Liminal Ark

Today we’re going to be talking about Fallout in Liminal Horror arguably THE mechanic that makes the game what it is. For those not in the know Liminal Horror is a horror tabletop RPG based on the wide wonderful ruleset of Cairn which is also based on the NSR Ur-Text Into The Odd. It’s light but with enough tricks up its sleeve to make it both fun and spooky enough for The Thing in a Mall or Control: The Megadungeon. I’ve been running Liminal Horror for years now through campaigns, one-shots, dungeon crawls, and city wide investigations. I’ve run every one of the official adventures at least twice and just wrapped up the Parthogenesis of Hungry Hollow so you could say I’m a bit of a fan. What keeps me coming back to Liminal Horror over Call of Cthulhu, Kult Divinity Lost or World of Darkness which I have immensely enjoyed in the past is the game’s defining feature, Fallout. Fallout is how the game dodges problematic tropes of “mental illness bad” found in the games above by drawing in...

Ever since reading about the Underclock on Goblin Punch I’ve been obsessed with it. A ticking time bomb always in the background of every decision made by the players that they can see and interact with in a more tangible way than any other type of random encounter. In the survival horror style game I enjoy this element of time keeping has replaced my use of one my most well worn tools in the Overloaded Encounter Die. Although still one of my favorite tools the Underclock and its ability to create tension has supplanted it for the time being in my DM toolbox. However, just like with the Overloaded Encounter Die, it does leave a lot of room to interpret, tweak, and hack to fine tune it for a specific feeling. Since my current obsession is with Amnesia The Bunker’s Stalker I thought it could be interesting to explore how we emulate being hunted down by an unstoppable beast like that using the Underclock as an ever sinking hour glass of it’s inevitable arrival. Underclock Additions And T...

Hey, long time no see. I recently had the pleasure of experiencing Amnesia The Bunker, a survival horror game set in the confines of a trench system trying to escape while a horrific creature hunts you down. With limited resources and only a single unbeatable enemy the game challenges the player to find creative solutions to manage light, sound, and even ammunition to ensure they can secure a method to escape. I had an incredible time with it and the layout and design of the experience set my brain on fire in a way I hadn’t had since playing Signalis last year. Enter The Signal. Below is a rough draft of the first level of the complex statted crudely for Mothership though I’ve used a lot of variations during my playtest leaning on the current stripped down interpretation given by Cloud Empress. Use what’s comfortable for you. The setting is during the waning years of the Great War on the Western Front in a conflict that seems without end in eastern France. With the Signal I’ve also de...

ALERT! An Incursion For Trophy Gold We interrupt our regularly scheduled broadcasts to do some self-promo. I've just released a work-in-progress version of my Trophy Gold Incursion, "Maw of the River". Please check it out, spread the word, and most of all PLAY IT! Tell me what you think, love it or hate it. This is the first thing I've ever put together myself and I'm proud of a lot of it. Returning with a normal blog post some time later this week back with Kult or Imperium Maledictum. https://theark485.itch.io/the-maw-of-the-river-trophy-gold-incursion

Mnemosyne Shaped as a fleshy hippocampus with multitudes of writhing suckers in a roiling and distended belly. Befouls bodies of water with chemical secretions that smell of adhesives and turpentine where it sleeps and dreams deeply. The creature projects an aura of deep love and compassion through its cyclopean eye luring people to its hiding place through their dreams. Embracing the Mnemosyne through its dozens of writhing mouthed tendrils allows one to enter into a world of nostalgic bliss seeing things as they were or should be while the creature secretly feeds off of their powerful emotions. People that have been fed upon become bonded to the Mnemosyne protecting it at all costs until they have been fed upon enough to be sublimated into the pool becoming nothing more than a liquified husk. Those who aren’t consumed are given purpose and the will to make their world in the dream a reality. The most faithful and devoted servants of the Mnemosyne are even given a semblance of the cre...

Health issues meant that unfortunately I'm not going to be able to keep up as is but I'm going to continue to follow this dungeon at my own pace and see where it goes. D23 lives on. So, without further ado... THE POOL A gymnasium of polished marble and concrete dominated by a large diving pool. Shining waters reflect the hazy blue light from a fathomless ceiling. Bright red diving boards creak remembering patrons from the past. Birds In The Pool 1-2 FLOCK OF FLAMINGOS (AS SMALL ANIMAL): Obnoxious and loud. Will eat anything thrown in the pool. Colored bright blue from feeding on the ethereal shrimp at the bottom of the pool. 3-4 PAIR OF GHOST SHOEBILLS (AS CRANE): A mated pair. Appear to glide over the water and make no sound unless disturbed. Their call is deafening but they are otherwise non-hostile unless provoked. Will hide at the bottom of the pool if frightened after defending themselves. 5-6 ONE GIANT CASSOWARY (AS BEAR): Highly territorial. Waits in the pool before ...

THE CONCIERGE The manager’s right hand on the first floor gifted power to lord over the guests who vexed him in life. Looks out for the interests of the hotel and its reputation over the individual desires of any guest. Exceptional manners. Useful out of spite. Attentive and petty. Desires only for you to check in, follow the rules, and check out. What’s so hard about that? HD: 6 Armor As Chain Strength Of The House: While on the 1st Floor the Concierge has several abilities granted by the Manager. Each must be invoked by configuring the esoteric clockwork gears on his wristwatch. Can teleport anywhere on the 1st floor and take anyone or anything in his grasp with him. Visitors who make themselves pests (Or at least their luggage) are often dropped in the Gullet for the house to sort out. Can lock / unlock any door on this floor or portals leading to the outside. Staircases can be made to vanish but this power does not extend to the elevator. Cannot die. If this body is slain, re...

WRAITH HOUND Carrion creatures of The Path leashed and taught to beg by the stewards of the hotel. Shaped like malefic canines with leathery cracked skin and slit-like wounds for mouths. Blind but smells fear, desperation, and weakness just as well as any bloodhound. Pack hunters whose howl isolates their prey in a labyrinth of shadows and false exits using their foreknowledge of the winding Path all around them. Feeds on blood with lashing tentacles emerging from their mouths ending in suckling proboscis’. Can be “domesticated” with a steady supply of fresh kills and companionship. HD: 2 Armor: As Leather Claws 1d6 / Proboscis 1d4 (Damage heals the Wraith Hound) THE CHASE: The howl of a Wraith Hound forces a target to make a save or else become Isolated. While Isolated, the environment becomes a winding maze of shadows and repeating corridors blinding the victim from anything happening in the outside world. All they can see are the false walls and the Wraith Hounds. While a victim ...

Birthday Party The double-doors to this room are bound in a fine red ribbon bow secured with a heft iron padlock. An envelope bound by fanciful pink string is dangling from the doorknob. Inside, is a perfume scented envelope with a short message written in a flowing cursive. The message reads, “Happy Birthday [Character Name]! Your present is inside!”. Regardless of the time before arrival any time pieces or other devices register the time and day as being their birthday down to the minute. When the door is opened gears begin to shift in the walls rhythmically like the sound of a clock ticking down. The room is the size of the other dining halls but contains only a single buffet table covered in a sheer white tablecloth with a redwood wardrobe trunk haphazardly thrown on top almost as big as the table. The trunk is secured with an array of numeric keypads made from chains and typewriter keys with a kitchen timer secured to the center ticking down. The clock will go off in a minute w...

  Trashed Ballroom Description: An opulent center piece reduced to ruin. Every wall is riddled with countless bullet holes of varying calibers. Catering tables split and splintered covering the marble floor with shrapnel. Smashed chairs covered in dried rust colored blood. All that survives is a single violet banner hanging off of a wedding arch and a grand piano who’s player remains as a translucent spirit. THE PIANIST: Plays music befitting the mood, which upon arrival is a melancholy piece fitting for the gloom but as things change or tensions fray will speed up or slow down his playing. Cannot be stopped unless banished. THE WEDDING MASSACRE At a random time throughout the day the ballroom will slowly begin to heal itself. The arbor will regrow its branches, the chairs will mend, the feast will be remade. Spirits of the former wedding occupants (and their assailants) will return and perform their last moments once more ending with the bullet ridden massacre. The emotions he...

  Supernaturally talented performers who wear the guise of an attractive humanoid in order to protect themselves and feed their appetite for flesh. Their song is intoxicating causing those under its spell to become devoted entirely to the wants and needs of the Siren even if it means sacrificing themselves to protect their façade to authorities. If desperate, the Siren will eat the flesh of their servants but if given time or opportunity prefers to devour the lonely most of all. They will use their guile and mystique to isolate prospective morsels from family or friends before sinking in their teeth which can put victims into a dreamless sleep where they await the Sirens last gift. Siren’s Song: Creatures who can hear the Chanteuse Siren’s Song must make a save or become Beguiled. While Beguiled by the Siren must obey their every word until dismissed. The spell lasts for 24 hours unless renewed by listening to the song again. An hour before the curse ends the victim will do anyth...

  Adjunct Lavatories Description: A narrow L-shaped hall with three sets of double-doors marked “Ladies”, “Gents”, and Maintenance. The Maintenance doors are secured by iron chains that zig zag across with dozens of padlocks of various metals and designs. Well-lit. Portraits of fountains, waterfalls, and other natural scenery. GENTS There is a 50% chance when the characters arrive that the facilities are currently being cleaned by the SLIME JANITOR otherwise it’s just a fancy bathroom. LADIES A woman can be seen from underneath one of the stalls but if the door is knocked on there will be no response. When the characters leave, a loud bang will be heard, and the stall doors will all flail open with the sinks switched on, but there will be no-one there. MAINTENANCE ROOM Heavy iron shelves filled with various cleaning supplies and replacement parts for the toilets and sinks along with a giant gaping hole in the center of the floor. The walls of the hole are slick with some kin...