If you know me, then you know I love tabletop roleplaying games. They’re an obsession I’ve had for only slightly less of my life than the paranormal, clocking in at just under 35 years. And yet, this is the first time I’ve combined the two. Maybe it’s time to change that, and I can’t think of a better reason than Liminal Horror.

Let me begin by saying that I have not received any compensation to write this. My interest in Liminal Horror is strictly personal. I think that horror games could offer unique insight into paranormal phenomena and that’s worth exploring. And if they happen to also be a blast to play, then so much the better.

If you’re already interested in the paranormal, then no doubt you’ve heard the phrase “liminal space” sometime in the last several years. It describes the in-between times and places; empty bus terminals, lonely highways, abandoned buildings, an evening right at twilight, etc. All of those spaces where you are seemingly the most likely to experience something strange.

Art most often imitates life, and all of the horror enthusiasts I know also have a healthy interest in real-life paranormal matters. As such, they are keenly aware of the existence of liminality. And not just in space or time, but within us, because while travelling in liminal spaces might increase our odds of encountering the paranormal, actually having a paranormal experience changes us forever.

Once you’ve experienced the impossible, there’s no going back. Most people don’t believe you, but you know what you saw—or at least you know it wasn’t as easily explainable as some would like to think. The social and psychological implications of this change your life, but that’s not all—reality is different now. If your experience happened, then what else is possible? What else is out there? You’ve changed and there’s no going back, although you aren’t entirely sure where you’re headed, either. You’ve become liminal.

And that’s the space Liminal Horror occupies. There’s real value here for people like us. The paranormal doesn’t perform on command. It’s not predictable or repeatable, which makes it incredibly difficult, if not often impossible, to study. But its qualities are known, or at least suspected, and shared through common experience and storytelling. This is where games come in.

Through tabletop roleplaying games, we can examine paranormal phenomena and posit their effects in an environment that we control. These are social games that are uniquely positioned to give us insight into how the human mind reacts to paranormal experiences and explore the potential possibilities that might result. If nothing else, they provide us with interesting thought experiments—a way to ask, “What if?” when it comes to the paranormal. That’s the magic of Liminal Horror.

Goblin Archives, the game’s creator, was nice enough to share their press kit with me, so I’m going to share it with you. Without further ado, here it is in full:

Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition

Backerkit April 15th - May 15th: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/space-penguin-ink/liminal-horror-deluxe-edition

There’s a strange comfort to ambiguity. To stand at the threshold between states of what was and what’s next, to inhabit the places of transition. But you’re never truly alone here. There are things that hunger within the dark places. Strange creatures and mysteries lie in wait and tumbling into the wrong place at the wrong time may put you on the path towards doom.

Grab your flashlights and blood splattered jackets as you try to make it through the night. Beware, snapping bone and rending flesh are often the simplest outcome. While there may be great power within these places… not all mysteries can be solved and not everyone can be saved. Above all, there are fates far worse than death.

What is Liminal Horror?

LIMINAL HORROR is a rules-lite, adaptable Survival-Horror roleplaying game about normal characters and their struggles against the things that go bump in the night. The game focuses on surviving the weird and Investigating horrors while blending simple, old-school inspired rules with modern, narrative first principles. Survival is not guaranteed and those that do make it through the night are often forever changed. A table ready version of the core rules for players and facilitators can be found for free here:

Since its original release in 2021, Liminal Horror has sold over 1000 physical copies and been downloaded digitally over 120k times with 5 official modules for the Liminal Horror line. It has been translated into multiple languages (Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, French, Polish, Mandarin) and has a robust third party community (over 220 items created including 124 adventures and 22 items in print), all collected on a digital catalog of Liminal Horror products: https://liminalhorrorlibrary.com/.

What is the Deluxe Edition?

This is explicitly not a 2nd edition of Liminal Horror. The core rules are fully compatible with all previously released zines (rules and adventures). We are keeping Liminal Horror Investigators in print as it acts as an easy player reference and contains the basic tools a Facilitator needs to run an LH adventure. The Deluxe Edition is enhanced, adding additional content while still keeping the original text relevant and usable.

The Deluxe Edition adds a robust toolkit for Facilitators, and includes optional rules, settings, monsters, lore, starter adventures, and Facilitator advice. It is everything you need to run any sub-genre of modern horror at your table. The biggest draw being an all new design, hardcover flourishes, and art throughout by Zach Hazard Vaupen.

Our major goals in creating a Deluxe Edition is backwards compatibility (which is why it is not a 2nd edition and instead an enhancement), usability for all types of players and facilitators (regardless of your experience running horror, old school style games, or running ttrpgs), and adding more content (both official and generative) for people running Liminal Horror.

During the campaign we also have a limited run Luxe Edition that is linen bound with a custom foil pressed cover by Zach Hazard Vaupen.

What’s in the book?

The Deluxe Edition is broken into 5 main sections: Introduction, Investigator’s Guide (Rules), Facilitator’s Guide, Catalog of the Strange (bestiary, npcs, magic items), The Haunted Pacific Northwest (a ready to use setting), Appendices (additional content and optional rules to enhance gameplay).

Introduction

An overview of the system, what to expect, and how to navigate the text.

Investigators Guide

The Player Facing Rules, mirroring what can be found in Liminal Horror Investigators
Investigator Creation options for players to get to the table quickly including party questions, bonds, and optional roll tables.
50 Backgrounds: a basic profession, skill, or point of interest to provide a starting context for a character that includes several related items.
Dozens of Archetypes: Expanded Backgrounds that provide a more robust characterization to start with by including a glimpse at an Investigator’s history and clues to their personal goals.
An expanded Equipment List to make sure your Investigators have the tools needed to battle different Horrors.
A comprehensive rule set that works seamlessly at the table.
Additions of Cellphone and Stability rules created by Evlyn Moreau, where use of a cellphone can combat Stress.
The addition of Wounds, physical damage that mirrors Fallout.
New Fallout tables that weave into the lore presented in the Deluxe Edition.
A new Ritual Magic system including 30+ spells.
A section on Safety Tools for the table.

Facilitators Guide

The Facilitator's Guide is the beating heart and soul of LIMINAL HORRORS: Deluxe Edition, and its contents have been developed and distilled over years of playing, running, and writing adventures for LIMINAL HORROR. Within you'll find:

Essays and Advice on creating and running your own Investigations, including tips on designing mysteries, managing tension, and combat encounters.
Genre-Savvy Tips on running different styles of horror, from slashers in the woods to cosmic terrors from beyond space and time.
Detailed Procedures for adapting and integrating any adventure into the LIMINAL HORROR system.

Catalog of the Strange

A Factions section detailing 6 different factions (including an overview, Approach and Goals, Methods and Resources, and NPCs).
A section on Cults detailing organizations aiming to align themselves to dread powers.
Horrors section that goes into different types of monstrous NPCs. There are 5 major types (Lesser Horrors, Greater Horrors, Resonant Horrors, Ritual Users and Dead Gods) each with subsequent entries and stats.
A Resonant Artifacts section including 40+ new magical (and dreadful) items to tempt players and NPCs.
An Allies and Adversaries section including 20 NPCs that can either align with or work against the Investigators. Each connected to different Factions, Horrors, and Resonant Artifacts.

The Haunted Pacific Northwest

A peek into our backyard, The Haunted Pacific Northwest is a complete setting guide and adventure sandbox. In between the truck stops, the dying logging towns and the shadows of the pines you'll find:

Detailed Locations including resources and amenities, important NPCs, points of interest, and potential investigation threads.
Campaign Frameworks for Facilitators looking to connect multiple different Investigations into a single unified storyline.
Plot Hooks, Conspiracies, and Conversions to help you integrate any official LIMINAL HORROR adventure into the Haunted Pacific Northwest.
Three new Adventures (included in the book because we hit the stretch goals)!

Appendices

The appendices are a collection of modular rules, supplements, and additional content compiled to provide a greater range of options to aid in getting Liminal Horror to the table. These are loosely broken down into optional mechanics, expanded resources, and reference aides.

OPTIONAL MECHANICS Modular mechanics that can be added to your game to reinforce different genre themes or provide greater mechanical complexity. These are designed to be lightweight and easy to use, and can be inserted into singular sessions as needed or integrated across a campaign.
EXPANDED RESOURCES Additional materials that Facilitators can use as a basis for creating or enhancing their scenarios or to quickly pull out and use when players diverge from the planned materials. These include additional player options, non-player characters, generators, and generic locations that are designed to make session planning a breeze.
REFERENCE AIDES A collection of resources for quick player and Facilitator reference. These include a Procedure of Play, a Rules Summary, Creating an Investigator, Character Sheet, Tables Reference, and an index.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OPTIONAL MECHANICS

CONDITIONS : Physical and mental consequences that may impact an Investigator.
ITEM TAGS : Added complexity to items.
FUNNEL RULES : An alternative play format where players control multiple simplified characters, running them through a lethal gauntlet.
SURVIVAL HORROR : Additional mechanics that reinforce the survival horror genre.
TACTICAL COMBAT : Additional mechanics for violent encounters that allow for greater complexity.

EXPANDED RESOURCES

ARCHETYPES: Additional starting Archetypes for Investigators.
INVESTIGATION TOOLS: Resources for Investigators, including pre-made vehicles and starter kits. Expands those presented in Creating The Party .
ASSOCIATES: Additional NPC Investigators that can be hired to join the party.
NPC TEMPLATES: Ready to use NPC stat blocks.
FALLOUT: An expanded list of Fallout to supplement those presented in Stress & Fallout .
SCENARIO THREADS: A list of adventure seeds and weird things that are going on in the world.
Random Search Tables: A set of tables for when Investigators search a body, a drawer, clutter, or for something hidden.
SPARK TABLES: A collection of random table generators.
GENERIC LOCATIONS: A series of keyed maps that present normal locations for Facilitators to infuse the weird and strange for their tables.
Conversion Guides: A list of system specific conversion notes for playing adventures in Liminal Horror.

REFERENCE AIDES

Procedure of Play: A single page quick reference that illustrates how the game is played.
Rules Summary: The core rules presented in a single page/spread.
Creating an Investigator: A distilled procedure for rolling up an Investigator with page references.
Character Sheet
Tables Reference: An index presenting the different tables within the book.
Index: A list of topics in the book.

Meet the Team

Writing and Design: Goblin Archives & Josh Domanski

Art: Zach Hazard Vaupen

Design: Goblin Archives & Josh Domanski

Editing: Jarrett Crader Publishing: SPACE PENGUIN INK

Stretch Goals

"Case Files 01" PDF ($70,000) Every backer will receive a digital (PDF) version of LIMINAL HORROR: Case Files 01, a collection of short adventures, locations, factions, and monsters.

"Case Files 01" Zine ($90,000) Each physical reward tier backer will receive a printed (softcover) version of LIMINAL HORROR: Case Files 01, for the first time in print!

PDF Adventure Bundle ($100,000) We're giving away the store: digital files (PDF) of ALL official adventures (The Bloom, The Mall, The Bureau, One Night at the Shelterwood Inn, and The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow) included for every backer. You've got the book, now let's get playing!

"Einfühlung", a Haunted House Starter Adventure PDF ($120,000) Still not sure where to start? This brand-new haunted house adventure by series creators Josh Domanski and Goblin Archives is designed to ease new Investigators and Facilitators into the LIMINAL HORROR experience.

"Einfühlung", a Haunted House Starter Adventure Zine ($150,000) But why stop there? Add "Einfühlung" to your LIMINAL HORROR shelf at no extra charge, just for being part of the movement. For all physical reward tier backers.

"The Bureau Remastered" PDF ($180,000) If you liked what we did with The Mall Remastered, you're gonna love what we do with this. An all-new revision of the 2022 adventure module, The Bureau Remastered puts your Investigators deep in the labyrinthine headquarters of The Bureau in the midst of an extradimensional crisis. A fan favorite!

"The Bureau Remastered" Zine ($210,000) As above, so below: all physical reward tier backers will receive The Bureau Remastered as a softcover zine, the first time this particular product has seen print.