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First: I have no choice but to give Feng Shui a very high grade. It was a long time since I stumbled upon an RPG this well-made.

So, now you know how I feel about it, let's get to the review.

The objective of the game is to recapture the feel of all those martial arts-movies around, especially those under the label "Hong Kong"-movies. Therefore, the rules are simple, the setting is rather straightforward and the GM is given tips that would be considered blasphemy in other games (for instance: if a player is not satisfied with his character after playing an adventure or two, he is free to move some points from one skill to another or to make some other change. This is to lessen the pressure of making a good character from the begining, and instead of juggling numbers while the other players are waiting, the player can make a character-draft, play with him, and maybe change him a little later.)

Not as character creation is a so much hard work anyway. The game uses a (and this is one of my two complaints) character-class approach, you pick a class (or type, as they are called), customize him a little, choose schticks and weapons (or simply use the ones in the "Quick Schtick Pick" of the different types, which is readily made schtick&weapon-packages, to lessen character creation time even more). On the upside, there are quite a few types, and more is to be found in different expansions (or so I'm told).

The rules are simple, the basic mechanic is to roll Skill+1D6-1D6 and compare the result with a target number. In some cases you just check if the roll is above or below, in other cases you calculate the difference, called the outcome. One of those cases is combat, where you use the outcome to calculate damage, a solution that reduces attacks to one roll of a die.

The combat rounds is divided into shots, and an attack uses 3 shots, a dodge 1 shot and so on. I have seen different solutions with segmented rounds before, but this is the one that works the best. The other complaint I have about the games is the lack of combat maneuvers. You have the skill Martial Arts, and thats all. Fancy attacks are left to the imagination of the player (this mustn't be a bad thing though, it's just as an old Gurps-player, I'm kinda used to get a bunch of maneuvers with detailed descriptions in my martial arts-books). To help this, the rules state that boring attacks should, if used extensively, get a negative modifier, and this forces the player to think out new and exciting ways to kick his opponents...ehh... backside.

The setting is straightforward and easy to grasp, but it still contains a lot of possibilities for endless adventure (I know it sounds like a cliche, but it is true). In short: There is a secret war going on, a war about places called Feng Shui sites. Possession of such a site grants the possessor fame, fortune ande power (as well as an increase in experience points after every adventure). There are some different factions and groups fighting fore these sites. To complicate things even more, you can travel to the netherworld, and from there you can travel to four different time periods, 69AD, 1850, the modern times and 2056, and try to get hold of sites in those periods (or maybe make sure no one gets hold of that precios site you want 140 years later).

The book is well written, one of the best I've encountered, and the style of writing enhances the feel of the game.

To summarize: The games sets out to mirror the action flicks from Hong Kong and their like, and it succeeds more than anyone. A good setting and a well-written book, my two complaints (character classes and the lack of different maneuvers) isn't enough to disqualify the game from highest points.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Feng Shui
Author: Robin D. Laws Category: game Company/Publisher: Deadauls Entertainment, Inc Page count: 286 ISBN: 1-888335-00-9 Capsule Review by Ulf Andersson on 02/01/99. Genre tags: Modern_day Asian/Far_East	First: I have no choice but to give Feng Shui a very high grade. It was a long time since I stumbled upon an RPG this well-made. So, now you know how I feel about it, let's get to the review. The objective of the game is to recapture the feel of all those martial arts-movies around, especially those under the label "Hong Kong"-movies. Therefore, the rules are simple, the setting is rather straightforward and the GM is given tips that would be considered blasphemy in other games (for instance: if a player is not satisfied with his character after playing an adventure or two, he is free to move some points from one skill to another or to make some other change. This is to lessen the pressure of making a good character from the begining, and instead of juggling numbers while the other players are waiting, the player can make a character-draft, play with him, and maybe change him a little later.) Not as character creation is a so much hard work anyway. The game uses a (and this is one of my two complaints) character-class approach, you pick a class (or type, as they are called), customize him a little, choose schticks and weapons (or simply use the ones in the "Quick Schtick Pick" of the different types, which is readily made schtick&weapon-packages, to lessen character creation time even more). On the upside, there are quite a few types, and more is to be found in different expansions (or so I'm told). The rules are simple, the basic mechanic is to roll Skill+1D6-1D6 and compare the result with a target number. In some cases you just check if the roll is above or below, in other cases you calculate the difference, called the outcome. One of those cases is combat, where you use the outcome to calculate damage, a solution that reduces attacks to one roll of a die. The combat rounds is divided into shots, and an attack uses 3 shots, a dodge 1 shot and so on. I have seen different solutions with segmented rounds before, but this is the one that works the best. The other complaint I have about the games is the lack of combat maneuvers. You have the skill Martial Arts, and thats all. Fancy attacks are left to the imagination of the player (this mustn't be a bad thing though, it's just as an old Gurps-player, I'm kinda used to get a bunch of maneuvers with detailed descriptions in my martial arts-books). To help this, the rules state that boring attacks should, if used extensively, get a negative modifier, and this forces the player to think out new and exciting ways to kick his opponents...ehh... backside. The setting is straightforward and easy to grasp, but it still contains a lot of possibilities for endless adventure (I know it sounds like a cliche, but it is true). In short: There is a secret war going on, a war about places called Feng Shui sites. Possession of such a site grants the possessor fame, fortune ande power (as well as an increase in experience points after every adventure). There are some different factions and groups fighting fore these sites. To complicate things even more, you can travel to the netherworld, and from there you can travel to four different time periods, 69AD, 1850, the modern times and 2056, and try to get hold of sites in those periods (or maybe make sure no one gets hold of that precios site you want 140 years later). The book is well written, one of the best I've encountered, and the style of writing enhances the feel of the game. To summarize: The games sets out to mirror the action flicks from Hong Kong and their like, and it succeeds more than anyone. A good setting and a well-written book, my two complaints (character classes and the lack of different maneuvers) isn't enough to disqualify the game from highest points. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)