This series takes a look at random tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), taken from my prodigious collection of physical tabletop roleplaying games. Some you may know, others you may not. Some will still be available in print, others… not so much. Not all of these articles will be positive, but most will. Now, with all that said, let’s begin.
“Feng Shui 2” is a TTRPG by Robin Laws, published by Atlas Games. It is a divisive game, but I fail to see how, in any reasonable fashion. It is a game that I enjoy immensely, as I loved the original “Feng Shui” before it (which I also have on the shelf).
FS2, as with FS before it, is one of the few games in my collection that I own multiple copies of the core rulebook for. “Talislanta 4th Edition”, for example, I bought an additional copy because I was at a game store, and had forgotten I already owned a copy of that game. I own multiple copies of “Rifts” and “Pugmire” because we were playing them a lot at some point, and I wanted multiple copies available for use at the table.
I own multiple copies of “Feng Shui 2” because I love the game, and want to be sure I have a spare copy just in case something happens to the one I use at the table.
For those who don’t know, FS2 (as with FS before it) is a cinematic action TTRPG, based off of Asian action films from Wuxia to near-future dystopian science fiction. The best way I have found for describing the game would be to say it is like the movie “Big Trouble In Little China”, only with the gonzo cranked up to 12 (since it was already at 11).
Now let’s crack open the tome and talk about the game in detail. First of all, this is a hefty, stitchbound tome. Full color throughout, and the artwork is plentiful and stunning, fitting well with the themes in the game. The contents are well laid out in the front, with a solid Index towards the back of the tome (before the various game aids, character sheet, etc), in case you can’t find something. In my experience, though, that has rarely been necessary once you’ve played once or twice.
The game is planned out in a very thoughtful manner. A basic walkthough of the rules and ideas behind the game, then character creation, combat rules, skills, guns, Fu paths, vehicle chases, Sorcery, Creature rules and schticks, Transformed animals, Scroungetech, and Enemies… all before you get to the detailed rules and advice regarding running the game! The player-facing rules and information are all in the first 189 pages (assuming you don’t want players delving into the Enemies information).
This could easily have been set up as two tomes, one for players and one for gamemasters, but I’m glad they kept it all together. Since I have found that most times my old TTRPG groups have played “Feng Shui” or the sequel, I was the only one bringing a rulebook, so I might as well have everything in one tome. Some tables might prefer the GM to have one Master rulebook, with a smaller, player-facing tome to share among the table. You could argue FS2 is set up to accommodate that, maybe someone should address that with Atlas Games, rather than bug me about it? I’m fine with one book, thank you.
Then again, I don’t mind if my players take the occasional peek into the latter parts of the book, especially after they have played a while. Especially since they can just go buy their own copy of the book. I’m not their dad.
But I digress.
The rules employ two, six-sided dice of different shades or colors, one good, and one bad. You roll them both, subtract the result on the bad die from that on the good die, and apply the result to your relevant skill or ability. Your final result is then compared to a difficulty number. Meet or exceed the number, you succeed. Roll too low, you fail. Simple.
Of course there are a lot of different terms used here, but that’s the basic rundown. Also, there is an exploding dice mechanic (roll a six on one of the dice, and you roll it again and add the result, before subtracting the bad die from the good one), and if you roll sixes on both dice (boxcars) you reroll and whatever the end result of the action was, it will be spectacular (a critical result, one way or the other). Not all rolls employ the Boxcars mechanic (closed rolls), but in most cases where actions are being taken, you can assume they do apply.
Things get more complicated with Fortune dice, but those don’t apply very often in my experience. Then again, my players may have been just being stingy with using their Fortune, or they simply forgot in the heat of battle, I couldn’t really say. As with most TTRPGs, the rules get a bit more complicated as you go along, and this has been one of the biggest complaints about FS2 in my experience, but I find that to be a bit laughable. When you look at truly “crunchy” games like “Pathfinder”, FS2 is overall a pretty simple game.
Now then, I’m not going to get all that into the nitty-gritty of the game itself. Watch “Big Trouble In Little China”, imagine if that game also involved settings of dystopian science fiction, old west, and ancient China, in addition to modern Hong Kong, and you’ll get a basic idea of what to expect. There is a lot of focus on guns, martial arts, magic, and so forth, because of course there is. What I will talk briefly about is the one big stopping point I found in my FS and FS2 games:
Initiative.
Look, I know a lot of people are used to simple Initiative systems. Roll a D20, add a modifier, and take actions from the highest result to the lowest. Rinse and repeat. Of course, “Feng Shui 2” does not do this. Instead, there is an initiative check, involving your Speed value, but then things get a bit… complicated.
Except no it doesn’t. It is simply different.
Everyone rolls Initiative, players and GM alike (for their Mooks). The highest number goes first, and Initiative counts down from there, until it hits Zero. Actions in FS2 cost a certain amount of “Shots”. These are subtracted from your overall Initiative number, to show when you get to act again in the round.
So let’s say one player character is facing off with a Named baddie (more powerful than an unnamed Mook, effectively on-par with a PC). The PC’s initiative is 20, where the Baddie’s is 15. The PC can then choose to shoot a gun at 20, and let’s say that subtracts three for the action. No one goes at 19 or 18, then the PC goes again at 17, shooting a second time and costing another three points. No one goes at 16, the Baddie finally goes at 15, throwing a spell at the PC and let’s say it cost them four points. The PC goes again at 14, running behind cover for one point. They then pop up and shoot at the Baddie at 13, no one goes at 12, the Baddie throws that same spell again at 11, the PC shoots again at 10, no one goes at 9 or 8. The baddie and the PC both go at 7, and if I recall the PC goes first. PC shoots at Baddie, Baddie uses a different spell to teleport out of fight, because f*ck this.
Now then, this is just a simplified example of how Initiative and the Shot Counter works, but you get the point. Actions cost a variable amount, reducing where you act next in the Initiative order. The rulebook goes into a lot of detail on how this all plays out, but you can choose how granular you wish to be at your table. For example, my players generally hated the Initiative system in both FS and FS2, so I generally skipped certain parts that the players found unwieldy. For example, it wasn’t “fun” to deal with reloading, so I skipped that.
The point being, Initiative in FS2 can be really fluid and fun, as long as everyone is on board, and actually pays attention to the shot costs of their actions. When they just want to roll Initiative and be told when it is their turn to act, it becomes a big headache for the GM. And if the GM insists on these players keeping track of their own damn shots, I have found many of those players won’t be coming back for another session.
I like to call those players “Whiny Bitches”.
Okay, so let’s get down to brass tacks. Is “Feng Shui 2” a good TTRPG? Yes, absolutely! It is a very unique game, with a lineage that dates back to the early 1990’s (for those newer TTRPG players who think it is ripping off a newer title). The gameplay is fluid and dynamic, and when you have a table full of players who “get it”, the game is absolutely amazing. This is, by far, my favorite TTRPG of all time, supplanting the original “Feng Shui” only because FS2 has more ‘meat’ to it.
That said, if you have a table full of 5E players, you may well find “Feng Shui 2” to fall absolutely flat. You may find it to be unwieldy, even a slog to get through, despite the fast, cinematic nature of play. In the end, you may hate FS2. I would say you are cursed with a table full of “Whiny Bitches”, as above, and perhaps you are one, too. Put down the d20s and immerse yourself in a better TTRPG for once in your life.
“Feng Shui 2” would be a good start.