Another RPG bundle - Cypher 10

[ffutures]

This is a bundle for games based on the Cypher 10 RPG system from Monte Cook Games, most notably the SF game Numenera. Some of it has been in previous bundles, others are new:

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/CypherMega

This new Cypher System 10A Megabundle marks the tenth anniversary of the founding of Monte Cook Games with a giant offer of games, sourcebooks, and campaign settings based on the Cypher System.

Since Monte Cook and Shanna Germain founded MCG in late 2012, in the wake of Numenera's record-breaking August 2012 Kickstarter campaign, the company has moved from strength to strength: The Strange, Cypher System, No Thank You Evil, Invisible Sun, a two-volume Numenera update and, ending just last week, a stunning US$2.1M campaign -- the company's biggest ever -- for Old Gods of Appalachia. This Bundle of Holding offer -- and a companion offer launching Wednesday -- join an ambitious slate of anniversary events MCG has planned, including convention celebrations, special products and promotions, retrospective blog posts, and "a couple of amazing new initiatives fans of our games, and the industry in general, are going to love."

The total retail value of the titles in this offer is a rich US$254.50. Eleven of these titles have appeared in past Bundle of Holding offers, 2015-2021. The total retail value of the six titles new in this offer -- the 2019 revised Cypher System Rulebook, the four genre books, and Unmasked -- is $134.50. We provide each title complete in .PDF. Like all Bundle of Holding titles, these ebooks have NO DRM (Digital Restrictions Management), and our customers are entitled to move them freely among all their devices.

Ten percent of each purchase (after gateway fees) goes to this Cypher 10A offer's pandemic-related charity, Direct Relief. Direct Relief sends protective gear and critical care medications to health workers, with emergency deliveries to medical facilities across the US and to regional response agencies across the world.

Customers who pay just US$17.95 get all seven complete core rulebooks and play aids in our Rulebook Collection (retail value $95) as DRM-free ebooks, including the revised 2019 version of the Cypher System Rulebook (retail price $23), plus its Character Portfolio (retail $2); the twin corebooks Numenera Discovery and Numenera Destiny (retail $20 each), along with their Player's Guide (retail $8) and the Numenera Character Portfolio (retail $2); and The Strange corebook (retail $20).

Those who pay more than the threshold (average) price, which is set at $39.95 to start, also get our entire Worlds Collection with twelve more supplements worth an additional $159.50:

• Four genre sourcebooks (retail $19 each) funded in the July 2018 "Your Best Game Ever" Kickstarter campaign: Godforsaken (fantasy), The Stars Are Fire (science fiction), Stay Alive! (horror), and We Are All Mad Here (fairy tales)
• Four campaign supplements funded in the February 2016 "Worlds of the Cypher System" Kickstarter: Expanded Worlds (retail $18), Gods of the Fall (retail $18), Predation (retail $18), and Unmasked (retail $12.50)
• Four conversion guides that let gamemasters mix-and-match elements from different settings: Gods Beyond (retail $2), Strange Creatures of the Ninth World (free), Way of the Dinosaur (retail $2), and When Worlds Collide (retail $4)

I have mixed feelings on this one - you're getting quite a lot, but if you've already got some of it it could work out quite expensive, and there's a big price jump if you want the Worlds Collection. And various reviewers have suggested that while the concepts for some of these settings are new, the actual execution doesn't always seem especially innovative - for example, Numenara often plays like a fantasy RPG, with lost tech replacing magic items and monsters. I'd strongly recommend asking around and checking out the detailed descriptions of these games and add-ons before committing.