Meme-Free Zone

Two all-new GURPS 4E bundles with an emphasis on hitting things...


( GURPS Combat and Superheres )


There's a lot of material here - none of it has been in bundles before, and a lot of it is a bit specialized. But 4E has been around for a good while and may may already own the material in one form or another, so as usual the best advice I can give is to check what you need and what else is included, and decide if it's worth spending the money rather than buying individual PDFs.

The last of these offers, this time for GURPS Space:


( GURPS 4E Space )


This is in many ways the most interesting offer of the three to me - snag is that I already own the parts that interest me as dead trees - sometimes in earlier editions, but I'm more interested in the concepts than the rules anyway...

 

This is the first of three bundles this week for GURPS, the Generic Universal Role Playing System - this one is the core games material for the system and some of the most useful supplements


( GURPS 4th Edition Essentials )


GURPS is probably the most popular generic RPG rules set, designed to be readily adapted to any setting. It's reasonably easy to pick up, though there are other games out there that easier to learn, and has a vast range of support material available. This Essentials offer is aimed at people who don't already own the game at all - I own most of it already in dead tree format, the exceptions are things that simply don't interest me much such as the Mass Combat supplement. If you don't already own it, and want a very adaptable rules set, it's well worth a look.

Traveller has to be the iconic SF system. The GURPS version keeps the original setting and adds the level of detail we've come to expect from GURPS supplements, lots of nice twiddly bits that enhance the setting and can easily be adapted to the original rules. There are two offers, one with the basic setting and essential supplements, the other some of the more obscure worldbuilding stuff. For both of them you do need the GURPS rules, of course, and the Lite version is included in one of the bundles:


GURPS Traveller Essentials [core rulebook & major supplements]

http://bundleofholding.com/presents/GURPSTrav1

"This is the first of two separate offers, running in parallel, that present many titles from the licensed GURPS Traveller line originally published by Steve Jackson Games based on the classic SFRPG Traveller. This first offer, GURPS Traveller Essentials, presents the core GURPS Traveller rulebook and all the major supplements you need for a complete campaign in this alternate Third Imperium. If you're new to Traveller, start here. The companion offer, GURPS Traveller Imperial Survey, presents the Alien Guides, Planetary Survey supplements, and more. Both these offers include starship Deck Plans in .PDF versions that are available here for the first time anywhere.

In 1998 Traveller designer Marc Miller licensed the Traveller setting to SJG for use with its Generic Universal RolePlaying System. GURPS Traveller (1998-2015) uses the Third Edition GURPS system. The game takes place in Year 1120 of an alternate Third Imperium timeline (20 years after Classic Traveller) in which no Rebellion occurred (as in MegaTraveller) and the Virus was never released (as in Traveller: The New Era). Loren Wiseman, who worked with Game Designers' Workshop on the design and development of the original Traveller, was the GURPS Traveller line manager and editor of the online magazine Journal of the Travellers Aid Society. SJG produced over 30 supplements for the line, covering all of the major alien races, many minor races, interstellar trade, expanded world generation, the military forces of the Third Imperium, and starships.

SJG's Traveller license lapsed earlier this year, and rights to the line reverted to Marc Miller. He proposed these two Bundle of Holding offers.

We provide each ebook complete in .PDF (Portable Document Format). Like all Bundle of Holding titles, these books have NO DRM (Digital Restrictions Management), and our customers are entitled to move them freely among all their ereaders.

Ten percent of each purchase (after gateway fees) goes to this offer's designated charity, Heifer International."

The total retail value of the titles in this offer at launch is US$92. Customers who pay just US$11.95 get all four titles in this offer's Starter Collection (retail value $38) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks:

• GURPS Traveller 2E (retail price $12): The complete 179-page Second Edition corebook (2002). Includes the free GURPS LITE rules and the free introductory adventure "Flare Star."
• Starships (retail $8): Three dozen complete spacecraft designs plus rules for creating your own.
• First In (retail $8): The Imperium Interstellar Scout Service and a complete system for building the worlds its Scouts discover.
• Deck Plan 5: Sulieman-Class Scout/Courier (retail $10): Are you a scout in a First In campaign? This is your ship. GURPS Traveller Deck Plans are available in .PDF in these offers for the first time anywhere.

Those who pay more than the threshold (average) price, which is set at $24.95 to start, also get this offer's entire Bonus Collection with six more titles (retail value $54):

• Behind the Claw (retail $8): The GURPS guide to the canonical Traveller space sector, the Spinward Marches -- one of the most detailed treatments of the Marches in the setting's history.
• Humaniti (retail $10): The societies and cultures of 16 different human races -- Darrians, Azhanti, Syleans, Kargol, and many more.
• Starports (retail $8): The anchors of the Imperium. Written by novelist John M. Ford.
• Modular Cutter (retail $8): A sourcebook for the workhorse Ship of a Thousand Uses, a favorite of Traveller groups for decades.
• Deck Plan 2: Modular Cutter and Deck Plan 1: Beowulf-Class Trader (retail $10 each): Ship layouts printed with both hexes (for GURPS) and squares (Classic Traveller).

There will be at least one additional item added after launch; When a title is added to an offer after launch, ALL customers who previously purchased that offer automatically receive the newly added title, REGARDLESS of whether or not they paid more than average. This is their reward for buying early.

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GURPS Traveller Imperial Survey [alien books, planetary guides]

http://bundleofholding.com/presents/GURPSTrav2

This companion offer, GURPS Traveller Imperial Survey, presents the Alien Races guides, Planetary Survey supplements, and the Far Trader supplement about mercantile campaigns. Both these offers include starship Deck Plans in .PDF versions that are available here for the first time anywhere.

The total retail value of the titles in this offer at launch is US$72. Customers who pay just US$7.95 get all four titles in this offer's Starter Collection (retail value $33) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks:

• Far Trader (retail price $10): Independent merchants and the economics of interstellar trade.
• Alien Races 1 (Zhodani/Vargr) (retail $10): The Zhodani, Vargr, and three minor races, all presented in thorough detail never before seen in Traveller by star GURPS writer David L. Pulver.
• Planetary Survey 3: Granicus (retail $3): A pirate stronghold that threatens from Imperial space to the frontier.
• Deck Plan 3: Empress Marava-Class Far Trader (retail $10): The ideal starship for a small commercial enterprise. GURPS Traveller Deck Plans are available in .PDF in these offers for the first time anywhere.

Those who pay more than the threshold (average) price, which is set at $18.95 to start, also get this offer's entire Bonus Collection with six more titles (retail value $39):

• Alien Races 2 (Aslan/K'kree), Alien Races 3 (Hivers/Droyne), and Alien Races 4 (retail $10 each): Detailed guides to the rest of the major nonhuman races in the Traveller universe.
• Planetary Survey 1: Kamsii, Survey 2: Denuli, and Survey 4: Glisten (retail $3 each): Three more guides to worlds and systems full of adventure.

Again, at least one more title will be added after launch.

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I think this is a good offer, especially if you're new to the Traveller universe; I'm not, and already have a lot of it in dead tree format. Even so I think it's worth considering, but as usual I have to point out I'm not paying for this stuff, if you are your mileage may vary.