Meme-Free Zone

This is another repeat bundle, set in the huge largely unexplored rift that splits the Empire and can make travel very difficult. It's a repeat offer adding some new material - if you previously bought it you will receive the new parts automatically. Apologies that I've posted this so late - I've been a bit busy tonight and it slipped my mind.

TRAVELLER GREAT RIFT (Nov 2022)
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/2026GreatRift

  

Last time this was on offer (with another bundle containing the rules etc.) I said "OK - Traveller is probably the best-loved SF system out there, and the Mongoose version is VERY popular. You're getting a ton of stuff for your money. Need I say more? Unless you really dislike SF or the setting, or already have everything here, I'd recommend buying them." To which I might as well add that long-term exploration is something that earlier versions of Traveller didn't handle very well; you were mostly in a mapped and reasonably well-documented empire, and it was rare to encounter the complete unknown. This bundle, and others like it, have really changed that, and I really welcome the change.

Two Mongoose Traveller bundles, with three more to come later in the week! One of these is a repeat, the other new: the revived December 2024 Mongoose Traveller Update Bundle, with the core rulebook and useful supplements, and a new bundle, Traveller Imperial Navy, with sourcebooks and adventures for the Third Imperium space fleet.

TRAVELLER UPDATE (from Dec 2024)
 https://bundleofholding.com/presents/TravUpdateR1

TRAVELLER IMPERIAL NAVY (new)
 https://bundleofholding.com/presents/ImperialNavy

 

This is apparently going to be Mongoose Traveller week, with 5 bundles coming in all - the reason being that May 1st is Traveller Day, because the 1977 edition had a "Mayday" message on the cover. In my opinion it's about the best version (Unless you're a GURPS fan or are waiting for the forthcoming D&D Traveller which is apparently going to be a thing, but I suspect not one that interests me)

Since they've chosen to release these bundles now because of the date, I'm wondering if there will be something in a galaxy far, far away for May 4th...

update - forgot to say that the naval bundle is pretty good, with some nice material on how navies work in this setting, ships, and adventures.

This is a bundle for the RPG Land of Eem, the "whimsical tabletop fantasy roleplaying game of colorful characters exploring the Mucklands from Star & Flame Games and Exalted Funeral." The elevator pitch is "Lord of the Rings meets The Muppets as whimsical adventurers young and old make perilous journeys across the Mucklands"

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/LandOfEem

  

The rules emphasise role playing and negotiation, while still allowing for combat where necessary, and the most dangerous monsters of the game are tycoons who dominate and exploit everyone else. Any resemblance to modern life is, of course, purely coincidental.

I'm not convinced it's one I want to play, but there are some fun ideas and it's fairly cheap, and if you like whimsical settings it's probably worth a look.

This is a bundle of "system-neutral" material for SF RPGs, consisting mostly of percentage tables for generating planets, alien races, etc. etc., by Jason Lutes and published by Lampblack & Brimstone. There's also an adventure with setting etc. designed using the tables

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/PerilousVoid

  

This is cheap and has a lot of useful ideas if you want to create an adventure background in a hurry. Like most random generation systems the results will probably need some tweaking, and adaption for the rules in use, but it's cheap and ought to be useful. And it's time I posted my occasional reminder that I get to look at this stuff free - if you have to pay for it your mileage may vary.

Another two fantasy bundles, this time the venerable Tunnels and Trolls, the second fantasy RPG. These offers are being repeated now to publicise a kickstarter for a new version of the game - Tunnels & Trolls A New Age. I'm slightly sceptical about the need for a new version, which allegedly isn't going to be very compatible with the old rules, but what do I know...

TUNNELS & TROLLS BUNDLE (originally published September 2018)
   https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Tunnels2026

T&T ADVENTURES (originally published June 2021, formerly titled "Tunnels & Trolls 2"
   https://bundleofholding.com/presents/TunnelsAdventures

   

When these were first on offer I said (of the game)

I only played T&T a couple of times, since everyone I knew was using D&D, but it does have a lot going for it if you want a fantasy system with an emphasis on dungeon-bashing and don't mind its sense of humour. It works reasonably well, it's a fairly streamlined system that can be picked up fairly easily, and it only uses six-sided dice, always a hit with those who don't like endless confusing polyhedra. It isn't really my preferred style of gaming any more, but for those who do like this sort of thing there's a lot for your money, and some good stuff in the bundle and available on line for the system.
 
and of the adventures

...it's a little dated by modern standards. Having said that, it's still a fun and easy to use system, and if you want a game where you can get a character created and start playing quickly it's still a good choice.

Still annoyed that my favourite T&T adventure, Rat on a Stick, has never made it to these offers, but it was an independent production from Judges Guild and appears to be unavailable. The only dungeon-delving adventure where the first choice is whether to kill the inhabitants or start a fast-food franchise and sell "ratsonastick! They're luvverly" to the monsters... but I digress. If you're interested in the slightly jokey "everything is a trap or a monster" style of play and don't already own a lot of this stuff it's probably something worth considering, if you don't already own it all. And if you're a T&T player it's worth checking to see if these offers can fill gaps in your collection.

Since all of this material has been available as PDFS for several years now I'd better add that if you already own a lot of it you way want to think about just buying the bits you don't have before going for the bundles - cherry picking may be the cheaper option.

This is a bundle of material for Scion 2E from Onyx Path Publishing, an RPG about people becoming gods which seems thematically somewhat like the Percy Jackson background. I don't think it has been in one of these bundles before.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/ScionOrigin

  

This isn't a genre I particularly want to play with at  present, but it looks like you get quite a lot for your money. Layout and design seem good, and the art avoids some common cliches although some of it does veer towards one uncanny valley or another.

Later - I'm reliably informed that the Storypath system itself uses mechanics similar to World of Darkness 1e, which I'd somehow missed.

This is a bundle of material for Age of Ambition, an RPG about a fantasy world trying to modernize and adapt to technology and rapid social and political changes following an alien invasion:

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Ambition

  


I'm not familiar with the rules system, but it looks reasonably playable and layout is good. If you get the complete bundle you're getting a lot for your money including numerous worldbooks and adventures, and the setting is novel enough that players ought to find it interesting. 

This is a bundle of material for Mists of Akuna, a "campaign setting of Eastern fantasy noir steampunk from Storm Bunny Studios for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition." Basically, slightly apocalyptic fantasy steampunk with Ninjas and oriental monsters and magic.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/MistsOfAkuma

  

This is another setting that doesn't interest me much - I'm not a fan of 5E and I've never really got into the oriental background much, and piling so many elements together would probably be a steep learning curve if I tried to pick it all up now. Presentation is good, with a lot of the illustrations having an anime look, and it looks like you get a lot for your money.

This is a repeat offer of the cyberpunk RPG Neon City Overdrive from Peril Planet, last offered in May 2022

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/2026NeonCity

  

Last time I said "Since I received this at about midnight and it only runs for a week I haven't had much time to take a detailed look. It's a system that looks reasonably playable, it's drawing on all the usual cyberpunk sources, and it's pretty cheap. I'm not sure I actually NEED another cyberpunk game, given how many I already own, but if you just want to dip your toes in the water I think it's worth a look. The usual caveat - I get to see this stuff without having to pay for it, if you don't your mileage may differ."

Since then I've taken a more detailed look - artwork is good (and credited to humans, not AI), and mostly avoids the tropes of the genre. Layout is a bit flashy but readable, and there is an emphasis on story-telling rather than rules. I think it's definitely a good one for a quick look at the genre.

A bundle of "system neutral" material for fantasy thieves from Human Gorilla Creations

 

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/HumanGorilla

  

This isn't something I particularly need but it's relatively cheap, nicely presented (with most art apart from maps etc.) from antique sources, and seems to have a sense of fun, as witnessed by the titles of some of the books. If you're running this sort of adventure it's worth a look.