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Liminal RPG: Pax Londinium and Case Book reprints

Created by Paul Mitchener

This is the pre-order for reprints of: Pax Londinium - a guide to London in the Liminal world by Neil Gow. Learn the secret of why some taxi drivers do not go south of the river! 96 pages, hardback The Liminal Casebook - a collection of 14 cases for Liminal, including 5 which can only be found in this book! At 200 pages, the biggest Liminal supplement yet! You will receive any PDFs as soon as you have ordered and funds are processed.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

The Council of Merlin
about 8 years ago – Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 01:22:26 PM

It's absurd to call us sexist. Women are allowed to be full members of the Council, even entry to our London clubhouse, since the year 2,000. The reason we do not have more members of the fairer sex, I suspect, is that most ladies do not wish to join us. They are either inferior magicians or prefer doing their own thing.
As for the wealth requirements, they are merely a way to assure that a magician who joins us fully is not driven by a vulgar desire to enrich themselves. 

-Augustus Gilbert, official archivist of the Council of Merlin 

About the Council

The Council of Merlin is an exclusive gentleman's club of rich magicians (and most members are gentlemen rather than ladies) with attitudes to class, wealth, and Britain which go back to at least the 19th century. The organisation is in fact much older than that, and the rump of what was once a very powerful group. The Council of Merlin still has influence with traditionally-minded factions such as the Sodality of the Crown and the Fae courts. 

Some individual members of the Council of Merlin have worked with P Division, but the group as a whole does not consider P Division particularly worthy of note. The ancient remit of the Council of Merlin is to keep Britain safe from magicians outside the Council, and to prevent members of the Council from feuding with each-other. Some see the role of the Council of Merlin as keeping Britain safe from foreign magicians, and there is an undercurrent of xenophobia in the society.
 

History 

The Council of Merlin dates back to just after the end of Roman rule in the province of Britannia. It formed to advise and provide magical aid to rulers, to unify the country, and keep it safe from invasion. Only the magicians of noblest character were permitted to be part of this endeavour.

Over its 1,600 year history, the Council's success has been mixed. The Saxons did conquer most of England early in the Council's history, but the Council eventually accepted these new rulers, and helped them in turn to keep one corner of the country, Wessex, safe from Viking invaders and their magicians. They then helped the descendents of King Alfred the Great unify the country, but the society fell from grace and power, and were unable to do anything to influence England after that, or even keep it safe from the Norman Conquest. 

In Norman England, the Council of Merlin introduced a new rule under which they would protect England from foreign magicians, but would not involve themselves in mundane politics and the power games of the nobility. They regained some influence in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and guarded the coasts from the Spanish Armada landing, but that was their last time of greatness.

A few magicians assisted during the Napoleonic Wars, but the Council of Merlin stayed aloof from the First World War. During the start of the Second World War, the Council increased its membership to over a hundred magicians, and even conscripted magicians to fight the Nazi threat. The Council of Merlin was genuinely effective in fighting German and Italian occultists, even recruiting a few who turned against the Axis powers, but by the end of the war, only nine members of the Council of Merlin remained alive. 

After the war, the Council of Merlin achieved its modern form, and the official rules of the Council and membership requirements have not changed since 1950. 

Organisation 

The Council of Merlin now has just 18 full members. There are a few dozen associate members, academic magicians who have access to facilities, and were usually trained in magic by someone in the Council. Most members view the Council's low numbers not as limiting its actions, but a sign of its prestige and exclusivity. 

Applying to join the Council of Merlin requires two sponsors within the Council, and a single payment of £500,000 to the Council. The application is accepted if nobody within the Council of Merlin declares their opposition to the new member. If there is opposition, the joining fee is not refunded. Some in the Council suggest the joining fee and its non-refundable nature ensures that nobody within the Council is driven by money. Of course, the reality is that it ensures that all full members of the Council of Merlin are extremely rich. 

Full membership is as much a matter of prestige within the magical community as it is of practical benefit, though some see the role as supporting their fellow magicians in the UK.All members of the Council of Merlin can access any records, libraries of arcane lore, and borrow magical items within the libraries. 

The Council's main base is in Winchester, but it has a small secret College in Oxford, and club houses in Belfast, Glasgow, and London. These club houses provide accommodation for visiting members of the Council, and some magical resources. 

Six members of the Council of Merlin make up the Inner Circle. A new Inner Circle member is selected by unanimous agreement of magicians already within the Inner Circle. Inner Circle members are preside over duels and disputes between magicians in the Council. 

A majority vote of Inner Circle members can make or break formal alliances made by the Council, and see individuals expelled from the Council, or name a magician an Enemy of Merlin. Unanimous agreement by the Inner Circle is needed to change any of the formal rules of the Council of Merlin.

More art!
about 8 years ago – Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 01:20:24 PM

As we're over $20,000 (US) and with over 500 backers (wow, thanks everyone), I thought it was time to show off some more of Jason Behnke's art that will appear in the book. Enjoy!

 

 

Crews and More Art
about 8 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.

 .

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 8 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 8 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!