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The first thing that grabs you about this new adventure for Feng Shui is not the cover art, but the title. This is not to say that the cover isn't nice - it is, but 'Four Bastards' really grabs as a title. But let's get things straight, whilst the players may end using it as an epithet, the author isn't being rude. Rather he is being literal, as this adventure is about four illegitimate children, that is, Four Bastards. All right, enough about the Four Bastards.

Right out of the gate, the adventure drops the players straight into a situation, in media res, (which the author explains as being Latin for 'not boring'). They're attending a reception at a new orphanage, which is thanking Fast Eddie Lo for a large donation of money that the players recently persuaded him to make. If any player objects to this set up, the GM is amusingly advised to drop a 'paper grenade' into their laps that will damage their characters until they accept the situation… Alternatively, the GM can build an adventure or two around Fast Eddie's suitcase of cash prior to running this adventure. Of course, this being Feng Shui, just as the presentation begins, vanloads of mooks draw up to the orphanage and a shoot-out ensues…

It is after this set-up and teaser (unsurprisingly, Four Bastards is written and plotted as a movie), that we learn what is going on - or at least the plot. This involves a chase across the 1850, 2056 and Contemporary junctures to stop the destruction of several important Chi sites by disaffected members of the various factions. This takes them from modern-day Hong Kong to an ex-Soviet breakaway republic, then 1850s Canada and a Buro Containment Site in 2056, before returning for an battle of necessarily gratuitous explosive proportions atop the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in Contemporary China. Along the way there are lots of fights, then some more fights, a perilous situation or two and then more fights. Not say that there aren't opportunities for role-playing - there are, but fight fans are really going to be happy!

To run Four Bastards, the GM will not need anything more than the rulebook, although Golden Comeback and Elevator to the Netherworld will be useful if he wants to expand upon it. The set-up for the adventure has a few simple requirements. Essentially the characters need to be Hong Kong-based Dragons connected to the current leaders of the Dragons faction, and be aware of both the Netherworld and the other factions in the secret war. Since Four Bastards uses some of the NPCs from 'Baptism of Fire', the beginning adventure from the Feng Shui rulebook, these requirements should not prove too difficult to fulfil. The only problem with the adventure is that the background for Fast Eddie Lo is incorrectly referenced in the main rulebook (it should be p. 259, not p. 237).

Throughout Four Bastards, Robin Laws gives advice and suggestions on how to both run and spice up each scene. Alongside these are footnotes giving amusing comments and explanations on why things are as they are in the adventure. Liberties are taken with facts and history, but this is a Feng Shui adventure and Four Bastards is meant to be a movie, so such inaccuracies are wholly appropriate.

Four Bastards is nothing short of excellent. GMs have the freedom to run it as it is or expand it, as they want. Either way, this adventure should keep everyone happy for at least two good sessions - if not more. Not only that, the price represents nothing short of a bargain for that amount of entertainment. What more could a Feng Shui GM ask for?

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Four Bastards
Author: Robin D. Laws Category: game Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Line: Feng Shui Cost: $8.95/£5.99 Page count: 32 >Capsule Review by Pookie on 09/12/00. Genre tags: Science fiction Modern day Historical Asian/Far East	The first thing that grabs you about this new adventure for Feng Shui is not the cover art, but the title. This is not to say that the cover isn't nice - it is, but 'Four Bastards' really grabs as a title. But let's get things straight, whilst the players may end using it as an epithet, the author isn't being rude. Rather he is being literal, as this adventure is about four illegitimate children, that is, Four Bastards. All right, enough about the Four Bastards. Right out of the gate, the adventure drops the players straight into a situation, in media res, (which the author explains as being Latin for 'not boring'). They're attending a reception at a new orphanage, which is thanking Fast Eddie Lo for a large donation of money that the players recently persuaded him to make. If any player objects to this set up, the GM is amusingly advised to drop a 'paper grenade' into their laps that will damage their characters until they accept the situation… Alternatively, the GM can build an adventure or two around Fast Eddie's suitcase of cash prior to running this adventure. Of course, this being Feng Shui, just as the presentation begins, vanloads of mooks draw up to the orphanage and a shoot-out ensues… It is after this set-up and teaser (unsurprisingly, Four Bastards is written and plotted as a movie), that we learn what is going on - or at least the plot. This involves a chase across the 1850, 2056 and Contemporary junctures to stop the destruction of several important Chi sites by disaffected members of the various factions. This takes them from modern-day Hong Kong to an ex-Soviet breakaway republic, then 1850s Canada and a Buro Containment Site in 2056, before returning for an battle of necessarily gratuitous explosive proportions atop the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in Contemporary China. Along the way there are lots of fights, then some more fights, a perilous situation or two and then more fights. Not say that there aren't opportunities for role-playing - there are, but fight fans are really going to be happy! To run Four Bastards, the GM will not need anything more than the rulebook, although Golden Comeback and Elevator to the Netherworld will be useful if he wants to expand upon it. The set-up for the adventure has a few simple requirements. Essentially the characters need to be Hong Kong-based Dragons connected to the current leaders of the Dragons faction, and be aware of both the Netherworld and the other factions in the secret war. Since Four Bastards uses some of the NPCs from 'Baptism of Fire', the beginning adventure from the Feng Shui rulebook, these requirements should not prove too difficult to fulfil. The only problem with the adventure is that the background for Fast Eddie Lo is incorrectly referenced in the main rulebook (it should be p. 259, not p. 237). Throughout Four Bastards, Robin Laws gives advice and suggestions on how to both run and spice up each scene. Alongside these are footnotes giving amusing comments and explanations on why things are as they are in the adventure. Liberties are taken with facts and history, but this is a Feng Shui adventure and Four Bastards is meant to be a movie, so such inaccuracies are wholly appropriate. Four Bastards is nothing short of excellent. GMs have the freedom to run it as it is or expand it, as they want. Either way, this adventure should keep everyone happy for at least two good sessions - if not more. Not only that, the price represents nothing short of a bargain for that amount of entertainment. What more could a Feng Shui GM ask for? Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)