The House on the Borderland
Overview
This source is best used when location is the primary antagonist. The house is not simply haunted; it is a boundary instrument between ordinary reality, alien timelines, and predatory presences.
Reusable Design Patterns
- Use framing documents to mediate unstable truth.
- Make one site produce repeated phase-shifts in tone and ontology.
- Introduce hostile entities as periodic incursions tied to site cycles.
- Keep explanations partial so players act under uncertainty.
- Combine domestic scale and cosmic scale in one scenario space.
Referee Uses
- Design multi-layer map states for the same structure across different conditions.
- Gate clue access through journals, marginalia, and damaged records.
- Run siege rhythms where quiet observation alternates with breach events.
- Tie long-term consequences to how long parties remain inside the locus.