Bundle of Holding: The Spire

I really like Grant Howitt’s work. I’ve used his Honey Heist game with a couple of groups in the past and it went down very well. The simple, fun little game captured the imagination of my groups and sent them careening off on elaborate ursine capers. I’m therefore quite interested in his larger game, Spire.

Bundle of Holding is bringing the game to you alongside a load of supplements. As usual, this bundle is broken down into two tiers. The first tier costs $12.95 and gets you the following:

The first and most important item is, of course, the core rulebook. I mean, come on, what sort of terrible bundle wouldn’t give you the core rules right off the bat? Heh. I love the premise of the game. The original Kickstarter campaign for the game set the tone thusly:

“You are a dark elf. The touch of the sun burns your grey skin, and you hide from the light in twisting corridors, crumbling temples and the lawless undercity of the metropolis known as Spire. The high elves, rulers of the city, alien and capricious, allow you to live here as an underclass forced to beg for scraps.  

Your religion, your culture, and your people are being destroyed all around you. You have seen your fathers, your mothers, your grandparents subjugated by the high elves, and you have had enough. You have joined the resistance: the ministry of Our Hidden Mistress, worshippers of a forbidden goddess.  

You have sworn in blood that the high elves will fall, that you will destroy them through subterfuge, and insurrection, and terror.“

That’s just cool, innit?

The rules are pretty straightforward and are based on D10s. What I really like is the fact that as you complete actions, successfully or otherwise, you start to accrue stress which can then lead to repercussions known as fallout when further actions are taken.

The main other item in this tier is Strata. It expands on the richest and poorest districts of the city and its… stratified society. I also really like the idea of one of the new classes it adds. The Inksmith really fits in both in terms of storytelling and gameplay with their black market connections, and their awesome ability to take fiction and channel it into spells. This book is the only large book in this bundle, other than the core rulebook.

The remaining item is a compilation of three storyline starters, or “campaign frames”. They come with a basic storyline, pre-generated characters, and a range of story hooks. Three of them will keep your group busy for a while. They mostly seem to be here for the sake of convenience, as they are usually freebies anyway.

The second tier is priced on a threshold that is, at the time of writing, sitting at $20.56. This will get you everything from the first tier, along with 6 further items:

The items in this tier are far smaller than those in the first one. The largest book is 54 pages and no other title is even half that size. This larger item is the Shadow Operations book. It contains 11 one-shot scenarios for a quick, easy game. The Last Train is the coolest sounding scenario from the bunch, featuring the only remaining train on the transit system, doomed to never stop. Time for a heist?

Black Magic and Codex of the Deep Spire are both sourcebooks that add cool, new details to your game. Essentially, you’re just getting more new character options. Black Magic is the more interesting of the two.

Honestly, this tier isn’t actually that exciting. There are some cool, little books that all add something, and there’s some sounds for your games. I just find it hard to really care, y’know?

I think it’s clear what my verdict is going to be on value. The first tier is definitely worth the price of admission. The core book and Strata put a lot on the table. They’re a steal at $12.95. The second tier is pretty lackluster. The content isn’t bad, and the difference in price between the two tiers is more than made up for by the usual retail prices of Black Magic and Shadow Operations (a combines $18), but it’s got no real show-stoppers.

I suppose what I’m saying is, pick up the first tier and consider the second if you genuinely think you’re going to use Black Magic or Shadow Operations.

You can click here to visit the bundle page on Bundle of Holding.