Nuclear Blast Launches Actual Play RPG Series ‘Riffs & Realms’ Because Metal Wasn’t Nerdy Enough

Let’s just get it out of the way right now. All metalheads are nerds. You might want to pretend you’re not, but you’re nerdy about something; whether it’s Warhammer 40K, cars, guitars, woodworking, whatever. So it’s not much of a stretch that Nuclear Blast Records opted to dust off their collection of dice and invite some musicians to throw down on an actual play tabletop RPG series they’re calling Riffs & Realms.

The first season of this series, titled ‘Vaults Of Unfaith’ launched today and is a real play of the grimdark and surprisingly metal game MÖRK BORG. Led by game master and MÖRK BORG creator Johan Nohr, the series features Brady Deeprose of Conjurer, Joseph Ghast of Green Lung, and Yannis Papadopoulos of Beast In Black.

For the uninitiated, MÖRK BORG is a rules-light role-playing game inspired by doom metal. Set in a decaying and post-apocalyptic world, characters are doomed from the start. Death is constant and once you’re dead, you’re dead. It’s fast, no bullshit that emphasizes the story over math equations.

Speaking of his experience as a player, Ghast said he had a blast playing in the series.

“A hilarious and horrid crawl through the dankest of dungeons thanks to NB and Johan at MÖRK BORG. I can only hope it’s as fun to watch as it was to roll dice with my fellow reprobates!”

Who knew you could do some content with metal artists while sharing a tabletop experience. Where have I seen that before….

Naturally, each episode will feature some kick ass metal as its soundtrack, with tunes coming from bands like Kreator, Oranssi Pazuzu, Green Lung, and Conjurer, just to name a few.

So if you like dark fantasy, role playing games, or just want to see some metalheads roll some dice and experience a lethal comedy of errors, check out Riffs & Realms.