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I have been making some zines as part of the SUNY Purchase Zine Collective. This is the most recent one I made.
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Kinda happy about 5e OGL drama (hear me out)
Now, the OGL drama that happened with D&D 5e is really fucked up on the part of Wizards of the Coast. They were going to fuck over 3rd party creators, and I really am upset at Wizards.
But I'm also slightly happy. Because people are now leaving D&D 5e.
I started playing TTRPGs in fall of 2016, and I, like most people started with D&D 5e. I played solely D&D 5e until I 2019, but started branching out to other RPGs like Call of Cthulhu and Savage Worlds starting in May of that year. Over the first few months of the pandemic, I played solely 5e with some friends, but for the first two campaigns, used OSR adventures which they threw off the rails with the fact that 5e characters are too powerful.
I continued getting into the OSR as the pandemic progressed, and also played Pathfinder 1e for the first time by the time 2020 was out. I began to realize that GMing and playing these other games was a lot more fun than 5e. By the time I got an in person group back together in late 2021, we played solely non 5e games (MÖRK BORG, the Mecha Hack, the Black Hack, Index Card RPG, and Mothership). I play in a 5e campaign now, but mostly to be with friends, not because of the system.
One thing that annoyed the hell out of me was when I played with 5e groups was that they wanted to play certain genres (like Survival Horror) using 5e. And the thing is, 5e has characters that are too heroic and powerful to work with that genre. I tried to recommend Call of Cthulhu, but they weren't having it, being reluctant to know a new system because 5e took them a while to learn.
People will literally home-brew the shit out of 5e instead of just doing some research.
But now, with the OGL drama, people are going away from 5e and to other RPGs, and it makes me happy that people are finally playing games other than 5e.
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Releasing Music
I'm a musician. I started guitar when I was 10, and started playing trumpet in the school band the same year (that year being 2014). In February of 2020, I started working with a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and composing my own music.
I made a lot of music throughout the pandemic. Some symphonic stuff, an electronic album, a folk black metal album, two doom metal albums. two dungeon synth albums, and various other tracks. One of the doom albums I released, and it was bad. I deleted it and gave up.
In the spring semester of my senior year of high school (January-June of 2022), I took a Music Tech class, taught by the band teacher. Of what I recorded during that time, I only saved a 5 song electronic album.
Even then, I kept that album close. I thought it was awful, because I remembered how long it took me, a few mistakes that made it into the final recordings, and I just lacked the confidence.
Then I made it to the Liberal Arts college that I go to (that being SUNY Purchase). A lot of people had released albums, and thought that my electronic album was actually pretty good. It took a lot of back and forth in my brain, but I decided to release the album. I revived an old Instagram account for my doom metal and decided to unite my musical projects under one banner: "Of the Mountains Projects", with a logo done by a friend.
Where does that name come from? My last name, Berger, translates from German as "Mountain Dweller" or from French as "Shepherd". Considering it comes from the Jewish side of my family, I'd bet that it has the German meaning (considering how many Jewish people have German last names).
I released the album on September 9th, 2022, under the project name Ymir's Gunship, with an album cover I got by running a picture of a Florida Beach hotel through a filter. It didn't get much hype. I shrugged. It wasn't a perfect album, not by any means. And it was my first, it wasn't bound to get much attention.
Then, on November 9th, 2022, I began to hyperfixate on some riffs I'd written a few months before. I had gotten some MIDI drum tracks and decided to work with them. Within 24 hours I had fully recorded a 3 song Black Metal EP. This too I was told was good.
I released it under the name Wilgskill on November 18th, 2022, with a 19th century painting as the cover and a terribly done logo, and asked Antifascist Black Metal Network, a YouTube channel specializing in Antifascist and leftist extreme metal, to promote it. And they did! The video with the album came out exactly a month after I started to record the EP.
And this actually got some attention. Four people bought the album, and my Instagram for Of The Mountains Projects, formerly just followed by some friends, got a few more followers, including a notable Red Anarchist Black Metal project (a Bring Forth the Exodus member's side project).
I'm working on a ton of new music right now. The next Wilgskill EP is being worked on. A medieval black metal EP is too. I'm almost done with a kind of avant-garde electronic album. And I've formed an actually four person band, so that'll be doing some stuff too!
Was this just a long way of promoting my music? Maybe, but I don't care.
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My favorite albums of 2022 (Part 2)
Various Artists - Not A Minute of Silence
September 1, 2022
France
Organized by Antifascist band Non Serviam, this compilation has a bunch of Red Anarchist Black Metal bands putting their all into their music, with various styles of Black Metal featured.
Favorite Track: Feminazgul - A Las Barricadas
Wind Rose - Warfront
June 10, 2022
Italy
I used to be a huge fan of European style Power Metal. Much of it bores me these days, but Wind Rose is the exception. With a lower ranged vocalist and epic songs about dwarves, they’re one of the greatest new power metal bands out there.
Favorite Track - Gates of Ekrund
Zeal and Ardor - Zeal & Ardor
February 11, 2022
U.S./Switzerland
The most interesting band of the last decade, mixing slave spirituals, blues, and black metal into one sound. This third LP adds a good dash of Industrial and a lot more black metal. Frontman Manuel Gangeux’s screams have improved and because of that, this album expresses a ton of fury. One of my favorite bands.
Favorite Track - Erase
Zombie Giuliani - Billionaire Death Squad
May 25, 2022
U.S.
My friend introduced me to this band from Troy, NY. Their raw punk sound and catchy basslines mixed with an awesome attitude is fun. The MS Paint album cover is charming and draws you in to this very DIY band. I hope to see them live.
Favorite Track - Planet Earth
#best of 2022#metal#black metal#power metal#diy punk#antifascist black metal#zeal and ardor#wind rose#non serviam#Bandcamp
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My favorite albums of 2022 (Part 1)
2022 was a year of changes for me. I graduated High School in the spring, and went to college (SUNY Purchase) in the fall, meeting tons new people and discovering myself.
There was a ton of great music to go along with it it too.
Blackbraid - Blackbraid I
U.S.
August 26, 2022
Blistering Atmospheric Black Metal with a theme of Indigenous Peoples who live in the Adirondacks. The riffs are great and catchy, vocals understandable, interlude tracks are beautiful. Great musicianship.
Favorite Track - Barefoot Ghost Dance on the Blood Soaked Soil
Bloodywood - Rakshak
India
February 18, 2022
Indian Folk mixed with Nu-Metal. Tracks switch between angry protest tracks and tracks about mental heath. The folk influences set this band apart from most other Nu-Metal, and are so intertwined the band wouldn’t be the same without it.
Favorite Track - Chakh Le
Chat Pile - God’s Country
U.S.
July 29, 2022
Sludge metal with vocals that feel very deranged. A perfect soundtrack to this late capitalist hellscape, with great riffs, pounding drums, and amazing atmosphere.
Favorite Track - Why
Death Island - Aeons of Carnage
U.S.
October 12, 2022
Melodic Death Metal band from my area, formed at the college I go to. With a unique Blackened Death sound with lyrical themes taking from all over, the dual vocalists are fun to listen to. I’m excited to hear more.
Favorite Track - Wolves Are A Feasting
Froglord - Army of Frogs
U.K.
November 4, 2022
Gimmick sludge metal about a kaiju Frog? The best Froglord album ever with catchy hooks and a fun metaplot? Proceeds going to save the frogs? Count me in. A fun album. (Fun fact: Army is the noun used to describe a group of frogs in science)
Favorite Track - Army of Frogs
Kanonenfieber - Yankee Division
Germany
March 23, 2022
The follow up to 2021’s amazing debut, this EP kicks serious ass with heavier melodic songs. The late Trevor Strnard of The Black Dahlia Murder is featured, and it’s just great musicianship.
Favorite Track - The Yankee Division March
Kanonenfieber - Der Fusilier
Germany
November 19, 2022
The second EP of this year, this is a concept EP about a single German soldier, featuring one of Kanonenfieber’s saddest songs. This has solidified the band as more than just a one off success.
Favorite Track - Der Fusilier II
Lorna Shore - Pain Remains
U.S.
October 14, 2022
The first full-length featuring Will Ramos, he solidifies himself as the growling GOAT with emotional tunes and soaring choruses. The symphonic elements make this deathcore great. The breakdowns are brutal af.
Favorite Track - Sun//Eater
Non Est Deus - Impious
Germany
March 4,2022
From the guy behind Kanonenfieber, his first project’s third album is awesome, with catchy evil riffs and an anti-Christian theme. The cover art is amazing, and the music just as good. More traditional in it’s black metal, it’s still great musicianship.
Favorite Track - Hexenwahn
Sakis Tolis - Among the Fires of Hell
Greece
March 22, 2022
From the frontman of legendary Black Metal band Rotting Christ comes an emotional album about the soul through the lens of Satan. It sounds like 2000s Rotting Christ, but with a different message, and just as good atmosphere. My favorite track has also made me cry.
Favorite Track - The Dawn of a New Age
#metal#antifascist black metal#black metal#best of 2022#bloodywood#kanonenfieber#chat pile#rotting christ#frogs#death metal#sludge metal#suny purchase#Bandcamp#Spotify
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Favorite TTRPGs (Part 2): The Black Hack 2e
This is the second part in my series on my favorite TTRPGs.
This 126 page book is an lightweight OSR game (I do like my rules lite RPGs). I have it as a PDF, and it's quite readable on the screen.
It is called "The Black Hack" for three reasons. One, it is a hack of the 1st few D&D Editions (0e, AD&D 1e, B/X and AD&D 2e), with many of the rules streamlined for easier play, and with much better writing. Two, the person who wrote it is David Black. Not only that, beforehand there was a Whitehack game with similar rules, so having a "Black Hack" isn't too far of a stretch.
The 1st edition came out in 2016, and was much smaller than this one. It became a well regarded game amongst the Old School Renaissance, but even today cannot stand up to OSR titans like Old School Essentials. The 2nd edition came out in 2018, and didn't change much in terms of rules or player options, but vastly expanded Game Master tools.
It is a d20 system, and you have your six core stats like in D&D (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma), all rolled up with 3d6. The way anything is resolved is by rolling a d20 against an appropriate stat and trying to roll underneath. Certain situations give you advantage or disadvantage, but otherwise, that's the base system.
Combat is pretty much the same system. You also make defense rolls instead of the GM attacking you, rolling against your Dexterity, with some exceptions for special attacks.
There are the four base classes that are present in most RPGs (Warrior, Cleric, Thief, Wizard), but because of a very streamlined approach to class making, where all abilities are gained at first level, and only increase in power (usually in a dice # equal to level), it's not hard to make classes of your own. Spells are also done in a linear 1:1 fashion, with 2nd level spells gained at 2nd level.
Damage is the same across weapons, all that really matter is your class. Hit Dice vary from a d4 to a d8.
instead of tracking resources like arrows, you have a usage die, which is measured by a d4, a d6 and other dice. When it becomes relevant, roll that die. If you roll a 1 or 2, the die is downgraded by one type (i.e. d8 to d6). If you roll a 1 or 2 on a d4, you are out of that resource.
The GM section starts at page 30 of the book, after the rules and player options, with random tables galore and advice on how to make hexcrawls, dungeons, towns, encounters, and monsters.
It is meant to be easily compatible with an Old School or OSR adventure. All you really need are Hit Dice.
There are several other hacks of the Black Hack, my favorite being the Mecha Hack, and ones that interest me being the Cthulhu Hack and Solarcrawl.
A fun simple game that emulates that Old School feeling without a ton of rules! I'm currently running the module "Woodfall" with this system, and my players are having a great time. I've also played in a campaign of this, with the GM running "The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford". It was his first time, and the system was simple enough for him to do well.
If that interests you, go check it out. It's on Drivethrurpg.com
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Favorite TTRPGs (Part 1): Mörk Borg
I guess, since this seems to be a nerdy site, for my first posts, I’ll just list and review my favorite RPGs. By this I mean Tabletop RPGs (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons.
This 71 page book (not including the adventure) is a loose Old School Renaissance (or OSR) system that draws on Dark Fantasy, as well as Doom and Black Metal (some of my favorites) for inspiration. It came out to resounding applause in 2020.
It paints a whole pre-apocalyptic setting in broad strokes, giving a nice world for GMs to play around in, meaning everyone’s world may be a little different. It’s got a very grim tone, and your characters will likely die very easily.
It uses a base d20 system with a Difficulty Number of 12 for basically everything, including to hit. The GM only rolls for damage, nothing else.
There are two options, the classless option and the class option, both of which are good to use. The classes are good for when you want to throw a special flair into your character, while the classless option is a bit more brutal, but gives a lot more wiggle room.
This system’s extreme metal influence shines through in its art and tone.
Cons
The layout. I personally was okay with it, but I have friends who looked at it and were confused. As a PDF, it is hard to read, but I have the physical copy, so that may have been it. It is almost avant-garde in the way it is done, with sideways text and all that, as well as different fonts used within the same section.
No hand-holding. There isn’t really a well laid out explanation of RPGs and how they work in this system. If you’re a new player, don’t start with this system.
Pros
The art. Oh my god, it scratched an itch that I didn’t know was itching. It adds to the dreariness and the tone of the book.
The rules-lite aspect. Sometimes, rules lite books are so rules lite that it seems like the system was hastily thrown together. But this has a comprehensive system within its doomy pages, though it can be hard to find. I was using Roll20 when I first played it, so that helped me.
No hand holding. I know, this was a con too, but I liked the challenge as an experienced player, instead of having everything laid out easily for me.
The world. It feels like something 13 year old me would have made to try to be the edgiest, but honestly, it has a charm to it. A dark one, yes, but still a charm. It’s fun to play around in and watch the world die.
The monsters. In this book and others from the system, the monsters have small stat blocks with limited information (some of which is the price of the head and bodies). They work well within the world.
This system is a comprehensive system with an interesting tone and world that may turn some people off, but for people like me, sucks some in. If it sounds interesting to you, go check it out!
#mork borg#dungeons and dragons#rpgs#tabletop role-playing game#tabletop rpg#ttrpg#metal games#dark fantasy#dark fantasy games#fantasy apocalypse#osr#old school revival#old school renaissance
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