I'm beginning to believe that the reason Feng Shui has not gained widespread popularity among gaming circles, is due to its appaling lack of pretentiousness. I'm fairly certain that it isn't the combat heavy rules that turn people off of it. If this were the case, then the group I game with wouldn't sub-consciously attmept to turn every game we play into the WWF ringside match of the week. Everything from Blue Planet to Fading Suns, turns into Feng Planet or Fading Shui.
Well, whatever the cause, I have a feeling that most of you will never pick up Seed of the New Flesh, the Architects of the Flesh supplement for Feng Shui. This is a damn shame.
Seed of the New Flesh starts off in a fairly typical Feng Shui format; a handful of bad-asses giving a first person monologue of the trouble they're in, what they did to get into it, and what they plan to do in order to get out of it. I value these looks into the daily life of an innerwalker, because they seem to make the setting come that much more alive. In the case of SotNF, these ramblings are merely the wasabi on my spicy tuna roll.
All aspects of the grim, dark world of 2056 are realized in SotNF, from the gargantuan Flying Fortresses that scorched Acapulco off the globe, to the Architects 'unique' views on race, economics, and sexuality, to the various gadgets and doo-dads the average consumer on the street might possess. There are very few questions unanswered about the life and times of the future. About the only thing I can think of that deserved more attention, was an explanation of just how the Architects came into power in the first place. Seeing as how this has little relevance on the game itself (unless the GM decides it's time for a Critical Shift to shake things up), it doesn't quite make for a glaring error.
The various NPC's listed in SotNF, have an outstanding amount of depth applied to them, giving us a sense of what these people (or demons...) are really like. Of course, the handy little labels such as 'selfish, arrogant prick' and 'absolutely, purely, blatantly evil' tend to help. Hey, no one said you were gonna like the NPC's... you'll just know where they're coming from.
SotNF also gives us a look at several places of interest, in a chapter aptly titled 'Blowing Up 2056'. The CDCA R&D facility, gives an quick look of some of the less stable experiments of the Architects, including the Inside-Out Demon, and the repugnant Flying Bladder (it was almost the Flying Lower Urinary Tract, but they decided to put the kebosh on the kidneys). PCs of a less heroic nature may wish to visit the Lair of Doctor Diabolos, or head on out to the Arizona Sun Farms if you just want something pretty to destroy.
As far as nifty gadgets go, SotNF should sate the cravings of the most toy-hungry Techies out there. Apparantly Arcanowave tech isn't the only thing that the Architects have been tooling around with. There are scads of gravity based technology in here, from Zogeevators to Deathsabers (it uses gravity to push and pull really fast. Really, really fast. Like, molecules igniting from the friction fast.) The SPUD units PubOrd use to 'keep the peace' sound really cool, and ever wanted to use Arcanowave gear without the icky AI/O ports? well the Emergency Jumpstart Arcanowave System lets you do just that... for a price!
Seed of the New Flesh also has two, not one but two 2056 adventures for GMs to torture their players with. Admittedly I haven't taken too good a look at these yet, although The Cancer Factor seems to be lacking in plot, even for Feng Shui. On the other purplish, warty hand, The Fist of Shiva looks like it could be a nifty jaunt, particularly as it has something that Feng Shui has needed for a while. PCS.... IN.... SPACE! Sure the Buro might have gotten the gravity to work in space and all, but any GM worth his hastily scrawled game notes will do his damnedest to make sure that the players are flinging Flying Windmill Kicks in zero-g at some point in the scene.
All in all, Seed of the New Flesh has shaped up to be THE best Feng Shui supplement Atlas has released yet. ... um... ok, well the best Feng Shui supplement any company has released yet. Greg Stolze has done a slaptastic job with the writing in SotNF, to the point where the book talks to you more as a old poker buddy, and less like a faceless consumer.
Which is why I believe this book won't sell worth crap.
Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)
