Spectral Quests
Spectral Quests pulls you into a world where restless spirits, ancient curses, and dark secrets wait to be uncovered. This isn't just a simple "fight the ghost and move on" situation—every encounter brings chills, mystery, and the unsettling realization that not all the horrors are from the other side. It’s a story-driven experience where the choices you make—whether brave or foolish—affect how things play out. No “railroad” here.
What sets Spectral Quests apart? First, it thrives on imagination. You’re not boxed into a cookie-cutter adventure, and you’ve got the freedom to approach each haunted encounter in your own way. Collaboration is key, too. The game pushes your group to work together, not just to survive, but to shape the story, spinning something uniquely yours out of every session. And agency? You’re in control. Your decisions matter, and the consequences can be as terrifying as the ghosts themselves.
This sourcebook is perfect for ghost story fans who want more than the usual haunted house romp. It's scary, sure, but it's also layered with that heroic fantasy vibe. Think knights, magic, and epic quests, with the added tension of things lurking just beyond the veil. Spectral Quests gives you the tools to craft memorable, shiver-inducing stories that will have your group talking long after the candles burn out. If you're looking for something fresh yet familiar, this is where your next tale begins.
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 elements 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.
Inside Spectral Quests, you’ll find everything you need to bring terrifying ghost stories to life in your heroic fantasy setting.
Worldbuilding: Here’s where you’ll get into the eerie details of crafting a world where the dead don’t rest easy. From crumbling castles haunted by the spirits of long-dead kings to forgotten battlefields where fallen soldiers still march, you’ll build a setting where history and legend hold more power than anyone wants to admit.
Characters: This goes way beyond stats. Think about characters who carry the weight of ancestral sins, whose fears stem from ancient ghost stories, and who gradually realize the legends they grew up with aren’t just bedtime tales. You’ll learn how to weave fear, guilt, and haunting personal histories into every character’s arc. Expect unraveling minds, grim discoveries, and fates sealed by their own actions.
Guilds: Every town has its own secret societies, but these are more than your typical guilds. We’re talking about hidden orders dedicated to exorcising spirits, cults that venerate the undead, and covens that channel the powers of the afterlife. You’ll find everything you need to create powerful, mysterious factions that operate in the shadows, always with one foot in the spirit world.
Creatures: The ghosts in Spectral Quests aren’t just monsters—they’re manifestations of old curses, wronged souls, and the consequences of human actions. From restless spirits who can’t let go of the past to vengeful wraiths who won’t stop until they’ve settled the score, these beings are as much symbols of a broken world as they are threats to your party.
Magic: Magic in Spectral Quests is drawn from ancient rituals, dark pacts, and the power of the unseen. Every spell comes with a cost, whether it’s the caster’s sanity, their soul, or something far worse. This isn’t flashy, fireball-throwing magic—this is desperate, dangerous magic tied to the dead and the afterlife.
Magic Items: The artifacts here are steeped in history, haunted by the spirits of their previous owners, and bound to the stories of the world. You’ll find cursed amulets, haunted relics, and objects of power that come with a heavy price. These aren’t gifts; they’re traps that bind their users to the very forces they seek to control.
Adventures: Pre-made story hooks will plunge your players into ghost stories filled with betrayal, loss, and the creeping dread that comes from facing the consequences of long-forgotten sins. These aren’t feel-good adventures; expect heavy consequences, moral dilemmas, and endings that will leave everyone haunted—possibly for good.
Reference: Stock characters, creatures, and tools, plus advice on how to adapt the material to your system of choice. You’ll also find a glossary of ghostly terms and a bibliography for those looking to dig deeper into ghost stories and their haunting inspiration.
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 elements 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
Spectral Quests 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 elements 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.
Spectral Quests pulls you into a world where restless spirits, ancient curses, and dark secrets wait to be uncovered. This isn't just a simple "fight the ghost and move on" situation—every encounter brings chills, mystery, and the unsettling realization that not all the horrors are from the other side. It’s a story-driven experience where the choices you make—whether brave or foolish—affect how things play out. No “railroad” here.
What sets Spectral Quests apart? First, it thrives on imagination. You’re not boxed into a cookie-cutter adventure, and you’ve got the freedom to approach each haunted encounter in your own way. Collaboration is key, too. The game pushes your group to work together, not just to survive, but to shape the story, spinning something uniquely yours out of every session. And agency? You’re in control. Your decisions matter, and the consequences can be as terrifying as the ghosts themselves.
This sourcebook is perfect for ghost story fans who want more than the usual haunted house romp. It's scary, sure, but it's also layered with that heroic fantasy vibe. Think knights, magic, and epic quests, with the added tension of things lurking just beyond the veil. Spectral Quests gives you the tools to craft memorable, shiver-inducing stories that will have your group talking long after the candles burn out. If you're looking for something fresh yet familiar, this is where your next tale begins.
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 elements 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.
Inside Spectral Quests, you’ll find everything you need to bring terrifying ghost stories to life in your heroic fantasy setting.
Worldbuilding: Here’s where you’ll get into the eerie details of crafting a world where the dead don’t rest easy. From crumbling castles haunted by the spirits of long-dead kings to forgotten battlefields where fallen soldiers still march, you’ll build a setting where history and legend hold more power than anyone wants to admit.
Characters: This goes way beyond stats. Think about characters who carry the weight of ancestral sins, whose fears stem from ancient ghost stories, and who gradually realize the legends they grew up with aren’t just bedtime tales. You’ll learn how to weave fear, guilt, and haunting personal histories into every character’s arc. Expect unraveling minds, grim discoveries, and fates sealed by their own actions.
Guilds: Every town has its own secret societies, but these are more than your typical guilds. We’re talking about hidden orders dedicated to exorcising spirits, cults that venerate the undead, and covens that channel the powers of the afterlife. You’ll find everything you need to create powerful, mysterious factions that operate in the shadows, always with one foot in the spirit world.
Creatures: The ghosts in Spectral Quests aren’t just monsters—they’re manifestations of old curses, wronged souls, and the consequences of human actions. From restless spirits who can’t let go of the past to vengeful wraiths who won’t stop until they’ve settled the score, these beings are as much symbols of a broken world as they are threats to your party.
Magic: Magic in Spectral Quests is drawn from ancient rituals, dark pacts, and the power of the unseen. Every spell comes with a cost, whether it’s the caster’s sanity, their soul, or something far worse. This isn’t flashy, fireball-throwing magic—this is desperate, dangerous magic tied to the dead and the afterlife.
Magic Items: The artifacts here are steeped in history, haunted by the spirits of their previous owners, and bound to the stories of the world. You’ll find cursed amulets, haunted relics, and objects of power that come with a heavy price. These aren’t gifts; they’re traps that bind their users to the very forces they seek to control.
Adventures: Pre-made story hooks will plunge your players into ghost stories filled with betrayal, loss, and the creeping dread that comes from facing the consequences of long-forgotten sins. These aren’t feel-good adventures; expect heavy consequences, moral dilemmas, and endings that will leave everyone haunted—possibly for good.
Reference: Stock characters, creatures, and tools, plus advice on how to adapt the material to your system of choice. You’ll also find a glossary of ghostly terms and a bibliography for those looking to dig deeper into ghost stories and their haunting inspiration.
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 elements 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
Spectral Quests 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 elements 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.
Spectral Quests pulls you into a world where restless spirits, ancient curses, and dark secrets wait to be uncovered. This isn't just a simple "fight the ghost and move on" situation—every encounter brings chills, mystery, and the unsettling realization that not all the horrors are from the other side. It’s a story-driven experience where the choices you make—whether brave or foolish—affect how things play out. No “railroad” here.
What sets Spectral Quests apart? First, it thrives on imagination. You’re not boxed into a cookie-cutter adventure, and you’ve got the freedom to approach each haunted encounter in your own way. Collaboration is key, too. The game pushes your group to work together, not just to survive, but to shape the story, spinning something uniquely yours out of every session. And agency? You’re in control. Your decisions matter, and the consequences can be as terrifying as the ghosts themselves.
This sourcebook is perfect for ghost story fans who want more than the usual haunted house romp. It's scary, sure, but it's also layered with that heroic fantasy vibe. Think knights, magic, and epic quests, with the added tension of things lurking just beyond the veil. Spectral Quests gives you the tools to craft memorable, shiver-inducing stories that will have your group talking long after the candles burn out. If you're looking for something fresh yet familiar, this is where your next tale begins.
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 elements 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.
Inside Spectral Quests, you’ll find everything you need to bring terrifying ghost stories to life in your heroic fantasy setting.
Worldbuilding: Here’s where you’ll get into the eerie details of crafting a world where the dead don’t rest easy. From crumbling castles haunted by the spirits of long-dead kings to forgotten battlefields where fallen soldiers still march, you’ll build a setting where history and legend hold more power than anyone wants to admit.
Characters: This goes way beyond stats. Think about characters who carry the weight of ancestral sins, whose fears stem from ancient ghost stories, and who gradually realize the legends they grew up with aren’t just bedtime tales. You’ll learn how to weave fear, guilt, and haunting personal histories into every character’s arc. Expect unraveling minds, grim discoveries, and fates sealed by their own actions.
Guilds: Every town has its own secret societies, but these are more than your typical guilds. We’re talking about hidden orders dedicated to exorcising spirits, cults that venerate the undead, and covens that channel the powers of the afterlife. You’ll find everything you need to create powerful, mysterious factions that operate in the shadows, always with one foot in the spirit world.
Creatures: The ghosts in Spectral Quests aren’t just monsters—they’re manifestations of old curses, wronged souls, and the consequences of human actions. From restless spirits who can’t let go of the past to vengeful wraiths who won’t stop until they’ve settled the score, these beings are as much symbols of a broken world as they are threats to your party.
Magic: Magic in Spectral Quests is drawn from ancient rituals, dark pacts, and the power of the unseen. Every spell comes with a cost, whether it’s the caster’s sanity, their soul, or something far worse. This isn’t flashy, fireball-throwing magic—this is desperate, dangerous magic tied to the dead and the afterlife.
Magic Items: The artifacts here are steeped in history, haunted by the spirits of their previous owners, and bound to the stories of the world. You’ll find cursed amulets, haunted relics, and objects of power that come with a heavy price. These aren’t gifts; they’re traps that bind their users to the very forces they seek to control.
Adventures: Pre-made story hooks will plunge your players into ghost stories filled with betrayal, loss, and the creeping dread that comes from facing the consequences of long-forgotten sins. These aren’t feel-good adventures; expect heavy consequences, moral dilemmas, and endings that will leave everyone haunted—possibly for good.
Reference: Stock characters, creatures, and tools, plus advice on how to adapt the material to your system of choice. You’ll also find a glossary of ghostly terms and a bibliography for those looking to dig deeper into ghost stories and their haunting inspiration.
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 elements 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
Spectral Quests 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 elements 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.