Terrible Children
Terrible Children are here to throw everything into disarray with eerie stares, unsettling silence, and a whole lot of creeping dread. Looking to add some unnerving horror to your roleplaying setting? This sourcebook is built on The Simple Approach, designed to seamlessly integrate into any roleplaying game you’re already running. No need to overhaul the rules or figure out a new system—just drop these disturbing kids into your world and watch your players squirm.
This isn’t about a cheap “creepy kid” trope. These Terrible Children are forces of quiet terror that can take a simple scenario and warp it into a chilling, character-driven spiral of psychological horror. We’re talking about serious nightmare material: unnatural, disturbing kids that twist emotions, subvert reality, and bring fear wherever they go. And since Terrible Children is about storytelling, these aren’t just random villains for your players to kill or escape—they’re here to mess with your characters' psyches, their relationships, and their perception of reality.
In this unsettling sourcebook, you’ll get everything you need to make each encounter with these kids a unique, story-driven experience. Every blank stare, every whispered word can shift the direction of your game. Your players will have to confront discomfort, face disturbing moral choices, and make decisions that could unravel their characters' minds. If you've ever wanted to inject real psychological horror into your roleplaying, this is it.
The best part? It’s system-agnostic, so it fits into whatever ruleset you're already using. And because it's built on The Simple Approach, there’s no need to wrangle with complicated mechanics or excessive dice rolls. The focus is on imagination, storytelling, and player agency—the essential elements that make roleplaying unforgettable. Your players shape their own descent into horror, face their own demons, and determine how the story unfolds.
Whether you want to introduce a single ominous child as a major antagonist or toss in a group of creepy kids to upend a side quest, Terrible Children gives you everything you need. You’ll find archetypes, eerie powers, unsettling factions, and even some cursed objects to mess with your characters. The book also includes plot hooks, random encounters, and supporting characters that will send shivers down your players’ spines.
If you’re looking to push your roleplaying into darker, more psychological territory, Terrible Children is the perfect addition. It’s strange enough to feel fresh but grounded enough to slot right into the games you're already running.
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.
Navigating This Book
Inside this book you’ll find:
The Origins of Terrible Children: Explore the unsettling history and evolution of creepy kids in horror, from mythological child spirits to modern cinema’s embodiment of innocence turned evil.
Terrible Children Archetypes: A breakdown of the various types of eerie children, from the Soulless Innocent to the Manipulative Prodigy, each with their own unique ways of instilling dread.
Traits & Tactics: Discover the chilling abilities and psychological tactics these kids use to terrify and manipulate others, focusing on fear, manipulation, and disturbing mind games.
Child Factions: An overview of the groups and cults formed by these Terrible Children, including The Silent Playground and The Lost Ones, and how they wreak havoc in your setting.
Cozy Fantasy: Tips on incorporating Terrible Children into a cozy fantasy setting, where their unsettling presence quietly disrupts peaceful narratives and safe havens.
Crime & Mystery: How to use Terrible Children in a crime and mystery setting, where they leave behind baffling crimes and cryptic clues, making investigators question reality.
Dark Academia: Explore how Terrible Children can corrupt academia, twisting the pursuit of knowledge into a sinister game of power, manipulation, and dark secrets.
Espionage: Terrible Children in the world of spies and secrecy—ideal for infiltration, where their innocent appearance hides their true intentions of disruption and chaos.
Heroic Fantasy: Incorporate Terrible Children into traditional fantasy, where they play cruel games with heroes, turning simple quests into nightmarish ordeals.
Magical Realism: Bring Terrible Children into a magical realism setting, where their presence subtly distorts reality and makes the ordinary feel deeply unsettling.
Modern Horror: Tips for integrating Terrible Children into a modern horror setting, using contemporary fears around innocence, safety, and family to create a sense of unease.
Romance: Explore how Terrible Children can disrupt relationships, sowing distrust, fear, and chaos, turning love stories into dark, tragic tales of manipulation and heartbreak.
Space Opera: Terrible Children in space—how they twist advanced civilizations, play mind games with intergalactic leaders, and inject chaos into the cold, vast void of space.
Steampunk: Add Terrible Children to your steampunk world, where their disturbing behavior and dark inventions turn a clockwork society into a chilling nightmare.
Child-Themed Artifacts: A collection of cursed toys and sinister child-related artifacts that can be used to sow fear and psychological horror in any setting.
Supporting Characters: Not every creepy kid is evil. Here’s a list of supporting characters like the Reformed Child or the Child Exorcist to add depth and complexity to your story.
When the Whispers Stop: A final note on balancing horror and psychological tension, ensuring players leave with a lingering sense of dread mixed with intrigue.
Reference: A comprehensive guide to the essential resources, books, and films that inspired and expanded the concept of the creepy child in horror.
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
Clowns 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.
113 pages. PDF and epub files included.
Terrible Children are here to throw everything into disarray with eerie stares, unsettling silence, and a whole lot of creeping dread. Looking to add some unnerving horror to your roleplaying setting? This sourcebook is built on The Simple Approach, designed to seamlessly integrate into any roleplaying game you’re already running. No need to overhaul the rules or figure out a new system—just drop these disturbing kids into your world and watch your players squirm.
This isn’t about a cheap “creepy kid” trope. These Terrible Children are forces of quiet terror that can take a simple scenario and warp it into a chilling, character-driven spiral of psychological horror. We’re talking about serious nightmare material: unnatural, disturbing kids that twist emotions, subvert reality, and bring fear wherever they go. And since Terrible Children is about storytelling, these aren’t just random villains for your players to kill or escape—they’re here to mess with your characters' psyches, their relationships, and their perception of reality.
In this unsettling sourcebook, you’ll get everything you need to make each encounter with these kids a unique, story-driven experience. Every blank stare, every whispered word can shift the direction of your game. Your players will have to confront discomfort, face disturbing moral choices, and make decisions that could unravel their characters' minds. If you've ever wanted to inject real psychological horror into your roleplaying, this is it.
The best part? It’s system-agnostic, so it fits into whatever ruleset you're already using. And because it's built on The Simple Approach, there’s no need to wrangle with complicated mechanics or excessive dice rolls. The focus is on imagination, storytelling, and player agency—the essential elements that make roleplaying unforgettable. Your players shape their own descent into horror, face their own demons, and determine how the story unfolds.
Whether you want to introduce a single ominous child as a major antagonist or toss in a group of creepy kids to upend a side quest, Terrible Children gives you everything you need. You’ll find archetypes, eerie powers, unsettling factions, and even some cursed objects to mess with your characters. The book also includes plot hooks, random encounters, and supporting characters that will send shivers down your players’ spines.
If you’re looking to push your roleplaying into darker, more psychological territory, Terrible Children is the perfect addition. It’s strange enough to feel fresh but grounded enough to slot right into the games you're already running.
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.
Navigating This Book
Inside this book you’ll find:
The Origins of Terrible Children: Explore the unsettling history and evolution of creepy kids in horror, from mythological child spirits to modern cinema’s embodiment of innocence turned evil.
Terrible Children Archetypes: A breakdown of the various types of eerie children, from the Soulless Innocent to the Manipulative Prodigy, each with their own unique ways of instilling dread.
Traits & Tactics: Discover the chilling abilities and psychological tactics these kids use to terrify and manipulate others, focusing on fear, manipulation, and disturbing mind games.
Child Factions: An overview of the groups and cults formed by these Terrible Children, including The Silent Playground and The Lost Ones, and how they wreak havoc in your setting.
Cozy Fantasy: Tips on incorporating Terrible Children into a cozy fantasy setting, where their unsettling presence quietly disrupts peaceful narratives and safe havens.
Crime & Mystery: How to use Terrible Children in a crime and mystery setting, where they leave behind baffling crimes and cryptic clues, making investigators question reality.
Dark Academia: Explore how Terrible Children can corrupt academia, twisting the pursuit of knowledge into a sinister game of power, manipulation, and dark secrets.
Espionage: Terrible Children in the world of spies and secrecy—ideal for infiltration, where their innocent appearance hides their true intentions of disruption and chaos.
Heroic Fantasy: Incorporate Terrible Children into traditional fantasy, where they play cruel games with heroes, turning simple quests into nightmarish ordeals.
Magical Realism: Bring Terrible Children into a magical realism setting, where their presence subtly distorts reality and makes the ordinary feel deeply unsettling.
Modern Horror: Tips for integrating Terrible Children into a modern horror setting, using contemporary fears around innocence, safety, and family to create a sense of unease.
Romance: Explore how Terrible Children can disrupt relationships, sowing distrust, fear, and chaos, turning love stories into dark, tragic tales of manipulation and heartbreak.
Space Opera: Terrible Children in space—how they twist advanced civilizations, play mind games with intergalactic leaders, and inject chaos into the cold, vast void of space.
Steampunk: Add Terrible Children to your steampunk world, where their disturbing behavior and dark inventions turn a clockwork society into a chilling nightmare.
Child-Themed Artifacts: A collection of cursed toys and sinister child-related artifacts that can be used to sow fear and psychological horror in any setting.
Supporting Characters: Not every creepy kid is evil. Here’s a list of supporting characters like the Reformed Child or the Child Exorcist to add depth and complexity to your story.
When the Whispers Stop: A final note on balancing horror and psychological tension, ensuring players leave with a lingering sense of dread mixed with intrigue.
Reference: A comprehensive guide to the essential resources, books, and films that inspired and expanded the concept of the creepy child in horror.
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
Clowns 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.
113 pages. PDF and epub files included.
Terrible Children are here to throw everything into disarray with eerie stares, unsettling silence, and a whole lot of creeping dread. Looking to add some unnerving horror to your roleplaying setting? This sourcebook is built on The Simple Approach, designed to seamlessly integrate into any roleplaying game you’re already running. No need to overhaul the rules or figure out a new system—just drop these disturbing kids into your world and watch your players squirm.
This isn’t about a cheap “creepy kid” trope. These Terrible Children are forces of quiet terror that can take a simple scenario and warp it into a chilling, character-driven spiral of psychological horror. We’re talking about serious nightmare material: unnatural, disturbing kids that twist emotions, subvert reality, and bring fear wherever they go. And since Terrible Children is about storytelling, these aren’t just random villains for your players to kill or escape—they’re here to mess with your characters' psyches, their relationships, and their perception of reality.
In this unsettling sourcebook, you’ll get everything you need to make each encounter with these kids a unique, story-driven experience. Every blank stare, every whispered word can shift the direction of your game. Your players will have to confront discomfort, face disturbing moral choices, and make decisions that could unravel their characters' minds. If you've ever wanted to inject real psychological horror into your roleplaying, this is it.
The best part? It’s system-agnostic, so it fits into whatever ruleset you're already using. And because it's built on The Simple Approach, there’s no need to wrangle with complicated mechanics or excessive dice rolls. The focus is on imagination, storytelling, and player agency—the essential elements that make roleplaying unforgettable. Your players shape their own descent into horror, face their own demons, and determine how the story unfolds.
Whether you want to introduce a single ominous child as a major antagonist or toss in a group of creepy kids to upend a side quest, Terrible Children gives you everything you need. You’ll find archetypes, eerie powers, unsettling factions, and even some cursed objects to mess with your characters. The book also includes plot hooks, random encounters, and supporting characters that will send shivers down your players’ spines.
If you’re looking to push your roleplaying into darker, more psychological territory, Terrible Children is the perfect addition. It’s strange enough to feel fresh but grounded enough to slot right into the games you're already running.
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.
Navigating This Book
Inside this book you’ll find:
The Origins of Terrible Children: Explore the unsettling history and evolution of creepy kids in horror, from mythological child spirits to modern cinema’s embodiment of innocence turned evil.
Terrible Children Archetypes: A breakdown of the various types of eerie children, from the Soulless Innocent to the Manipulative Prodigy, each with their own unique ways of instilling dread.
Traits & Tactics: Discover the chilling abilities and psychological tactics these kids use to terrify and manipulate others, focusing on fear, manipulation, and disturbing mind games.
Child Factions: An overview of the groups and cults formed by these Terrible Children, including The Silent Playground and The Lost Ones, and how they wreak havoc in your setting.
Cozy Fantasy: Tips on incorporating Terrible Children into a cozy fantasy setting, where their unsettling presence quietly disrupts peaceful narratives and safe havens.
Crime & Mystery: How to use Terrible Children in a crime and mystery setting, where they leave behind baffling crimes and cryptic clues, making investigators question reality.
Dark Academia: Explore how Terrible Children can corrupt academia, twisting the pursuit of knowledge into a sinister game of power, manipulation, and dark secrets.
Espionage: Terrible Children in the world of spies and secrecy—ideal for infiltration, where their innocent appearance hides their true intentions of disruption and chaos.
Heroic Fantasy: Incorporate Terrible Children into traditional fantasy, where they play cruel games with heroes, turning simple quests into nightmarish ordeals.
Magical Realism: Bring Terrible Children into a magical realism setting, where their presence subtly distorts reality and makes the ordinary feel deeply unsettling.
Modern Horror: Tips for integrating Terrible Children into a modern horror setting, using contemporary fears around innocence, safety, and family to create a sense of unease.
Romance: Explore how Terrible Children can disrupt relationships, sowing distrust, fear, and chaos, turning love stories into dark, tragic tales of manipulation and heartbreak.
Space Opera: Terrible Children in space—how they twist advanced civilizations, play mind games with intergalactic leaders, and inject chaos into the cold, vast void of space.
Steampunk: Add Terrible Children to your steampunk world, where their disturbing behavior and dark inventions turn a clockwork society into a chilling nightmare.
Child-Themed Artifacts: A collection of cursed toys and sinister child-related artifacts that can be used to sow fear and psychological horror in any setting.
Supporting Characters: Not every creepy kid is evil. Here’s a list of supporting characters like the Reformed Child or the Child Exorcist to add depth and complexity to your story.
When the Whispers Stop: A final note on balancing horror and psychological tension, ensuring players leave with a lingering sense of dread mixed with intrigue.
Reference: A comprehensive guide to the essential resources, books, and films that inspired and expanded the concept of the creepy child in horror.
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
Clowns 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.
113 pages. PDF and epub files included.