Nab Ironsworn Delve, Electric Bastionland and more in Bundle of Holding’s ninth annual Indie Cornucopia

Introduce the weekly roleplay gang to some weird worlds and merciless dungeoneering with the Bundle of Holding’s Indie Cornucopia 9. The collection offers several small press and indie RPGs at a discounted rate as part of this year’s spate of Black Friday deals.

Like other bundles, this ninth Indie Cornucopia contains a starter selection of three roleplaying games for $12.95 (£10) and an expanded set for those who pay above the bonus collection threshold of $25.90 (£20). Regardless of what’s paid, all of the games come as DRM-free ebooks available to download from Bundle of Holding’s site.

Those who grab the basic collection will get Ironsworn Delve by Shawn Tomkin (who recently crowdfunded sequel game Starforged), Impulse Drive by Adrian Thoen and Opera House by Andrew Peregrine. The bonus games include Open Ended Games’ Against the Darkmaster, WTF Studio’s Ultraviolet Grasslands and Bastionland Press’ Electric Bastionland, along with two additional ship playbooks for Impulse Drive.

Ironsworn Delve expands Tomkins’ popular title set in a frigid and dangerous low-magic world by introducing deeper caverns, more remote forests and the most dangerous threats players might encounter in the quest to complete their Vows. The supplement also includes quest starters, expanded oracles and more. The base rules are free to download online, making Ironsworn a great way to play RPGs alone (and one this author definitely should have included in that linked guide).

Those interested in channeling Mass Effect or Star Wars through the mechanical lens of Powered by the Apocalypse-style games will find something to love in Impulse Drive. Design a crew and their spaceship as they try to survive the dangers of space, settle old debts and face their own weaknesses. The adventures in Opera House, by comparison, takes place inside a single building - although it is self-sufficient, likely haunted and beset by spies from rival troupes, vampiric rats and other weird threats that players must handle in order to save opening night.

Against the Darkmaster indulges in the classic high fantasy tropes first set out by Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings and then enshrined by later works such as Wheel of Time and Labyrinth. Big evil? Check. Team of scrappy mortals standing against it? Check. Mythical MacGuffin likely in the shape of jewelry? You betcha.

By comparison, both Ultraviolet Grasslands and Electric Bastionland explore worlds that reject formalism and the expected. The former is a setting guide and adventure rolled together against the psychedelic backdrop of the Black City, while the latter ruminates on adventurers left over from failed careers desperate for treasure in the impossibly complicated city of Bastion. Created by Into the Odd’s Chris McDowall, Electric Bastionland is meant to be run as a standalone experience, while Ultraviolet Grasslands can adapt itself to a group’s preferred system.

The Indie Cornucopia 9 will be available on Bundle of Holding’s website through December 13th, and 10% of all sales will be donated to Direct Relief, A COVID-19 charity that provides protective gear and emergency supplies to healthcare workers in the US and Canada along with regional relief aid worldwide.