One of the most fun, unique aspects of Goodman Games’ Tales from the Magician’s Skull was the blending of Sword & Sorcery with Dungeon Crawl Classics statistics for the stories.  That’s a wonderful recipe that has not been reproduced, despite super-cool S&S periodicals (Dark Moon Quarterly, Battleborn, New Edge S&S, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Swords and Sorcery Magazine, Savage Realms, Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy, etc. plus loads of anthologies).

Well, this Dark Muse News post has a Press Release for The Arcanist: Fantasy Publishing’s Backerkit campaign showcasing Mordschlag Magazine! Once again, S&S adventure and RPG gaming are combined. Every pocket-sized issue of Mordschlag promises new short fiction, an article analyzing the genre, and monster stat-blocks pulled straight from the tales and ready-to-play in ShadowDark RPG.

These debut issues feature contributions from new writers and familiar favorites. Highlights include the latest Neryon tale by Michael A. Stackpole, a new Goatskin story by Bryn Hammond, the introduction of a new heroic character by Lee Patton, and a Viking-inspired novelette by Cullen Groves, among others.

Mordschlag Sword and Sorcery Magazine will be available first on BackerKit on July 25, 2026. Follow now to review a copy of The Literary Fantasy Magazine 2025 and a free story from Mordschlag #0.

Sword & Sorcery, Dark Fantasy, Literary Fantasy… and gaming stats…. The Arcanist has it all

Campaign Highlights

This year The Arcanist is hitting short fantasy fiction HARD by expanding their popular The Literary Fantasy Magazine to quarterly release and introducing their new imprint, Mordschlag Sword and Sorcery Magazine.  Here’s what you can expect.

The Literary Fantasy Magazine

• Four pocket-sized issues modeled after pulp classics (5.25 x 7.5)
• Character-driven short fiction, flash fiction, poetry
• Dark Fantasy, High Fantasy, Weird, Mythic Fantasy
• 2 full-page illustrations per issue.

Mordschlag Sword and Sorcery

• Two pocket-sized issues modeled after pulp classics (5.25 x 7.5)
• Modern and Old School tales of Sword & Sorcery and Heroic Fantasy
• Critical articles analyzing S&S
• Monster stat-blocks straight from the fiction, ready to play in Shadowdark RPG
• Beautifully designed interiors meant to evoke that OSR feel.

Monster stat-blocks straight from the fiction

 

Monster stat-blocks pulled straight from the fiction!

 

PRESS RELEASE

Mordschlag Sword and Sorcery Magazine COMING July 25  TO BACKERKIT

Mordschlag Sword and Sorcery Magazine is dedicated to the craft of thrilling, thew-bound tales of Sword & Sorcery and Heroic Fantasy. Edited and published by James D. Mills of The Arcanist: Fantasy Publishing with a careful balance between old school tales and modern stories, Mordschlag is made by a diehard S&S fan for S&S fans, new and old.

Every pocket-sized issue of Mordschlag contains a fistful of new short fiction, an article analyzing the genre, and monster stat-blocks pulled straight from the tales and ready-to-play in Shadowdark RPG. Tabletop games and Sword & Sorcery have always gone hand-in-hand, like a blade in the grip of a seasoned warrior. Mordschlag seeks to fill a polyhedron-shaped hole in the community.

GET YOUR MEATY HANDS ON THE FIRST TWO ISSUES

Issues #0 and #1 are coming to BackerKit alongside the next four issues of popular fantasy periodical The Literary Fantasy Magazine on July 25^th, 2026. Backers can get paperback or digital copies of the 2026 run of Mordschlag, The Literary Fantasy Magazine, or both.

These debut issues feature contributions from new writers and familiar favorites. Highlights include a new Goatskin story by Bryn Hammond, the introduction of a new heroic character by Lee Patton, and a Viking-inspired novelette by Cullen Groves, among others.

A FEAST FOR THE EYES

Meticulously designed to resemble classic BX Dungeons and Dragons publications and trimmed to match the pocketable of a 1987 issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, every issue evokes a nostalgic OSR feel and features a full spread title page for each piece of fiction and high contrast illustrations from beloved artists such as Gary McClusky, Diego Castro, Dean Spencer, Anastasia Patton, and more!

James D. Mills

James D. Mills is Editor-in-Chief of The Arcanist: Fantasy Publishing. His Sword & Sorcery has been featured by Michael A. Stackpole’s Chain Story 2 Project. He is author of the Dark Fantasy novels, ASHEN RIDER and SOIL, which are freely available on Arcanist Online.

 

Mordschlag Sword and Sorcery Magazine will be available first on BackerKit, July 25, 2026.

 

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S.E. Lindberg is a Managing Editor at Blackgate.com, regularly reviewing books, interviewing authors on ‘Beauty & Art in Weird-Fantasy Fiction’, and running Dark Muse News. He has taken lead roles organizing the Gen Con Writers’ Symposium (2021-2023) and the Goodreads Sword & Sorcery Group; he even interned for Tales from the Magician’s Skull magazine and is an Assistant Editor for Battleborn magazine. As for crafting stories, he has contributed eight entries across Perseid Press’s Heroes in Hell and Heroika series, and has an entry in Weirdbook Annual #3: Zombies. He independently publishes novels under the banner Dyscrasia Fiction®; short stories of these have appeared in Whetstone and Swords & Sorcery online magazine, Rogues In the House Podcast’s A Book of Blades (Vol. I and Vol. II), DMR’s Terra Incognita, Tales From the Magician’s Skull, Savage Realms Magazine, and Michael Stackpole’s S&S Chain Story 2 Project.