The Bundle of Holding currently has three thematically-related
collections on offer. Each tangentially or directly embraces steampunk.
They’re all worth picking up and each supports a great cause. And I have a
selfish reason for mentioning these. Links to the bundles are in the headers.
This is a collection of stand-alone steampunk games and
supporting materials for some of them. You can see how different designers have
approached the concept. Some stay traditional, some look at the punk side of
things, and others port it over to fantasy to create a new hybrid.
Currently
the Bundle’s starter collection has Abney
Park's Airship Pirates, featuring time-travel and Neo-Victorians; The Concert in Flames, a guide to the
steampunk Europe of Victoriana; and Sweet Chariot 2, a lost colony world
built on steam-driven technology. The bonus collection has The Pure Steam Campaign Setting, a fantasy-steampunk world for Pathfinder; Westbound the first major sourcebook for Pure Steam; Underneath the Lamplight, a guide to the
strange future world of Airship Pirates;
and Steamcraft, a complete game of magic
and dystopian steamtech.
And there’s more to come…
I know that because Allen Varney let me help out a little
with picking the items for the bundle and putting together the copy. I’ve looked
that the history of steampunk and Victoriana in rpgs pretty extensively. You can check out my lists covering that here.
I missed this Bundle the first time it came around, so I’m glad
to have it back now. It contains pretty much everything for the most recent
edition of the Victoriana rpg. That
contains some of the richest resource material for anyone running a Victorian,
Steampunk, Weird Science, or Other-punk game. The starter collection has the
core book plus three others including the “stuff” compendium for the game. The
bonus collection's equally cool. You get the magic sourcebook, a guide to London
(useful!), several adventures, and a guide to colonial India, an often
overlooked time and place.
Years ago I pre-ordered the Warmachine intro faction boxes they released to drum up excitement for the forthcoming game. I anxiously await the chance to assemble and get those minis to the table. Those Warjacks and Warcasters remain among
the most solid metal figures I own: I broke many drill bits pinning them. While
I ended up not going full in on Warmachine, I loved the setting. Eventually I read through
the D&D 3e materials and even had a chance to play a couple of sessions. But I’ve
never gotten it to the table.
So Iron Kingdoms remains among my top five "White Whale" campaigns: settings
I want to run, but with a different and easier system. (The others being Fading Suns, Planescape, Night’s Black
Agents, and Scion…right now).
Iron Kingdoms is a pretty crunchy system borrowing as it
does some tabletop wargame-y elements from Warmachine. But the world’s amazing and the
core book's dense with background and ideas. So I went ahead and bought the
Bundle in the hopes I’ll convert it over to Dungeon World or 13th Age someday. Hopes...
The starter collection has the core book, monster manual,
and a supplement/adventure. The bonus collection adds the denser and richer
Kings, Nations, and Gods with more about the world. I thought the core book had
a ton of hooks and backstory, but this takes it to eleven. This level also offers the
parallel core book, Iron Kingdoms: Unleashed, which covers all the wilder places of
the world. There you can play from among the peoples who use monsters in place
of steamjacks. Very cool. Plus there’s some more adventures and supplements in
the mix.
The Bundle of Holding’s a great thing, benefiting many
different charities. And frankly all of these bundles are a great deal. There’s
more than enough to build a brilliant campaign for any GM vaguely interested in
steampunk. I selfishly hope you'll check these out and consider the Steam-Powered Bundle I helped with.
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