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Before Feng Shui, there was Nexus- The Infinite City.

This RPG, co-designed by Robin Laws and Jose Garcia (amongst others), is the precursor to Feng Shui. Unlike that acclaimed descendant, this game isn't designed as an over-the-top Hong Kong-style action/adventure game. Instead it feels like a blend of Shadowrun or Cyberpunk with Traveler, Car Wars and Torg. Yes, there is still action and adventure, but it's intended to be of the type usually seen in a (competent) Hollywood thriller.

Nexus is a place, a city, where all creation meets. Multiple realities mix here, with all of the chaos and anarchy that comes with it. No one controls this place, but a lot of people dominate chunks of it. Some of them are the major players, such as the Mallrachen that rules Babel, while some are petty players in a larger game- the Blues in Angel City, for example. As a result, there is no central government and therefore there is no central powerbase. Laws, traditions, languages and customs vary as much as the realities.

Another result in the upsurge of freelance work. Security, arbitration, maintenance, medical care- all of this comes on a freelance contractual basis. (Even the priests, and the gods they serve, work freelance.) This means that there's a lot of people who have money to pay for a job they want done, and that means that the GM never has to say "What do my PCs do this week?" One week the group rides with a "jacker" (a free trader) to run a cargo of munitions to a reality infested by zombies, and the next week takes the group on an extraction in Babel. After that, they take a commission to steal a suit of Imperial Space Marine power armor from a Chapter HQ. The possibilities are endless.

So is the amount of crossover work you can do. As I alluded to above, you aren't limited to RPGs. You can splice in material from wargames, computer games, books, movies, comics and the real world. (Yes, this means that you can team Lara Croft with Indiana Jones and a squad of the Legion of the Damned on a contract to rescue Tuxedo Kamen from the Tomb of Iuchiban, all on the behalf of Cthulu.) The rules, as written, make it easy to convert to and from other systems. The setting allows for this sort of affair to occur exactly as often, and as plausibly, as you wish.

Speaking of the rules...

The die roll is the same: Action Value (AV) + Die Roll ([d6]+[-d6]) = Action Result (AR). Determining success is the same: AR - Difficulty = Outcome. The big change is that your PC's AVs are usually much lower than a Feng Shui PC; the average is 9, not 13. (The one thing that remains is just how granular the system is; a difference of two is big.)

Combat, all forms of it, take this core roll and work it like this:

* Step One: Make the attack roll, as above, using the relevant combat skills for all concerned. (The attacker's AV is for the die roll, while the defender(s) is the Difficulty.)

* Step Two: Add the Outcome to the Damage Value, then check for armor penetration. If so, then subtract the target's Toughness from the (modified) DV and determine the target's Wound Points.

* Step Three: If the target has 5+ Wound Points, make a Death Check.

Optional rules include checking for Knock Out, use of Impairment and more detail on the rules as written.

Character Creation is point-driven, not template-driven. This has all of the usual hazards associated, so I advise caution. There is no Chi stat, but including it is easy- I suggest that you do so- and so are the rules for its substats. The same applies to the use of Feng Shui's many schticks, including the excellent material on the Fortress of Shadow and on Bryant Durell's websites- both part of the Cinematic Action RPG Web Ring.

It's a wonderful game in its own right, and if you find a copy then snatch it up straight away. But, in my opinion, it's best used in conjunction with Feng Shui. Many of the holes in that game's rules exist in Nexus, such as the vehicular combat rules. The reverse also applies, such as integrating the Mook rules, FS' version of Wound Points, the use of FS' Schticks, and the use of the Secret War.

Conclusion: On it's own, Nexus is wonderful. Combined with Feng Shui, the two RPGs are a force of nature in action/adventure role-playing. All is possible, all is permitted and all of it can blow up real good with the right stunt and a decent die roll.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Nexus- The Infinite City
Author: Jose Garcia and Robin D. Laws Category: game Company/Publisher: Daedelus Entertainment Cost: $20 (US) Page count: 208 pages ISBN: n/a Capsule Review by Bradford C. Walker on 01/12/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Modern_day Historical Horror Far_Future Space Comedy Anime Espionage Conspiracy Post-apocalypse Old_West Gothic Asian/Far_East Generic	Before Feng Shui, there was Nexus- The Infinite City. This RPG, co-designed by Robin Laws and Jose Garcia (amongst others), is the precursor to Feng Shui. Unlike that acclaimed descendant, this game isn't designed as an over-the-top Hong Kong-style action/adventure game. Instead it feels like a blend of Shadowrun or Cyberpunk with Traveler, Car Wars and Torg. Yes, there is still action and adventure, but it's intended to be of the type usually seen in a (competent) Hollywood thriller. Nexus is a place, a city, where all creation meets. Multiple realities mix here, with all of the chaos and anarchy that comes with it. No one controls this place, but a lot of people dominate chunks of it. Some of them are the major players, such as the Mallrachen that rules Babel, while some are petty players in a larger game- the Blues in Angel City, for example. As a result, there is no central government and therefore there is no central powerbase. Laws, traditions, languages and customs vary as much as the realities. Another result in the upsurge of freelance work. Security, arbitration, maintenance, medical care- all of this comes on a freelance contractual basis. (Even the priests, and the gods they serve, work freelance.) This means that there's a lot of people who have money to pay for a job they want done, and that means that the GM never has to say "What do my PCs do this week?" One week the group rides with a "jacker" (a free trader) to run a cargo of munitions to a reality infested by zombies, and the next week takes the group on an extraction in Babel. After that, they take a commission to steal a suit of Imperial Space Marine power armor from a Chapter HQ. The possibilities are endless. So is the amount of crossover work you can do. As I alluded to above, you aren't limited to RPGs. You can splice in material from wargames, computer games, books, movies, comics and the real world. (Yes, this means that you can team Lara Croft with Indiana Jones and a squad of the Legion of the Damned on a contract to rescue Tuxedo Kamen from the Tomb of Iuchiban, all on the behalf of Cthulu.) The rules, as written, make it easy to convert to and from other systems. The setting allows for this sort of affair to occur exactly as often, and as plausibly, as you wish. Speaking of the rules... The die roll is the same: Action Value (AV) + Die Roll ([d6]+[-d6]) = Action Result (AR). Determining success is the same: AR - Difficulty = Outcome. The big change is that your PC's AVs are usually much lower than a Feng Shui PC; the average is 9, not 13. (The one thing that remains is just how granular the system is; a difference of two is big.) Combat, all forms of it, take this core roll and work it like this: * Step One: Make the attack roll, as above, using the relevant combat skills for all concerned. (The attacker's AV is for the die roll, while the defender(s) is the Difficulty.) * Step Two: Add the Outcome to the Damage Value, then check for armor penetration. If so, then subtract the target's Toughness from the (modified) DV and determine the target's Wound Points. * Step Three: If the target has 5+ Wound Points, make a Death Check. Optional rules include checking for Knock Out, use of Impairment and more detail on the rules as written. Character Creation is point-driven, not template-driven. This has all of the usual hazards associated, so I advise caution. There is no Chi stat, but including it is easy- I suggest that you do so- and so are the rules for its substats. The same applies to the use of Feng Shui's many schticks, including the excellent material on the Fortress of Shadow and on Bryant Durell's websites- both part of the Cinematic Action RPG Web Ring. It's a wonderful game in its own right, and if you find a copy then snatch it up straight away. But, in my opinion, it's best used in conjunction with Feng Shui. Many of the holes in that game's rules exist in Nexus, such as the vehicular combat rules. The reverse also applies, such as integrating the Mook rules, FS' version of Wound Points, the use of FS' Schticks, and the use of the Secret War. Conclusion: On it's own, Nexus is wonderful. Combined with Feng Shui, the two RPGs are a force of nature in action/adventure role-playing. All is possible, all is permitted and all of it can blow up real good with the right stunt and a decent die roll. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)