Players can spend their characters’ Will points to improve the result of dice rolls, giving them a way to power through bad rolls. Running out of Will leaves a character stunned however, so this is a risky move. Particularly because ghosts and other supernatural creatures have ways of draining or damaging Will.

Rusch, Doris C., and Andy Phelps. 2021. "Games of the Soul." In A Ludic Society, edited by Denk, et al., 102–126. Donau-Universität Krems, Universitätsbibliothek. The Council seek to gather greater magical power and to prevent the “wrong sorts” of wizards from getting out of hand. When a big problem arises, they send in Phineas Morgan—a master of weatherworking, ward magic, and swordsmanship. (Don’t get in his way.)Notably, Liminal does not include demons or angels. The book does not explicitly state beings of Abrahamic mythology don’t exist in its setting, it simply doesn’t discuss them. In fairness, this is a British RPG, and sidestepping any questions that relate to large modern religions is a very British thing to do. Chapter 7: Liminal Britain and Northern Ireland I am having some trouble getting my head around vampires in this setting. I know this is a very open setting and I love that don't get me wrong however I can't get a whole on what vampires are in this setting. The magical world has a basis in British and Irish folklore and legends, along with ghost stories and modern day popular takes on the supernatural in fiction.' There are liminal places as well. The place where the sea meets the shore, for example, where land and water are in constant flux. Beach front cafés are also liminal—you might well lounge on the beach in swimwear, but you wouldn’t walk into your local coffee shop in just a swimming costume. The beach front café though, is close enough to the beach that it’s acceptable to wear anything from a bikini to trousers and a shirt. Gutter Mage. An informally taught magician, looked down on by the establishment but no less powerful for it.

There are older vaguer stories too, of Cerdic landing at Netley Abbey during the Saxon invasion. Just a typical English village and it’s so deep in history and folklore. And that’s the point – everywhere is like that, to a greater or lesser extent. And that’s gameable. This quote sets the tone of the game. Unlike say, the World of Darkness, you do not play full members of the supernatural community—ghosts, vampires, or true Fae. Liminal PCs are touched by the Hidden World but remain apart from it. This makes them very useful to the different supernatural factions—they can go where the monsters can’t and use all the skills of a modern human. It can also make them a dangerous inconvenience that must be crushed. Werewolves in Liminal are not tied to the phases of the Moon, they shift when they want to. They do tend to have problems with rage, however. The artwork is pretty and fits the theme well. Subjectively it is not my style, even I however can see the merit, especially in the cover image. The game could easily apply for the most-inspired-logo award, what with the lion's head and the crown, a standard image of Britishness, let alone a familiar image from fairy tales and myth. I am very happy by the extremely small margins; there's a lot of content in this book. Layout is also well done; this is probably one of the fastest RPGs I have assimilated in the last few months. The bookmark doesn't just look cool; it helps. Don't be fooled by the adventures' small size; even though they are straightforward, you cannot play them without preparation. It is imperative that the players understand the genre; modern fantasy does not equal horror. Devote some time preparing for the Liminals' potential courses of action near the end of Goblin Market, lest you find yourself winging its final act wholesale. If the Liminals see themselves as vampire hunters in The Book of Blood, you might be staring into a TPK. I personally wanted more substantial advice on how to run these adventures with more trappings and complications, as well as outros and suggestions on what could potentially follow next. As they stand, and unless you can embellish them yourself, they risk being entertaining but ultimately unmemorable.Equally, the limitations section (traits as well, to a lesser extent) help define the world. Typical traits include things like Oathbound – where characters find it hard to lie or Obliged – where characters are in debt to a supernatural power – and come together to create a layered world where negotiation and intelligence are as important as punching power. Linnamäki, Jori, and Josephine Baird. 2020. “A Reflection on the Ethical Decision-making Process during Participatory Game Design with and for Vulnerable Populations.” Paper presented at Gender Studies Conference 2020: Reclaiming Futures, Tampere University, Finland. I have almost nothing but good things to say about this book, but I will mention one tiny, tiny niggle. Though the chapters have clear themes such as Magic or Liminal Britain, they are titled Chapter 1, Chapter 2 etc. The actual name of the chapter, e.g., Character Creation, is in smaller type beneath the chapter number. This makes it a little harder to navigate the PDF, though it is fairly well hyperlinked. Chapter 1: Introduction

All characters in Liminal fit into one of three categories; they are magicians, they are determined, or they are tough. What considerations are necessary to foreground when designing culturally responsive and inclusive play experiences? Werewolves are real and tend to form roaming gangs, one large family is trying to pull them together into a united faction. Fae are divided into different courts. The ruler of a court is very powerful and has complete free will. Lesser Fae seem to have less free will and a limited sense of self and may simply be extensions of their ruler. Rusch, Doris C. 2019. “Existential, Transformative Game Design.” Lecture presented at the Center of Excellence in Game Culture Studies, University of Tampere, Oct. 2019.Words that Bind is particularly flavourful. You are adept at manoeuvring others into promises. Anyone who dares to break such a promise takes damage to their Will. There is the classic Obliged Limitation, which ties you to a specific powerful supernatural being. Oathbound makes it difficult for you to tell a direct lie. There is also Vulnerability, which means you take extra damage from certain substances and are seized with dread when encountering them.