Despite having approaching 40 years of gaming experience I have never ran a game, or even played in a game set in my home town of Edinburgh.

It was never something that had ever occurred to me before but after my initial reading of the Liminal core book I was firmly decided that I wanted to set here. I was inspired partly because Edinburgh is referenced directly in the rules (see sections on the Edinburgh Enquirers crew, pg. 67 and the Aldermen pg. 147-148) and this made me think that for a contemporary UK-based game it would be enjoyable to play somewhere that is very familiar setting for to my playing group but tweaked to contain a supernatural aspect.

So why I have I never played in an Edinburgh setting before? There are a couple of reasons for this; firstly, many of the RPGs I enjoy playing do not have a contemporary setting, let alone one set in the UK. Alien worlds, fantasy or early 20th Century America are fine but 21st Century Scotland has never featured. Secondly, if you are looking for the escapism that RPGs offer, the mundane world right outside your front door is an unlikely place to find fun-packed adventure. Your mileage may vary of course but I my day-to-day life rarely features supernatural horrors.

I presented my idea of an Edinburgh-based Liminal campaign to my gaming group expecting push-back or disappointment because it was set in a too-familiar location, but the exact opposite was the case, they seemed very keen on the idea and set to work coming up with character ideas. The character generation system is very lightweight & straightforward so it was easy to realise the novel and interesting concepts my players had for their PCs. We also had a fun ‘session zero’ discussion about their base of operations (more on the Angus Ogg pub later), how their characters interacted with each other, and how they saw their connections to Edinburgh’s Hidden World.

All this endeavour and we have yet to play a single scenario!

This is one of the great things about Liminal – most people can have an innate grasp of the Hidden World without the need to consume a vast amount of preparatory material. There are enough urban fantasy books, films and TV series that players can draw on for inspiration that gives them a solid basis of what is possible as a character and what they might encounter in that world.

My aim is to run a couple of pre-gen scenarios modified for the Edinburgh setting to familiarise the group with the game system before I get underway with writing up my own ideas, of which I already have a couple.

Before I get underway with running scenarios in Edinburgh I wanted to provide my players with an idea of the movers and shakers in the city; who they are allied to and who they need to be wary of. I also need to provide them with a brief on how each of the main factions operate in Edinburgh, basically all information that their Crew would know.

Over the next few blogs I am going to go into detail on some of important NPCs and minor factions specific to Edinburgh within my campaign, notably:

• The Maister o’ the Auld Toon – A spirit known to the inhabitants of the Castle Rock since the Iron Age and who has gone by many names over the centuries it he has interacted with the populace and the other local Liminal beings. He is viewed as a benign, subtle but elusive influence in the Hidden World, helping to keep the Old Town as safe a location as possible. The Angus Ogg pub is under his protection, offering a sanctuary within the Old Town to those in the Hidden World looking for solace or help.
• The Spirit of the Water of Leith – Opinion is divided on whether there are two spirits or a single being with two aspects. The spirit that bides in the western end of the water is helpful, almost childlike and seemingly unconcerned by events in either world. It’s counterpart at the eastern end near the port of Leith is a different creature entirely; aggressive, defensive and argumentative. It is known to attack the unwary who approach it for information but can be placated with the corpse of a cat or cheap foreign rum.
• The Enlightened Brotherhood – A society of geomancers with roots in freemasonry and the Speculative Society. They were influential in the creation of Edinburgh’s New Town, it’s layout allegedly linking and enhancing some existing local Nodes. They remain allied with the Council of Merlin but their influence is on the wane.
• The Covenant – Edinburgh is the UK city with the largest amount of green space making it a haven of sorts for the Fae. The local realms are numerous but small and fractious. Slights and bickering spin out of control leading to frequent turf wars and intrigue. The larger realms representing Edinburgh’s hills and the ‘charmed circle’ of wells have a loose federation called the Covenant which they use to maintain some order and also to present a united front when they have to deal with the Winter King. The larger Fae realms are not above intrigues of their own and complex shifting of alliances can be hard to fathom and follow.
• The Angry Dead – Though stories of unfortunate plague victims being walled into Mary Kings Close are just legend, Edinburgh’s old town is a great citadel to the dead and a vast Ghost Realm. For hundreds of years the cramped, brutal and unsanitary conditions of the Old Town and within its notorious basements and vaults were a great source of misery and untimely death. Now the restless spirits of these dead folk roam the Old Town in great angry swarms, sometimes coalescing at the portals to the Real World, desperate to vent their frustration on the anyone who strays into their domain. Thankfully Aldermen and knowledgeable Liminals can navigate the safe passages and avoid the places where the doors to the Ghost Realm are often open. There are also rumours of a number of ancient Ghosts who can bargained with to allow safe entrance.

The above is all a bit of a work in progress but it should form the basis of my Liminal setting. As always, I welcome comments and suggestions