I’ve had my eye on Severed Toys and their book line, Severed Books since I ran across their booth at this years PAX Unplugged. They had a unique set up, and offered a lot of interesting stuff. So I was very excited when the team, reached out to tip us off to an upcoming release. A new action figure based off the now iconic cover art of the gorgeous Mörk Borg. The team sent over some really great previews of the mock up for the figure, and Justin was nice enough to answer some questions we had about action figures, RPGs, and of course, Mörk Borg. The kickstarter went live on April 30 and is certainly one to check out.
Our Interview With Justin
Krusk: If you had told 12-year-old me that action figure designer was a job, I wouldn’t have believed you. How does one get into that line of work?
JUSTIN: Firstly, thank you for this. It’s always fun chatting about what I do for a living and care so deeply about. Getting to the point of making an action figure was a learning process for sure. I’ve spent the past 20+ years working in publishing in both a private and public sector. Some of that knowledge is useful for toy manufacturing. When I started making games, I had to diversify my skill sets quite a bit. It’s one thing to know about graphic design and offset printing, but it’s another to jump into molding plastics and such.
Starting with dice and then minis, Severed Books grew and now we feel confident we can create a high quality action figure. It’s also about finding the right team for the right property. Our sculptor, Dasha, is amazing–he really understands how to honor the source material and translate into a dynamic three dimensional object. Our rep with the plastics factory is great and I have worked with them in the past on a multi-million dollar Kickstarter. So to answer your question, I didn’t rush this. It’s taken years to learn the manufacturing process and how to optimize it as well as find the right people to work with. It’s been a blast.
Our lineup as it stands right now is Mörk Borg (Stockholm Kartel) and then Ax-Wielder Jon by Nick Pitarra (Karoshi Comics/Dark Horse). I also plan to adapt some of my own work to figures, but that might be much farther down the line.
What drew you to Mörk Borg and inspired you to make an action figure for it? We see mini’s for RPGs all the time, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dedicated, well-made, action figure for one. (Excluding the occasional promotional D&D tie in)
JUSTIN: It was really the community that inspired me first. Mörk Borg has a massive creator base that uses its third-party license to make supplements and more. There have been nearly 2,000 third-party projects made for the system in the past four years according to https://morkborg.exlibrisrpg.com.. As that world grows, so does the lore. The character on the cover of the core book is unforgettable. It’s a rotten lurking undead creature with a hyena head and long horns. I know it’s unconventional to take a villain (non-playable character) from a game and create an action figure from it, but at this point that character is iconic.
Severed Books has always championed indie creators. Making an action figure of Johan and Pelle’s cover art feels like the right project to launch Severed Toys with.
Since Mörk Borg is an RPG, I have to ask. Are there any RPGs you are playing right now, and are there any you wish you had time to get into?
JUSTIN: With a family and now two businesses to run, I barely have time to play anything outside conventions and the random pickup one-shot. And then I have to playtest a lot of the books/games that I’m creating. Now that the Mothership box set is out, I definitely want to play more of that system because third-party creators are also making amazing work for it. Cloud Empress is on the list for sure. Also excited to check out the Cairn 2 boxed set.
You’ve got a collection of books published now at this point, including a couple of RPG books geared towards DMs. Do you have any tips for new or first time DMs looking to get into it? What about for experienced DMs who’ve been “doing it forever”?
JUSTIN: Gosh, that’s a huge question :). I’d say to a beginner GM, don’t take the rules too seriously. Even the great Zeb Cook once said, if a rule doesn’t work for you, throw it out. I’m a narrative first and rules last creator and feel like as long as you can read the room and make sure players are having a good time, then you’ll be successful. I’m always looking for emotional hooks to really make my players care about the plot, but you never know what’s going to happen at the table.
For long-time GMs, I’d say explore more independent content if you haven’t yet. Sure, D&D is the game we all grew up with, but there are so many indie writers and artists making fun, accessible work. And then don’t be afraid to creator your own games. I feel like most long-time GMs already do with homebrew rules, but if you’re feeling the need to create something, it’s never too late. The most joy in my life comes from making weird projects. I want more people to feel that.
Mörk Borg is almost famous for the variety of [blank] Borg settings. Do you have any favorites?
JUSTIN: Pirate Borg is a standout by Luke Straton. It’s so fully realized and he is just a fun person to be around. SVMP by Tommy Sunzenauer is wonderfully done. I also had a chance to read Tephrotic Nightmares by Luke Gearing while it was in production and man… that’s the one to check out. Mek Borg also looks super slick by David Hamrick. There’s just so much! How rad is that? Thanks again for this!
The TTRPG Factory 