AUTHOR: NEIL GOW / PUBLISHER: MODIPHIUS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Liminal is one of those ‘hidden world’ RPGs where the supernatural is hidden from the everyday people. This genre of storytelling has matured a lot since the nineties; splatterpunk games such as Nightlife or the teen-angst powered Vampire The Masquerade are pretty much confined to the realms of nostalgia. Instead, Liminal focuses on the human interaction with a supernatural community. Its UK backdrop means it feels very heavily inspired by things such as Shadow Police, The Laundry, and The Fortean Times.

Liminal: Pax Londinium focuses on the nation’s capital, weaving the cities long history into a supernatural narrative. It has a tough job; the book is only 90 pages long and London is 2000 years old. The author could fill the pages with ghosts stories and call it a job done. Instead, they go for a broad approach, doing their best to hit all the high points.

The author clearly loves the city and has read everything to do with the city and its relationship with the occult. Want posh secret societies for whom magic is part of their privilege? It’s here. Want cabbies with The Knowledge warning you not to go ‘south of the river’ lest you break an ancient pact? Yup, that sort of thing is here as well. If you are a fan of the works of Ben Aaronovitch, Benedict Jacka, or Neil Gaiman you’ll recognise quite a few of the ideas here, all adapted for use with the Liminal RPG.

This is a very pretty, well thought out resource for those looking to create some spooky adventures set in London. It’s fairly short for what it is and the author leans into this by giving us a whistle stop tour of the more interesting elements of London’s mythology. As a sourcebook, it does the job; plenty of suggestions, rules and story hooks for any GM worth the name to get into. It’s also a very fine demonstration of what Liminal can be in the right hands.  British Gothic Urban Fantasy done well.