Crews and More Art
about 6 years ago – Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 01:20:05 PM

Time for another update as I'm getting ready for a convention this weekend and getting excited about Guy Milner's big book of vampires stretch goal being close to funding. I'll also post something more from our artist Jason Behnke. This particular piece is a keyframe painting- a piece of concept art, flowing from his ideas from the book so far, at a stage before even becoming a work in progress. It's an interesting glimpse at Jason's artistic process. Anyway, here it is.

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Crews

We're outsiders, all of us, we Liminals. We don't fit into the mortal world- we know too much, or can do too much. But we also don't fit into the Hidden World. We're human as well as supernatural, not like the Fae and the vampires. The big factions will use us, control us, spit us out. In the end, that's what the crew's about. We're with other people in the same boat. The crew aren't just my friends. They're my family. We don't just stick together because nobody else gets us, though that's a part of it. We're together so we have a purpose and can help each-other. And maybe do some good for the people around us on the way, whether they're grateful or not, even if they know what we do. That's life. 

 -Ygraine Green, Changeling
Crew generation takes place after character generation, and provides a reason for diverse characters to work together. Every player, as well as the GM, takes part. The GM has the task of leading the players through crew creation, and can make suggestions to individual players who need help, but the GM's authority is no greater than any other player.  

The first step in crew generation is to come up as a group with a concept, with everyone looking at the player character liminals present. What do they share, and what means they work together? Some possibilities include:  

 • An investigation business. The crew pool their talents to solve mysteries involving the liminal world for clients. Missing persons cases the police cannot handle come up surprisingly often.  

 • A group sharing the same powerful enemy, who have banded together for mutual protection.  

 • A deniable branch of a faction such as P Division, who deal with cases that faction cannot touch.  

As part of the concept, the group of players and GM should think about where the crew is based. Even if they wander and have no permanent home, where the crew begins is important. London and the Outer Hebrides suggest different connections with the world and adventure opportunities, after all.  

The concept may well suggest a goal for the crew, something they are working towards. A goal can either be a finite task or an ongoing labour. Examples include:  

 • The final defeat of a powerful enemy.  

 • Protecting ordinary mundane people from supernatural predators.  

 • Solving mysteries involving both the ordinary and the Hidden World, mysteries beyond the mundane authorities.  

The next step is to go around the table, with each player coming up with an asset. Assets provide the crew with useful resources. Assets come from a list including examples such as the crew having funding, a base of operations, or bonuses when dealing with a common enemy.

Then come relationships with factions. For this stage, the GM prepares a list of factions they want to use. Not every major faction has to be in play, and the GM can introduce lesser factions, either invented or taken from the material in the book. A good number of factions is between the number of players and twice the number of players.  

The GM writes "0" next to each faction on their list. Go round the table. Each player (but not the GM this time) picks two factions from the list, one where their character has a positive relationship, one where they have a negative relationship. Add +1 to the number next to the faction for a positive relationship, and -1 for a negative relationship, but do not go above +3 or -3.  

The final number reflects how the factions in play look at the crew. Positive numbers indicate they look upon them favourably. Negative numbers indicate dislike or hostility. A total of +3 indicates the faction regards the crew as allies. They will give them jobs and opportunities, and help them in emergencies, but expect help in return. A total of -3, on the other hand, means the faction is an enemy.

The final step in crew creation is for each player to come up with a hook. A hook is something going on in the crew's neighbourhood which attracts their attention, and suggests their involvement in a case. The hook is not necessarily something which involves the Factions above; that's for the GM to decide. The player should not go deeply into what a hook involves, just what is apparent on the surface. Examples include: 

 • Bodies have turned up in a nearby river, completely drained of blood. This suggests vampire activity, of course, but why here and now, and why are they being so unsubtle? Or is it really something else? 

 • A prominent member of the local mundane community went missing on their way home one night. There were no direct witnesses, but people in the vicinity reported mysterious lights. Magic or the Fae? Will the player character crew be hired to solve the case? 

 • A group of thugs have been shaking down small local businesses for protection money, and the police are appaently not acting. Will the crew get involved? Are those responsible mundane or supernatural? Both bring potential complications. 

 • The crew receives warning that an attack from a group loyal to a hostile faction is on the way. Or maybe it is only an initial foray which alerts them to the bigger coming attack.

Seven Hills
about 6 years ago – Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 02:51:21 AM

This weekend, at the Seven Hills RPG Convention, I ran a game of Liminal in its first public outing. It was really enjoyable, as the player characters helped a musician who had half-accidentally sold her soul to the Fae to become the best street musician in the city of York.

Some highlights were:

• The player characters immediately recognising a Redcap in disguise, simply through my description of his woolly red hat.
• The werewolf character being tempted to eat the faerie food and drink their drink in the Goblin Market, bartering in exchange for old memories and lost ambitions. Fortunately, the half-trained magician in the crew could help him leave the market without slipping too far in time.
• The magician arguing with the Seller of Dreams, a mysterious Fae being, while he tried to tempt them and made some bitterly unpleasant jibes aimed at the former detective in the crew, leading the changeling character to point out he was a "most unpleasant creature".
• A showdown with vampires in an empty carriage on a moving train.
• A combination of changeling illusion (creating the "guard dog" who had been witnessed when the werewolf changed) and a bold bluff by the former detective getting the heroes away when the police responded to reports coming from the train.
• Some moving epilogues, including the detective applying to P Division, the changeling helping one of the Fae learn to be more human, and the magician taking the musician under her wing.

It was immense fun, ran extremely smoothly, and we all got into it. I'm sure Liminal will be coming to more UK conventions. At Seven Hills, there was a palpable buzz around the game, and on Friday night in the bar before the convention, we hit the £16,000 vampires stretch goal.

We're into the final 48 hours, and I want to see if we can hit that final £20,000 goal, giving us the big book of locations.

Case Notes
about 6 years ago – Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 04:20:42 PM

With just under two weeks to go, and approaching four times the original funding target, I'm very happy. And more pledges will mean more stretch goals!

We're a whisker away from the stretch goal which doubles the Case Notes supplement in size and word count. To celebrate, I've added another reward goal, Case Note, where you supply a scenario hook and we work together to create a short scenario for the finished book.

Exciting times!

A Kind of Magic
about 6 years ago – Wed, Mar 14, 2018 at 06:21:23 AM

There a number of different styles of magic in Liminal, and a magician can focus on one style or learn several different styles. They are:

Blessings and Curses
Divination
Geomancy
Glamour
Necromancy
Ward Magic
Weathermonger

For this update, let us take a look at Geomancy.

Geomancy 

A geomancer is mystically attuned to an area or city. To attune, a geomancer must wander the city or landscape, taking note of landmarks and energy flows, and perhaps marking certain stones or buildings with a personal sigil. To an outsider, this process of attunement appears to be aimless wandering with occasional acts of pointless grafitti. 

A geomancer needs the geomancy trait, and can only attune to one city or area of landscape at a time. An area attuned to is no more than 10km across. When a geomancer is within their attuned area, spending Will brings extra power and extra luck; they draw power from the land as well as their own reserves. Specifically, all Will costs, whether for bonuses to skills or for magic, are reduced by one, to a minimum of one point. A geomancer can also reduce any damage to Will from a magical effect by one.

Further, a geomancer is aware of the presence and rough location of huge magical effects and otherworld gates in the attuned area. Precisely what counts as a "huge magical effect" is at the GM's discretion, and may vary depending on factors such as how much magical activity is going on in the area. A geomancer is also aware of major damage to the landscape. 

During character creation or advancement, you can spend your Trait points to do more with geomancy. 

Danger Sense (1 point) You are never surprised in combat when in your attuned area, and can always act normally. You always get a warning at the last minute when it comes to ambushes and surprise attacks, and the warning comes in sufficient time for you to shout a warning to any companions. 

My Enemies are the Land's Enemies (1 point) You can spend one Will to strike at someone you can perceive within your attuned area. The attack takes the form of falling stones or masonry, sudden sinkholes, or even in a city, a swerving car. It appears an unfortunate accident. In any case, the strike is a ranged attack using your Lore skill, and if successful inflicts d6+2 damage. 

One with the Land (1 point) The land protects you from attacks. When faced with an attack which would reduce you to 0 Endurance or Will, the land instead takes the damage for you. This erupts in the form of physical damage to the landscape or city you are attuned to. The damage breaks your attunement; you must reattune to the landscape after using this effect before you can use geomancy again. 

Sense of Eyes (1 point) Within your attuned area, you always know when you are being spied upon, whether magically or mundanely. You can make an Awareness test to catch a brief glimpse of the one spying on you. You can also spend one point of Will to know where the one spying on you is, or a point of Will to block magical spying. 

Tap Power (1 point) A geomancer who knows how to tap power can, through placement of stones, signs, and sigils, draw magic from the land. When a geomancer does this in an area they have attuned to, they gain d6 Will. This Will increase can bring a geomancer above their usual maximum, but once any Will above the usual maximum is spent, it is gone. Most geomancers spend the energy on permanent or long-term magical effects. 

Usually a geomancer can only tap power once in an area, but on certain sites, the energy flows mean a suitable building can bring more power, meaning a geomancer can tap into it once per month. Many such energy nodes are marked by neolithic stone circles, but some are the site of modern buildings. Nearly all such energy nodes in the UK are already claimed by individual practitioners or factions.

Liminal Bling
about 6 years ago – Thu, Mar 08, 2018 at 09:01:06 PM

I'm pleased to announce that we're partnering with All Rolled Up to produce exclusive Liminal branded dice trays. Here's a mock up (not the final product):

If you're interested in adding a dice tray to your Kickstarter, simply increase your pledge, and add £14 plus postage. Postage is £2.50 to the UK, and £4.00 to the rest of the world. To repeat, this item is an exclusive, only available through Kickstarter.