Frameworks for play:

  • Adapt pre-made mysteries from horror systems, modern or not.
  • Use doom tracks/clocks for factions: Create drives, goals, and NPCs for major factions (different gov. Organizations, corporations, cults, etc). Have these factions work toward their goals. Provide sessions where players can directly come in contact with their plans and impact the trajectory. Clocks are a great way to track progression, setting steps toward the final goal. Steps should be revised as they come in contact and are changed by player choices.
  • Choose a few “horrible truths” at play within the world, slowly creeping toward actuality. Look for ways that these truths manifest so the players can interact with them.
  • Create your own mysteries and investigations to draw players in.
  • Use dungeons and tombs from OSR modules as places for investigators to explore.
  • Adventures can be whatever interests the table: mysteries, heists, intrigue, finding and containing incursions, confronting systems & organizations, investigating visions from beyond, or hunting cults and organizations.
  • Look for maps, NPCs, monsters, or even just touchstone pictures that are evocative. File off the serial numbers and bring it to the table.

The goal is to have fun as a table while telling interesting stories of horror and mystery. Be sure to regularly check in, ask questions, and use things that excite players. Opportunities for critical thinking, clever decisions, and failing forward will lead to memorable sessions.


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Liminal Horror was written and designed by Goblin Archives