something wicked

this way comes

text, layout & art by Philipp Teich

“something wicked this way comes” is an independent production

by Philipp Teich and is not affiliated with Ockult Örtmästare Games
or Stockholm Kartell. It is published under the
MÖRK BORG Third Party License.

MÖRK BORG is copyright Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell.

2
A tenacious sleeplessness lies over
Kamdorr. Since King Dunkan died
and Macdeath sits on the throne of
Kamdorr Castle as his successor, no one
in the entire city has slept a wink. The lack
of sleep causes bad tempers and quarrels,
accidents accumulate, and people simply
keel over in the middle of the street. No one
can work properly anymore. Famine and
disease threaten the population. There are
whispers in the streets: something is rotten
in the state of Wästland.

D8 rumours about the cast

le
01. A dark presence holds the castle in its grip. (true)
02. Within the castle walls you can find unimaginable riches. (false)
03. Strange melodies can be heard from the castle at night. (true)
04. Lavish banquets are held every night. (false)
05. In recent days there have been births and deaths within the castle
walls. (true)
06. When the bell chimes, the spirits of all those who have died in the
castle appear. (false)
07. A walking forest means doom. (kind of true)
08. King Dunkan is still alive and well. (false)

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What’s really going on:
King Dunkan was cursed. In his body grew a demon that
gave him incredible power and at the same time weakened
him day by day.

Macdeath, a lord at the court of King Dunkan, discovered a

cave under the castle, where three witches prophesied that he
would soon become king. To his friend, Banquo, the hags
predicted that he would be the forefather of kings. Driven by
his power-hungry wife, Macdeath imprisoned the witches and
murdered King Dunkan with the help of Banquo.

When the king died, the demon broke free and threatened to
wipe out the kingdom. Macdeath and Banquo tried to banish
the demon in a dark ritual, but something went wrong and the
demon was only put to eternal sleep. Inside the castle, the
demon's nightmares began to manifest in sick visions.

Drunk with greed for power, Macdeath murdered the

confidant Banquo to secure his bloodline. Murdering his
friend drove Macdeath mad. Imprisoned in his throne room,
he must fight off the spawn of the demon's dreams while
slowly losing his mind.

The ritual keeps the demon in a dream state, but deprives all
living creatures in the vicinity of the castle of their sleep.
Citizens of Kamdorr can’t sleep; their sleeping energy is
visible as dark smoke over the city.

As long as the demon is alive: when resting, PCs can’t rest a

full night’s sleep to restore HP, and can only catch a breath.
They also can’t regain powers or omens.

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 Wh y d o y o u c a r e ? ( D6 )
1. You are hired to avenge King Dunkan's death. Dunkan's son Makom
has fled Kamdorr Castle and asks you for help. He believes that his
father became the victim of a conspiracy and begs you to bring him the
head of the traitor. He also doesn’t know where his brother Donnerbein
has gone.
2. You go looking for the missing Banquo. There are posters all over
town promising a reward to whoever finds out what happened to
Banquo, best friend of Macdeath. The contact person is Banquo's son
Flee-Ance, who is hiding in a local inn. He asks you to return Banquo's
signet ring.
3. A dark dream draws you to the castle. The demon sends a call to one
of your group that inexplicably draws you to Kamdorr Castle. In this
way, it lures unsuspecting people to the castle in the hope of liberation.
4. The apocalypse must be stopped. Rumors are spreading in the city
that blasphemous rituals are being held in the castle to hasten the
apocalypse. The local church asks you to stop these rituals.
5. You need sleep. Either you are hired by someone who can't work
anymore because insomnia has robbed them of all their strength, or you
live in the city yourselves and are affected by sleeplessness. The
insomnia occurred after it became known that King Dunkan died.
6. Witches are missing. You are hired by Hexate, mother of the local
coven, to search for her missing children. Three of them, the weird
sisters, have not appeared for a week. They had business near the castle.

And so it begins
...
The night is full of sound and fury. A fierce storm soaks you to the bone.
Drenched and exhausted, you reach the castle gate. You hear bizarre
bagpipe sounds. As you knock hard on the gate, the noise stops. After
an eternity, the castle gatekeeper opens a small window and asks who
the hell is bothering to rouse him. He lives in a small annex next to the
gate, never enters the castle and does not care about the affairs of kings
and noble folk. As you enter the castle courtyard, a bell chimes. A
sweeping staircase leads to the entrance door of the castle. Next to the
main building are the latrines, smelling awful. Test PRESENCE to notice
dark smoke floating from the village towards the castle tower.

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Kamdorr Castle

1. Main Hall 6. Hallway

D3+1 Hounds 7. Throne Room
2. Dining Room Macdeath
D4+3 Scorpions D4+2 Børnam
3. Kitchen 8. Tower Room
Lady Macdeath Ssömniak
4. Bedroom 9. Witches’ Lair
Donnerbein 10. Treasury
5. Music Chamber Dlog

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1. Main Hall
Abandoned and quiet. Walls illuminated by torches.

• Moth-eaten carpet in faded red on a glassy floor.

• Paintings on the wall. They show corpses in
various states of decay, going about their daily
business.
• A gigantic, bloody dagger hovers high in the air.
Will fall down if someone stands underneath it,
dealing D6+4 damage.
• D3+1 hounds roam the room.
• NORTH: lush, double-leaf door to the hallway (6) -
can’t be opened from this side.
• EAST: wooden door ajar to the dining room (2),
wooden door with crooked hinges to the
kitchen (3), it scrapes across the floor making an
awful loud noise.
• SOUTH: heavy iron entrance door to the
courtyard.
• WEST: metal reinforced door to the bedroom (4),
wooden door to the music chamber (5)
decorated with strange symbols looking like
musical notes. D3+1 Hounds
Hungry beasts that fight for
bare survival when
necessary.

HP 5 Morale 6 No Armour
Bite/Scratch D4

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 2. Dining Room
Pale moonlight falls through broken windows. Freezing
wind whistles.

• Misty thick clouds hovering under the ceiling.

Lightning flashes inside, you can hear thunder
rolling. They taste like the dirt under grandma’s
toenails.
• Large table surrounded by chairs.
• The table is set: rotten-smelling soup in battered
bowls, withered vegetables, and meat overgrown
with mold. The wine in dusty goblets has
fermented.
• D4+3 scorpions swarm over the table.
• NORTH: wooden door to the hallway (6).
• SOUTH: pass-through to the kitchen (3).
• WEST: wooden door to the main hall (1).

TASTE THE FOOD: It tastes delicious. Heal D4 HP, but

feel the urge to eat it all.

KILL ALL SCORPIONS: The wind of change blows

D4+3 Scorpions
Small, pitch black and
nimble. Their sting is
poisonous.
through the room. The food now looks edible,
but tastes disgusting. It doesn’t heal any HP
anymore.

HP 2 Morale 5
Dented Shell -D2
Pincer D2
Sting D4 + special

Special Poison: become

infected and test TOUGHNESS
DR 16 to resist the poison. If
you fail, roll a D4:
1. You die within D4 days.
2. Paralyzed limbs.
3. You become blind and
deaf.
4. Your spine melts.

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3. Kitchen
Pungent stench. Blazing flames from the ovens cast
shadows on the walls. Whimpering and sighing.

• Cabinets emanating an abhorrent stink.

• Can of black powder among the utensils spread
on the work surface.
• Rusty stove and oven in one corner of the room.
• Lady Macdeath kneels over a blood-red bucket.
She wails and endlessly washes her skeletal
hands, having already rubbed away the skin and
flesh. Around her neck she wears a medallion
with a crown on it. Sleepwalking, she won’t
notice you. Waking her from this slumber makes
her furious.
• NORTH: pass-through to the dining room (2).
• WEST: wooden door with crooked hinges to the
main hall (1).

SEARCH THE CABINETS, D4:

1. Roll “corpse plundering” (core rulebook).
2. You find a diary. In your own handwriting, it
tells of events that you have not yet
experienced.
3. A bottle of acid cleaner falls out of the cabinet.
4. A vial with a strange dark blue liquid in it. Lady Macdeath
Drove her husband to
murder and thus to
madness. Tries to wash away
Black Powder Bomb her guilt and has sunk into a
perpetual sleepwalk.
Use the metal cylinder, the black powder, and
a fuse to make a bomb. Attach black powder
to a piece of cord to make a fuse. HP 5 Morale 8 No Armour
3D6 damage, 1-in-6-chance of misfire: see Skeletal Fists D2 + special
“Blackpowder Basics” for ideas for misfires.
Special Furious: when torn
from sleep, she falls into a
frenzy and adds the highest
damage dealt to her in the
previous round to her
attack.

9

Donnerbein
Was accused of murdering
his father, King Dunkan, and
has been hiding in the
bedroom ever since. At night
he roams the estate, but
does not dare to sneak past
the castle gatekeeper.
HP 6 Morale 4 No Armour
Mirror Shard D4
Traitor's Kiss
Bloody dagger.
Damage D6
2-in-6 chance that the
dagger disappears and
reappears 15 minutes
later.
WIPE IT CLEAN: the dagger
vanishes forever.
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4. Bedroom
Dimly lit. You smell the taste of iron on your tongue.
• A blood-stained corpse on the bed. In its back is
a dagger. It’s Banquo.
• A mirror-shard in the fist of the body.
• Donnerbein, King Dunkan's son, hides under
the bed. He stole the key to the throne room.
Donnerbein promises to hand over the key if the
PCs get him the medallion of Lady Macdeath.
• A large closet containing a white dress.
• EAST: metal reinforced door to the main hall (1).
LOOK IN THE MIRROR-SHARD: You see Banquo and
Macdeath performing a dark ritual. Something
goes wrong. A dark eye stares greedily at you.
PUT ON THE DRESS: If someone fails a DR 12 PRESENCE
test, they mistake you for Lady Macdeath.
5. Music Chamber
Cozy and comfortable. A fire crackles in the fireplace.
• Large fireplace on the south wall. In the ashes is
sheet music.
• A music box on a small table. If activated, it
plays a gentle melody.
• Pieces of chalk beneath the music box.
• A dusty piano in a corner.
• Five horizontal lines scratched into the north
wall.
• NORTH: wooden door to the hallway (6), secret
door to the treasury (10).
• EAST: wooden door to the main hall (1) decorated
with strange symbols looking like musical notes.
TO OPEN THE SECRET DOOR YOU MUST: Listen to the
melody of the music box. Write down the notes
of the melody on the staves scratched into the
north wall or play the melody on the piano. You
can find the notes of the melody on the sheet
music or in the decoration of the door to this
room.
6. Hallway
Eerie silence.

• Nine statues of kings on the south side of the

passage. Eight kings each hold a mirror in their
hand. The ninth king points his finger at the
opposite wall.
• A small metal cylinder stuck in the door to the
main hall.
• NORTH: splendidly decorated door to the throne
room (7) - locked, but can be opened with
Donnerbein’s key, invisible doorway to the
witches’ lair (9) - the statue of the ninth king
points at the location of the doorway.
• SOUTH: wooden door to the music chamber (5),
lush, double-leaf door to the main hall (1) - the
metal cylinder blocks it, wooden door to the
dining room (2).

LOOK IN THE MIRRORS: The mirror of the eighth king

shows an invisible doorway to the witches’ lair
(9) at the position the ninth king is pointing at.
The other mirrors show even more statues of
kings standing in the hallway - you feel like
you’re being watched as you peek in.

PULL THE NINTH STATUES FINGER: A poison-green

cloud rises from the statue and shrouds you.
Friends and foes now can smell you from afar.

Black Powder Bomb

Use the metal cylinder, the black powder, and
a fuse to make a bomb. Attach black powder
to a piece of cord to make a fuse.
3D6 damage, 1-in-6-chance of misfire: see
“Blackpowder Basics” for ideas for misfires..

11
 7. Throne Room
Wood creaks. Foul smell of soil. Murmurs sound
through the room.

• Opulent throne in the middle of the room.

• Macdeath sits on the throne. His royal robe is
too big for him and he wears an upside-down
crown on his head. The top of his skull is open,
with D3+1 greenish glowing scorpions
scrambling in it. His hands are covered in
encrusted blood.
• Banquo's signet ring on Macdeath's hand.
• Mirrors on the walls and a large carpet on the
floor.
• D4+2 Børnam surround the throne, about to
attack Macdeath.
• NORTH: small door hidden behind the throne into
the tower room (8).
• SOUTH: splendidly decorated door to the hallway
(6) - locked, but can be opened with
Donnerbein’s key.

SHOW LADY MACDEATH'S MEDALLION TO MACDEATH: He

pauses, then bursts into tears. He talks about the
witches' prophecy, a ritual gone wrong, and a
supernatural force that won't let go of him.

D4+2 Børnam
A nightmare manifestation
of the sleeping demon in the
tower room (8): walking
trees, about 3 metres high.

HP 7 Morale 6 Macdeath
Ancient Bark -D4 Recently crowned king. Killing King Dunkan and his
Gnarled Tendrils D4 + best friend Banquo made him lose his mind.
special Insomnia clouds his thoughts. He sits on the throne,
babbles nonsense, and receives dark visions from the
sleeping demon.
Special They grab you with
their tendrils and pull you
up in the air. Test STRENGTH HP 8 Morale 6
DR 14 to break free. Royal Robe -D2
Each round in their grip: Scepter D4
loose D3 HP due to the
pressure exerted on your
body.

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8. Tower Room
High walls, the ceiling is not visible. A bell chimes at
the top, far away. Dark smoke flows downwards.

• A soft bed, sumptuously decorated.

• King Dunkan's body on the bed. His belly is slit
open and some kind of black umbilical cord
leads out to a gigantic sleeping creature
shrouded in dark fog.
• A broken mirror on the wall.
• EAST: a vanity hiding a passage leading to the
witches’ lair (9).
• SOUTH: small door to the throne room (7).

CUT THE UMBILICAL CORD: Ssömniak loses D6 HP and

awakens.

SHOW A MIRROR TO SSÖMNIAK: It beholds itself and

freezes for 1 round.

9. Witches’ Lair
Deep below the castle. A stinking fire burns. Bubbling
and hissing mix with horrible moans.
Ssömniak
• Three naked hags with beards hanging on the Demon that sprang from
wall from shackles of bluish metal. One woman the dead king. Imprisoned
wears a helmet, the second is a child covered in by a dark ritual that deprives
blood, the third one is crowned and holds a tree the population of all sleep to
in her hand. make the demon sleep
• A bubbling cauldron in the middle of the room. forever. Until fully grown, it
• NORTH: passage carved in the stone leading to the is dependent on the host
tower room (8) - the exit is blocked by a small from which it crawled. Blind,
vanity. but can see through mirrors
• EAST: corridor leading outside, hidden behind a in the surroundings.
pile of dirt and rubble.
• SOUTH: narrow ascending corridor to the hallway HP 28 Morale 9
(6). Thick Fog -D4
Spiky Tentacles D6 + special
INSIDE THE CAULDRON, D4:
1. A vision of a dagger hurtling down on a black Special Attacks D4 times
figure. each round.
2. Countless tentacles reach for you.
3. Boiling hot pitch.
4. Soup: Drinking from it gives you
hallucinations of your worst fears.

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 10. Treasury
Bleak emptiness. Rustling and pattering in the corners.

• Chests and cupboards, all empty.

• Grinding marks on the floor. Isolated remains
of jewelry scattered around the room.
• Dlog is chained to the walls. They will try to steal
from the PCs.
• SOUTH: narrow corridor to the music
chamber (5).

SEARCH THE ROOM, D4:

1. A coffin made of fur. It has teeth and tries to
bite you.
2. A pile of rocks shaped like a human being. As
you approach, they start to move.
3. A gemstone. If you look through it, you will see
secret passages.
4. D20 silver. If you take them, they disappear
after D100 minutes and reappear in the
treasury.
Dlog
A dwarfish thief. Was caught
trying to sneak inside the
treasury. Chuckles
mischievously as they stare
at you with eyes sunk deep
into their sockets. Small,
swift fingers grab at
anything that can be
snatched.

HP 4 Morale 2 No Armour
Knife D4

Special Pickpocket: Can fake

an attack to steal from you.
Roll defense as if attacked. If
you fail the test, take no
damage, but lose an item
from your inventory.

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Ssömniak
orale 9
HP 28 M
g - D4
Thick Fo 6 + special
tacles D
Spiky Ten im es e a c h round.
ial A t t ac ks D 4 t
Spec

15
 It’s a pity that William
Shakespeare is no longer alive.
He’d write killer Mörk Borg scenarios.