You are a cast member of The Real Housespouses of X - a highly popular reality TV show. You are known for your wealth and your personality. Hundreds of thousands tune in weekly to drink in the drama and the extravagant places it plays out. It is the season finale. And for the first time ever, the filming will be livestreamed. A mansion has been rented. A clairvoyant hired. There are cameras everywhere. Hundreds of thousands of eyes all watching at once. 

What could go wrong?

The Real Housespouses of X is a self-contained adventure module for Liminal Horror. Players take on the role of reality TV personalities and The Facilitator takes on the role of Producer to pull off one epic livestream event. But there’s something off about this remote mansion whose owner is one of the most world renowned plastic surgeons. And the clairvoyant they’ve hired has made some odd demands in recent days. Can the Housespouses survive the livestream with their social media clout intact?

Touchstones

• The Real Housewives franchise (2006-Present)
• Ghostwatch (1992)
• Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

What’s in The Real Housespouses of X:

• Custom character creation to be used or inspire your own Real Housespouse, including d12 tables for positive and negative traits, “tea” and secrets, catchphrases, Housespouse themed items, and a madlibs table for backstory
• The CLOUT stat - earn it by taking risks, spend it to turn fate in your favor 
• 3 4 NPCs with their own stats and distinct motivations including recasting The Facilitator as The Producer
• 3 enemy types
• A remote, mansion-laboratory setting that spans four floors
• A DOOM clock that details what will happen during the livestream if there’s no intervention
• A Phased Fallout table - experience different Fallouts based on the CLOUT you have earned

Liminal Horror (TTRPG)

The Real Housespouses of X is a 3rd party adventure module for Liminal Horror (a modern hack of Cairn). Liminal Horror is a rules-lite, fail forward TTRPG system.

Itchfunding and The Real Housespouses of X

Itchfunding allows the game designer to use the sale feature of itch.io to crowdfund an unfinished project. This is an alternative to other platforms, and allows funds collected to be used even if the funding goal is not completely achieved. This creates flexibility for the creator, letting them use the funds to further the project albeit at a slower pace than had the goal been achieved. What do you get when you back? You will receive the draft contents of The Real Housespouses of X in a ZIP file. Files are all in Markdown and compatible with Obsidian.md. These files include everything needed to run your own adventure. 

What will funding do?

Funding will allow me to hire TTRPG professionals to ensure The Real Housespouses of X is an excellent digital product, the main priority being hiring the right editor or editors.

What about a physical version?

The goal of this campaign is to create a quality digital product. The hope is to provide files that will allow for at-home printing first. A print run for The Real Housespouses of X is still a dream at the moment.

The Goal

The goal of itchfunding is to help accelerate the development of the final product, primarily by hiring editors to bring the writing up to standard. Over 90% of the writing has been completed and the layout work has begun, all done by me. The goal of $600 will sufficiently cover the cost of hiring an editor or more, and should cover any additional unforeseen expenses.

The Logistics

The funding goal is $600. Any funding over the goal will be used to pay the editor(s) more, pay myself for writing, design, and layout, and to pursue improvements to maps, layout, or additional art.

Timeline

The majority of writing is complete, and the design and maps are underway. The module’s anticipated release is at the end of February March, 2023.

What happens if it doesn’t fund?

In the short term this means everything would take a bit longer. I’m unemployed and would not be able to cover the difference in cost, so I would have to wait until I have a job and solid enough footing again so I may pay a fair rate for the editorial work.

In the long term backers will still have access to fully playable documents that will be updated regularly until release. Updates will be uploaded to itch.io on a weekly basis. Backers wanting more frequent updates are encouraged to reach out via email or Discord so that they may gain access to the GitHub repository for the Obsidian.md files for access to bleeding edge updates.

The bottom line is that while you are funding something in development, the text is already available and usable for table play. Backers will receive the finished digital product regardless of meeting the itchfunding goal. The Real Housepouses of X is definitely happening. It’s just a matter of time.

Legal

The Real Housespouses of X is an independent production by antigravity.pajamas and is not affiliated with Goblin Archives LLC. It is published under the Liminal Horror Third Party License.

Liminal Horror is copyright by Goblin Archives LLC.