Forbidden Psalm (2021) Board Game

Forbidden Psalm is a board game released in 2021, designed by Johan Nohr and featuring artwork by Exalted Funeral. It falls into the categories of fantasy, fighting, and miniatures, providing players with an immersive gaming experience. The game offers a unique blend of action points, dice rolling, measurement movement, role-playing, and variable player powers, making it a dynamic and engaging choice for tabletop enthusiasts.

Game Components of Forbidden Psalm

Rulebook: Includes the core rules, scenarios, and character creation tables.

Miniatures: 28mm miniatures agnostic, allowing use of any existing miniatures or custom-built ones using random tables.

Scenarios: A 25-scenario long campaign, with additional scenarios available in expansions like “In the Footsteps of the Mad Wizard” and “The Collection of Death Volume 1”.

Expansions: Includes “The Collection of Death Volume 1”, “They Came From The Necropolis”, and collaborations like “Forbidden Wilderness”.

Paper Standees: Available in the PDF version for those without miniatures.

How To Setup Forbidden Psalm

To set up Forbidden Psalm, players need to create a warband of 5 members. Each member is assigned flaws and traits based on random tables. The warband then equips weapons using their starting money. The game requires a 2×2 play area, and scenarios can be played in solo, versus, or cooperative modes. Players can use any miniatures that fit the 28mm scale, or create custom ones using the provided tables.

Gameplay Mechanics and Game Objective

Character Creation: Randomly generated characters with flaws and traits.

Scenarios: Pre-designed scenarios or player-created ones, with adjustable rules for solo, versus, or cooperative play.

Combat: Skirmish-level combat with a focus on narrative and survival.

Objective: Complete scenarios, hunt monsters, and uncover dangerous relics while serving Vriprix the Mad Wizard.

Game Modes: Solo, versus, cooperative, and integration with MÖRK BORG RPG.

Player Experience

Playing Forbidden Psalm is a gritty and immersive experience. Characters are disposable and often suffer injuries, flaws, or unleash horrible magic. The game encourages creative use of miniatures and setting, making each game table unique. The narrative is emergent, with scenarios reacting dynamically to player actions. Character death is frequent, but this leads to new character creations, keeping the game fresh and exciting.

Pros

Flexibility: Use any 28mm miniatures or create custom ones.

Narrative Depth: Emergent narratives and dynamic scenario reactions.

Solo and Cooperative Play: Supports various play modes.

Random Character Creation: Keeps the game fresh with new characters.

Integration with MÖRK BORG: Compatible with the MÖRK BORG RPG.

Cons

Combat Mechanics: Relatively thin compared to other skirmish games.

Narrative Focus: May not appeal to players seeking heavy combat emphasis.

Character Mortality: Frequent character death, though this can also be a pro for some players.

Personal Thoughts on Forbidden Psalm

Forbidden Psalm is ideal for fans of grim, dark fantasy and those who enjoy narrative-driven games. It’s perfect for players who appreciate the randomness and brutality of games like Darkest Dungeon. The game’s flexibility in using any miniatures and its support for solo, cooperative, and versus play make it a great choice for a variety of gaming preferences. However, players strictly looking for complex combat mechanics might find it lacking. Overall, Forbidden Psalm offers a unique blend of storytelling and miniatures gaming that stands out in the world of tabletop games.

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