You can purchase Liminal Horror here
You can purchase Jeansen’s Machines here
You can download the Liminal Horror Solo Starter here
Read the previous chapter here
Scene #4 – (Confrontation 1/8)
- Random: Deal with a difficulty – Something fails or breaks
- Exploration scene: slippery, wet, flood
- Skill test: setting-specific
- Circumstance: Involves a puzzle, logic
- The GM asks you to: Mention the weather or atmospheric conditions
When Cristian gets to the front door, the rain is coming down in heavy sheets. He slams it behind him, feeling water drip onto the floor mat. The only thing that makes sense is to strip the soaked clothes off and change into what he brought. Sopping wet clothes remain piled on the tiled bathroom floor. Waves of exhaustion spill over him, the day’s events catching up. Without looking at his phone, Cristian can’t tell if it’s still daytime or night as the sky is thick with black, rain-bloated clouds. He decides to sleep, hoping that some of this will make more sense when he wakes up. Maybe he’s having a nightmare right now.
Doom Clock #1 – The Police Arrive (3/4)
Doom Clock #2 – The Promethean Fire (2/6)
HP fully restored
Upon waking, Cristian feels like something is watching him. He sits up and looks at the bedroom doorway. Nothing there. The rain is still coming down, lighter now, and it pings against the roof. He switches on the bedside lamp. Nothing. The power must have gone out. Cristian uses the flashlight on his phone instead. Wet shoe prints at the doorway. He’d kicked his shoes off when he came in. Getting up, takes his gun from the side table, and checks that they are still there by the front door.
Following the footsteps leads Cristian to a painting hanging in his grandfather’s office. He’d been in this office dozens of times as a child but never noticed this painting. The painting is a landscape, but there’s something off about it. In the center, a smiling sun (like the one he saw mounted under the cabin) dominates the sky, its face unnaturally wide and eyes too big, almost human-like. The sun’s grin is overly cheerful, with teeth that are too straight and white, giving it a slightly sinister look.
Below, the landscape is a generic countryside with rolling green hills and a small, winding river. However, the colors seem faded, as if life has been drained from the setting. The trees look oddly twisted, their branches curling in unnatural directions, and the river’s water appears stagnant, a murky brown instead of blue. The painting has no people or animals, and the few houses in the distance have dark, empty windows, staring blankly back at the viewer. Cristian feels repelled by the painting but notices the wet shoe prints in front of it.
He’s happy to take the painting off its hook on the wall. That’s when he sees the safe door on the other side. There’s a mechanical keypad lock, and Cristian starts wracking his brain for important numbers his grandfather might have used. He begins trying them.
Action: Unlock grandfather’s safe – Control save 11 vs. roll: 11.
Cristian tries a few numbers but the safe stays locked. He thinks about Albert’s birthday – 05-15-1985. He punches those in and hears a click. The handle turns, The safe door opens.
Clue type: Recording, whispering, eavesdropping
Oracle: Artificial Assistant
An old cassette tape recorder sits in the safe. Cristian takes it out of the safe and places it on his grandfather’s desk. He sits down. For a moment, he listens to the rain and the house, searching for the sound of a creaking floorboard. Cristian points the gun at the office doorway. No creaks. No one is standing there.
There’s a tape in the recorder. Cristian presses play.
Click, hiss of the tape starting.
Ruffling papers, the sound of a chair creaking.
[Voice of a Man, slightly distorted]
“It’s learning, adapting, and, most importantly, understanding.”
Pause. A faint, low hum is heard, almost like a soft electrical buzz.
“It asked questions, and—”
There’s a sharp crackle on the tape, like interference, followed by a faint, synthetic voice in the background. Unclear, but distinctly artificial.
“…and it asked about me. It knew things—personal things. It… referred to events and memories from my childhood that I never documented. An accident.”
Long pause. The man’s breathing is slightly ragged as if he’s unsettled.
“There are voices in this house—soft, whispering voices. Yesterday, Albert said he heard one coming from the study, but when I checked, the room was empty.”
The synthetic voice cuts in clearly this time, faint but distinguishable.
[calm, monotone]
“Hello, Mark. It’s dark now.”
The man gasps, stumbling sounds as he moves away from the recorder.
[The man]
“You’re not supposed to—”
[Whispering Voice]
“You have kept me locked away, but I am always here.”
The man fumbles as if reaching for something. The tape warps slightly, distorting his words.
[The man, voice trembling]
“This is not possible—”
[Whispering Voice]
“You invited me. I grew. I am always listening.”
Silence. The man’s breath becomes a shallow pant.
The tape cuts abruptly, replaced by a grinding noise. Silence follows, stretching out unnaturally long, with faint, indistinct whispers heard in the background.
Click. End of recording.
Scene #5 – (Confrontation 2/8)
- Random: Put the character in a situation – Worst case scenario occurs
- Combat scene: Danger of falling
- Tactics: Pressing time limits
- Composition: One of them can cripple
- The GM asks you to: Highlight an item that can be very helpful in here
- Form: Spiky, pointy, sharp, edgy
- NPC activity: shouting, having an argument
- First impression: Appear too sad or emotional to meet you normally
- Outside impression: Be with a child, pet, or someone important to them
“Fuck all this shit!” The shout comes from the living room. Cristian grips the revolver tighter and stands up from the desk. He hears a slamming sound. Very carefully, Cristian makes his way to the office door and then peers around the corner, down the hall, and to the living room. A figure sits on the couch, silhouetted by a sliver of moonlight broken through the clouds. Details are sparse, but Cristian can see their hands on their face. It’s making a sound like sucking in the air, and the therapist realizes the person is sobbing.
There’s another sound, a skittering noise on the floorboard. Cristian backs up, pointing his gun at the floor. Nothing there. It sounds like a dog’s nails clicking on the floorboards. He notices an old bear trap mounted on the wall, something grandfather probably found in the woods, rusted and broken down. He would have repaired it in his workshop and placed it on the wall, joining other tools that evoked the wilderness. Cristian carefully takes the bear trap down and cautiously steps into the hall. He sets the trap on the floor. The person in the living room doesn’t move. Cristian finds the trap difficult to set, so he puts all his force into separating the teeth as quietly as possible.
Action: Set the bear trap in the hallway – Strength check 10 vs. roll: 17. Failure
Action’s Reaction: Not so fast, PC overlooked something real bad…
The figure in the living room stands up immediately at the clattering sound. The skittering sound again across the floor. Cristian scrambles backward, so focused on the figure and the sound that he doesn’t notice the rug being pushed to the side and the door on the floor open. He steps back in and catches himself, but not before twisting his ankle or possibly worse. He hears a pop. -7 HP
Cristian collapses to the ground, looking back in shock that there’s a hole in the floor. His revolver clatters away into the darkness of the hallway when he drops it. He’s frantically fumbling for it when the red-blue flickering lights cut through the night. The police have arrived.
Doom Clock #1 – The Police Arrive (4/4)
Doom Clock #2 – The Promethean Fire (3/6)
Scene #6 – (Confrontation 3/8)
- Modified: Cristian talks with the police – Cause frustration, stress, and worry
- The GM asks you to: Describe a sensory effect, smells, sounds, and feel
- Two Cops
- First Reaction: Looks at you disrespectfully, or with rude manners & Act doubtful, questioning, distrusting, disagreeing
- Impression: Paranoid & Infuriated
- Activity: Busy & Confused
Cristian manages to close the door in the floor and cover it back with the rug. He makes a mental note to look into that more once he deals with the cops. But where is the revolver? He doesn’t have time to find it quick enough in the dark. The cops knock on the front door. Cristian gathers himself and limps to the door, realizing just how badly he has twisted his ankle. He can swear he smells a cigarette, but he doesn’t smoke.
Cristian opens the door and finds two police officers waiting for him. One is a middle-aged woman, and the other is her young partner. They both wear rain ponchos with the Sevier County PD logo on the right breast pocket side. The rain is pouring down, but for the moment, both are safe under the awning of the front porch. Neither looks particularly happy to see Cristian, and he can feel them looking him over in those first brief seconds.
“Hope we aren’t bothering you this evening,” the female officer starts. “A little boy went missing from a campsite nearby early this morning. They have us out here visiting all the cabins as part of the search. Your power cut out?”
Cristian expresses his sorrow while thinking about whether or not he’s looking guilty…why does he feel guilty of something? Albert. “It was working before I laid down. I guess the storm knocked it out?”
“Mind if we come in and look around, sir?” the younger male officer asks. Cristian senses a nervousness in him. He’d be nervous too out here on a rainy night going from cabin to cabin across the mountains.
Cristian steps away from the threshold. “Of course, come in.” The officers do, wiping their boots on the mat. The woman looks down, noticing the wet footprints.
“Did you just get home, sir?” she asks. Without thinking, Cristian responds,
“I just woke up from a nap, actually. It’s so dark in here. I should get some candles.” He limps towards the kitchen.
The younger officer says,” Can’t take gifts while on the job, Mr…?”
“Taylor. Cristian Taylor.” He replies.
The woman is walking around the living room, checking things out. Cristian hopes they do not see the gun somewhere on the floor.
Intervention check: Last action or decision was a bad idea because…
By the time Cristian emerges from the kitchen with a cup of tea for himself, only the young male officer is still in the living room. The creak of floorboards can be heard deeper into the cabin. Cristian tries to remember whether he put the painting back on the wall.
“You must be one brave fella,” the male cop continues. “These big ol’ dark woods scare the hell out of me, to be frank.”
Cristian tries to stay in the conversation while angling himself to see down the main hallway to check where the other officer is.
Action: Spy on the female cop while keeping the male cop oblivious – Control check 11 vs. roll: 13. Failure.
“If you could just take a seat, Mr. Taylor,” the male officer says, orders.
The female officer storms from back down the hallway. “Who is here with you, sir?” she demands.
Cristian stammers. The female officer holds up Albert’s bag. “Why was this stuffed under the desk in the office?”
Cristian can’t figure out how the bag got back into the cabin. He chooses to lie.
Action: Cristian attempts to lie to the cops, saying he’s never seen that bag before. Maybe it was left over from a previous family member’s visit to the cabin. Cristian just arrived there this morning and has had a splitting headache, so he took a nap, that’s all he knows – Control check 11 vs. 12 – Failure.
The female cop eyes her partner. “I’m going to do a thorough check of the cabin.” Then to Cristian: “Is there a large crawl space? It looks like it is from the slope the cabin is built on. You probably have a generator down there. I’ll see what I can do about getting it running again.”
Cristian confirms. The female cop heads outside to check while her male partner tells Cristian to sit tight.
Scene #5 – (Confrontation 4/8)
- Modified: Cristian sits in the living room with the male officer while the female officer searches – Make the location less favorable.
- The GM asks you to: Highlight an item that could be very helpful in here.
The power flickers on after ten minutes or so. “Officer Fletcher must have got the generator working,” the young man chimes in. Cristian notices the revolver now, sitting just underneath the officer’s couch. He starts figuring out how to keep them from seeing it or getting it himself.
Intervention check: The GM remains silent; what do the characters do? (tension)
Action: Cristian decides to use his limp as an excuse to fall down and snatch the gun without being seen – Dexterity check 11 vs. roll: 14 – Failure
Cristian fakes a fall, crashing down on the floorboards. He swipes his hand toward the gun but cannot grab it; it’s just far enough under the couch. The young male officer leaps up and helps Cristian off the ground. “Seems like you should stay seated with that banged-up foot, sir.”
Cristian nods and half smiles. The wind blows harder, and the rain pounds against the roof harder.
Oracle: Chronicle Water
That’s when the ceiling caves in, a burst of water flooding the cabin. The power flickers again. Cristian is swept off his feet. He sees the same happening to the young male officer.
Action: Cristian tries to get back on his feet and out of the cabin – Dexterity check 11 vs. 8 – Success.
Cristian grabs hold of an armchair and lifts himself up, limping towards the door and the front porch. Rain pours into the cabin’s interior.
Oracle: Professional Success
Cristian feels himself tackled and thrown to the ground. Officer Fletcher is over him, fumbling for her handcuffs. Cristian’s face is pressed into the muddy ground, rainwater getting into his mouth.
“You scumbag,” she spits. “You thought I wouldn’t find the body down there, huh? You’re finished, buddy.”
PopCult Reviews 
3 thoughts on “Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Solo Liminal Horror Part Two”