My good friend Graveyard Greg sent me this remake of a classic RPG. If you want to read a review on it, then go someplace else. I am going to give you my P.O.V. of FENG SHUI.

FENG SHUI was originally released in 1996 by Daedalus Entertainment, Inc. But then something bad happened, and FENG SHUI lost. All was dark for this poor RPG, until Atlas Games came and rescued it from the brink of extinction! Hooray! Now, FENG SHUI is back with a brand new cover, layout, and art. In fact, they added the character types like Journalist, Magic Cop, and the Thief from a previous supplement, and your old favorites (like Karate Cop, Ghost, and Old Master) are still here, ready to kick some butt!

The background behind FENG SHUI is this: A secret war is being waged. The bad guys range from eunuch sorcerers from Ancient China to cyber-demonic scientists from the future. They all want the same thing–the power of FENG SHUI. Whoever controls this power can reshape history so that they are in control, and always have been in control.

History, you see, is flexible. It changes on a whim, and unless you have safeguards, you’ll never question the changes. New York could become a dynasty of China, and you wouldn’t blink.

Fortunately, the one thing that stands in the way of these evil powers are the PCs–and they aren’t just anyone! They are secret warriors, ready to save the world or die trying! They’re going to need every trick in the book (and then some) in order to succeed, too. From Gun Schticks to Fu Powers to Spellcasting, they have the skills to perform the butt kicking the world so desperately needs!

The system of FENG SHUI is so simple, you’ll be ready to play in minute. It uses two 6 sided dice. One die is positive, the other negative. Roll them together (and reroll 6s), and the result is either a positive or negative number that you add or subtract to your skill number. The higher, the better, folks! If you meet or exceed the Difficulty–Huzzah! If not, uh oh…

The things that modify the DN depend on how detailed you describe your action, or “stunt”. Just saying “I waste him with my uzi!” is ho hum. If you say “I spray the mook with hot lead, causing him to fall on his comrades” is far better. The GM rewards creativity, so remember that valuable advice!

The rulebook alone can offer you many a fine game session. I had the extreme pleasure of playing FENG SHUI through many adventures. The thought of having more supplements being released warms this gamer’s heart…

So Lock and Load, Secret Warrior. Your destiny awaits on the field of battle, because FENG SHUI is the game for Action Movie Roleplaying. Accept no substitutes!

One Shots is the first supporting product for Atlas Games’ excellent Unknown
Armies RPG. One Shots contains 5 stand alone scenarios complete with
pregenerated characters. Each scenario is meant to be played in a single
evening, much like a convention scenario.

The Adventures

“Jailbreak” by Greg Stolze is a spooky little number that highlights one of
my favorite themes of Unknown Armies: true horror lurks in the safest
looking places. This scenario strongly relies on intra-player conflict, as
some players take the roles of escaped convicts and others play their
hostages. With a motivated group, this can quickly become an exercise in
tension and terror.

“Strange Days” by Tim Dedopulos is an investigation scenario. The characters
are sent to find the source of a series of bizarre phenomena. While the idea
is strong, this scenario suffers from some drawbacks. First, I didn’t find
the NPC actions very believable. After emphasizing the repercussions of
character actions in the rulebook, no less than eleven NPCs are slaughtered
by various psychos over the course of the scenario, without anyone either
noticing or raising a general alarm. Second, the climax of the adventure is
a bit of a let down. Still, the ideas for playing off of H.P. Lovecraft bred
paranoia are great. If your players are into CoC, run this adventure on them
and watch ‘em squirm.

“Joy and Sorrow” by Nicole Lindroos and John Tynes is an unqualified
success, though you may have problems finding players up to the roleplaying
challenges of this adventure. I can’t really explain this scenario without
quoting about a page or two from the book, nor will a summary do it justice.
Just take my word for it: the next time some poseur slob mouths off about
his roleplaying skills, run him through this thing and put those boasts to
the test. My guess is that 90% of the gamers out there couldn’t handle this
scenario without copping out or rewriting their character. To which I say
MORE, MORE, MORE!

“Fly to Heaven” is another excellent offering from Greg Stolze. The
characters are trapped on a airliner when a disturbed adept decides that its
time to ascend as the Terrorist archetype. While not as strong as
“Jailbreak,” this adventure offers a lot of freaky happenings, problem
solving, and good old fashioned roleplaying.

“And I Feel Fine” by Geoffrey C. Grabowski is an ambitious scenario that
fails to really come together. The basic premise is that a tiny town in
Arizona wakes up to find everyone else in the world gone. No TV, no radio,
straight out of Night of the Comet. What weakens this adventure is a lack of
focus. Grabowski gives the GM three plot options for this adventure. While I
like the idea of flexibility, we’re really left with three ideas that aren’t
fleshed out quite enough. There really isn’t that much of a difference
between the three options, and one (a government conspiracy idea) is
somewhat silly. I’d much rather have one well developed, focused idea than
three underdeveloped ones.

The Verdict

This is a promising product for the Unknown Armies line. While uneven, this
collection has a solid sample of the possibilities of Unknown Armies. Call
of Cthulhu keepers will find a lot of good ideas here, as will anyone using
White Wolf’s World of Darkness.

The first brainchild of Over the Edge’s Jonathan “I make the cool
games” Tweet and Vampire: The Masquerade’s Mark “I got a stupid dot in
my name” Rein*Hagen was Ars Magica, a brilliant role playing game of
Mythic Europe that they unveiled in 1987. It revolutionized game
playing with troupe-style playing, sensible character types, the use
of real medieval history as a setting and what is still the most
richly detailed and well-designed magic system in an RPG today.

Twelve years later the game is still miraculously alive. A lot of
this is due to a dedicated and intelligent fan-base: if Ars Magica has
a flaw, its people’s mistaken belief that you need to know Latin to
play. Well, that’s just not true -but it is one of the few games that
attracts historians, philosophers and non-hacknslashers out of the
woodwork in droves.

Ars Magica has seen four different publishers - Lion Rampant,
White Wolf, Wizards of the Coast and now Atlas Games, who ironically
used to be most of Lion Rampant. Now that the battle-weary game has
come home after a couple of near-cancellations, occasional lows and
White Wolf’s obsession with making the game a precursor to their World
of Darkness, new fans can discover Mythic Europe for themselves. It
has been worth the wait.

“The Dragon and The Bear” describes the Novgorod Tribunal, which is
13th century Poland and Russia. Unlike most RPGs, Ars Magica
researchers know their subjects - Simeon Shoul has done a fantastic job
of covering the area, complete with beautiful maps, a complete lineage
for the royalty of Poland and Russia and a comprehensive index.

For those who think ‘real’ history is lame, they have another thing
coming: the Mongols. Yes, the basis for so many faceless photocopied
barbarians in so many bad RPG worlds are here in stunning, vivid
bloody glory, and it is the eminent arrival of these ghastly hordes
which gives this supplement its real punch. Past tribunal books have
posited plots and historical events, but never with such breadth and
depth. No matter where your saga takes place, the Mongols will
affect them, and now all the details are in one place.

Also featured are full rules for Volkhv characters, including the
entirely new system of magic used by pagan characters that resurrects
the old shaman rules from the 3rd edition and makes them shine. I was
especially fascinated by the treatment of faerie in the game, which
receives an exhaustive treatment - the differing natures of Slavic
faeries are discussed, as are Arcadia and the Pagan Gods that live
there.

The Verdict

Atlas Games has really scored with their first tribunal book. They
have expertly woven Slavic myth and reality together into an excellent
sourcebook that will delight any Ars Magica player. “The Dragon and
The Bear” is a true cut above the standard locale books in the RPG
industry, and I’d recommend it to anyone interested in medieval Eastern
Europe. If you have never tried Ars Magica before, now is a perfect
time - Atlas has a wide range of great materials ready for you to use,
and you simply won’t find a better medieval roleplaying game.