This is exciting because this is our second year in a row being nominated (The Bloom was up for Best Adventure - Long Form, last year).
To celebrate we’ve made the digital version of The Mall Remastered free while voting for those who want to check it out who haven’t yet.
The ENnies winners are determined by fans, and so you and your friends can cast your votes. We’d love to have you choose our little ol adventure that answers the question: What if The Thing was set in a 1990s mall?
Now we’re off to continue working on the Deluxe Edition.
PS: Since film is such an important part of Liminal Horror, I made a soundtrack for The Mall for if/when it became an HBO/Netflix miniseries. Enjoy: Spotify or Youtube.
We wanted to provide an early July update on where we are at in the Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition journey.
PRINT PROOF ORDERED
Given the size of the book (432 pages) we ordered a sample copy from our printer. This will allow us to see how layout and design translates to the page. This will help us make color, margin, and gutter adjustments to make the best product we can.
It will also allow us to determine final weight and size, which is the last piece of the puzzle for the BackerKit survey and preorder pages going up!
BACKERKIT SURVEY
We are finishing up the BackerKit survey and are just waiting on final weights to be able to get accurate shipping estimates. Once those are in we will be launching the surveys. It is important that once those go out you finalize the info! That is also where you will be able to add any additional items. Completing the survey will also allow us to start the digital fulfillment. We will be doing 2 waves (the first wave including all the previously released content, and the second wave with the new content unlocked by the campaign).
PHYSICAL COPIES OF EINFÜHLUNG
A lot of people have been wondering about being able to order a physical copy of "Einfühlung", the Haunted House Starter Scenario Zine that was unlocked during the campaign. While we unlocked the digital version of this for all backers, we didn’t hit the 150k to get everyone a free zine. Despite this, we’ll still be able to print copies and make backers able to add them to their pledges. (trust me, you won’t want to miss out)
PREORDER STORE
We will be opening up the preorder store for those who missed out on the original campaign. This will be going up when the surveys launch (it is also waiting on the weights and info from our publisher).
DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS
What's an update without a look at where we are in the dev-process.
Goblin Archives created a sample print file (all 432 pages) that includes all the already laid out portions (around 64% of the book is already laid out) and annotated to-be laid out sections (making sure everything fits within the planned space). We were able to include different design tests in order to see how they show up in print.
Josh Domanski has been finishing up the final stretch goal included adventure Cult Classic for the book. That will proceed soon to editing and layout within the final text.
Goblin Archives just finished the draft for "Einfühlung", a Haunted House Starter Adventure Zine. That will proceed soon to editing and layout into the stretch goal digital zine.
Case Files 01 is in editing and will proceed to layout soon.
The next steps for the project are
Goblin to get the rest of the text into the layout templates created by Josh so that they can do the design alterations/punch ups.
Finish laying out the supplementary zines.
Line editing
Annotating (Goblin gets to create a massive index and internal hyperlinking which he’s looking forward to with equal amounts of excitement, humility, and dread).
Josh will finish the maps for the generic locations.
It is both a lot to do and the home stretch on most of it! We will be launching another update when the preorder store and backerkit surveys launch!
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.
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:
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.
