PLAYER PRINCIPLES

Principles are the basic guidelines for playing Liminal Horror. They will often drive play more directly than the core mechanics. Return here when you’re indecisive about what to do next during play.

AGENCY

• The numbers on the character sheet act as tools to mechanically engage with the game. They do not define the character.
• Use how a character has grown to inform play.
• Lean into the weird and unknown.

TEAMWORK

• Work to support others at the table.
• Elicit interaction from other players.
• Investigators don’t always have to be aligned, but players should be aiming toward the same goal of memorable stories of horror and fun interactions with friends.

TALKING

• Non-player characters (NPCs) have drives and flaws. Interact with them as if they are real people.
• Build relationships, engage with rivals, and invest in the NPCs.
• Information and positive outcomes can often be achieved through dialogue, but sometimes a cultist’s communion requires an offering of blood and bone.

CAUTION

• Fighting is risky, and the consequences of violence are long-lasting.
• Use tools, knowledge, and the environment to gain every advantage. Preparation can stave off certain doom.
• Victory comes in many forms, and often it is a successful retreat.

PLANNING

• Ask questions.
• There is no “perception” or “intelligence” attribute. Engaging with the world hinges on using the information provided.
• Reconnaissance, subtlety, and fact-finding are necessary for survival.

Ambition

• Discover the drives and goals for you as a player, your character, and the team. Use those to inform play.
• Try and fail forward. An engaging story is infinitely more interesting and memorable than simple successes.
• It is the complications and resulting actions that we remember afterward.
• Characters die, but the story will continue.
• Play to find out what happens.