Cozy Fantasy Sourcebook
The Simple Approach Edition, November 2024
Think of a world where high stakes are swapped for heartwarming stories, where dragons are just as likely to share tea as they are to breathe fire, and where heroes don’t always need to wield swords, they might be more skilled with a baker’s rolling pin. The Cozy Fantasy Sourcebook takes you into this charming space, letting you build a story where warmth, friendship, and community matter just as much as heroics. This sourcebook is system-agnostic, meaning it slides right into your favorite roleplaying game, whether you’re using The Simple Approach, the Foragers Guild, or any other system you enjoy.
So, what exactly is cozy fantasy? Imagine a world with a bit of magic but without all the turmoil. Cozy fantasy is about exploring character-driven, story-focused narratives that are as gentle as they are imaginative. It’s the world of books like Legends & Lattes, The House in the Cerulean Sea, and Howl’s Moving Castle, where adventure and whimsy meet community and comfort. This sourcebook brings that vibe to your tabletop, so you can explore the fantastic without always dodging swords and spells.
Here, you and your friends are free to explore themes of growth, connection, and discovery, choosing the story you want to tell. Want to build a small-town bakery run by retired adventurers? Or maybe a magical library guarded by a sentient cat? You can dive deep into settings where every choice you make shapes a narrative that feels personal and fulfilling. This isn’t about conquering worlds; it’s about finding joy in the details, about turning the ordinary into something extraordinary.
With The Cozy Fantasy Sourcebook, it’s all about creative freedom and collaborative storytelling. You’ll get everything you need to shape a cozy world, from prompts that help flesh out characters and locations to tools that guide you through crafting challenges without relying on combat or confrontation. These are adventures built on imagination, collaboration, and agency. It gives your table room to stretch its creative muscles, think outside the usual tropes, and discover how meaningful “quiet” adventures can be.
Perfect for those who want something refreshing but familiar, The Cozy Fantasy Sourcebook offers a framework that’s both comforting and innovative. Cozy fantasy is for anyone tired of high-stakes, save-the-world narratives, looking instead to create stories where kindness, friendship, and the small moments make the biggest impact. So, pull up a chair, brew a pot of tea, and get ready to bring a little more warmth to your roleplaying table.
A Universal Sourcebook
An earlier edition of this book was originally created as a system-agnostic toolkit, and retails that function in this edition. However, it’s now fully compliant with The Simple Approach and games using that system and philosophy, including The Foragers Guild. You don’t need it to play one of our games to use this material, 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. For advice on translating material between systems, grab the Lightspress Handbook, available wherever you found this book.
Navigating This Book
This book contains the following tools, resources, and information.
Cozy Fantasy: Cozy fantasy creates a soft, inviting world where magic exists not as a tool for domination but as a means for connection, comfort, and wonder. This section offers a clear definition of cozy fantasy as a genre, breaking down its core components and showing how it contrasts with traditional fantasy roleplaying. Instead of perilous quests and high-stakes battles, cozy fantasy focuses on community, everyday life, and the quiet magic found in the small moments. You'll learn how to capture this unique tone, whether you’re new to roleplaying or looking to create a peaceful, enriching experience.
Cozy Characters: Traditional fantasy character types—like the rogue, the mage, and the ranger—take on new dimensions. In this section, we explore how each character archetype is reshaped to fit a cozy world, focusing less on combat skills and more on qualities like empathy, creativity, and wisdom. You’ll find guidance on adapting classic character types into roles that contribute to the warmth and harmony of the setting, transforming adventurers into storytellers, herbalists, guardians, and caretakers.
Cozy Magic: Magic is quiet, gentle, and deeply connected to natural cycles. Here, we explore the kinds of magic commonly found in a cozy world, including divination, the phases of the moon, seasonal influences, and potioncraft. Instead of spells designed to overpower, cozy magic encourages growth, healing, and insight. This section gives examples of how to incorporate this type of magic into your setting, where magic adds depth and wonder to daily life without overshadowing the importance of community and connection.
Traits: In cozy fantasy, character traits are more than just stats; they’re defining elements that bring characters to life and guide their relationships with others. This section covers examples of character traits that suit a cozy setting, as well as advice on choosing and roleplaying these traits in any system you’re using. You'll discover how to develop characters whose abilities are woven into their personalities, making them memorable, charming, and perfectly suited to a gentle world where kindness, patience, and curiosity are as important as strength and skill.
Resources: Cozy fantasy settings have their own approach to resources and lifestyle, emphasizing simplicity and self-sufficiency. In this section, you’ll find information on the types of equipment that fit within a cozy world, from handmade tools to enchanted trinkets, as well as the modest lifestyle choices that define the cozy fantasy genre. This section also explores wealth, focusing on bartering, community support, and non-monetary resources like friendships and contacts.
Worldbuilding: Worldbuilding is about creating places that feel alive, safe, and welcoming. This section guides you through the elements needed to make your setting feel warm and grounded, from homely villages to vibrant markets and enchanted woods. You’ll learn how to add unique details that turn simple places into beloved locations, and how to create a world where every corner offers a quiet sense of wonder. This includes rethinking common fantasy tropes and adjusting them to fit a world that values comfort, connection, and community.
Factions: Guilds, guilds, and other groups are more than power players—they’re support networks and gathering places. This section explores how familiar fantasy organizations, like a guild of mages or a council of druids, function within a cozy setting. Here, factions are not motivated by ambition or rivalry, but by shared values, community service, and a desire to protect and nurture the world around them. You’ll find tips on creating guilds and organizations that align with the values of cozy fantasy and enhance your setting.
Adventures: Adventures focus on personal growth, connections, and small but meaningful challenges. In this section, you’ll find advice on crafting cozy adventures that offer exploration, discovery, and problem-solving without putting characters in perilous situations. This section includes detailed beat charts for a variety of cozy scenarios, helping you create experiences that feel satisfying and engaging. Each beat chart provides an outline for adventures that fit a cozy world, offering enough structure to keep things interesting while preserving a peaceful tone.
Artifacts & Relics: Artifacts and relics are rarely weapons or tools of immense power; they’re more likely to be enchanted keepsakes, heirlooms, or objects of comfort. Here, you’ll find a collection of cozy fantasy magic items, from amulets of calm to ever-warm blankets. These items aren’t about wielding control over the world—they bring warmth, security, and small wonders to the people who use them. Each artifact is designed to fit seamlessly into a cozy setting, adding a touch of magic to daily life.
Cozy Creatures: Cozy fantasy creatures are friendly, whimsical, or just misunderstood. This section provides insight into how traditional fantasy creatures, like dragons, fairies, and elementals, are reimagined for a cozy setting. You’ll find examples of creatures that inspire awe or offer companionship, rather than threats to be conquered. These creatures contribute to the charm and gentle magic of a cozy world, making it a place filled with life and mystery rather than danger.
Reference: As a final resource, this section provides a comprehensive set of stock characters, factions, and creatures that are perfect for cozy fantasy, along with equipment ideas and a detailed glossary of terms. For those looking to dive deeper into the genre, the bibliography lists essential reference works, pulling from folklore, history, and literature to help ground and inspire your cozy fantasy setting. This reference section is the ultimate toolkit, giving you everything you need to make your cozy fantasy world feel complete, inviting, and fully realized.
196 pages. PDF and epub files included.
The Simple Approach Edition, November 2024
Think of a world where high stakes are swapped for heartwarming stories, where dragons are just as likely to share tea as they are to breathe fire, and where heroes don’t always need to wield swords, they might be more skilled with a baker’s rolling pin. The Cozy Fantasy Sourcebook takes you into this charming space, letting you build a story where warmth, friendship, and community matter just as much as heroics. This sourcebook is system-agnostic, meaning it slides right into your favorite roleplaying game, whether you’re using The Simple Approach, the Foragers Guild, or any other system you enjoy.
So, what exactly is cozy fantasy? Imagine a world with a bit of magic but without all the turmoil. Cozy fantasy is about exploring character-driven, story-focused narratives that are as gentle as they are imaginative. It’s the world of books like Legends & Lattes, The House in the Cerulean Sea, and Howl’s Moving Castle, where adventure and whimsy meet community and comfort. This sourcebook brings that vibe to your tabletop, so you can explore the fantastic without always dodging swords and spells.
Here, you and your friends are free to explore themes of growth, connection, and discovery, choosing the story you want to tell. Want to build a small-town bakery run by retired adventurers? Or maybe a magical library guarded by a sentient cat? You can dive deep into settings where every choice you make shapes a narrative that feels personal and fulfilling. This isn’t about conquering worlds; it’s about finding joy in the details, about turning the ordinary into something extraordinary.
With The Cozy Fantasy Sourcebook, it’s all about creative freedom and collaborative storytelling. You’ll get everything you need to shape a cozy world, from prompts that help flesh out characters and locations to tools that guide you through crafting challenges without relying on combat or confrontation. These are adventures built on imagination, collaboration, and agency. It gives your table room to stretch its creative muscles, think outside the usual tropes, and discover how meaningful “quiet” adventures can be.
Perfect for those who want something refreshing but familiar, The Cozy Fantasy Sourcebook offers a framework that’s both comforting and innovative. Cozy fantasy is for anyone tired of high-stakes, save-the-world narratives, looking instead to create stories where kindness, friendship, and the small moments make the biggest impact. So, pull up a chair, brew a pot of tea, and get ready to bring a little more warmth to your roleplaying table.
A Universal Sourcebook
An earlier edition of this book was originally created as a system-agnostic toolkit, and retails that function in this edition. However, it’s now fully compliant with The Simple Approach and games using that system and philosophy, including The Foragers Guild. You don’t need it to play one of our games to use this material, 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. For advice on translating material between systems, grab the Lightspress Handbook, available wherever you found this book.
Navigating This Book
This book contains the following tools, resources, and information.
Cozy Fantasy: Cozy fantasy creates a soft, inviting world where magic exists not as a tool for domination but as a means for connection, comfort, and wonder. This section offers a clear definition of cozy fantasy as a genre, breaking down its core components and showing how it contrasts with traditional fantasy roleplaying. Instead of perilous quests and high-stakes battles, cozy fantasy focuses on community, everyday life, and the quiet magic found in the small moments. You'll learn how to capture this unique tone, whether you’re new to roleplaying or looking to create a peaceful, enriching experience.
Cozy Characters: Traditional fantasy character types—like the rogue, the mage, and the ranger—take on new dimensions. In this section, we explore how each character archetype is reshaped to fit a cozy world, focusing less on combat skills and more on qualities like empathy, creativity, and wisdom. You’ll find guidance on adapting classic character types into roles that contribute to the warmth and harmony of the setting, transforming adventurers into storytellers, herbalists, guardians, and caretakers.
Cozy Magic: Magic is quiet, gentle, and deeply connected to natural cycles. Here, we explore the kinds of magic commonly found in a cozy world, including divination, the phases of the moon, seasonal influences, and potioncraft. Instead of spells designed to overpower, cozy magic encourages growth, healing, and insight. This section gives examples of how to incorporate this type of magic into your setting, where magic adds depth and wonder to daily life without overshadowing the importance of community and connection.
Traits: In cozy fantasy, character traits are more than just stats; they’re defining elements that bring characters to life and guide their relationships with others. This section covers examples of character traits that suit a cozy setting, as well as advice on choosing and roleplaying these traits in any system you’re using. You'll discover how to develop characters whose abilities are woven into their personalities, making them memorable, charming, and perfectly suited to a gentle world where kindness, patience, and curiosity are as important as strength and skill.
Resources: Cozy fantasy settings have their own approach to resources and lifestyle, emphasizing simplicity and self-sufficiency. In this section, you’ll find information on the types of equipment that fit within a cozy world, from handmade tools to enchanted trinkets, as well as the modest lifestyle choices that define the cozy fantasy genre. This section also explores wealth, focusing on bartering, community support, and non-monetary resources like friendships and contacts.
Worldbuilding: Worldbuilding is about creating places that feel alive, safe, and welcoming. This section guides you through the elements needed to make your setting feel warm and grounded, from homely villages to vibrant markets and enchanted woods. You’ll learn how to add unique details that turn simple places into beloved locations, and how to create a world where every corner offers a quiet sense of wonder. This includes rethinking common fantasy tropes and adjusting them to fit a world that values comfort, connection, and community.
Factions: Guilds, guilds, and other groups are more than power players—they’re support networks and gathering places. This section explores how familiar fantasy organizations, like a guild of mages or a council of druids, function within a cozy setting. Here, factions are not motivated by ambition or rivalry, but by shared values, community service, and a desire to protect and nurture the world around them. You’ll find tips on creating guilds and organizations that align with the values of cozy fantasy and enhance your setting.
Adventures: Adventures focus on personal growth, connections, and small but meaningful challenges. In this section, you’ll find advice on crafting cozy adventures that offer exploration, discovery, and problem-solving without putting characters in perilous situations. This section includes detailed beat charts for a variety of cozy scenarios, helping you create experiences that feel satisfying and engaging. Each beat chart provides an outline for adventures that fit a cozy world, offering enough structure to keep things interesting while preserving a peaceful tone.
Artifacts & Relics: Artifacts and relics are rarely weapons or tools of immense power; they’re more likely to be enchanted keepsakes, heirlooms, or objects of comfort. Here, you’ll find a collection of cozy fantasy magic items, from amulets of calm to ever-warm blankets. These items aren’t about wielding control over the world—they bring warmth, security, and small wonders to the people who use them. Each artifact is designed to fit seamlessly into a cozy setting, adding a touch of magic to daily life.
Cozy Creatures: Cozy fantasy creatures are friendly, whimsical, or just misunderstood. This section provides insight into how traditional fantasy creatures, like dragons, fairies, and elementals, are reimagined for a cozy setting. You’ll find examples of creatures that inspire awe or offer companionship, rather than threats to be conquered. These creatures contribute to the charm and gentle magic of a cozy world, making it a place filled with life and mystery rather than danger.
Reference: As a final resource, this section provides a comprehensive set of stock characters, factions, and creatures that are perfect for cozy fantasy, along with equipment ideas and a detailed glossary of terms. For those looking to dive deeper into the genre, the bibliography lists essential reference works, pulling from folklore, history, and literature to help ground and inspire your cozy fantasy setting. This reference section is the ultimate toolkit, giving you everything you need to make your cozy fantasy world feel complete, inviting, and fully realized.
196 pages. PDF and epub files included.
The Simple Approach Edition, November 2024
Think of a world where high stakes are swapped for heartwarming stories, where dragons are just as likely to share tea as they are to breathe fire, and where heroes don’t always need to wield swords, they might be more skilled with a baker’s rolling pin. The Cozy Fantasy Sourcebook takes you into this charming space, letting you build a story where warmth, friendship, and community matter just as much as heroics. This sourcebook is system-agnostic, meaning it slides right into your favorite roleplaying game, whether you’re using The Simple Approach, the Foragers Guild, or any other system you enjoy.
So, what exactly is cozy fantasy? Imagine a world with a bit of magic but without all the turmoil. Cozy fantasy is about exploring character-driven, story-focused narratives that are as gentle as they are imaginative. It’s the world of books like Legends & Lattes, The House in the Cerulean Sea, and Howl’s Moving Castle, where adventure and whimsy meet community and comfort. This sourcebook brings that vibe to your tabletop, so you can explore the fantastic without always dodging swords and spells.
Here, you and your friends are free to explore themes of growth, connection, and discovery, choosing the story you want to tell. Want to build a small-town bakery run by retired adventurers? Or maybe a magical library guarded by a sentient cat? You can dive deep into settings where every choice you make shapes a narrative that feels personal and fulfilling. This isn’t about conquering worlds; it’s about finding joy in the details, about turning the ordinary into something extraordinary.
With The Cozy Fantasy Sourcebook, it’s all about creative freedom and collaborative storytelling. You’ll get everything you need to shape a cozy world, from prompts that help flesh out characters and locations to tools that guide you through crafting challenges without relying on combat or confrontation. These are adventures built on imagination, collaboration, and agency. It gives your table room to stretch its creative muscles, think outside the usual tropes, and discover how meaningful “quiet” adventures can be.
Perfect for those who want something refreshing but familiar, The Cozy Fantasy Sourcebook offers a framework that’s both comforting and innovative. Cozy fantasy is for anyone tired of high-stakes, save-the-world narratives, looking instead to create stories where kindness, friendship, and the small moments make the biggest impact. So, pull up a chair, brew a pot of tea, and get ready to bring a little more warmth to your roleplaying table.
A Universal Sourcebook
An earlier edition of this book was originally created as a system-agnostic toolkit, and retails that function in this edition. However, it’s now fully compliant with The Simple Approach and games using that system and philosophy, including The Foragers Guild. You don’t need it to play one of our games to use this material, 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. For advice on translating material between systems, grab the Lightspress Handbook, available wherever you found this book.
Navigating This Book
This book contains the following tools, resources, and information.
Cozy Fantasy: Cozy fantasy creates a soft, inviting world where magic exists not as a tool for domination but as a means for connection, comfort, and wonder. This section offers a clear definition of cozy fantasy as a genre, breaking down its core components and showing how it contrasts with traditional fantasy roleplaying. Instead of perilous quests and high-stakes battles, cozy fantasy focuses on community, everyday life, and the quiet magic found in the small moments. You'll learn how to capture this unique tone, whether you’re new to roleplaying or looking to create a peaceful, enriching experience.
Cozy Characters: Traditional fantasy character types—like the rogue, the mage, and the ranger—take on new dimensions. In this section, we explore how each character archetype is reshaped to fit a cozy world, focusing less on combat skills and more on qualities like empathy, creativity, and wisdom. You’ll find guidance on adapting classic character types into roles that contribute to the warmth and harmony of the setting, transforming adventurers into storytellers, herbalists, guardians, and caretakers.
Cozy Magic: Magic is quiet, gentle, and deeply connected to natural cycles. Here, we explore the kinds of magic commonly found in a cozy world, including divination, the phases of the moon, seasonal influences, and potioncraft. Instead of spells designed to overpower, cozy magic encourages growth, healing, and insight. This section gives examples of how to incorporate this type of magic into your setting, where magic adds depth and wonder to daily life without overshadowing the importance of community and connection.
Traits: In cozy fantasy, character traits are more than just stats; they’re defining elements that bring characters to life and guide their relationships with others. This section covers examples of character traits that suit a cozy setting, as well as advice on choosing and roleplaying these traits in any system you’re using. You'll discover how to develop characters whose abilities are woven into their personalities, making them memorable, charming, and perfectly suited to a gentle world where kindness, patience, and curiosity are as important as strength and skill.
Resources: Cozy fantasy settings have their own approach to resources and lifestyle, emphasizing simplicity and self-sufficiency. In this section, you’ll find information on the types of equipment that fit within a cozy world, from handmade tools to enchanted trinkets, as well as the modest lifestyle choices that define the cozy fantasy genre. This section also explores wealth, focusing on bartering, community support, and non-monetary resources like friendships and contacts.
Worldbuilding: Worldbuilding is about creating places that feel alive, safe, and welcoming. This section guides you through the elements needed to make your setting feel warm and grounded, from homely villages to vibrant markets and enchanted woods. You’ll learn how to add unique details that turn simple places into beloved locations, and how to create a world where every corner offers a quiet sense of wonder. This includes rethinking common fantasy tropes and adjusting them to fit a world that values comfort, connection, and community.
Factions: Guilds, guilds, and other groups are more than power players—they’re support networks and gathering places. This section explores how familiar fantasy organizations, like a guild of mages or a council of druids, function within a cozy setting. Here, factions are not motivated by ambition or rivalry, but by shared values, community service, and a desire to protect and nurture the world around them. You’ll find tips on creating guilds and organizations that align with the values of cozy fantasy and enhance your setting.
Adventures: Adventures focus on personal growth, connections, and small but meaningful challenges. In this section, you’ll find advice on crafting cozy adventures that offer exploration, discovery, and problem-solving without putting characters in perilous situations. This section includes detailed beat charts for a variety of cozy scenarios, helping you create experiences that feel satisfying and engaging. Each beat chart provides an outline for adventures that fit a cozy world, offering enough structure to keep things interesting while preserving a peaceful tone.
Artifacts & Relics: Artifacts and relics are rarely weapons or tools of immense power; they’re more likely to be enchanted keepsakes, heirlooms, or objects of comfort. Here, you’ll find a collection of cozy fantasy magic items, from amulets of calm to ever-warm blankets. These items aren’t about wielding control over the world—they bring warmth, security, and small wonders to the people who use them. Each artifact is designed to fit seamlessly into a cozy setting, adding a touch of magic to daily life.
Cozy Creatures: Cozy fantasy creatures are friendly, whimsical, or just misunderstood. This section provides insight into how traditional fantasy creatures, like dragons, fairies, and elementals, are reimagined for a cozy setting. You’ll find examples of creatures that inspire awe or offer companionship, rather than threats to be conquered. These creatures contribute to the charm and gentle magic of a cozy world, making it a place filled with life and mystery rather than danger.
Reference: As a final resource, this section provides a comprehensive set of stock characters, factions, and creatures that are perfect for cozy fantasy, along with equipment ideas and a detailed glossary of terms. For those looking to dive deeper into the genre, the bibliography lists essential reference works, pulling from folklore, history, and literature to help ground and inspire your cozy fantasy setting. This reference section is the ultimate toolkit, giving you everything you need to make your cozy fantasy world feel complete, inviting, and fully realized.
196 pages. PDF and epub files included.