I’ve looked over the latest releases from , and I like what I see so far. The three new Button Men: Samurai add three guys and three gals to the fray, with stylish artwork by Ric Frane. The pack to watch for is Sadakuro/Okaru: the ninja Sadkuro has focus dice for four out of five dice, and the beautiful archer Okaru has flavor text that says she’s “a world champion on the mechanical bull.” Oh-kay. Bet that tattoo she’s got was rather painful, considering its placement. I’m glad to see Cheapass continuing to support the game with the Samurai release.
The other Cheapass release is Nexus, the first title in the Hip Pocket Game product line. The cards strike me as rather similar to those from Cheapass’ Clever Pipe Game, having “rods” running off in various directions, but with different sized/valued “nodes” to place markers on, thereby keeping others from scoring them. The goal is to complete closed sections of the Nexus while having the most points claimed in that section, thereby gaining points. Not as easy as it might sound, Nexus looks like it will have strong replay value.
Mind Over Malhavoc
Malhavoc Press has announced plans to publish If Thoughts Could Kill, a D20 adventure by Bruce R. Cordell that expands the psionics rules. Cordell, who also wrote the Psionics Handbook, will present players with two new monsters (including the psionic lich), a prestige class, a player character race, nearly twenty new feats, additional powers, items, and other goodies. As with the rest of Malhavoc’s products, If Thoughts Could Kill will release in a $5 PDF initially (on December 1), to be followed up later by a print version from Sword & Sorcery.