Feng Shui: Action Movie Roleplaying

Rating:
Summary: All Butt Must Be Kicked
Review: Herein lies a simple system for any High Action setting. The origional thought was to emulate the action of the Hong Kong Action Genre. But it's not a huge stretch to use the system for Star Wars, the Mummy, or any setting where Larger Than Life stunts and Over The Top special effects reign. There is, for the most part, ONE die-rolling mechanic for everything. You don't need to look at charts and figure numbers, you just need to throw some dice and keep going. You get bonuses for describing your actions as vividly as possible, and making them entertaining. (What we call the "Looks Cool!" bonus.) And remember, there are very few problems that cannot be solved by beating someone up. Unlike many games, the flashy combat is the focus, and the roleplay is that thing you do between fights. (YMMV)

Rating:
Summary: Feng Shui: "Fists of Fury" meets "The Matrix"
Review: This is a role-playing game for people who want to shed angst-ridden melodrama and sweeping tactical rules and go straight for the one-on-one action of a fast-paced action movie. With character concepts such as "Scrappy Kid", "Killer", and "Everyday Hero". This system puts an emphasis on style and action, where almost anything can be resolved with 2 six-sided dice. The book also provides an in-depth world to put the characters in, but it is easily altered to suit the GameMaster's desires. Many of the descriptions of skills and Schticks (essentially powers) are tongue-in-cheek, again putting emphasis on the genre.

Combat is made to be quick and furious, with almost everyone having the same basic attributes. Other than Bruisers, everyone has the same amount of damage that can be absorbed. An attack will have the character go into detail as to what he wants to do to the villain, then rolls. Success means that whatever he said just happened. Thus, where most games would say "I shoot the guy with the sword", Feng Shui would prefer "The hero brandishes his gleeming pistol and vaults over a counter while he fills the air with his hot vengeance." Again, an emphasis on style.

Feng Shui is a perfect game for the action of martial arts-movie lover. Instead of just watching your favorite hero fight evil, you can assume the role of title character and plunge headlong into the adventure that you always wanted, from the grimy streets of ChinaTown, to the forbidding Himilayas, to different places in time. Anything is possible, limited only by your imagination.