The Bureau is a government organization tasked with controlling the paranatural.
Actions
Contain and control any paranatural threats. Dimensional bleeds, planar anomalies, noneuclidian mathematical incursions, monsters and “magic” all fall in the operational domain of The Bureau.
Given their unorthodox and wide purview, and an operations budget of [redacted] means they can apply whatever scope and scale Director [redacted] deems necessary.
Their primary directive(since 19xx), is to safeguard, control access too, and protect all information related to the paranatural. This goal supersedes common rights of everyday citizens.
Base
The Bureau’s main headquarters is The Monolith (see page 8 of The Bureau: Operation Manual for unredacted details).
The Bureau often maintains satellite offices, black sites, as well as operations outposts. Given the extensive powers granted by the Privacy Act of 1974 (Pub.L. 93-579, 88 1974, 5 U.S.C 552a) The Bureau is authorized to commandeer local police resources as deemed necessary .
Organizational Structure
Administrative
Human Resources
Maintenance
Support
Analysis
Research & Development
Operations
Asset Recovery
Field Operatives
Containment
Divers
Methods
Extensive budget and scope allows for a wide range of methodology.
Often in horror/paranormal media there are shadowy government organizations that either involved in some capacity. They either directly come in conflict with the players & events of the story or are waiting in the wings to negatively influence events.
Having such a faction can introduce another variable and antagonist that is tangential to the weird. The humans involved may be temporary allies, but their presence creates a new complication since their motives of extermination & containment often fall at odds with the players’ continued survival.
Similar organizations in media:
Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense from B.P.R.D.
In this panel, Stella Joy (Rimbound Transmissions for Mothership), Logan Dean (The Company), Sean McCoy (Mothership), and Goblin Archives (Liminal Horror) discuss how architecture can play a pivotal part in horror (especially in ttrpgs).
There is also an accompanying thread that annotates the different references throughout the talk (it includes visuals, links, and timestamps).
In true Goblin Archivist fashion needed to annotate the talk.
I kept from going too granular and instead compiled easy linked references to the things we mention.
Appendix: The addition of [Descriptive]+[Mechanical] tags provides a modular option to boost the potential complexity for items used in play.
Descriptive Tags: The tag’s name acts as a narrative clue that can be leveraged in fiction. [Descriptive] tags can be implemented on their own and their use can be made as rulings at the table.
Mechanical Tags: These [Mechanical] tags pair with their [Descriptive] counterpart to add a prescriptive rules. They provide explicit mechanical implication for use during play.
Using in play: Tags can be added to items to modify how they are used. Not every item needs a tag. Tags can be added to make an item unique. Facilitators have the option to use only the [Descriptive] tags and omit the [Mechanical] rules text in favor of rulings during play.
Tags
[Descriptive]
[Mechanical]
Acid
A caustic liquid that burns through stuff. Causes persistent damage until removed.
Blast
An attack that hits everything in a target area with damage rolled separately for each affected.
Bleed
Damage beyond HP triggers a Save. On a failure, the victim takes 1d4 damage at the end of scene.
Brutal
Roll damage at advantage. Using this item causes 1 Stress to the wielder.
Bulky
Bulky items take two slots and are awkward or require two hands.
Complex
Causes DEX saves to be made at disadvantage.
Dangerous
Damage is Enhanced (d12) but the weilder must make a save or take the damage as well.
Debilitating
Damage beyond HP is divided (rounded up) between DEX and STR.
Deteriorating
After each use, make a CTRL save. Failure runs the risk of breaking or reduciton in usefulness.
Discreet
Easy to hide. Often overlooked.
Distressing
Using this item causes others to take 1 Stress.
Expensive
Flashy, hard to replace.
Limited
Has a finite number of uses.
Loud
Everyone in the nearby vicinity can hear its use.
Messy
Creates a mess (blood, bone, vicera). Witnessing causes 1 Stress.
Non-Lethal
Targets DEX after HP.
Perilous
Has the potential to cause those who carry it to be Deprived
Piercing
Ignores Armor and goes straight to STR.
Poison
Damage beyond HP triggers a Save. On a failure, the victim takes 1d4 damage to DEX at the end of scene.
Potent
Rolls using this item are made at Advantage.
Quick
If using this, go first (if speed is a factor).
Silent
This item can be used without a sound.
Slow
If using this, go last (if speed is a factor).
Substandard
Less effective than its normal counterparts.
Tiring
Failure while using this item causes a level of Fatigue.
Unreliable
Failure while using this item causes it to become unsuable for the rest of the session.
Unstable
Runs the risk of expolding/detonating/going off.
Unwieldy
Difficult to move quickly, quietly, or in tight spaces.
Valuable
Worth a lot of money, highly coveted.
Notes:
Advantage = Roll dice twice and take the better result.
Disadvantage = Roll dice twice and take the worse result.
Failure when using a Weapon is when your damage dice results in a 1.
Appendix T: Measurements of time are often abstracted in games, sometimes to the point of not being explicitly mentioned in the text.
With investigation/mystery style games, it can be important for the players to have time between events.
The PCs sit in the diner, drinking what has seemed like the same cup of coffee for the past week. It’s gone as cold as the trail. Progress had stagnated.
Sometimes the problems need time to gestate and grow.
Giving a larger scale of time can help prevent a mad dash of events. Variation in timescale is important, and not every sequence of events needs to be crammed into a single in-game night. Sometimes the evil needs to fester, and filling the spaces in between events of normality can make the horror hit even harder.
In order to do this, integrating explicit procedures can help scale the action in a way that supports progression.
Phases & Actions
Create distinct phases of time: Morning / Afternoon / Night
Actions: Have the number of actions the characters take limited to 1-2 per phase. This keeps the procedure manageable by generalizing the length of time for actions.
Reinforcing through in-world cues: Leverage narrating daily rituals to help frame the movement of time (focusing on what the characters eat for their meals, etc).
Timeframes: This structure allows you to influence encounters based on what phase of time it is.
Zooming Out
Zooming out from the immediate action and moving through time (days, even weeks) can help give space for the story to progress. Not every moment of the PCs lives need to be played out at the table.
This also helps you focus on the normality of the world around the characters (provides a foil for the horrifyingly weird to juxtapose with).
Downtime: Depending on the measurement of time you fast forward, have each player give details about what they did over during that time (go to work, visit friends, try to heal, etc).
Clues: During these sequences the Facilitator has the opportunity to make seeds planted earlier in the session come to fruition (a contact reaches out, a puzzle piece final clicks into place, etc)
DOOM Clocks & Factions
DOOM: Adding specific time scales to the DOOM clock is another means of establish scale of time for the narrative. Extending the timeframe between steps of the DOOM clock can help trigger moments where you would zoom out between major events.
Factions: Using a larger time scale can mean that different variables in play, especially faction drives, have the space to interact and ripple through the world.
Further Reading
Calendars, Not Just Maps by Prismatic Wasteland is a fantastic blog entry about how to use time as a major factor in an adventure (and sums up why I structure the DOOM clock as a timeline).
Fear of a Black Dragon: Convergence by Jason Cordova and Tom (procupinerpg) inspired this Appendix entry with their conversation around timelines, breaking into phases, and sitting in coffee shops with nary a lead in sight.
The possibilities are endless, ever fracturing from this point into infinite iterations.
These beings are physical manifestations of other realities, where divergent decisions create warped versions of the PCs.
The cause of these incursions is unclear, but these ghosts of another present have been given flesh.
Can you kill a being that looks and thinks like you?
Drives: Each “ghost’s” drive is unique to their circumstance (and lived experiences). The closer they are to the PC’s reality, the easier it is to understand each other.
Critical Damage: Seeing the “ghost” take critical damage causes 1-2 Stress to the PC. Causing that damage themselves causes 1d6 Stress.
Stats:
Use the PC’s ability scores as a baseline, and adjust using the Creating Monsters framework (website) (LH p. 25)
Appendix F: A funnel is often an intro game mode where each player has control of multiple PCs who are often fresh, inexperienced, and squishier then regular Liminal Horror characters. A common aspect of funnels is the spectacular and memorable ways PCs meet their grim ends.
Critical Damage - Death (and dismemberment) in the Funnel
Rule Change: When Funnel PCs take Critical Damage (when damage hits their STR and they fail the resulting save) they die. This is different than the Core rules for Liminal Horror where they are incapacitated.
Death: When a character dies in a Liminal Horror Funnel it should be graphic, big, and memorable. Use the narrative, monster abilities/drives to inform what happens to the DOOMEDPC.
Some examples are: loss of limb, split in two (or more) pieces, exploding, melting, combusting, eaten, ripped, sliced, mauled, crushed, de-fleshed, etc.
Critical Stress - Becoming Weird in the Funnel
Rule Change: When Funnel PCs take Critical Stress and receive Fallout, the PC becomes lost, consumed by the weird abyssal changes of the fallout (they are now an NPC).
Character Creation
Each player creates 3 characters according to the following steps:
Generate the Ability Scores of each character by rolling 2d6 for each ability in order (for a total of 2-12 in each ability score). No results are swapped.
Roll 1d4 to determine each character’s starting Hit Protection (HP).
Roll on Background table (below) unless the adventure has custom backgrounds.
Optional: Roll on the Traits tables (Traits - Liminal Horror pg. 9).
Each of the characters start with a phone (one slot), cash ($3d10 x 3d10 ) and two items from their background according to the following table:
After the funnel any surviving characters become full fledged investigators.
For each ability, roll 1d6 and add the result to the ability score.
Roll 1d4 and add it to their HP
Players can choose which surviving character (if more than one) they want to play as going forward. Anyone not chosen can be a connection for the PC (Connections - Liminal Horror pg. 8).
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