MÖRK BORG co-creator’s 5-year-old son can color within the lines and design a killer dungeon

Five-year-old Assar has designed his own MÖRK BORG dungeon with the help of the tabletop RPG’s co-creator, illustrator, and his own father, Johan Nohr. Perhaps the youngest designer in MÖRK BORG’s vibrant creator space, Assar has picked up Nohr’s reputation for illustrating nasty creatures and gruesome environments, alongside a dungeon design mentality that cares very little about the safety of player characters.

We shouldn’t be surprised that Nohr, whose illustration and game design on MÖRK BORG, CY_BORG, Death in Space and other projects under the Stockholm Kartel label catalyzed a grassroots movement within the industry, might also impress upon his son a love for grotty tabletop games. Parents hope their kids will become their own people–as free from your influences, hidden hopes and private fears as possible–only for them to look at their caregivers and go, “actually, I want that.”

Rascal chatted with Nohr over email about game design becoming a family affair, Assar’s artistic aspirations and just how long adult adventurers might survive in “The Lair of the Vampire King”, a dungeon designed by a literal child. Nohr published the cooperative project into a stapled zine that was revealed and sold at Gothcon in Gothenburg, Sweden last weekend, and Assar took home his equal split in the profits. More copies will hit Nohr’s webstore at a later date.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.