Cursed Worlds
Cursed Worlds drags you into the shadowy corners of a twisted, heroic fantasy setting where nothing is ever simple, and everything has consequences. This isn’t your average worldbuilding book. It’s for dark fantasy roleplaying, where dread seeps into every crevice, and danger lurks behind every decision. You’re not just building kingdoms and landscapes here, you’re constructing realms of horror that will haunt your players long after the dice stop rolling.
This book isn't for the faint of heart. We're talking about building settings that challenge your players with moral dilemmas, impossible choices, and terrifying foes. Every inch of this cursed world has weight, every decision matters, and every consequence changes the story in unpredictable ways. Cursed Worlds is about bringing your players into the abyss and making them crawl their way out, or not.
Whether you're a fan of dark fantasy epics or love throwing your players into bleak, haunted landscapes, Cursed Worlds offers a new spin on the classic genre. You’re not just a worldbuilder; you’re crafting nightmares, testing loyalties, and pushing characters to their limits. Imagination, collaboration, and agency are front and center, giving you the tools to shape a narrative where even the smallest choices can cause everything to spiral out of control. If you’re into dark fantasy roleplaying, Cursed Worlds gives you the freedom to create settings as fresh as they are familiar, where the heroes are flawed, and the stakes are terrifyingly real.
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.
Navigating This Book
Here’s a breakdown of the tools and resources you’ll find inside these pages:
Worldbuilding: This section arms you with everything you need to build cursed lands that your players will dread exploring. It’s not just about mountains and forests. Think blighted wastelands, forgotten ruins, and creepy villages where nothing is quite right. You’ll get ideas on how to inject fear, dread, and despair into every corner of your setting, making sure that nowhere feels safe.
Genre: We’re diving headfirst into the dark fantasy genre. This section breaks down what makes a cursed world tick, from doomed heroes to malevolent forces pulling the strings. If you’re not sure where your dark fantasy setting should lean—gothic horror, grimdark, or apocalyptic—this will help you pin down the vibe you want.
Settings: Here, we take a deeper look at the locations where your stories will unfold. From decaying castles to haunted cities to forsaken wilderness, each setting is packed with ways to trap, challenge, and horrify your characters. Whether you’re looking for inspiration or concrete ideas, this section’s got you covered.
Environments: This isn't just about scenery. We’re talking about the atmosphere and tone of the cursed world. From the constant threat of death to the creeping feeling that something is always watching, you’ll learn how to create environments that aren’t just backdrops but key players in your story. Every storm, shadow, and unnatural silence should make your players feel the weight of the curse pressing down on them.
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
Cursed Worlds 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.
Cursed Worlds drags you into the shadowy corners of a twisted, heroic fantasy setting where nothing is ever simple, and everything has consequences. This isn’t your average worldbuilding book. It’s for dark fantasy roleplaying, where dread seeps into every crevice, and danger lurks behind every decision. You’re not just building kingdoms and landscapes here, you’re constructing realms of horror that will haunt your players long after the dice stop rolling.
This book isn't for the faint of heart. We're talking about building settings that challenge your players with moral dilemmas, impossible choices, and terrifying foes. Every inch of this cursed world has weight, every decision matters, and every consequence changes the story in unpredictable ways. Cursed Worlds is about bringing your players into the abyss and making them crawl their way out, or not.
Whether you're a fan of dark fantasy epics or love throwing your players into bleak, haunted landscapes, Cursed Worlds offers a new spin on the classic genre. You’re not just a worldbuilder; you’re crafting nightmares, testing loyalties, and pushing characters to their limits. Imagination, collaboration, and agency are front and center, giving you the tools to shape a narrative where even the smallest choices can cause everything to spiral out of control. If you’re into dark fantasy roleplaying, Cursed Worlds gives you the freedom to create settings as fresh as they are familiar, where the heroes are flawed, and the stakes are terrifyingly real.
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.
Navigating This Book
Here’s a breakdown of the tools and resources you’ll find inside these pages:
Worldbuilding: This section arms you with everything you need to build cursed lands that your players will dread exploring. It’s not just about mountains and forests. Think blighted wastelands, forgotten ruins, and creepy villages where nothing is quite right. You’ll get ideas on how to inject fear, dread, and despair into every corner of your setting, making sure that nowhere feels safe.
Genre: We’re diving headfirst into the dark fantasy genre. This section breaks down what makes a cursed world tick, from doomed heroes to malevolent forces pulling the strings. If you’re not sure where your dark fantasy setting should lean—gothic horror, grimdark, or apocalyptic—this will help you pin down the vibe you want.
Settings: Here, we take a deeper look at the locations where your stories will unfold. From decaying castles to haunted cities to forsaken wilderness, each setting is packed with ways to trap, challenge, and horrify your characters. Whether you’re looking for inspiration or concrete ideas, this section’s got you covered.
Environments: This isn't just about scenery. We’re talking about the atmosphere and tone of the cursed world. From the constant threat of death to the creeping feeling that something is always watching, you’ll learn how to create environments that aren’t just backdrops but key players in your story. Every storm, shadow, and unnatural silence should make your players feel the weight of the curse pressing down on them.
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
Cursed Worlds 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.
Cursed Worlds drags you into the shadowy corners of a twisted, heroic fantasy setting where nothing is ever simple, and everything has consequences. This isn’t your average worldbuilding book. It’s for dark fantasy roleplaying, where dread seeps into every crevice, and danger lurks behind every decision. You’re not just building kingdoms and landscapes here, you’re constructing realms of horror that will haunt your players long after the dice stop rolling.
This book isn't for the faint of heart. We're talking about building settings that challenge your players with moral dilemmas, impossible choices, and terrifying foes. Every inch of this cursed world has weight, every decision matters, and every consequence changes the story in unpredictable ways. Cursed Worlds is about bringing your players into the abyss and making them crawl their way out, or not.
Whether you're a fan of dark fantasy epics or love throwing your players into bleak, haunted landscapes, Cursed Worlds offers a new spin on the classic genre. You’re not just a worldbuilder; you’re crafting nightmares, testing loyalties, and pushing characters to their limits. Imagination, collaboration, and agency are front and center, giving you the tools to shape a narrative where even the smallest choices can cause everything to spiral out of control. If you’re into dark fantasy roleplaying, Cursed Worlds gives you the freedom to create settings as fresh as they are familiar, where the heroes are flawed, and the stakes are terrifyingly real.
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.
Navigating This Book
Here’s a breakdown of the tools and resources you’ll find inside these pages:
Worldbuilding: This section arms you with everything you need to build cursed lands that your players will dread exploring. It’s not just about mountains and forests. Think blighted wastelands, forgotten ruins, and creepy villages where nothing is quite right. You’ll get ideas on how to inject fear, dread, and despair into every corner of your setting, making sure that nowhere feels safe.
Genre: We’re diving headfirst into the dark fantasy genre. This section breaks down what makes a cursed world tick, from doomed heroes to malevolent forces pulling the strings. If you’re not sure where your dark fantasy setting should lean—gothic horror, grimdark, or apocalyptic—this will help you pin down the vibe you want.
Settings: Here, we take a deeper look at the locations where your stories will unfold. From decaying castles to haunted cities to forsaken wilderness, each setting is packed with ways to trap, challenge, and horrify your characters. Whether you’re looking for inspiration or concrete ideas, this section’s got you covered.
Environments: This isn't just about scenery. We’re talking about the atmosphere and tone of the cursed world. From the constant threat of death to the creeping feeling that something is always watching, you’ll learn how to create environments that aren’t just backdrops but key players in your story. Every storm, shadow, and unnatural silence should make your players feel the weight of the curse pressing down on them.
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
Cursed Worlds 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.