Today's Offerings on Humble Bundle and Bundle of Holding.
Not a lot of TTRPG content on Humble Bundle today, but Bundle of Holding has a few gems.
A look at what is on Humble Bundle and Bundle of Holding right now.
Humble Bundle
Bob’s Dungeon Crawl Classics - RPG Megabundle
The only difference between the top two tiers is some random printed adventures, which I would assume are already included in the PDF bundle. DCC is a fun game, and there are 98 titles here, including rules, adventures, and the Dying Earth Boxed set. DCC is a fun game where you absolutely “play to find out.” I am not a huge fan of “Funnels” because I find them immersion-breaking, but I have enjoyed them when playing. The randomness of some of the game mechanics sometimes feels mock-grimdark, and that is not a criticism. Available until roughly the 21st of January.
Bundle of Holding
I have never read or played this system, but it intrigues me. Character creation is done with a life-path system, and character abilities are based on previous professions. We all know how much I love life-paths. I hear the Beliefs and Instincts system is like a set of mechanical boosts for playing based on the character’s motivations, something I see too rarely in modern RPGs, where most boosts are designed to give story control to the player. There is also a meta-currency in the game, but from what I read, it does not restore reliably (like bennies in Savage Worlds do). I am definitely curious and may have to check out this title. Available until roughly the 19th of January.
My partner adores the podcast, but Dungeons and Dragons really turned her off of RPGs. She has shown interest in the less fighty Call of Cthulhu, and this may be the title to get her to try RPGs again. It uses the Cypher System, which, surprisingly, I have not tried, but I know some huge fans. Success seems to be determined by point pool expenditures, and the focus is on the story and narrative rather than on experiencing a world through a character’s eyes. A lot of players really love these games, but after playing narrative games that feel more like a writer’s room than an open world to experience as another character, I am a bit suspicious. Also, there are many horror and supernatural games. Available until roughly the 12th of January.
A hex crawl setting for Old School Essentials, which, for me, probably means it would get used with BECM D&D. I have not read it, but the description on Bundle of Holding is very pulpy weirdness. It has a certain H.P. Lovecraft Dreamslands feel to me, and if you like adventures like Chateau D’Amberville or the old Wizards animated movie, this might be your thing. I doubt I will discuss it anytime soon, as I have too much original retrocontent to get truly excited about retroclone campaigns. Available until roughly the 21st of January.
If you like superheroes and building characters based on pure math, without any acknowledgement of the world they come from, do I have a game for you? That may not be fair. I have played and enjoyed Hero System/Champions games, but it is not my preferred style. Characters are built with points, trading disadvantages for more powers. The mechanics are crunchy, simulationist-style, which, despite the complexity of character creation budgeting, plays pretty smoothly. I have not played these games since college, probably the first Clinton administration, but this is not D&D, so the editions are true editions rather than new games. If point-buying to make anything-goes characters and simulationist-style mechanics sound good to you, you may enjoy this. Available until roughly the 26th of January.
A campaign for Champions, with hero and villain organizations, and if it is anything like the original Strike Force, a fine piece of work for any gamemaster who runs a long campaign. I have the original, released during the Reagan administration, and it was worth as much for the sections on working with players and organizing a long campaign as it was for any of the lore content. I am not a huge superhero or comic book fan, but I will acknowledge that the late Aaron Alliston wrote my favorite lore book for D&D and edited my favorite edition of D&D (the Rules Cyclopedia, which was the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons and something very different from Dungeons and Dragons, Fifth Edition). I would read this, maybe buy it, but it is Champions content, so probably not. Also available until roughly the 26th of January, suspicious, I say.
A book of random tables that I have not read. This style of book is great for improvisation-based gamemasters who like to provide open worlds and “play to find out.” Especially when you, as a gamemaster, find out during play that no player at your table gives a damn about any of the set pieces you have detailed. Luckily for ancients like myself, these collections are reusable every twenty years or so, so I am probably set for life. Also, these books are great for solo roleplayers. Available until roughly the 14th of January.
I have never heard of DIE before seeing this. It seems interesting, your character is a player who has been sucked into a horror role-playing game? Maybe? I suspect it is more appealing to people who have read the comics or are super fans of Stranger Things. I would want to see it at a convention. The description seems very meta and a bit LitRPG, which are not really my thing. Available until roughly the 12th of January.
