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Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition

Created by Space Penguin Ink LLC

Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition is the definitive edition of the world's greatest horror rpg.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

CAMPAIGN COMPLETE!!! THANK YOU!!!
11 months ago – Thu, May 15, 2025 at 12:04:15 PM

Liminal Horror community, all of us of the LH dev team want to thank you for your support through this process. This was a first crowdfund for us of this size (not for Space Penguin though, haha) and to see the excitement and engagement has been truly humbling. We really believe in this community and supporting this game, and having you all along for the ride during this next phase is truly special.

So to summarize:
Each backer is getting the Deluxe Edition (either pdf or physical based on your backer level). This is being designed to truly be the ultimate horror RPG toolkit. There is going to be something for everyone in this bad boy and honestly it will make waves when it releases to the wider public.

We unlocked three adventures for the book, a ribbon, a pdf bundle of all the official LH releases, Case Files 01 our new semiannual publication full of rules/adventures/supplements (a free pdf or physical copy based on your backing level), and a pdf copy of our new Haunted House Starter Adventure.

So what’s next:
LAYOUT UPDATE
One of the goals for the dev team was to have the manuscript ready by the launch time. We wanted to be prepared as possible and be able to really devote the post campaign time to the nuances of building the book. For the most part we hit that goal. Of course there are a few bits left to polish up (and some additions that get revealed during layout) but this has really allowed us to keep momentum on the text/book.

One of the key portions is that Josh has been building templates for each of the sections. This allows us to create a unified design for each section that is clean and usable both in print and digitally. The process has been that I (Goblin) have been putting the sections into a draft layout that Josh will then go back through and do a final tinkering/design pass on. It lets them devote their pass to more of the minutia while I work on getting the bulk of the pieces in place.

As of today I (Goblin Archives) have completed the draft layouts for the two largest sections in the book: The Catalog of the Strange (130 pages) and the Haunted Pacific Northwest (71 pages but still has one adventure, Cult Classic, left to go into layout).


Thumbnails for the Catalog of the Strange Draft Layout



Thumbnails for the Haunted Pacific Northwest Draft Layout


As for whats left to do:
- Layout on Investigators Guide, Facilitators Guide, Appendices
- Final design tweaks and flourishes.
- Josh gets to finish making all the Generic Location Maps!!!
- Final edit pass
- Annotating and hyperlinking
- Indexing
- Layout and finishing of Case Files 01
- Finish the last bits of Einfühlung, then go into layout and finishing up.

There's definitely work left to do, but we've been making good progress, and as summer starts there then is more time to dedicate to some of these pieces. Our timelines were super intentional and we aimed to be very realistic with our own pacing. And we have the benefit of being a pretty well oiled team which helps immensely.


While you wait:
The quick start rules for Liminal Horror are ready and available right now both on itch.io and on the Liminal Horror website.

You can also look and see the hundreds of releases from the community on the Liminal Horror Library.

A new STARTER ADVENTURE unlocked/ Last 24 hours!
11 months ago – Wed, May 14, 2025 at 08:04:10 AM

We did it! We've unlocked "Einfühlung", a Haunted House Starter Adventure. Since we broke $120,000 every backer gets a pdf of a new adventure written by Josh Domanski and Goblin Archives. Also, we're in our last 24 hours, so if you haven't backed, now is the time!  

If you haven't backed, now is the perfect time to jump on as you get so much (whether you are a digital only backer for $20 or a physical backer).


This new starter adventure will take a party through a few modes of play, investigating a strange occurrence and then hitting a point where everything breaks bad/strange. Inspired by the greats in the starter adventure space (Troika’s Blancmange & Thistle, Mörk Borg’s Rotblack Sludge, and Mothership’s Another Bug Hunt) we wanted to present something that would be easy to onboard players and facilitators to modern horror. A good starter adventure introduces the themes of the game, while also injecting advice into the module. It's a self contained package that helps ease players/facilitators into this style of game.

The framing: A famous  artist has gone missing (who also happens to have some worrying connections to The Church of Celestial Science). As the Investigators search for their whereabouts they journey through the artist's home, which is filled with strange and sometimes upsetting pieces of art that seem almost otherworldly. Can the new party figure out what happened to the artist while also being able to make it out of the house alive?

What's left to unlock?

  • At $150,000 we unlock a physical release of Einfühlung, meaning every physical backer will get a printed zine alongside their other rewards.
  • At $180,000 we unlock the digital release of The Bureau: Remastered. An updated release of the classic Liminal Horror Module.
  • At $210,000 we unlock a physical release of The Bureau: Remastered, meaning every physical backer will get a printed zine alongside their other rewards.

For BACKERS... heres a preview at two new images for Dead Gods that Zach whipped up for the book:

Final 2 days left to back!
11 months ago – Tue, May 13, 2025 at 06:29:24 AM

Or why now is the perfect time to lend your support...

Crowdfunding is going on until May 15, 2025 at 10:00 AM PDT. https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/space-penguin-ink/liminal-horror-deluxe-edition

As we near the finish line we wanted to highlight all the things you are getting by backing the Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition (and what things we may be able to unlock right before we cross that finish line).

Deluxe Edition

This is the main event of course, and is the major draw for the campaign. We aimed to create the ultimate horror rpg toolkit and I can confidently say we delivered in that regard. In the book we have:
  • The Investigators Guide (the core rules, expanded since we have the space and with the new addition of Rituals, our revamped magic system).
  • Facilitator Guide (a collection of essays, tools, procedures aimed at helping Facilitators run and create for Liminal Horror).
  • Catalog of the Strange (our take on a bestiary, this 130 page chapter catalogs the different factions, cults, horrors, magic items, and weird NPCs for your Liminal Horror games).
  • The Haunted Pacific Northwest (a campaign framework that ties the different modules together and gives you locations and investigation threads to help create campaigns with).
  • Appendices (a collection of 20 appendices that include optional rules, expanded resources, supplements, tables, reference aides and tools to help you when running and planning your games. This includes the Generic Locations appendix that has modern day maps keyed and ready to go).

What you get when you back in addition to the Deluxe Edition

We wanted to design all the stretch goals to really support you bringing Liminal Horror to the table, so each stretch goal and offering had optimizing the value for backers in mind. For $20 you can back the digital only tier and get digital copies of all the good stuff!
  • Three adventures have been unlocked for the main book: We blew through the first set of stretch goals and so we were able to unlock all the planned adventures we wanted to put into the book. 
    • Camp Coldwater: Our take on a summer camp slasher, this prequel adventure sets up The Bloom as you play campers trying to survive the night as a fungal flesh hydra consumes and integrates your friends. 
    • Cult Classic: A social/party adventure that has the party infiltrate a film premier party at the home of a famous director that also happens to be in The Cult of Celestial Science (in hopes of locating a missing actress. Can you find her and save her from whatever doomed fate this cult has planned for her?
    • Silent Street Station: This is a fun one as it is written to leverage the funnel rules presented in the book. It also shows how the generic locations can be used to create an adventure. Panopticon (an evil megacorp) has had one of their experiments get out, and now the resonant dead are infecting and spreading their way through a subway system (that you all happen to trapped in).
  • Case Files 01 was unlocked! This means digital backers get the pdf, and physical backers get a zine added to their bundle at no extra cost. Case Files is our version of Carcass Crawler (for OSE), a semiannual zine that collects addition content and short adventures. Case Files 01 includes:
    • Two Adventures: Recursive Transit (a time loop adventure on a train that has been expanded and with added LH rules and content) alongside the phenomenal Zach Hazard adventure The Chair. 
    • Documentary Mode (a new setup and rules for having the investigators be a documentary crew).
    • Some new Horrors for your games.
    • More Rituals (our take on magic).
  • PDF Adventure Bundle Unlocked! This means every backer gets digital pdf copies of all the official modules. So alongside the deluxe edition and case files they get The Bloom, The Mall, The Bureau, One Night at the Shelterwood Inn, and The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow.

So for as little as $20 (digital backing) you will the deluxe edition alongside of six zines/books full of adventure content. When you pair that with the almost 250 items on the Liminal Horror Library, you'll never run out of modern horror to play. 

But what else can we unlock?

One of the really cool things is that in these last few days we have saved some of the best stretch goals, just in case we are able to hit those marks. 
  • "Einfühlung", a Haunted House Starter Adventure: At $120k we will unlock the pdf for everyone, and $150k we will include a printed zine for all physical backers. This new starter adventure will take a party through a few modes of play, investigating a strange occurrence and then hitting a point where everything breaks bad. The framing is a missing artist who's home is filled with strange and sometimes upsetting pieces of art that seem almost otherworldly. Can the new party figure out what happened to the artist while also being able to make it out of the house alive?
  • The Bureau Remastered: At $180k we will unlock the pdf for everyone, and $210k we will include a printed zine for all physical backers. This Remaster looks to bring The Bureau back into print, giving it some updates that mirror those done in The Mall Remastered. We will be adding some pages of content, updating some of the procedures, and expanding on some areas in the original zine. 

We're excited to bring this to the community (both old and new members) and really believe this is something special. We are deep in the layout for the pdf/book, and are putting the finishing touches on a few of the stretch goals. We launched this campaign with the text complete and through editing, and have been super excited about how it is all coming together. 

We wanted to make sure that no matter what level you back, you will be getting a ton of content for your horror tables. 

Crowdfunding is going on until May 15, 2025 at 10:00 AM PDT. https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/space-penguin-ink/liminal-horror-deluxe-edition

5 days left...layout update, podcasts, and a CULTS preview!
11 months ago – Sat, May 10, 2025 at 07:14:45 AM

We're in the final stretch of the campaign! If you haven't backed yet you definitely don't want to miss out (here's a link for a quick jump to the Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition main page).

The next set of stretch goals is in sight: "Einfühlung", a Haunted House Starter Adventure (PDF $120,000 / physical zine $150,000). When we hit the $120k stretch goal that means all backers (even the $20 digital only tier) are going to get the pdfs for The Deluxe Edition, Investigators, Case Files 01, Einfühlung, The Mall Remastered, The Bureau (original), One Night at the Shelterwood Inn, The Bloom and The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow. 

And if we're honest, I can definitely see a world where we unlock The Bureau Remastered (which is an update of the original zine with some added content, procedures, and goodies). So if you're thinking of backing, or if you know someone who is (or if you just want to share the campaign), now's the time!

But on to the main events:
1. Layout Update 
2. Podcasts 
3. Cults Preview

LAYOUT UPDATE

One of the goals for the dev team was to have the manuscript ready by the launch time. We wanted to be prepared as possible and be able to really devote the post campaign time to the nuances of building the book. For the most part we hit that goal. Of course there are a few bits left to polish up (and some additions that get revealed during layout) but this has really allowed us to keep momentum on the text/book.

One of the key portions is that Josh has been building templates for each of the sections. This allows us to create a unified design for each section that is clean and usable both in print and digitally. The process has been that I (Goblin) have been putting the sections into a draft layout that Josh will then go back through and do a final tinkering/design pass on. It lets them devote their pass to more of the minutia while I work on getting the bulk of the pieces in place.

As of today I have completed the draft layouts for the two largest sections in the book: The Catalog of the Strange (130 pages) and the Haunted Pacific Northwest (71 pages but still has one adventure, Cult Classic, left to go into layout).





As for whats left to do:
- Layout on Investigators Guide, Facilitators Guide, Appendices
- Final design tweaks and flourishes.
- Josh gets to finish making all the Generic Location Maps!!!
- Final edit pass
- Annotating and hyperlinking
- Indexing
- Layout and finishing of Case Files 01 
- If we unlock it, finish the last bits of Einfühlung, then go into layout and finishing up.

There's definitely work left to do, but we've been making good progress, and as summer starts there then is more time to dedicate to some of these pieces. Our timelines were super intentional and we aimed to be very realistic with our own pacing. And we have the benefit of being a pretty well oiled team which helps immensely. 


PODCASTS

If you're into podcasts, we've been featured on a few as of late!

THE LOST BAY PODCAST
The most recent was on The Lost Bay Podcast for a two-part interview that Iko so kindly called A Liminal Horror Masterclass.
PART 1: 
PART 2

THE WEEKLY SCROLL PODCAST
Josh hopped onto The Weekly Scroll to do a deep dive presentation on the Deluxe Edition. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0YSLrHZ0Iw&ab_channel=TheWeeklyScroll

VINTAGE RPG PODCAST
I had the pleasure of popping on to The Vintage RPG podcast to talk about the Deluxe Edition:
https://www.vintagerpg.com/2025/03/liminal-horror-2/

Josh was also interviewed by the amazing Mario | La Esquina del Rol https://www.laesquinadelrol.com/joshdomanski/



CULTS

We couldn't do modern horror without including a section on cults. These groups are presented on a smaller scale than factions, but are still major players in the world of Liminal Horror.

WHAT IS A CULT IN LIMINAL HORROR?
Cults are relatively small human organizations bound together by strange beliefs that strive to access terrible powers. Their unorthodox practices are generally religious or spiritual in nature, though some practice an extreme devotion to the arts and sciences. What sets cults apart from other organizations in their fanaticism and the lengths they go to complete their goals. While some cults are relatively harmless, it is often those with more esoteric goals that pose a threat to all around them.

Presented in the text is advice on using cults, creating your own, hierarchies, rituals, rites and sacrements. And of course, a generic cult stat block:
CULTIST
STR: 11 DEX: 10 CTRL: 8
HP: 4
Dagger (d6) or Gun (d6)
  • Rituals: There is a 1-in-6 chance that a cultist has access to Rituals (p. X) granted by their specific communion.
  • Devout: Something about the teaching of the cult has drawn the cultist in, and so they give of themselves completely.
  • Safety in Numbers: Cultists are rarely alone, as power is derived in number, and it is hard to waver if always with another.

Each of the cults in this section include a description, notable members, a cult specific rite they are trying to complete, known rituals, and assets or entanglements that act as hooks for your game.

Lets take a look at one of the cults you can encounter within the Deluxe Edition (both in the Catalog of the Strange and in the Haunted Pacific NW):

CHURCH OF THE DIVINE MUTILATION

A group of individuals that shed their flesh in order to prepare their body of integration in the “Divine Machine”. The construction of their “Divine Machine” is their main focus. Ritual self-mutilation is required to attain higher status within the cult.

And a special treat for backers below...a look at the Cult Generator

$100k Stretch Goal Unlocked! What's Next?
11 months ago – Mon, May 05, 2025 at 09:44:31 AM



We've unlocked the $100,000 stretch goal that allows each and ever backer to receive the PDF Adventure Bundle!

This means that each and every person who has backed will get PDFs for the entire official Liminal Horror catalog! This means that along with the digital campaign releases (The Deluxe Edition, Investigators Edition and Case Files 01), each backer is going to get a digital copy of The Bloom, The Mall, The Bureau, One Night at the Shelterwood Inn, and The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow.

 

WHAT'S ON THE HORIZON IN REGARDS TO STRETCH GOALS?

Looking forward at the final stretch of the BackerKit campaign, we have some pretty killer stretch goals left that I think everyone is going to want.


"Einfühlung", a Haunted House Starter Adventure PDF ($120,000)

Still not sure where to start? This brand-new haunted house adventure by series creators Josh Domanski and Goblin Archives is designed to ease new Investigators and Facilitators into the LIMINAL HORROR experience.

"Einfühlung", a Haunted House Starter Adventure Zine ($150,000)

But why stop there? Add "Einfühlung" to your LIMINAL HORROR shelf at no extra charge, just for being part of the movement. For all physical reward tier backers.




"The Bureau Remastered" PDF ($180,000)

If you liked what we did with The Mall Remastered, you're gonna love what we do with this. An all-new revision of the 2022 adventure module, The Bureau Remastered puts your Investigators deep in the labyrinthine headquarters of The Bureau in the midst of an extradimensional crisis. A fan favorite! 

"The Bureau Remastered" Zine ($210,000)

As above, so below: all physical reward tier backers will receive The Bureau Remastered as a softcover zine, the first time this particular product has seen print. 

IS THAT ALL OF THEM?

Trust me when I say that Josh and I always have something cooking, and if we blow past these remaining stretch goals we may have something in the hopper to pull out for you all.

And we have some cool updates planned coming up so stay tuned!