CREATING HORRORS

Horrors is the term we use for the “monsters” within our system. The term really encapsulates that while there may be something horrific or strange about these entities, they are not all inherently violent or mindless. Horror denotes a level of complexity while still standing firmly in the weird, strange, and scary when compared to normal life.

Support in utlizing your own bestiary for Liminal Horror is split into two parts:

The first will be about How To Make Your Own Horrors for your scenarios. Remember that Horrors are the crux point of the strange within your scenario and set the theme and motifs that you’ll use throughout your design. They’ll impact the Fallout used, how normal spaces are twisted, and how NPCs relate to them and the world. Horrors set the specific tone for your scenario.
The second part is some example Horrors. We have included some Horrors With An Open License that you can include in your scenarios. We’ve opened their license in hopes that some will use them to make scenarios. This section will be a living document, with us adding Horrors continually.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN HORROR

Note: The Deluxe Edition has a lot of advice in this area, with much of the Facilitator’s guide focusing on it. Some pages that may be of interest are:

[INDEX]

TYPES OF HORRORS

We created a category system for the Horrors within our system setting. You are more than welcome to use these categorizations for your own Horrors, or fully eschew them for your own classifications.

Lesser Horrors: Minor threats, more commons in number, that serve more powerful entities. These are horrors that are made, many of which were once human.
Greater Horrors: Powerful beings that have found their way into our world. These are major threats that seek power upon the material plane.
Resonant Horrors: Manifestations of energies and entities from other planes of existence.
Ritual Users: Humans that have gained access to rituals through dread means. Some enter into pacts while others have transcended mortality.
Dead Gods: Vestiges of powerful beings that still have a foothold on this plane.

CREATING HORRORS

Memorable horror is often defined by the monsters that lurk just outside of frame. The following section details how to create your own creatures or monstrous NPCs to haunt and stalk the Investigators.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Attributes: These have a baseline of 10, and can be considered as such if not directly noted. Beyond that, 3 is deficient, 6 is weak, 14 is noteworthy, and 18 is legendary. Only god-like entities have Attributes above 18, but at that point numbers don’t really matter.
Hit Protection: HP is not a measure of Hit Points. It’s the ability to avoid serious harm, which includes skill, luck, drive, and resilience. 3 HP is average, 6 HP is sturdy, and 10+ HP is a serious threat.
Armor: This acts as physical resilience. The typical range is from 0 to 3. An entity can have armor that exceeds 3, but there may be other ways to represent the intended purpose of the exceedance through resistances granted by special abilities.
Stability: This acts as psychological resilience. The typical range is from 0 to 2. You generally won’t need to worry about this for adversarial entities, as the Investigators only deal Stress in rare instances, but it may be useful for NPCs that run the risk of encounters with the horrors.
Damage: Use d6 as the baseline damage for conventional and improvised weapons, including natural weapons such as claws and sharp teeth. Scale as needed, with d4 for unarmed attacks, d8 for two-handed or modified weapons, and d10 for specialized weapons or particularly brutal attacks. Damage of d12+ should generally be reserved for Enhanced attacks.
Stress: Particularly weird creatures or those that would try to corrupt or infect the Investigators should have an ability or attack that deals Stress. This is the primary way to threaten the Investigators with permanent change through Fallout. Use d6 Stress as the baseline and scale accordingly.
Special Abilities: Entities may also have abilities that trigger when dealing Critical Damage to an Investigator. While these will often be particular types of Wounds that are inflicted, they may also be additional actions taken by the Horror to leverage their advantage. The horrors may also have special abilities that trigger when they take Critical Damage, causing a physical or behavioral change instead of falling out of combat.
Reinforcements: While abilities that simply deal damage are fine, there are other ways to threaten the Investigators, such as summoning allies or changing the environment.
Rituals: These are a good source of abilities, either directly as a Ritual or just as a natural ability. Note that horrors don’t take Stress for their use in the same manner as the Investigators.
Evocative Details: Above all, the numbers behind these entities aren’t going to be the things your players remember. A flavorful and stylish creature will often be much more effective at the table than one that is simply mechanically complex.

CHEAT SHEET

Is this entity able to avoid being hit or avoid serious harm? Boost its HP.
Can it soak up damage? Give it Armor.
Is it physically powerful or especially vicious? Give it a high STR or larger damage dice.
Does it have quick reflexes? Give it high DEX.
Is it particularly weird? Give it high CTRL or ability to deal Stress.

BASIC HORROR TEMPLATES

Presented below are four basic stat blocks that represent common types of horrors the Investigators may encounter. Use them as a template to aid in getting started and for the purpose of comparison, then expand upon them to make your creatures unique.

GRUNT
Small or weak entities that pose a limited threat when alone, but quickly become dangerous when amassed in groups.
STR: 8 DEX: 6 CTRL: 3
HP: 6
Weak or Unarmed Attack: d4

BRUTE
Strong entities or those with natural resistances. Typically a challenge when alone or in pairs, and are often supported by several Grunts.
STR: 14 DEX: 10 CTRL: 8
HP: 8 Armor: 2
Weapon Attack (d8) or Area Attack (d6, blast)

Special Ability: Either a devastating ability that triggers upon dealing Critical Damage, or a behavioral change when receiving Critical Stress.

GHOUL
Entities that are physically weak, but have dangerous and powerful abilities. While dangerous on their own, they are a serious threat when paired with Grunts or Brutes.
STR: 8 DEX: 12 CTRL: 14
HP: 4 Armor: 1
Weapon Attack (d6) or Corrupting Attack (d6 Stress)

Special Ability: An ability that causes corruption, hits multiple targets, or changes the environment in some manner.
Special Ability: An ability that either enhances its allies or creates new horrors.

TYRANT
Near unstoppable killing machines, where running away is the best option and open engagement is quickly deadly.
STR: 16 DEX: 6 CTRL: 16
HP: 12 Armor: 3
Weapon Attack (d8) or Area Attack (d10, blast)

Special Ability: Either a devastating ability that triggers upon dealing Critical Damage.
Special Ability: An ability that impacts how the creature moves, allowing it to ambush or get the drop on its targets.
Special Ability: An ability that provides an enhancement.
Special Ability: A specific physical change it undergoes when receiving Critical Damage.

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