PRINCIPLES FOR FACILITATORS
INFORMATION DIFFICULTY
▶ Information should never be hidden ▶ Realism and fictional positioning are
behind rolls. a good starting place for defining
▶ Provide information readily and difficulty.
freely to facilitate critical thinking ▶ Choices should have consequences,
and clever play. and all failure should be interesting.
▶ Elicit questions from players and ▶ Saves cover various instances of
give them direct answers. uncertainty and risk. If there is
neither, do not call for a roll.
SECRETS ▶ Reward cleverness and ingenuity.
▶ Leverage the themes of dread, DANGER
forbidden knowledge, and
mutability of human flesh. ▶ Investigators change as a result of
▶ Provide information on the physical play, either from the choices they
and tangible reality to players, but make, the wounds they suffer, or
keep the true nature of things just the Fallout that warps them.
out of reach. ▶ Present the potential of danger
▶ Give investigators opportunities to clearly to players, and give them
pull at threads, drawing them the opportunity to react.
deeper into the tangled web of ▶ Increasing the amount of Stress
the weird. increases the rate investigators are
enveloped by the corruption of
PREPARATION Fallout and the weird.
▶ Investigators die.
▶ Make the world alive, allow it to
change and grow because of
players’ actions. CHOICE
▶ Be flexible in your preparation. ▶ Offer tough choices.
Create situations and possibilities. ▶ All situations should have multiple
▶ Plot and story should not be outcomes.
predefined.
▶ Clarify player intent before dice are
▶ Give NPCs and factions motivations, rolled to make sure players have all
flaws, and drives. Have NPCs react information that would be obvious
accordingly to their principles, on to their Investigators.
and off screen. NPCs should always
▶ Every action leaves an impact on
have a drive to survive.
the world in some way.
▶ Play to find out what happens.
FAILURE
DIE OF FATE
▶ Failure should push the story
▶ Sometime randomness is required forward.
in order to determine an outcome. ▶ Foster an atmosphere where
▶ Roll 1d6 to consult the die of fate. success and failure are equally
▶ 6: Good Result exciting.
▶ 4-5: Mixed Result ▶ Elicit complications or twists from
▶ 1-3: Bad Result players.
▶ Every action leaves an impact on
the world in some way.
[04] PRINCIPLES FOR FACILITATORS // "Trust is a tough thing to come by these days." - The Thing (1982)
PRINCIPLES FOR PLAYERS
AGENCY CAUTION
▶ The numbers on the Investigator ▶ Fighting is risky, and the
sheet act as tools to mechanically consequences of violence are
engage with the game. They do not long-lasting.
define the Investigator. ▶ Use tools, knowledge, and the
▶ Use how a Investigator has grown environment to gain every
to inform play. advantage. Preparation can stave
▶ Lean into the weird and unknown. off certain doom.
▶ Victory comes in many forms, and
often it is a successful retreat.
TEAMWORK
▶ Work to support others at the table. AMBITION
▶ Elicit interaction from other players.
▶ Discover the drives and goals for
▶ Investigators don’t always have to you as a player, your Investigator,
be aligned, but players should be and the team. Use those to inform
aiming toward the same goal of play.
memorable stories of horror and ▶ Try and fail forward. An engaging
fun interactions with friends. story is infinitely more interesting
and memorable than simple
TALKING successes.
▶ It is the complications and resulting
▶ NPCs have drives and flaws.
Interact with them as if they are actions that we remember
real people. afterward.
▶ Investigators die, but the story will
▶ Build relationships, engage with
rivals, and invest in the NPCs. continue.
▶ Play to find out what happens.
▶ Information and positive outcomes
can often be achieved through
dialogue, but sometimes a cultist’s
communion requires an offering of
blood and bone.
PLANNING
▶ Ask questions.
▶ There is no perception or
intelligence attribute. Engaging with
the world hinges on using the
information provided.
▶ Reconnaissance, subtlety, and fact-
finding are necessary for survival.
“Wanna play?" - Child's Play (1988) //PRINCIPLES FOR PLAYERS [05]
CREATING AN INVESTIGATOR
In Liminal Horror, players are Investigators, otherwise normal people caught up
in mysteries that threaten to end their lives or break them down and change
them. Investigators might be searching for answers, trying to save a friend,
looking for Resonant Artifacts (p. 24), or simply trying to live to see another day.
For the tables on the following pages, roll to select options at random, or choose
favorites. Work with the Facilitator to make custom Investigators.
1. ABILITY SCORES 3. STARTING GEAR
Roll 3d6 for each Ability Score, in Each Investigator begins with a
order. You may swap any two results. smartphone (camera, flashlight, etc.)
This is expanded on in Ability Scores and 1d6 x 100 cash. Additional starting
(p. 14) and Saves (p. 14). equipment is provided through
▶ STRENGTH (STR): Physicality, Backgrounds or Archetypes. Many of
brawn, and toughness. these items can be used as a weapon
▶ DEXTERITY (DEX): Readiness, if needed, for d6 damage. Players
grace, and precision. may also use their cash to purchase
items from the Equipment List (p. 12).
▶ CONTROL (CTRL): Willpower,
charm, and weird.
2. HIT PROTECTION
Roll 1d6 to determine starting
Hit Protection (HP). This represents an
Investigator's ability to avoid serious
harm, both physical damage and
Stress. This is expanded in
Healing (p. 18).
[06] CREATING AN INVESTIGATOR // “Send…more…paramedics.” - The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
