Feng Shui thread

Thanks. I haven't really looked at 1e in a very, very long time, 2e is a general improvement overall

I went back to the adventure stated in the core book of 1e, and ran it to my players as a oneshot. This way things remained a surprise.

I am trying to work on a custom setting for a full-blown campaign that doesn't rely on time travel.

>Watched some reviews yesterday and downloaded the demo PDF
>come to Veeky Forums to see this

Are you stalking me, OP?

No, but I wanted to run a game inspired by fighting games, prepared, been cooking ideas and everything, then 3 days later someone makes a thread saying they wanted to do exactly that, and posting a bunch of cool art.

Cool. I was looking for something to play Loose Cannon Cops On The Edge in the vein True Crime: Streets of LA, Dead to Rights, Cobra, Demolition Man, etc.

FS2 looks promising but I'm wondering if it will work when I take it out of its setting.

It feels like it's just an issue of deciding which archetypes you'd prefer not to be in your game - for a high-action cop game, I can imagine cutting out the tech, mutations, magic, and Ascended Animals (probably the first archetypes to get ditched when the setting isn't used); using the martial arts builds is probably season-to-taste.
But I don't think having all those archetypes is necessary to making the game work, so it'd be fine.
Other than that, I think the only 'rule' tied to the setting is the idea that your characters advance when they capture a Feng Shui site - which I'm not wild about, even when using the normal setting. In the book, they flat-out say that giving out advancements at various milestones as feels appropriate can be done as well, but there's not much in the way of guidance for it.
Other than that, I don't really see much in the way of repercussions for stripping out the setting.
I'd honestly love to play or run a game in the batshit-crazy standard setting, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

Precisely. The game uses the Chi War, and timetravel as a giant excuse (their wording) to mash all the genres in one setting. But you can be selective with those archetypes and just do a mainly martial-arts game, or a western, or 90s action movie.

I might be worried that the limited number of sthicks makes it a bit difficult to have too many of the same archetypes, but I also feel like making up unique sthicks can't be that hard. So the entire party can be cops on the edge, or road warriors archetype.

>Other than that, I don't really see much in the way of repercussions for stripping out the setting.

To be fair, I wanted to make a setting that can contain all this caserole of genres without the excuse of time travel, and the Chi War.

One of my nitpicks with 2e is that it very much feels like a 'fire-and-forget' game; ie, it's complete as-is, and there won't be any more books for it. Now, that's not intrinsically a *bad* thing - the game seems to run fine, and there are plenty of still-available lore books from first edition for setting stuff (not to mention one can always browse through the insanity of Shadowfist for more ideas); however, I kinda wish there was some sort of discussion of how to build the archetypes, or what sort of 'balance' goes into them. Honestly, they probably run fine - there are plenty of advancements available to customize characters differently, not to mention guns and such. Plus, different gaming groups have different needs, so there are likely plenty of people who are happy to all start off with the same archetype.

Ah!! Understood.
Well, in that case, yeah, like I said, the only setting-specific rule is advancement - and hell, depending on what sort of crazy setting you make for yourself, you might decide that Feng Shui sites retain their importance!
(Easiest method that comes to mind would be declaring that the Netherworld is inter-dimensional, rather than cross-time. Though this might just be me arguing for the Netherworld's existence due to watching Big Trouble in Little China too many times

>One of my nitpicks with 2e is that it very much feels like a 'fire-and-forget' game; ie, it's complete as-is, and there won't be any more books for it.
Yeah I feel like that's a very valid issue here. If you check out the kickstarter, all the further goals are just exploring further genres, and probably giving bulletpoints in how to run in their style. Which is a pity because I look over the Cybernetics, and while it is enough for a character, or maybe two if stretched, it is definitely not enough for a campaign focused on it.

I personally think that the only way this game gets further updates, archetypes and sthicks, if a userbase comes together, play, discuss and share ideas. Like in Warhammer RPG or Fantasy general. Where their said games are discontinued, but they are still making content that the original didn't really have like Imperial Knights and Skitarii.

Yeah, as someone advised first, Mortal Kombat's setting is pretty good as there are separate Realms, and you can fill each realm with whatever you want. Or you can make a more intertwined setting where things are connected more, but are still on the same planet. A bit like Shadowrun.

Yeah, 'Secrets of the Chi War' came out, covering all the stuff in the stretch goals. While nice, it's basically all setting stuff. I enjoy it (except for the 1 or 2 Pop-up Junctures that feel phoned-in, like Miami), but there's not much new when it comes to character archetypes or anything.

>I personally think that the only way this game gets further updates, archetypes and sthicks, if a userbase comes together, play, discuss and share ideas.
This. The3 nice thing about the system as-is is that if feels like it shouldn't be too hard to kitbash together more stuff for it. Sadly, in the two years since it came out, I've seen very little discussion about the game. Maybe I just don't know where to look, but I'd definitely want in on any such community. Or, hell, just games of it getting played.

Why should I play this over HKAT?

bump

Thinking about the different archetypes, it occurs to me that maybe the Ascended don't necessarily have to be tossed out if the setting is tossed out. They're definitely a unique thing about the Chi War, but having a group of people around who get unique powers from being descended from magical animals could just be an interesting thing to have around.
This makes me think about their disadvantage - are their abilities particularly better to the point that it's supposed to serve as a balancing factor, or is it mainly just a setting detail? Trying to think if magic causing them to revert is something that should go away or be kept if the Chi War setting is dropped.

Furious George or Battlechimp Potemkin? Choose one

George. I don't begrudge him for not wanting to give up his life.

Oh we got a new book? Rad.

Choose your archetype

I'm a fan of the system but the best advice I can give is that it's suited to small numbers of players; PCs need limelight to shine and the number of mooks in a fight scales with player count making it easy to be running really big combats even when they're encounters that are on the easier side.

Some classes are better than others. As much as I appreciate the Driver his combat options are super limited and while it's expected you'll see a lot of car chases in any FS2 game they're really mediocre outside of them.

Was just at Games Plus in Chicago and almost bought this but went for Legends of the Wulin instead. I will return for Feng Shui 2 first chance I get.

Are there character sheets?

drivethrurpg.com/product/164196/Feng-Shui-2-Secrets-of-the-Chi-War

It came out back in 2015, not all that long after the main book.

There's also some very specific decisions made regarding certain abilities and how they work. For instance, the Swordsman isn't the guy who fights one-on-one with One Perfect Cut; he's the dude who just fucking destroys all mooks he comes across. And the reverse is true of the Big Bruiser.

Should be. Check the Atlas website.

Yes, the Transformed Animals are weirdly specific to the setting, which was a bit weid to me when compared to the other archetypes, but is still a pretty cool concept in my opinion.
I like the spin that they are not shapeshifters, they are transformed animals whom by the love of their life don't want to return being an animal.

So as I have seen their transformation is more like a dramatic hook that gives chance for their own set of problems and views. Like the frezny of a werewolf character at full moon. It definitely only has a chance to come out in longer stories.

You can perfectly cut out their strong and specific allergy to magic, but some sort of equalivent or maybe quite physical kryptonite should be present for them in the setting.

I know for a fact that roll20 has them too.

Any thoughts on running this for a small group? Two people and a DM, maybe. You know,.a maverick young cop with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove and his partner, the grizzled and bitter veteran two weeks from retirement...

I love FS2, I'm going to run a game of it for my Shadowrun group when our long running game finally comes to an end at some point. It'll be a fun change of pace

Any game works for a small group as long as you as a GM tailor potential conflicts a bit to that.

Ran the system the first time recently. It was batfucking shit crazy and I loved it.

Got to play it a couple times beforehand. My characters always morph into Rob Van Dam with more pot and less respect for things like physics and mercy. I once brought down an Ancient Chinese sorcerer by Van Daminating him with his own fucking throne in the middle of a tornado.

>as long as you as a GM tailor potential conflicts a bit to that.

And...how do I do that in Feng Shui?

There are two things you have to decide on.
First the setting. I am assuming it is contemporary 90s-present day. But you can mix it up several ways, like making it cyberpunk robocop-times, or maybe an x-men setting with mutants.

The second are the dramatic hooks. A big motivation that gets the characters moving so to speak. Like "Keeping the law to the letter" "Avenging my dead partner" "Catching the serial killer who got my friend's wife" etc. The dramatic hooks, along with the chosen archetypes define a lot when preparing a Feng Shui adventure.

Sorry I can't really help you with ideas for plot itself. If you come up with anything and post it here, I'm up to help statting them.

Sorry, you misunderstood me. That part I'm fine with. I don't understand how to run combat with only two PCs. All the examples, like the pre-made adventure, seem to assume a group of four or five PCs. I don't get how to balance it for less.

The vampire-bat monster in my game piledrived the sorcerer boss from the 6th floor by rolling success after a pair of boxcarts.

Other good advice I can give: You have to keep in mind is that the game has mooks and featured foes.

Mooks go down in one hit. They are the guys in the movies who's name never come up, or do something truly memorable. They are henchmen the superheroes mow down in comicbooks. Usually 3-4 per players in a scene is a good rule of thumb.

Featured foes are people who make a return in later scenes, or have names, or the characters have some sort of previous connection with.

Oh I see. As I said, 3-5 mooks per players is a good enough measurement usually. One featured foe per scene, and then maybe a corrupt businessman/politican/druglord at the end to round the final fight off.

Oh shit, you're right up the road from me. That place never has good parking though.

I'm not from town though but I drive a lot. I live a little over an hour away.

Quick lunch break bump so the thread doesn't archive before I can share at least one of my custom archetypes.

God bless, user.

so pretty much like 7th Sea?

Does anyone else miss the Architects of the Flesh? I love the Mad Max style Jammer apocalypse, don't get me wrong. It gives Battlechimp Potemkin some real goals and a reason to want to help him that isn't "BLOW IT ALL UP," even though you'll probably help him by blowing things up.

But there was something so ludicrously over the top and 1980's about the Architects. Like an intersection between Cronenberg, Verhoven, and John Carpenter. Corporate dystopia, consumer ignorance, all backed up with horrible abominations of demons and technology.

Oh, the Buro was pretty damn awesome, in many ways. I haven't decided if removing them is a mis-step or not.
The argument for removing them is that Demolition Man-style dystopia was much more prominent as an action trope in the 90s than now, whereas the apocalypse has become a bigger and bigger trope. I don't quite buy that - it's true that the former is seen less and the latter is seen more, but not quite to the extremes that they seemed to think. The other argument for cutting them was that there aren't many movies in the source material that reflect it - ie, there are plenty of crazy martial arts flicks in the fantasy-esque past, and dramas in the 1800s, and of course the modern times, but not a lot of Hong Kong action set in dystopic future. Of course, *that* argument also falls apart, because HK cinema (and now general Chinese, I guess) also doesn't do much post-apocalypse.
On the other hand, the blowed-up future has a ton of potential for adventure, and the old 1e books for the Architects are still around if one wants to pull them in. If the game were an ongoing concern, with a metaplot that might move forward, the Architects being gone might be more of an issue for me, but Atlas has no plans for doing anything like that, so it's easy enough to import them back in.
(Personally? I might do a story-arc where the Jammers somehow manage to un-do the apocalypse, which has the unfortunate side-effect of shunting the Architects back into the timeline. If any of the players cared about the old 1e-era, or their PCs had ties to older characters, I might also have this dump them back into the old 1997 junction for wacky antics.)

hello. how to open mediafire link?

That's pretty weird
mediafire.com/folder/9lqeaqgcq579t/Frazle's_RPG_Stuff#bszo8jwexuh2d

thanks my dude

I think removing the Buro was a loss, although I can see why they elected to go that route.

It might be possible to bring the shadow of the Architects back if you need to. Sure, the Buro and all their experiments when 'poof', but surely they left notes and logs somewhere. All it takes is someone in the Netherworld with a total lack of scruples, some patience and ambition, and minions dumb and tough enough to capture more demons to use as servitor bodies to have a go at filling the void the dissolution of the Architects left.

Let's make some content. I am a big fan of fisticuffs, and I have noticed that there are no specific boxer sthicks. So I'mma make some and you guys tell me what you think

>Gazelle Punch
Add +3 to your attack, but at a -3 Damage

>Skyscraper Uppercut - 4 shots
Add +1 to your attack, and +5 to your damage for one hit

>Gut Wrencher - 3 shot 1 fortune
Make an attack at -2, the enemy loses 2 Shots

>Legwork
You may choose to make Dodge Actions at the cost of 2, but with 4 Defense Bonus

Is Skyscraper just a buff or is it a buffed attack?

Buffed attack

bump

I was considering a plot where, out of all the people that survived being reduced to chi-less dust, there was one pissant little Buro dreg. Just a low-level drone with big plans and no spine who happened to stumble into the only Buro-approved contingency plan for the possibility that the Jammers might be able to do something. So now it's this weaselly little worm with a lot of knowledge, a lot of carefully preserved Buro-tech, and a grand, stupid plan to reinstate the Architects into their proper place in history, but with HIM as Buropresident.

Wouldn't that show all those upper management who never gave him the time of day?

One last bump, just to see if it can be saved.

Much appreciated. I would have hated if it have died while I was away.

What sthciks (skills) can you imagine for pic related?
You don't even have to ope the book, just use your imagination.

Archetype: Arcane Gambler

>Stat Block
Sorcery or Mutant 13
Defense 13
Toughness 6
Magic 3 Fortune 3
Speed 8

>Sthicks
?

>Skills
Gambling 15
Info: Criminal Underworlds

I'd definitely make him a magic user, maybe even have it be its own sorcery path. Cards could be like prayer strips, invoked in all sorts of things, and if you really wanted to get crazy, work in a big shtick about dealing out a Poker hand.

One of the main ideas I've had that I would like to work into a campaign is the whole fact that the Buro's founding now seems a bit off-kilter.
See, Doctor Dao was supposed to form her Chi-focused research group (the one that Boatman will steal from her to start the whole ball rolling) in 2014; clearly, this never happened. The C-Bomb went off in, I think, 2011 - so, it's easy to imagine that Dao's lab blew up during the upheaval. An event like that would be easy for the Lodge to use to paint her theories as ludicrous and unstable, thus killing off that field of study. (Depending on how people want to role, she can have been killed in the blast, or survived and is now a crank scientist, for a 'rebooted' version of the Prof.)
Now, here's the thing - despite the fact that The Buro can't have formed normally, the future's still a blasted wasteland - one that shows signs that the Buro used to rule it. It didn't really get talked about in the rulebook, but I imagine that several groups are concerned about the fact that Judgment Day seems pretty hard-coded for the moment. The Ascended, in particular, must now be somewhat aware that the people who originally usurped them are no longer around to do the usurping, and yet, they still lose the world.
Not entirely sure what I'd do with this, but it's something I've had on the brain.
(Of course, just like 2017-era Dao can be dropped into the game, I can imagine Bonangel and Boatman also making appearances - one of my favorite things about the Architects is that they were basically run by Herr Starr and Doc Venture.)

Oh, I love the Bobos. Especially because they fucking hate each other.

Alright. Motherfuckin' thread topic time. Pretend we're all gonna play a game of Feng Shui 2. Your standard plot about newbies to the Chi War of any of the junctures, coming together to form the backbone of the new Silver Dragons. You've got four (or more, if you really wanna special snowflake and stumble out of a pop-up) junctures to choose from and an endless array of archetypes and tropes to ape (possibly literally).

What do you play?

Screw it, I'm claiming the Ninja.
A deadly assassin from the 1850s junction; his entire clan was wiped out except for him (as far as he knows), and now he's hunting for the missing family sword.

So, I just spent way too long going back through every 1e supplement, looking at the various character archetypes, and seeing what wasn't made in 2e.
Now, some of them didn't make the jump for obvious reasons - too similar to already-existing types, or more of a non-combat role. But it's an interesting list, all the same.
Presented with random commentary - I didn't look them over in any great detail, so I might have missed things.

Abomination (Architect-made monster; can probably be folded into Supernatural Creature)
Journalist
Medic (I guess it's sorta non-combat, but still...)
Monster Hunter
Techie (Admittedly, it kinda bothers me that Scroungetech is limited to like three people, only one of whom starts with any; couldn't they have made like a junker or something?)
Free Sex (or other) Militant (Weird rebel cults against the Buro, more minor than the Jammers)
Consumer on the Brink (I love this, but it's more motivation than archetype - could be Big Bruiser, Full Metal Nutbar, or a couple of other things)
Criminal Mastermind
Supersoldier
Uber-kid (Children raised to be geniuses by the Buro; in theory, could just use Gene Freak for this, though I feel like they should really be fleeing to a sudden Pop-Up juncture into the early 1980s. I mean, stranger things have happened.)
Athlete (Big Bruiser?)
Velocity Addict (I guess the Driver and Ronin cover this stuff now)
Lodge Survivor (ie, one of the last Ascended in the far future; basically just a motivation for playing a Transformed that originate from the post-apocalypse.)
Pledged Agent (could be any archetype; this is more story)
Smuggler
>Continued in next post

Taoist Wizard (just a variation on the Sorcerer; or possibly what become the Exorcist Monk)
$10,000 Man (A more cheaply made cyborg)
Dallas Rocket (Future Rebels against the Buro, from Texas; again, Ronin covers)
Gearhead (As I said with techie above, feels like it has a place)
Gorilla Fighter (no, seriously, just saying 'any archetype but say you're a monkey' doesn't fucking cut it)
Portal Jockey (free runners who know the layout of the portals...I mean, I like it, but it doesn't feel very necessary)
Viking Warrior (Maybe a reskinned swordmaster?)
Gardener (An expert in Feng Shui; feels like an npc class)
Golden Candle Agent (Anti-Manchu sleeper agent; just a Spy, really)
Guiding Hand Archer (...also known as Archer?)
Shaolin Disciple (You mean a Martial Artist?)
Shaolin Master (You mean an Old Master?)
Science Ninja (Sentai Hero; no, not a Ninja, no, not a Masked Avenger, it totally needs to be it's own thing)
Elemental (someone imbued with powers from a Feng Shui site, I think; could be Gene Freak, or could be Supernatural Creature)
Demon Martial Artist (Has both Creature Powers and Fu; simple enough to kitbash)
Thumper (dudes with sonic-themed cybernetics that blast music as they fight; just a Cyborg, I guess)

Not sure what doing this accomplishes, but there it is.

Also, as a note, it appears that six of the archetypes in 2e are new, without any real obvious predecessor:

Driver
Exorcist Monk
Full Metal Nutball
Gene Freak
Highway Ronin
Sword Master

Good. Good. What's your clan?

Myself, I'm gonna play a Big Bruiser. Ex-Pro Wrestler, turned mook for hire to pay the bills, then enforcer/bodyguard for some Legitimate Businessmen who only put him deeper in debt. He's decided he needs to get out from under their thumb.

He has a soft spot for kids. And audiences; he still loves to put on a show.

Alright so Arcane Gambler shticks as follows

>Wildcard - 1 Magic or Fortune 1 shot
After a successful attack, roll a die. On an odd result add +4 to the resoult. On an even, deduce 4 from the final resoult

> Pick a Card - 1 Magic 3 shot
After a successful attack, and damage, roll a die. On 1-2 you opponent loses a shot. On 3-4 you gain a Fortune. On 5-6 You gain 2 Magic (can't have more Magic than your maximum.)

> Stacked Deck - permanent
Every successive attack that bypasses Defense on a non-mook foe, adds +1 to your damage

> Poker Shuffle - 3 shot 1 Magic
On your next attack if your roll has has a 4 in it, or the totals of your die result is 4, you may switch them around, or make one die into a 1.

> Final Hand - 3 Magic
Before your attack, roll a die. This is how many targets you may hit with your next attack without penalty.

>Lucky 7 - permanent
If the total of your dies result is 7, you may swich the dies around and/or make it an open roll for 1 Fortune Point

>Tarot - 1 Magic
You may ask a single yes or no question related to the problem at hand from the GM. If the Player tries to uncover the entire plot of the story, the GM is obligated to slap him.

God bless you user. Converting Archetypes from 1 to 2 could be a project to look forward to, and keep up this (these) thread(s)

>Abomination
Sure, it can be folded into supernatural creature, but sc feels way too wide as it is. They are really bad for vampires for example. Not to mention that abomination is more like something bio-artifical than a natural creature.

>Journalist
I think that might have became one of the cop types?

>Monster Hunter
now that is an interesting one worth fleshing out a bit

>Techie
I agree, especially since the scourgetech chapter is rather thin. We should make more archetypes like this, and expand upon scourgetech and cybernetics.

>Uber-kid
Oh I remember that one. Sure, it can be done with Gene-freak, but I think it has a lot different feel to it. Gene-freaks are more x-men without guidance than trained child soldiers.

>10.000 Man
Tough no longer a full archetype, It is already among the Featured Foes of the book

>Gorilla Fighter
I completely agree, this subject would require an entire Planet of the Apes supplement

>Viking Warrior
like with the uber-kid, sure we can recycle swordmaster, but it feels like a berserker archetype than samurai-esque

>Science Ninja
Definitely should be it's separate thing

>Elemental
Maybe? I was thinking along the lines of Element Benders

>Thumper
I don't think there are cybernetics that this can be kitbashed with. Definitely needs to be made.

Bounty Hunter from the future junction.
I wish to find my partner who stabbed me in the back, and left me in a ditch.

Loves dogs.

lunchbreak bump

I think Kappas fit the Supernatural Creature archetype better than vampires. Which is a bit weird

What archetype would pic related best suited to?

I'd say it really depends on what aspect of their character you want to focus on. For my money, they're Ninjas with maybe a few Supernatural Creature shticks relating to shells.

Part of the trouble is, I'm terrible at actually playing around with game mechanics, so my default is always to see what I can get away with just by reskinning surface details. Clearly, this doesn't always work.

It feels like a lot can be accomplished with certain powers just be playing around with the starting schtick loadout of characters - Martial Arts and Magic are the two big ones here; can probably get a lot of character variation just by trading out styles and magic paths (and there's still room for expansion, like ). But yeah, some of the power types are more shallow than others, and probably need expansion. As you point out, the Creature isn't quite as catch-all as it probably needs to be, so either more Creature powers are needed, or more things like Ghosts (getting power from two sets) are needed.

>Abomination
Flat-out making a whole new power type for Archaeotech feels excessive, but I'm not sure how else to make them.

>Elemental
Ooh, bending! that totally makes sense, given the vague 'media-mirroring' that FS tends towards. Better done as Martial Arts styles, or Magic? (Dammit, really have to re-read all the powers in FS2 before I talk about this kinda stuff...)

>Thumper
Admittedly, not a lot of thought went into the original archetype for it - they're in a 'monster catalogue' supplement, and the actual archetype doesn't have any unique schticks or cyberware that reflect what they do - it's apparently just cosmetic, which is a bit underwhelming. Another good argument for expending Scroungetech/Cyberware

>Journalist, Uber-kid, Viking Warrior
These would probably be simple enough to do. Give them a couple of unique schticks to make them stand out from other archetypes they're closer to; Uber-kid is probably way more straight-laced than the Scrappy Kid, for instance. (Cop types are all imports from FS1, but there's a good chance Journalist's stuff got folded in; I'll have to take another look at the mechanical aspect later.)

>Flat-out making a whole new power type for Archaeotech feels excessive, but I'm not sure how else to make them.

The nice thing about Abominations is that you don't have to worry about the mutation aspect of the tech. So really, you can probably just take creature powers and scroungetech and refluff them.

I just realized that the Iron and Silk supplement from 1 is still perfectly usable fore 2

So who wants to actually play?

Ninja and you let them buy off the gene or supernatural powers to an extent

>So who wants to actually play?

Unless you're going to follow that up with, "Because I'm going to run it," don't even pretend.

That's amazing.

Another thing I love about the system: There's specific damage for running someone over with a Chevette. It's just so oddly specific. I want to use it in my next game.

Pic maybe related.

>It's just so oddly specific.

And yet incredibly thematic.

I know absolutely nothing about Roll20, or Discord, or any of the other ways to actually run a game online (not counting play-by-post bullshit, because fuck that).
But I'm now extremely fucking tempted to learn, just to run this.

The system encourages playing without a map, so most of the work that would come with running on roll 20 is cut down. Roll20 has charsheets, so you only really need to write " /r 1d6-1d6+Number " into the chat, and play.

Any of you gmt by any chance?

I'd be willing to, but you seem like the kind of lazy, cynical prick I wouldn't want to roll with.