Start Here
This is where story-first roleplaying begins.
Lightspress makes tools for players and gamemasters who care more about the fiction than the math. Everything here helps you build better characters, stronger scenes, and more focused worlds without clutter or contradiction.
What Lightspress Is
Lightspress is a publishing studio for narrative-first roleplaying. Our tools are modular, system-adaptable, and designed for the kind of play where story leads and mechanics follow. Whether you're building a setting from scratch or running a one-shot tomorrow, everything is built to help you do the work that matters and skip the parts that don’t.
Who It’s For
We make books for people who:
Write their own adventures
Care about emotional pacing, spotlight balance, and character arcs
Prefer notebooks and session notes over tactical maps
Treat roleplaying as collaborative storytelling, not simulated combat
You don’t need to be experienced. You just need to value story over structure and trust your group to build something worth remembering.
What to Do First
Get the Free Design Mini-Zine
Subscribe to receive A Simple Approach: Design Philosophy, a printable zine about narrative-first play. No spam. Just tools worth using.
→ [Subscribe to Get the Freebie]
Read the Latest Blog Post
Each post offers a clear tool, prompt, or pattern you can use right now.
→ [Explore the Blog]
Browse the Games
Find narrative-first rulebooks, genre toolkits, and sourcebooks for the stories you want to tell.
→ [See the Games]
Everything here is made to support your story. Use what works. Leave the rest.
You’re not here to memorize rules. You’re here to build worlds.