Pulp Fiction Comics & Games

You know that dark, brooding anti-hero who plays by their own rules as they stop at nothing to take down the baddie?  How about a whole book full of them?  Better yet, you get to control them.

D&D 4.0 released a new Player’s Option hardcover this week with Heroes of  Shadow.  Made as a supplement for Heroes of the Fallen Lands, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, and the basic Rules Compendium, this guide allows for players to tap into the (normally reserved for evil doers) power of the shadow.  Much like Batman, the characters contained in this book may look like they’ll stomp you into submission and steal your purse, which they might still do, but for the good guys.  All the basics, races, classes, feats, and powers are held within its shadowy pages.

Magestorm:  Mighty Battles in the Age of Magic is a unique new two player (expansions for four players will be coming soon) wargame that pits pairings of mages (such as fire, druid, air, and fate) and armies against each other.  Might sound weird, but, basically, you pick one of the four mages listed above (for your spells and magic) and then one of the two available armies (humans or elves) to battle with.  Each choice comes with various benefits and negatives, as far as abilities go.  The board can be customized with tile pieces to suit one of the included scenarios or your own tastes.  As two player games can be scarce, it’s nice to see such an epic wargame, with customizable content no less, flesh out the category.

Do you know a saboteur?  Now you can be a saboteur, too.  Or rather, Saboteur 2.  A new expansion for the original mining mayhem game, Saboteur, this time around the idea is that the miners have separated into two groups; each one attempting to beat the other to the pile of riches.  Ah, but it wouldn’t be Saboteur without some new Dwarfs to wreck havoc.  This expansion adds cards like the Boss, (helps both groups), the Profiteer (made deals with all parties), and the Geologist (more concerned with crystals than gold).  Also, by adding this expansion to the original game, the range of players increases to 2-12.

Do you love the Spartacus: Blood and Sand series on Showtime?  Do you love H.P. Lovecraft and Cthulhu?  Have you ever dreamed about them mixing together?  Personally, I hope not; that would be a terrifying dream.  But, if you have, that dream is coming true with the new Call of Cthulhu RPG companion, Cthulhu Invictus.  This three scenario booklet is set in a reality where the Rome’s choice to force religion on its populace begins to clash with the worship of the elder gods, and they are not happy about it.  So, yes, Gladiator with Cthulhu monsters.

Applications for ninja school are being accepted today.  Yes, Pulp has Naruto collectible card game materials!  Arriving this week where a collection of three new “Chibi” tins, each with a unique assortment of cards and boosters.  This three tin set includes Sasori and Deidara, Naruto and Kakashi, and Sasuke and Itachi.  All three include special promo cards and four booster packs (two from Path of Pain and two from Tales of the Gallant Sage).  Get your ninja on, folks!

Since we’re talking CCG’s, how about we continue with World of Warcraft and Legend of the Five Rings.  From its inception, the WoW CCG has been popular, not only for its gameplay, but for the Loot cards that have been included in the booster packs.  These are a desired commodity because they have special promo codes on them that allow you to use them in the online computer game.  The new WoW CCG Archives set is not only exclusive to hobby stores, like Pulp Fiction, but also contains a random assortment of 190 of the best cards (all foil) from the first three sets as well as the possibility of nabbing a number of the most hunted for Loot cards (Spectral Tiger, anyone?).  Along with this release, WoW has gained a new Raid Deck in Icecrown Citadel.  Pulp has a limited amount of both, so swing by before they’re gone.

The Legend of the Five Rings CCG also gets an update with its Celestial Edition collection.  As a new base set for the game, Celestial Edition is completely tournament legal.  Currently, Pulp has a box of boosters, sealed, ready for pick-up.  If that’s wetting your lips, hit us up.

Sneaking it in before the end (that’s what she said), we also received a restock of the base Call of Cthulhu book as well as Call of Cthulhu Fiction.  Federation Commander also got restocked in a big way.

The Heavens of Olympus finishes us out for today.  From Rio Grande Games, Heavens sounds pretty interesting.  Based around Greek mythology, it has players taking control of a single unknown god (out of five) who has been assigned by Zeus to build a new universe.  As day shifts into night, rounds of the game progress and players place and move planets across the stars.  At the end of each round Prestige points are added up.  The god with the most points gets to ascend to known status and live on Mt. Olympus.  Different mechanic, cool theme.