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Liminal Horror
Liminal Horror is a rules-lite, fail forward system that leverages creative problem solving in order to create memorable experiences at the table. Players act as investigators navigating a modern world full of terrible and unknowable things that hide in the spaces between, looking for a way in.
For fans of Junji Ito, horror, Call of Cthulhu, Monster of the Week, Silent Legions but wanting rules-lite adaptable system. It is a modern horror hack of Yochai Gal's Cairn.
For fans of Junji Ito, horror, Call of Cthulhu, Monster of the Week, Silent Legions but wanting rules-lite adaptable system. It is a modern horror hack of Yochai Gal's Cairn.
36 pages, Paperback
First published May 21, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 8, 2022
An indie RPG system for playing cosmic horror scenarios. It has some interesting design tenets - characters don't develop through 'leveling up', but by their game experiences, new equipment (including ungodly relics) and possibly by new.. afflictions and/or powers acquired after encountering the unimaginable. There are no character classes (always a big fan of this), there are some stats but no intelligence stat. Information can't be hidden behind ability rolls, if you figure out how to find some info, you get that info. Combat is dangerous and deadly, better to prepare yourself for any outing.
I think one of the best parts of the book is a detailed way to build adventures, starting with choosing a couple of movies you enjoy and taking parts from those, to deciding motives and preparing a list of possible clues. All of this works towards creating adventures that should tread that fine line between being prepared as a facilitator (Liminal Horror's GM), and leaving it open enough for the players to have an actual effect on the world.
The book does the usual indie thing of using public domain images (at least I think it does), anatomical diagrams, diagrams of a wormhole (..I think), etc. It works very well here.
I think one of the best parts of the book is a detailed way to build adventures, starting with choosing a couple of movies you enjoy and taking parts from those, to deciding motives and preparing a list of possible clues. All of this works towards creating adventures that should tread that fine line between being prepared as a facilitator (Liminal Horror's GM), and leaving it open enough for the players to have an actual effect on the world.
The book does the usual indie thing of using public domain images (at least I think it does), anatomical diagrams, diagrams of a wormhole (..I think), etc. It works very well here.
January 24, 2023
A small, but interesting supernatural RPG which squeezes and concentrates rules and gameplay philosophy in just 32 A5 pages, including a case ready to be played.
Overall is interesting and well developed, but I miss some more innovative or modern mechanismto give a more unique favor. Anyway, a game deserves to be played
Overall is interesting and well developed, but I miss some more innovative or modern mechanismto give a more unique favor. Anyway, a game deserves to be played
September 25, 2023
I was recommended this book at a boardgame/role-playing convention earlier this year as a much better option to Ten Candles (a system I'm still looking forward to try with my usual victims... ehem... players) and, after a brief hesitation and at the behest of my co-conspirator (and beloved wife), I came back home with a copy of this slim rulebook. Slim, but clever, heartfelt, and full of possibilities. Focused on roleplaying and atmosphere, rather than in levelling-up and endlessly checking tables, Liminal Horror offers a door into world of ancient and dark mysteries, of madness, conspiracies, and eldritch horrors. However, unlike some of its obvious references (Call of Cthulhu), it does not provide an exhaustive lore. Instead, it provides a very sensible and streamlined system to spark and brainstorm ideas. Like all rules-lite RPGS, this game requires a high commitment level from from both the facilitator (the GM) and players alike, but its rewards seem to be more than worthy the extra effort. In short, a fine example of the evolution of modern indie RPGs.
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January 7, 2025How? Can't recall, but it's a zine, so probably picked up from Exalted Funeral.
What? It's an OSR horror game, and this is the zine version. (Apparently I have a bought a slightly longer version as part of a Bundle; and there's a deluxe version coming out.) The lineage is Ben Milton (Knave), Yochai Gal (Cairn), Chris McDowall (Into the Odd) -- so you don't have classes, you can gain magic/weird items (and also fatigue) as inventory, and it's deadly.
I also have The Bloom, which is an adventure in the Pacific Northwest, where a fungal bloom is taking over a town, and a sinister Bureau is looking to take advantage of that.
Yeah, so? I found Liminal Horror to be a little spare and uninspiring -- it's solid, but the use of public domain art doesn't really give it a cohesive impulse. But the Bloom helps show what this sort of thing is made for. I'd play.
What? It's an OSR horror game, and this is the zine version. (Apparently I have a bought a slightly longer version as part of a Bundle; and there's a deluxe version coming out.) The lineage is Ben Milton (Knave), Yochai Gal (Cairn), Chris McDowall (Into the Odd) -- so you don't have classes, you can gain magic/weird items (and also fatigue) as inventory, and it's deadly.
I also have The Bloom, which is an adventure in the Pacific Northwest, where a fungal bloom is taking over a town, and a sinister Bureau is looking to take advantage of that.
Yeah, so? I found Liminal Horror to be a little spare and uninspiring -- it's solid, but the use of public domain art doesn't really give it a cohesive impulse. But the Bloom helps show what this sort of thing is made for. I'd play.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews