Folklore Fears
Folklore Fears takes your heroic fantasy roleplaying into darker, creepier territory. We're talking about the eerie, unsettling world of folk horror, where ancient superstitions, strange rituals, and cursed woods lurk just out of sight. You’re not just hacking through monsters here; every decision you make could doom your party—or save it, if you're lucky.
This isn't your standard sword-and-sorcery fare. Folklore Fears focuses on story and characters, not just mindless combat. The tension is in the choices you make, the paths you choose, and the secrets you uncover (or wish you hadn't). This is character-driven horror at its finest, where your imagination, collaboration, and the agency of the group take center stage. If you've ever wanted to see what happens when traditional fantasy meets eerie folk horror, this is it.
Whether you’re new to folk horror or have a love for creepy, off-the-beaten-path scares, Folklore Fears offers the perfect balance of fresh and familiar. You get all the spooky tension of folk horror in a world where your sword still matters—just not as much as your mind or your ability to work with others to survive.
Ready to take the plunge? Your next adventure waits in the shadows, and it’s not going to be pretty.
A Universal Sourcebook
You don’t need it to play any of our games using The Simple Approach, but it’s here to spice things up if you want. It’s also written to be functionally system-agnostic, so feel free to throw its aspects into any other roleplaying system your choice.
If you’re looking to use it with a different roleplaying system, don’t worry. There are notes at the end to help with conversion, and if you’re need more advice in translating material between systems, grab the Lightspress Handbook, available wherever you found this book.
Legacy Editions
Legacy Editions are classic Lightspress titles, refreshed with updated design and a quick pass from our current editorial team. While they may not hit the same marks as our latest releases, they still bring solid value to your roleplaying collection without breaking the bank.
Terminology
This book comes from a time when a certain massive corporation thought it could rewrite the rules and claim ownership over everything, including words that existed long before it did. Even though we weren’t doing anything wrong, we decided to tweak a few common terms—mostly to protect ourselves, but also a little bit to declare that we can all keep playing without them if it came down to it. Not that they noticed, because in the grand scheme of things, we’re just a bug on their windshield.
Anyway, if you can’t figure out that a berserker is basically a barbarian, a knight is more or less a paladin, and the damned are warlocks, you’ve got bigger problems than a glossary or a few vocabulary swaps will fix.
Navigating This Book
Inside this book you’ll find the following:
Worldbuilding: This section digs into the gritty details of building a setting where the natural world and old beliefs hold sway. From pastoral villages hiding terrible secrets to forests where ancient powers still lurk, you’ll uncover what’s really pulling the strings in a world where tradition rules and outsiders are never truly welcome.
Characters: Go beyond the surface. We’re not just talking stats here—this is about motivations tied to local customs, fears rooted in old tales, and the slow unraveling of someone’s mind as they realize the folklore they dismissed is all too real. You’ll find ways to weave personal arcs of fear and isolation into larger stories of community and belief. Expect betrayal, denial, and grim consequences.
Guilds: Every village or town has its factions, but these aren’t your average tradesmen or town councils. Think secret covens, ancient orders preserving forgotten rites, and farmer collectives who’ve struck dark pacts for a good harvest. You’ll find tools to create factions that enforce tradition with fear, power, and sometimes blood sacrifice.
Creatures: The beasts here aren’t just threats—they’re symbols of a land out of balance or the spirits of the wronged. From nature spirits warped by human sin to twisted animals bearing the marks of ancient curses, these creatures embody the primal fears of a world where nature and myth collide.
Magic: Magic in folk horror is earthy, ritualistic, and always comes at a cost. This section explores spells and rituals tied to old beliefs, superstitions, and dark bargains. Forget clean, powerful magic—expect desperate deals with forces that twist the user’s fate and demand terrible prices.
Magic Items: Artifacts in folk horror have history, tied to the land or the bloodline of those who wield them. These objects don’t just grant power—they corrupt, trap, and bind their users in old pacts and dark traditions. You won’t find enchanted swords here, but rather cursed heirlooms, talismans of dubious protection, and relics no sane person would ever touch.
Adventures: Pre-made hooks that plunge players into folk horror tales filled with isolation, paranoia, and the weight of generations-old sin. These aren’t your typical “go on a quest” stories—expect grim consequences, moral ambiguity, and endings that might leave everyone worse off than when they started.
Reference: Stock characters, creatures, and tools, plus guidance on how to adapt this material for the system you’re using. You’ll also find a glossary of folk horror terms and a bibliography to explore the dark, twisted world of folklore further.
The Simple Approach
To understand this book, you need to know the context in which it was written and the philosophy that runs through it. At its core, The Simple Approach emphasizes the aspects that truly matter in roleplaying: narrative depth, character complexity, and player agency. While plenty of systems are still obsessed with combat, loot, and grinding, we know roleplaying can be so much more. This system is all about immersive storytelling, meaningful choices, and characters you actually care about. Whether you're uncovering hidden secrets, solving a gripping mystery, or exploring the complexities of romance, The Simple Approach offers a fresh take on traditional genres like fantasy, science fiction, and horror, along with modern and underserved ones like crime & mystery, cottagecore fantasy, dark academia, magical realism, romance, and espionage.
Narrative-Based Mechanics
At the heart of The Simple Approach are narrative-based mechanics that are easy to learn and designed to grow with you as you play. They let you tweak what’s here and add things we haven’t thought of yet. The journaling system replaces those one-size-fits-none character sheets, giving gamemasters a flexible tool for organizing worldbuilding, adventure design, and session notes and players ample room to allow their character to grow. Every character, setting, and adventure becomes a unique creation shaped by your choices.
Seamless Integration and Flexibility
Folklore Fears isn’t a standalone roleplaying experience. You can blend it seamlessly with other Lightspress publications to create one-of-a-kind stories and settings or bring aspects from other systems into your Lightspress game. If you want to use our material with your favorite system or setting, go for it. The conversion notes in the Lightspress Handbook give you the flexibility to play how you want.
Our Philosophy
We believe the true essence of roleplaying happens around the table, where creativity and collaboration come alive. It’s not about a book, a brand, or a company. It’s about the people playing together, creating something special. Our focus on cooperation, interaction, and investigation ensures that every session is more than just a game; it’s a journey filled with compelling adventures and meaningful connections. We stand by our belief that the heart of roleplaying is found in shared experiences and stories crafted by the players. This philosophy drives everything in The Simple Approach and underpins our commitment to delivering content that champions the true spirit of roleplaying, free from superficial constraints.
Commitment to Creative Freedom
This philosophy also guides our belief that creators should own their work and not be beholden to licensing terms that only benefit fickle corporations. We draw inspiration from historical, mythological, and literary sources, tapping into our shared heritage to fuel creative exploration. We maintain full copyright ownership, ensuring that our work stays independent and true to our vision. Using style guides to keep a cohesive voice and narrative structure, we deliver exceptional content free from external influences, preserving the integrity and creative standards of our work.
Accessible and Affordable Roleplaying
We’re committed to keeping our games affordable so that more people can enjoy them. Our focus isn’t on producing overstuffed, expensive books filled with art to collect dust on a shelf. We’re here to create material meant to be played, not displayed. You won’t find us chasing awards or turning our games into glorified coffee-table books. Our goal is to facilitate roleplaying, pure and simple, keeping the price points low so you can focus on the game, not your wallet.
Stay Connected and Join Us
If you’re tired of the same old grind and ready to try something that actually respects your input, then The Simple Approach is calling your name. We’re not just offering a game. We’re inviting you to join a movement, a way of playing that values your time, creativity, and agency.
For more on The Simple Approach and our unorthodox take on roleplaying, visit lightspress.com. Subscribe to our newsletter, The Manifesto, for updates on new releases, roleplaying advice, and a healthy dose of our opinions. If you’re ready to embrace something different, download the free Lightspress Handbook—your guide to what we’re all about.
Folklore Fears takes your heroic fantasy roleplaying into darker, creepier territory. We're talking about the eerie, unsettling world of folk horror, where ancient superstitions, strange rituals, and cursed woods lurk just out of sight. You’re not just hacking through monsters here; every decision you make could doom your party—or save it, if you're lucky.
This isn't your standard sword-and-sorcery fare. Folklore Fears focuses on story and characters, not just mindless combat. The tension is in the choices you make, the paths you choose, and the secrets you uncover (or wish you hadn't). This is character-driven horror at its finest, where your imagination, collaboration, and the agency of the group take center stage. If you've ever wanted to see what happens when traditional fantasy meets eerie folk horror, this is it.
Whether you’re new to folk horror or have a love for creepy, off-the-beaten-path scares, Folklore Fears offers the perfect balance of fresh and familiar. You get all the spooky tension of folk horror in a world where your sword still matters—just not as much as your mind or your ability to work with others to survive.
Ready to take the plunge? Your next adventure waits in the shadows, and it’s not going to be pretty.
A Universal Sourcebook
You don’t need it to play any of our games using The Simple Approach, but it’s here to spice things up if you want. It’s also written to be functionally system-agnostic, so feel free to throw its aspects into any other roleplaying system your choice.
If you’re looking to use it with a different roleplaying system, don’t worry. There are notes at the end to help with conversion, and if you’re need more advice in translating material between systems, grab the Lightspress Handbook, available wherever you found this book.
Legacy Editions
Legacy Editions are classic Lightspress titles, refreshed with updated design and a quick pass from our current editorial team. While they may not hit the same marks as our latest releases, they still bring solid value to your roleplaying collection without breaking the bank.
Terminology
This book comes from a time when a certain massive corporation thought it could rewrite the rules and claim ownership over everything, including words that existed long before it did. Even though we weren’t doing anything wrong, we decided to tweak a few common terms—mostly to protect ourselves, but also a little bit to declare that we can all keep playing without them if it came down to it. Not that they noticed, because in the grand scheme of things, we’re just a bug on their windshield.
Anyway, if you can’t figure out that a berserker is basically a barbarian, a knight is more or less a paladin, and the damned are warlocks, you’ve got bigger problems than a glossary or a few vocabulary swaps will fix.
Navigating This Book
Inside this book you’ll find the following:
Worldbuilding: This section digs into the gritty details of building a setting where the natural world and old beliefs hold sway. From pastoral villages hiding terrible secrets to forests where ancient powers still lurk, you’ll uncover what’s really pulling the strings in a world where tradition rules and outsiders are never truly welcome.
Characters: Go beyond the surface. We’re not just talking stats here—this is about motivations tied to local customs, fears rooted in old tales, and the slow unraveling of someone’s mind as they realize the folklore they dismissed is all too real. You’ll find ways to weave personal arcs of fear and isolation into larger stories of community and belief. Expect betrayal, denial, and grim consequences.
Guilds: Every village or town has its factions, but these aren’t your average tradesmen or town councils. Think secret covens, ancient orders preserving forgotten rites, and farmer collectives who’ve struck dark pacts for a good harvest. You’ll find tools to create factions that enforce tradition with fear, power, and sometimes blood sacrifice.
Creatures: The beasts here aren’t just threats—they’re symbols of a land out of balance or the spirits of the wronged. From nature spirits warped by human sin to twisted animals bearing the marks of ancient curses, these creatures embody the primal fears of a world where nature and myth collide.
Magic: Magic in folk horror is earthy, ritualistic, and always comes at a cost. This section explores spells and rituals tied to old beliefs, superstitions, and dark bargains. Forget clean, powerful magic—expect desperate deals with forces that twist the user’s fate and demand terrible prices.
Magic Items: Artifacts in folk horror have history, tied to the land or the bloodline of those who wield them. These objects don’t just grant power—they corrupt, trap, and bind their users in old pacts and dark traditions. You won’t find enchanted swords here, but rather cursed heirlooms, talismans of dubious protection, and relics no sane person would ever touch.
Adventures: Pre-made hooks that plunge players into folk horror tales filled with isolation, paranoia, and the weight of generations-old sin. These aren’t your typical “go on a quest” stories—expect grim consequences, moral ambiguity, and endings that might leave everyone worse off than when they started.
Reference: Stock characters, creatures, and tools, plus guidance on how to adapt this material for the system you’re using. You’ll also find a glossary of folk horror terms and a bibliography to explore the dark, twisted world of folklore further.
The Simple Approach
To understand this book, you need to know the context in which it was written and the philosophy that runs through it. At its core, The Simple Approach emphasizes the aspects that truly matter in roleplaying: narrative depth, character complexity, and player agency. While plenty of systems are still obsessed with combat, loot, and grinding, we know roleplaying can be so much more. This system is all about immersive storytelling, meaningful choices, and characters you actually care about. Whether you're uncovering hidden secrets, solving a gripping mystery, or exploring the complexities of romance, The Simple Approach offers a fresh take on traditional genres like fantasy, science fiction, and horror, along with modern and underserved ones like crime & mystery, cottagecore fantasy, dark academia, magical realism, romance, and espionage.
Narrative-Based Mechanics
At the heart of The Simple Approach are narrative-based mechanics that are easy to learn and designed to grow with you as you play. They let you tweak what’s here and add things we haven’t thought of yet. The journaling system replaces those one-size-fits-none character sheets, giving gamemasters a flexible tool for organizing worldbuilding, adventure design, and session notes and players ample room to allow their character to grow. Every character, setting, and adventure becomes a unique creation shaped by your choices.
Seamless Integration and Flexibility
Folklore Fears isn’t a standalone roleplaying experience. You can blend it seamlessly with other Lightspress publications to create one-of-a-kind stories and settings or bring aspects from other systems into your Lightspress game. If you want to use our material with your favorite system or setting, go for it. The conversion notes in the Lightspress Handbook give you the flexibility to play how you want.
Our Philosophy
We believe the true essence of roleplaying happens around the table, where creativity and collaboration come alive. It’s not about a book, a brand, or a company. It’s about the people playing together, creating something special. Our focus on cooperation, interaction, and investigation ensures that every session is more than just a game; it’s a journey filled with compelling adventures and meaningful connections. We stand by our belief that the heart of roleplaying is found in shared experiences and stories crafted by the players. This philosophy drives everything in The Simple Approach and underpins our commitment to delivering content that champions the true spirit of roleplaying, free from superficial constraints.
Commitment to Creative Freedom
This philosophy also guides our belief that creators should own their work and not be beholden to licensing terms that only benefit fickle corporations. We draw inspiration from historical, mythological, and literary sources, tapping into our shared heritage to fuel creative exploration. We maintain full copyright ownership, ensuring that our work stays independent and true to our vision. Using style guides to keep a cohesive voice and narrative structure, we deliver exceptional content free from external influences, preserving the integrity and creative standards of our work.
Accessible and Affordable Roleplaying
We’re committed to keeping our games affordable so that more people can enjoy them. Our focus isn’t on producing overstuffed, expensive books filled with art to collect dust on a shelf. We’re here to create material meant to be played, not displayed. You won’t find us chasing awards or turning our games into glorified coffee-table books. Our goal is to facilitate roleplaying, pure and simple, keeping the price points low so you can focus on the game, not your wallet.
Stay Connected and Join Us
If you’re tired of the same old grind and ready to try something that actually respects your input, then The Simple Approach is calling your name. We’re not just offering a game. We’re inviting you to join a movement, a way of playing that values your time, creativity, and agency.
For more on The Simple Approach and our unorthodox take on roleplaying, visit lightspress.com. Subscribe to our newsletter, The Manifesto, for updates on new releases, roleplaying advice, and a healthy dose of our opinions. If you’re ready to embrace something different, download the free Lightspress Handbook—your guide to what we’re all about.
Folklore Fears takes your heroic fantasy roleplaying into darker, creepier territory. We're talking about the eerie, unsettling world of folk horror, where ancient superstitions, strange rituals, and cursed woods lurk just out of sight. You’re not just hacking through monsters here; every decision you make could doom your party—or save it, if you're lucky.
This isn't your standard sword-and-sorcery fare. Folklore Fears focuses on story and characters, not just mindless combat. The tension is in the choices you make, the paths you choose, and the secrets you uncover (or wish you hadn't). This is character-driven horror at its finest, where your imagination, collaboration, and the agency of the group take center stage. If you've ever wanted to see what happens when traditional fantasy meets eerie folk horror, this is it.
Whether you’re new to folk horror or have a love for creepy, off-the-beaten-path scares, Folklore Fears offers the perfect balance of fresh and familiar. You get all the spooky tension of folk horror in a world where your sword still matters—just not as much as your mind or your ability to work with others to survive.
Ready to take the plunge? Your next adventure waits in the shadows, and it’s not going to be pretty.
A Universal Sourcebook
You don’t need it to play any of our games using The Simple Approach, but it’s here to spice things up if you want. It’s also written to be functionally system-agnostic, so feel free to throw its aspects into any other roleplaying system your choice.
If you’re looking to use it with a different roleplaying system, don’t worry. There are notes at the end to help with conversion, and if you’re need more advice in translating material between systems, grab the Lightspress Handbook, available wherever you found this book.
Legacy Editions
Legacy Editions are classic Lightspress titles, refreshed with updated design and a quick pass from our current editorial team. While they may not hit the same marks as our latest releases, they still bring solid value to your roleplaying collection without breaking the bank.
Terminology
This book comes from a time when a certain massive corporation thought it could rewrite the rules and claim ownership over everything, including words that existed long before it did. Even though we weren’t doing anything wrong, we decided to tweak a few common terms—mostly to protect ourselves, but also a little bit to declare that we can all keep playing without them if it came down to it. Not that they noticed, because in the grand scheme of things, we’re just a bug on their windshield.
Anyway, if you can’t figure out that a berserker is basically a barbarian, a knight is more or less a paladin, and the damned are warlocks, you’ve got bigger problems than a glossary or a few vocabulary swaps will fix.
Navigating This Book
Inside this book you’ll find the following:
Worldbuilding: This section digs into the gritty details of building a setting where the natural world and old beliefs hold sway. From pastoral villages hiding terrible secrets to forests where ancient powers still lurk, you’ll uncover what’s really pulling the strings in a world where tradition rules and outsiders are never truly welcome.
Characters: Go beyond the surface. We’re not just talking stats here—this is about motivations tied to local customs, fears rooted in old tales, and the slow unraveling of someone’s mind as they realize the folklore they dismissed is all too real. You’ll find ways to weave personal arcs of fear and isolation into larger stories of community and belief. Expect betrayal, denial, and grim consequences.
Guilds: Every village or town has its factions, but these aren’t your average tradesmen or town councils. Think secret covens, ancient orders preserving forgotten rites, and farmer collectives who’ve struck dark pacts for a good harvest. You’ll find tools to create factions that enforce tradition with fear, power, and sometimes blood sacrifice.
Creatures: The beasts here aren’t just threats—they’re symbols of a land out of balance or the spirits of the wronged. From nature spirits warped by human sin to twisted animals bearing the marks of ancient curses, these creatures embody the primal fears of a world where nature and myth collide.
Magic: Magic in folk horror is earthy, ritualistic, and always comes at a cost. This section explores spells and rituals tied to old beliefs, superstitions, and dark bargains. Forget clean, powerful magic—expect desperate deals with forces that twist the user’s fate and demand terrible prices.
Magic Items: Artifacts in folk horror have history, tied to the land or the bloodline of those who wield them. These objects don’t just grant power—they corrupt, trap, and bind their users in old pacts and dark traditions. You won’t find enchanted swords here, but rather cursed heirlooms, talismans of dubious protection, and relics no sane person would ever touch.
Adventures: Pre-made hooks that plunge players into folk horror tales filled with isolation, paranoia, and the weight of generations-old sin. These aren’t your typical “go on a quest” stories—expect grim consequences, moral ambiguity, and endings that might leave everyone worse off than when they started.
Reference: Stock characters, creatures, and tools, plus guidance on how to adapt this material for the system you’re using. You’ll also find a glossary of folk horror terms and a bibliography to explore the dark, twisted world of folklore further.
The Simple Approach
To understand this book, you need to know the context in which it was written and the philosophy that runs through it. At its core, The Simple Approach emphasizes the aspects that truly matter in roleplaying: narrative depth, character complexity, and player agency. While plenty of systems are still obsessed with combat, loot, and grinding, we know roleplaying can be so much more. This system is all about immersive storytelling, meaningful choices, and characters you actually care about. Whether you're uncovering hidden secrets, solving a gripping mystery, or exploring the complexities of romance, The Simple Approach offers a fresh take on traditional genres like fantasy, science fiction, and horror, along with modern and underserved ones like crime & mystery, cottagecore fantasy, dark academia, magical realism, romance, and espionage.
Narrative-Based Mechanics
At the heart of The Simple Approach are narrative-based mechanics that are easy to learn and designed to grow with you as you play. They let you tweak what’s here and add things we haven’t thought of yet. The journaling system replaces those one-size-fits-none character sheets, giving gamemasters a flexible tool for organizing worldbuilding, adventure design, and session notes and players ample room to allow their character to grow. Every character, setting, and adventure becomes a unique creation shaped by your choices.
Seamless Integration and Flexibility
Folklore Fears isn’t a standalone roleplaying experience. You can blend it seamlessly with other Lightspress publications to create one-of-a-kind stories and settings or bring aspects from other systems into your Lightspress game. If you want to use our material with your favorite system or setting, go for it. The conversion notes in the Lightspress Handbook give you the flexibility to play how you want.
Our Philosophy
We believe the true essence of roleplaying happens around the table, where creativity and collaboration come alive. It’s not about a book, a brand, or a company. It’s about the people playing together, creating something special. Our focus on cooperation, interaction, and investigation ensures that every session is more than just a game; it’s a journey filled with compelling adventures and meaningful connections. We stand by our belief that the heart of roleplaying is found in shared experiences and stories crafted by the players. This philosophy drives everything in The Simple Approach and underpins our commitment to delivering content that champions the true spirit of roleplaying, free from superficial constraints.
Commitment to Creative Freedom
This philosophy also guides our belief that creators should own their work and not be beholden to licensing terms that only benefit fickle corporations. We draw inspiration from historical, mythological, and literary sources, tapping into our shared heritage to fuel creative exploration. We maintain full copyright ownership, ensuring that our work stays independent and true to our vision. Using style guides to keep a cohesive voice and narrative structure, we deliver exceptional content free from external influences, preserving the integrity and creative standards of our work.
Accessible and Affordable Roleplaying
We’re committed to keeping our games affordable so that more people can enjoy them. Our focus isn’t on producing overstuffed, expensive books filled with art to collect dust on a shelf. We’re here to create material meant to be played, not displayed. You won’t find us chasing awards or turning our games into glorified coffee-table books. Our goal is to facilitate roleplaying, pure and simple, keeping the price points low so you can focus on the game, not your wallet.
Stay Connected and Join Us
If you’re tired of the same old grind and ready to try something that actually respects your input, then The Simple Approach is calling your name. We’re not just offering a game. We’re inviting you to join a movement, a way of playing that values your time, creativity, and agency.
For more on The Simple Approach and our unorthodox take on roleplaying, visit lightspress.com. Subscribe to our newsletter, The Manifesto, for updates on new releases, roleplaying advice, and a healthy dose of our opinions. If you’re ready to embrace something different, download the free Lightspress Handbook—your guide to what we’re all about.