Bundle of Holding: The Sprawl

Bundle of Holding has a new bundle on the go. It features The Sprawl, a game I picked up a good while back, but haven’t quite managed to get to the table. I’ve read through it a good few times, and had some fun last year with another PbtA game, Avatar Legends, so it might be one to try for in 2024? 

The Sprawl, designed by Hamish Cameron, is a cyberpunk-themed RPG, where players take on the roles of characters operating in a dystopian, high-tech future, typically characterized by advanced technology, corporate control, and societal decay. The game is heavily influenced by classic cyberpunk literature, such as works by William Gibson and Neal Stephenson.

The game is set in a sprawling (oh, hey!), futuristic cityscape, dominated by powerful corporations and corrupt governments. The setting is a crucial element, providing a rich backdrop for the characters’ exploits.

The game is structured around missions or jobs that the player characters undertake. These missions are often commissioned by powerful entities, including corporations, criminal organizations, or rebel groups. It emphasises the influence of powerful corporations on the characters and the world. The PCs often find themselves entangled in the web of corporate interests, leading to complex and morally ambiguous situations.

The Sprawl is a PbtA game, so instead of traditional character classes and sheets it uses playbooks. Each playbook represents a specific archetype or role within the cyberpunk world, such as hackers, killers, infiltrators, and more. Players choose a playbook that aligns with their character concept and desired playstyle. Characters have a set of basic moves, and the result of a roll is usually a combination of the character’s relevant stat and a 2d6 roll.

The system incorporates mechanics for tracking harm and stress. Characters can suffer physical and mental harm, affecting their abilities and well-being. Managing stress is essential, as it represents the psychological toll of the characters’ actions. Characters advance by gaining experience points through completing missions, achieving personal goals, or facing significant challenges. This allows them to improve their skills, gain new abilities, and evolve over the course of the campaign.

The Sprawl, like many PbtA games, is known for its narrative focus, allowing players to contribute to the creation of the game world and story collaboratively. The rules encourage a cinematic and immersive experience, making it well-suited for players who enjoy storytelling and character-driven gameplay in a cyberpunk setting.

Let’s look at the bundle, eh?

It’s just one tier, which is becoming a bit more common at Bundle of Holding. This bundle will set you back $17.95 and get you the core book and a further 4 items: 

The most important item here is obviously the core book. It’s got the PbtA-based rules for the game, along with some good background and the playbooks and whatnot that you’ll need to play. I’d recommend popping by the downloads section of the publisher’s website to grab some printable versions of the playbooks and whatnot. 

The rest of the books contain supplementary material:

• November Metric looks at several different cities for you to use for your games, each with their own quirks and features. 
• Mission Files consists of ten missions that you can either use verbatim or build into your own adventures.
• Touched: A Darkening Alley is really interesting. It takes the cyberpunk setting of The Sprawl and sprinkles in some magic and horror. There’s even hints at some Lovecraftian themes going on. The book includes a load of new background and rules to get you going with this setting. 
• Touched Prime is similar to A Darkening Alley, but takes that setting forward a few generations, moving magic and technology on, but keeping the status quo as to the power of the megacorps that rules most of the cities. 

This is a great, wee bundle. It has a really solid game, and then some great tools to get going with different settings and missions. As mentioned, I’d also grab the downloads from the publisher’s website. Yeah, $17.95 is a good deal for some narrative-driven cyberpunky goodness!

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