Deep diving into the Catalog of the Strange
It's our take on a Liminal Horror bestiary (and I'm currently in the middle of laying it out)!
We've been so excited about the reception around Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition that we wanted to provide a look at what the inside of the book will look like. Below are a few different spreads that give you a sense of what the different sections of the book will look like, and to see what our vision for layout will be. The manuscript is completed, first round of edits are in, and we've been working away at laying out this 350+ page book (I’m as of writing this on page 16 of the layout updates for the catalog).
LIMINAL HORROR DELUXE EDITION is still crowdfunding now on Backerkit! Follow along and pledge at any level to help our ttrpg nightmares come true!
https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/space-penguin-ink/liminal-horror-deluxe-edition
FACTIONS
One of the parts of The Catalog of the Strange (our take on a bestiary) are the Factions. These organizations are secondary antagonists that can help or hinder the Investigators as they grapple with the weird. One of the main Factions in the text, and throughout the official modules, is The Bureau.


One of the writing/design goals of this project was to create usable material that supports play. So for factions we wanted to give enough for Facilitators to leverage these forces within their games. This includes the goals of the factions, key personnel, headquarters, resources & methods, allies, adversaries, and contracts that they could offer Investigators. We also include stats for different operatives aligned to the faction.
HORRORS
The Catalog of the Strange is by far the largest chapter of the book (coming in at around 1/4 of the total manuscript). One of the largest parts of that are the Horrors. We have a ton of different monsters presented for use within your games. Some cover a single page, a spread, or even multiple pages. The goal for them was to provide usable and dynamic toolkits to help you in running and using them at your table. Below is a spread that includes two example single page monsters.


Liminal Horror stat blocks are pretty straight forward (with stats, weapon, special abilities, and small description). We wanted to expand these as well to provide usable content to help you understand how to tweak and run these. For the Warped, we included a table of variants that provide unique twists on the original creature along with seeds for how they were warped. For Dissonant Artifacts we include variants and information on how to scatter them through your game.
aspect of the Catalog of the Strange that will bring a ton of usability…monsterous variations of listed horrors.
One of the major things we wanted to do with the Catalog of the Strange was to provide a plethora of options for each Horror presented in the book.
When it comes down to it, monster stats in Liminal Horror are pretty straight forward
Name
STR DEX CTRL
HP Armor
Weapon
Special Ability
One of the design goals was to provide ample information for each Horror, giving Facilitators plenty of usable options for their tables. One of the types of tables we are including with many of the Horrors are lists of variants. These provide a framework for augmenting the genre type for the Horror, making it usable, fresh, and a wide range of option. But better than telling you about them, why don't we show you a few.
REANIMATED DEAD
(the classic zombie)
Variants
Lurker: Slow shamblers. Grapple and drag down their victims.
Naked: Shredded or no clothing. Stained with coagulated blood.
Grave: Buried bodies risen from the grave. Significant decay.
Sprinter: Charge at victims with intense speed.
Bloater: Swollen from water exposure or filled with gas. Bursts upon taking Critical Damage (d4, blast).
Dried Out: Leathery skin from prolonged sun exposure, +1 Armor.
Creeper: Ambush hunters that lurk in the dark and attack at opportune moments.
Prototype: Rapid mutations heal 1 HP/STR per round.
HOUNDS
(like a dog but so much worse)


Variants
Guard: Pure bread and exceptionally well trained. Owned by law enforcement and security forces or as property guards.
Split Head: Their heads split open, revealing a maw of teeth that latch down when biting a target, requiring a STR Save to break free.
Reanimated: Dead and decaying bodies. They don’t die when STR is 0 and can only be killed through destroying the brain or complete annihilation.
Warped: Twisted and mutated bodies. Their tails split into three with spikes at the tips that can be launched outward towards targets.
Hellhound: Sleek black skin, glowing red eyes. Exceptionally intelligent.
Ghost: Impressions of their former selves. More bark than bite. (See Ghosts, p.x)
ABOMINATION
(a twist on giants)
Variants
Giant: A massive, towering form. +2 STR and greatly extended reach.
Hammer: One arm is disproportionately massive compared to the rest of their body, dealing d10 damage.
All Mouths: Toothy maws cover its body. Upon dealing Critical Damage, it shoves the victim into one of its many open mouths.
Flesh Sack: Most of their bones have dissolved or turned to cartilage, allowing them to squeeze into cramped places.
Walking Incubator: Host to a colony of horrid creatures. Upon taking Critical Damage, their brood bursts forth.
Wall of Flesh: Several bodies bound together into one form. Upon taking Critical Damage, they rip apart into their individual members.
BUT I WANT MORE??!!
Here is an example of a horror spread for The Shadow, which is an expansion on the corruption that acts as the primary antagonistic force within the module The Bureau (which we will unlock the remastered version at 180k).
RESONANT ARTIFACTS
Our take on magic items, these objects are infused with the same resonant energies that make the monsters within the game. They offer great boons and sometimes come with a terrible cost. We have around 50 of these objects within the text.
OTHER SECTIONS IN THE CATALOG
We have a few other sections in the catalog that include Cults and a list of weird NPCs called Allies & Adversaries
LIMINAL HORROR DELUXE EDITION is still crowdfunding now on Backerkit! Follow along and pledge at any level to help our ttrpg nightmares come true!
https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/space-penguin-ink/liminal-horror-deluxe-edition