesting to play, even if it embodies more the archetype of the spy à la Mata Hari.
Game Tools
Obviously we are talking about a game OSR. Red Borg is equipped with a whole series of tables, whether summary or randomly generated, to accompany the gaming experience. Weapons, vehicles, subversive rumors circulating, personal motivations for the characters. In particular the latter, intertwined with the motivations of the Classes, create a rather strong characterization right from the creation phase.
Obviously there is no lack of a “bestiary”. Term to be taken with a pinch of salt because, for obvious reasons, in this case we are dealing exclusively with enemies of the people, human adversaries. The list of references is interesting, even if to be taken with irony (unless The Best of Al Bano has not been entered seriously; It’s quite tempting to believe this.)
The Voices from the People section is very interesting. There are six pages of ideas on which to build an adventure, proposed by the community that was created during the crowdfunding phase, and which found space in the manual. Being external ideas, they are very heterogeneous in nature.
Red Borg: Stretch Goals Review
Nel manuale sono presenti anche i vari stretch goal sbloccati con il crowdfunding.
The manual also contains the various stretch goals unlocked with crowdfunding.
The first presented is the adventure La Locomotiva, by Andrea Tupac Mollica. An author already often reviewed by us, Andrea outlines a scenario of political antagonism to the twenty years of Italian fascism. The locomotive of the title not only represents a driving element of the adventure, seasoned with a pinch of weird science but to an extent that remains within the parameters of the setting; it is also the symbol of one of the dilemmas of pacifism, to represent the complexity of the choices that will be placed on the characters’ path. Complete with non-player characters, adversaries, locations and sacrosanct insults to fascism, La Locomotica it’s a perfect adventure to propose Red Borg.
Decrees from the Crypt, by the Tellers from the Crypt, is the second extra content. Or at least part of it, because in agreement with the publisher it was decided to split it into a further supplement, which will narrate a scenario of complete victory for the system. However, it is an interesting introduction of some extra mechanics. Certainly, that of the Fervor reserve, which allows you to incite the masses, is the most appropriate for the dynamics it creates in play. The management of the “crowd”, of the confusing melee, and the use of the symbols of the revolt which can grant special benefits to the characters, are also very welcome. There’s no shortage of them, in perfect style OSR, with additional random generation tables to support the narrative.
Extra Contents
The third stretch goal is A.A.R.I.S.S., another adventure this time by Andrea Rossi. This is set in the depths of a laboratory from which the characters must recover something, without even knowing what it is. It offers less linear writing and is essentially a dungeon crawling adapted to the context of Red Borg. Paradoxically this makes it one of the stretch goals most in line with the borg-like nature of the game, highlighting how some extra mechanics specific to the proposed themes would have been a good addition.
La Conquista di Venere is the latest extra content, signed by Valentino Sergi of Officina Meningi. The adventure takes the game into space, with an obvious satirical tone. At times almost too caricatured (the monopoly of transport in the hands of the Aslet house, that of a trade by the Sozeb and that of communications by the Zengarref), but overall effective. The adventure is interesting and well structured, very open to the various solutions that the characters can devise. The focus here moves away from the popular revolutions of the early twentieth century and approaches a more generic fight against interplanetary capitalism.
Conclusions of the Review of Red Borg
Red Borg is an interesting project; the very young author proves to be very enterprising, he only pays for his inexperience. The attempt to enrich it and offer as many ideas as possible ends up diluting the setting and its focus. This sometimes shifts the tone halfway between parody and seriousness, leaving the gaming table with the need to find a balance. Help could have come from specific mechanics themed to the core of the game.
These are not insurmountable defects, of course. The manual, which still remains a product that would be worth having in your library just for its aesthetics and creation, provides a very enjoyable and original gaming experience. You will only need to do some initial screening work. A very solid zero session will help to establish how you want to set up the game, thus stripping it of superfluous elements and giving a precise direction to the table.
Anyone interested in playing the themes of the fight against early twentieth-century totalitarianism and capital will certainly play it with pleasure, but it is also an excellent expansion for lovers of borg-like.
