As a Liminal Horror Dev Team our goal is to always lower the barrier for entry (for play and for creating content for Liminal Horror). One of the main leverages we use is the Liminal Horror RPG Website. It is here that we host all of the rules (for free), and a plethora of resources for writing and designing for Liminal Horror.
One of the main resources we've launched is the Creator Kit/SRD v.3.1. Often SRD’s (system reference documents) are simply a presentation of core rules and mechanics that can be used by designers for publications. One of the things we wanted to do differently is create an embedded design document that included advice for how to use the SRD to help create Liminal Horror content and publications.
For this blog/newsletter we are going to look at what is in the different sections of the Creator Kit and dive two sections that are important to consider when writing for publications:
System Considerations
Scenario Front and Back Matter
The Creator Kit Table of contents:
This table of contents gives a great overview about what different sections are included within this resource. https://liminalhorrorrpg.com/srd/
Introduction - An introduction to the resource, including an examination of what it is, what it isn't, and additional resources.
System Considerations - Aspects that make Liminal Horror differ from other ORS systems (both mechanically and tonally).
Licensing - Overview on licensing, and the third party license.
Front and Back Matter - Things we typically include in our scenarios.
Rules and Mechanics - Base rules and mechanics for Liminal Horror.
Making an Investigator - Character Creation process.
Equipment - Item lists for Liminal Horror.
Encounter Procedures - Different encounter procedures you can use in scenarios.
Location Generators - Generators to use to help scenario creation.
Room Keying - An overview of the LH style of keying locations.
Doom Clock - An overview for creating and using Doom Clocks.
Fallout - How to create fallout and some open licensed fallouts.
Rituals - Overview of Rituals (our magic system) and some open licensed Rituals.
Creating Horrors - Advice and templates for creating your own Horrors.
Horrors - 32 open licensed Horrors you can use in your published scenarios.
Special Abilities - Some open license Special Abilities to augment Horrors.
Resonant Artifacts - How to create Resonant Artifacts and some open licensed Resonant Artifacts to include in your publications.
NPCs - How to create NPCs and some open licensed NPCs to include in your publications.
Factions - How to create Factions and some open licensed Factions to include in your publications.
Cults - How to create Cults and some open licensed Cults to include in your publications.
Modular Rules - overview of modular rules to augment your publications.
Documentary Mode - An alternative/supplemental ruleset to play as a documentary crew.
Dwindling Party - An alternative play style for running funnels in Liminal Horror.
Item Tags - Supplemental rules to add complexity to items.
Conditions - Physical and mental consequences that may impact an Investigator.
Whisper Cards - the mechanic from The Mall that simulated characters being changed.
Claimed Locations - the mechanic from The Bloom that shows spreading corruption that took over the locations.
Kidnapping - the mechanic from The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow that has cultists kidnapping and transforming civilians.
All On One Page - the entire SRD on one webpage.
System Considerations for Liminal Horror
Liminal Horror’s progenitor systems can be considered OSR systems, and so there are many similarities between LH and other OSR systems. Given it’s unique setting (modern), genre (horror and various subgenres) and play context there are some things to consider prior to writing a Liminal Horror module, especially in the context of how it differs from other OSR systems.
The Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition has an entire section of resources in the Facilitator’s Guide (p.47-116) that can aid in the writing of a Liminal Horror module.
CREATING A SCENARIO
If you’re experienced at running horror and can fully embrace a “play to find out” mentality, a basic horror scenario can be tossed together with three things: a location, a source of horror, and consequences if the Investigators don’t intercede.
While you may not plan on running a classic investigation, keep in mind that every horror scenario is going to benefit from a bit of mystery, so many of the classic investigation tropes are going to be of use.
TYPES OF HORROR
Modern horror is an incredibly broad category. When preparing your scenario, identifying one or two subgenres that interest you will help focus the scope and aid in identifying themes and motifs to later expound upon. Below are ten commonly used subgenres, though this is only a small taste of the possibilities before you.
Apocalypse: The struggle of survivors after the end of the world.
Cosmic/Alien: Hostile invaders from beyond our planet or plane of existence.
Cryptids: Mysterious entities that lurk just beyond the believable.
Ghosts/Hauntings: Remnants of the dead left behind to wander the earth.
Gothic: Themes of fear, sadness, and romance set in places of decay and the grotesque.
Occult: Religious organizations, cursed objects, and the birth of gods.
Psychological: Mental and emotional fear with a focus on atmosphere over monsters.
Slasher/Stalker: Murderous antagonists whose sole purpose is to kill.
Survival: Hostile environments with emphasis on resource management.
Weird: The fantastic and supernatural, with a focus on transgression and subversion.
Horror stories are often a mix of genres as well. For example, many science fiction tales could easily become horror with a shift in tone.
TYPES OF SCENARIOS
At its core, horror scenarios require a goal to achieve or mystery to solve. This acts as the central conceit, the question that hangs over the head of the entire scenario. The most common will of course be “how do we stop/survive this horror?”, but this is what the scenarios will eventually evolve into and only becomes the primary concern once the horrors are revealed. The initial goal isn’t always going to be to solve this in a definitive manner, and so the Investigators will need something to hook them in and drive them forward when every sense of reason inside them is screaming to turn back.
To aid in building your central conceit, it will be useful to determine the type of scenario you wish to portray. This will give you the basic framework with which to build your scenario and shape the horrors within. Horror scenarios can broadly be broken down into five basic points of focus:
Location focused: These are scenarios where the location itself is key to the Investigator’s motivations. You’re stuck in a horrid environment and need to escape, your hometown will be consumed by an encroaching horror, the old house on the hill is rumored to be haunted, etc.
Character focused: These are scenarios focused around human motivations, pulling upon the emotions and personal connections of the Investigators. Someone has died in a mysterious manner, someone has gone missing under strange circumstances, a friend or colleague has asked for help, a cult is trying to summon horrors from another dimension, etc.
Task focused: These are scenarios where the Investigators have something direct to achieve amid the horrors. Your car has broken down in an unfamiliar town and you need to repair it, you need to find something/someone for an employer/patron, you need to capture footage of a haunting to save your TV show from being canceled, etc.
Survival focused: These are scenarios where the goal is simply to live to see another day. A horrid plague is spreading, a creature is stalking you from the shadows, a cult has put a curse on you that will kill you if you don’t cede to their demands, etc.
Creature focused: These are scenarios where the horrors themselves are the direct source of mystery. There have been sightings of a cryptid creature among the trees, a town has been plagued by a strange hum, an unexplained illness has begun to spread, etc.
Many of these can be paired up within short scenarios, while an extended campaign will likely touch on all of them to some degree.
Setting Considerations
One of the advantages of roleplaying in the modern era is that your players will already have a basic frame of reference for the environment. For example, you don’t need to describe the intricate details of a corner store, as they likely can already picture what the space is like from having been inside one or having seen them featured in popular media.
Framing
Horror is often about the juxtaposition of the mundane against the weird and uncanny. Once you have a basic foundation, lean into the influences of the weird and how those stand in stark contrast to the mundane locations. Writers can leverage extraplanar incursions, reality warping influence, darkness hidden within forests, and the uncanny nature of forgotten and abandoned places.
Saves or Specific Ability Checks
Typical published modules will often present situations that call for a specific skill check or save. Instead of automatically defaulting to replacing them with a STR/DEX/CTRL Save, instead present situations and pressures that set up opportunities for players and facilitators to be creative problem solvers. What dangers are present and what opportunities may arise. If the result of failure in these situations would be uninteresting or there is potential for players to leverage the tools at their disposal, a roll may not be needed at all.
Sanity
It is fairly common for similar systems to include a Sanity mechanic, signifying a character’s descent into madness after being exposed to horrors not meant for the likes of mankind. Liminal Horror has intentionally diverged away from the concept in an attempt to avoid the problematic aspects associated with the stigmatization of mental health struggles. Therefore, replacing Sanity mechanics will not be a simple one-for-one. Leverage Stress and Fallout as a means to simulate the Investigator’s proximity to the weird.
###Using Stress The following guidelines are a good metric for integrating Stress into an adventure. Stress often comes from environmental triggers or narrative consequences, such as witnessing something horrid or failing a Save, but is also the direct result of the horrors attempts to corrupt and change an individual. In general:
1 Stress: Witnessing something horrid.
1d4 Stress: Particularly horrific scenes or the abilities of minor horrors.
1d6 Stress: Abilities of major horrors.
1d8+ Stress: Abilities of particularly monstrous entities or witnessing events not meant for human eyes.
The Creating A Scenario section of the Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition includes some incredible essays that can aid in the writing of your own module/scenario. These essays include:
Basic Frameworks (p.71): A breakdown of the basic foundation of a scenario.
One-Shots & Episodes (p.74): Advice for creating for short-term play.
Arcs & Campaigns (p.76): Advice for creating for long-term play.
Creating a Dilemma (p.79): Advice on presenting difficult choices.
Hooks & Rumors (p.80): Tips for writing compelling hooks.
Writing Clues (p.82): Tips for writing good clues.
Setbacks & Puzzles (p.85): Advice on creating non-combat challenges for your Investigators.
Creating Locations (p.89): Advice on creating settings and making them come to life.
Compelling NPCs (p.92): Tips on making memorable NPCs.
Creating Factions (p.93): Tips on writing compelling organizations.
Creating Horrors (p.94): Tips for creating horrid monstrosities.
Creating Resonant Artifacts (p.98): Tips for creating strange and power objects imbued with resonant energy.
Creating Fallout (p.99): Tips for creating custom Fallout.
The Doom Clock (p.100): Advice on creating and using Doom Clocks.
Encounter Procedures (p.102): A breakdown of three procedures for generating random encounters.
Final Details (p.107): Advice on the last touches to put on a scenario before it’s ready to run.
Location Generator (p.108): A tool for randomly generating locations.
SCENARIO FRONT AND BACK MATTER
Here is an overview of some of the sections we have typically included in the front and back matter for the official Liminal Horror products.
Our overall design philosophy is often focused on how we can lower the barrier of entry for Facilitators and players. This is why the core rules are all free online. Customers can buy your published work without any additional investment since they can get the base info for free.
Every published scenario is unique, and the specifics of each (and design restrictions) dictate what should be included. Not every one of our scenarios has each one, but these are some of the things we have found helpful to include.
It is worth pondering in regards to your own scenarios. Even if you don’t end up including them, take the time to ask yourself what function do they serve from an information design standpoint, and what ways you can embed the same function within your work.
Some items we tend to include in the introductions of our first party publications:
Map: A map of the location (either a region map or of the single location)
Table of Contents: As much support in navigating the structure of the text aids in flow of information to the reader.
Touchstones: Media references can help create a tone/expectation for what will be in the module.
Content Warnings: It is important to be up front with people who engage with your work and allow Facilitators to leverage the proper safety tools.
Intro: An introduction blurb that gives context about the place.
Timeline: A timeline of events prior to the module, sort of like a prequel to the Doom Clock.
Overview: A quick overview of what the scenario is about.
Framing: We typically include multiple set up explanations for how you would use the scenario. These often include: Using it to start a new campaign, how to integrate it into a currently ongoing campaign, or how to run it as a one-shot.
Rules: We’ll often include a rules reference or summary (see Rules and Mechanics for more on that).
Character Creation: Each scenario we publish has a custom character creation set-up (see Making an Investigator for more).
Encounter Procedure: At the beginning of the text we will present which type of encounter procedure we will use for the scenario, be it Encounter Die, Voidcrawl, or Tension Die (see Encounter Procedures for more).
Doom Clock: We will include the steps of the Doom Clock for the published scenario (see Doom Clock for more).
Exploration Notes: For more sandbox scenarios, we will have a page on Exploring that emphasizes some travel specific mechanics or contexts (this may be Roads, Using Phones, Phases, Location Description Changes, Stat Blocks, NPC Reactions, Weather, Services, Buildings, etc)
Horrors: We typically include the main monster stat blocks and explanations at the front for easy access for Facilitators (see Creating Horrors or Horrors for more).
Some items we tend to include in the back matter (Appendices) of our first party publications:
Consequences: A list of potential outcomes to different variables within the scenario (formatted in an If X…, short term result, long term result)
Fallout: A list of custom fallout that reinforces the theme and aligns to the main Horror in the text (see Fallout for more).
NPCs: We’ll often include a table of additional quick reference NPCs (see NPCs for more).
Rumors: Things people are talking about. When it comes to rumors and hooks I like to include the page reference to where it is in the book.
Resonant Artifacts: A list of custom resonant artifacts made for the scenario (see Resonant Artifacts for more).
Random Search: Facilitator’s really tend to appreciate a table they can reference when their players search for something. As of late we’ve worked on using four d20 sub tables for this (on bodies, hidden items, in drawers, among the clutter)
Quick Reference: The back page often is a quick reference resource that Facilitators can use. It’ll often include stats, abbreviated doom clock, reaction tables, and any other references for modular mechanics.