The Imaginarium of Doctor Mitch

One thing which loomed large over my RPG landscape in 2018, in a good way, has been Liminal.

There are two origin stories for Liminal. Both are true. The first story is that the idea of Liminal, a fantasy game in modern Britain, making use of the landscape, history, folklore, and the varied make-up of modern society, had been on my mind for some time. I had been tinkering with the setting and rules since late 2017, in between other projects, unable to leave it alone.

The second origin story is that early in 2018, I was on strike over a pension dispute. Which meant I had lots of time suddenly, and three weeks where I wasn’t being paid. Time to finish first draft of the game text. Time to launch a Kickstarter.

I knew the look I wanted for the book, and who I wanted for art. I was absolutely delighted when Jason Behnke agreed to come on board. So I started talking about the game, and other people seemed excited by the concept. I commissioned a logo from Stephanie McAlea, and spoke to her about maps.

And boom…it exploded when the Kickstarter launched. I was taken aback. I mean, it’s only RPG famous people who get exploding RPG Kickstarters, right? But Jason’s art and Stephanie’s logo gave a great impression, and something about the project seemed to tap into the zeitgeist. Soon I was able to bring some writer friends from the UK RPG community on board, people whose work I admire. Becky Annison, Richard August, Paul Baldowski, Neil Gow, Guy Milner, Newt Newport, I wanted them and I needed them. The project was bigger than me, by a long way.

And their work being out there fed the explosion. I had the funds for some really lavish art, and not just a single book but a whole line of short supplements. I knew what I wanted from the supplements too, short books all developing the background in a compelling way that’s useful for playing the game.

And Liminal is meant to be played. While I’m talking about that, I’m incredibly pleased by how the game went at conventions- Seven Hills, Continuum, Dragonmeet. I’m even more pleased that other people are playing it, using the quickstart and the pre-release rules document even before the game is released.

It’s going to loom large over gaming in 2019 too. The release is coming soon (the PDF should arrive in late January), and I’m both excited and a little scared.

Oh, and if you’d like to pre-order, you can still do so here:
https://liminal-rpg.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders