The Inside Scoop on Gaming

There are plenty of RPGs that specialize in a particular genre. Many of them botch the job.

Feng Shui is not one of them.

What Feng Shui does is simulate action movies. Specificly, it simulates Hong Kong action movies, and it does so beautifully.

That elegance resonates from the get-go. Character generation is fast and easy; pick one of the characters templates, tweak it to fit, write in a short backstory and provide a melodramtic hook. (It should be noted that there is no option to the template system, nor is there a formula for creating new ones.)

It continues with the skill system. Most skills are broad in scope. They cover ability, knowledge and contacts under one rating. This is not a bug; the assumption is that an action hero knows a lot of related information that would take up dozens of skills in a detailed system like GURPS. The compresion is meant to save time in gameplay. While this appears to be unbelievable, it isn't. It allows a master marksman to know a lot about guns, gunsmithing and gunfighters w/o dithering over a handful of minor skills.

Skill resolution looks like Interlock and works like Sihouette. The player rolls the dice and adds the result to his skill rating, or Action Value (AV). Then subtract the difficulty number, and you get an Action Result (AR). The difference between the two is called the Outcome. (The formula looks like this: (Die Roll)+(AV)-(DN)=AR; AV-AR=Outcome.) Outcome is signifigant in certain die rolls, especially in combat.

Combat is the best part of the system, and where the most incredible part of the game's design gets seen. It's assumed that the PCs rock so hard that they'll hit and take down their foes, so what matters is style. This is reflected in the rules for stunts; the more stylish it is, the better the PCs chances are for making it. This encourages extravagent ad-libs by players, such as "I kick the empty gun into the air and dive behind the tables. While they blaze away I turn on my back, spin around halfway and throw a clip into the airborne gun. Then- when they stop to reload- I pop up, catch the gun and pull a trio of one-shot takedowns- BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!" (This example would elicit a minor penalty on the die roll, due to the extreme action and style.)

There are smooth-flowing rules for sorcery, kung-fu powers, transformed animal powers, supernatural creatures and a twisted fusion of magic and super-tech called "Arcanowave Technology" availible for PCs to use to make their bad selves even tougher.

The die mechanic requires 2d6. One is a positive interger, and the other is negative. Roll them both and subtract the positive from the negative. If either die tops out, reroll until it doesn't give a six. PCs and important NPCs may use Fortune Points to alter the die rolls by granting an additional positive die. Under most circumstances, this will give a result ranging from +3 to -3. (This is true over half of the time.)

The setting is great. It has limited time travel, idiot-level feng shui (geomancy) and a great attention to campaign potential. I recommend it be used, but your mileage may vary. The sample adventure, next to the primer of Hong Kong, is a great introduction to the game and the genre of play. (Anime action junkies should feel at home.)

It's not perfect, and it's not for those who like a slower-paced or highly-cereberal game, but if you love action-packed over-the-top melodrama than you can do no better than Feng Shui.

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

Feng Shui- Shadowfist Role Playing
Author: Robin D. Laws Category: game Company/Publisher: Daedelus Entertaiment, Inc. Cost: $30 (US/$25 for B&W (US) Page count: 286 pages ISBN: 1-888335-00-9 Playtest Review by Bradford C. Walker on 03/03/98. Genre tags: none	There are plenty of RPGs that specialize in a particular genre. Many of them botch the job. Feng Shui is not one of them. What Feng Shui does is simulate action movies. Specificly, it simulates Hong Kong action movies, and it does so beautifully. That elegance resonates from the get-go. Character generation is fast and easy; pick one of the characters templates, tweak it to fit, write in a short backstory and provide a melodramtic hook. (It should be noted that there is no option to the template system, nor is there a formula for creating new ones.) It continues with the skill system. Most skills are broad in scope. They cover ability, knowledge and contacts under one rating. This is not a bug; the assumption is that an action hero knows a lot of related information that would take up dozens of skills in a detailed system like GURPS. The compresion is meant to save time in gameplay. While this appears to be unbelievable, it isn't. It allows a master marksman to know a lot about guns, gunsmithing and gunfighters w/o dithering over a handful of minor skills. Skill resolution looks like Interlock and works like Sihouette. The player rolls the dice and adds the result to his skill rating, or Action Value (AV). Then subtract the difficulty number, and you get an Action Result (AR). The difference between the two is called the Outcome. (The formula looks like this: (Die Roll)+(AV)-(DN)=AR; AV-AR=Outcome.) Outcome is signifigant in certain die rolls, especially in combat. Combat is the best part of the system, and where the most incredible part of the game's design gets seen. It's assumed that the PCs rock so hard that they'll hit and take down their foes, so what matters is style. This is reflected in the rules for stunts; the more stylish it is, the better the PCs chances are for making it. This encourages extravagent ad-libs by players, such as "I kick the empty gun into the air and dive behind the tables. While they blaze away I turn on my back, spin around halfway and throw a clip into the airborne gun. Then- when they stop to reload- I pop up, catch the gun and pull a trio of one-shot takedowns- BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!" (This example would elicit a minor penalty on the die roll, due to the extreme action and style.) There are smooth-flowing rules for sorcery, kung-fu powers, transformed animal powers, supernatural creatures and a twisted fusion of magic and super-tech called "Arcanowave Technology" availible for PCs to use to make their bad selves even tougher. The die mechanic requires 2d6. One is a positive interger, and the other is negative. Roll them both and subtract the positive from the negative. If either die tops out, reroll until it doesn't give a six. PCs and important NPCs may use Fortune Points to alter the die rolls by granting an additional positive die. Under most circumstances, this will give a result ranging from +3 to -3. (This is true over half of the time.) The setting is great. It has limited time travel, idiot-level feng shui (geomancy) and a great attention to campaign potential. I recommend it be used, but your mileage may vary. The sample adventure, next to the primer of Hong Kong, is a great introduction to the game and the genre of play. (Anime action junkies should feel at home.) It's not perfect, and it's not for those who like a slower-paced or highly-cereberal game, but if you love action-packed over-the-top melodrama than you can do no better than Feng Shui. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Feng Shui- Shadowfist Role Playing