|
|
From:
Hindmarch
|
Posted on:
12/6/2002 12:13 pm
|
|
To:
ALL
|
|
|
Hi everybody, Maybe we haven't been formally introduced. I'm Will Hindmarch, the new webjack here at Atlas (among other things). I've got an open question for you all regarding FENG SHUI. To what extent do your FS adventures involve the Secret War? Do you play primarily in a single juncture (which juncture), or do you go careening across time every time? What do you see more of: magic, kung fu or technology? Word,
Will Hindmarch
Feng Shui Developer
Atlas Games
|
|
|
From:
dsprag
|
Posted on:
12/6/2002 9:46 pm
|
|
To:
Hindmarch
|
|
|
While my campaign has yet to go beyond the first session, the second one's this weekend, I intend to use the secret war quite a bit. As far as magic, fu, and technology are concerned I'll probably use them all regularly. Dan
|
|
|
From:
Bob the Dancing Monkey
|
Posted on:
12/6/2002 10:31 pm
|
|
To:
dsprag
|
|
|
Great question. Lemme put it to you this way. At this point in the campaign...
-the Dragons have crossed the Sunless Sea to the Other Sid where they have joined up with the Prof after borrowing an trans-Sea boat from the Ice Queen.
-The Dragons are currently in loose alliance with the Lotus, the Jammers, and the Pulp Ascended after an aborted push by the three of the four Monarchs to take 2057 and 2671.
-the Darkness Queen was just rescued after a ritual went _horribly_ wrong by an Architect Flying Fortress and a whole passel of SPUD-Us at the Homecoming Game of Netherworld University.
-In the backstory, two factions of the Ascended, headed by the old head of the 1850s Lodge and the current Modern head of the Lodge, are at war.
-Our group consists of martial artists, supernatural creatures, Abominations, killers, gamblers, athletes...you name the juncture, we almost have someone from it. Hell, we don't even have sourcebooks for two of the junctures we play, and we still use the Secret War a lot. This is to say, we use the Secret War one hell of a lot. We also have a few other pet projects, but they also work part and parcel with the War. The Secret War kicks _ass_, and I am happy to use the sourcebooks for them. Now, if only continuity was kept between them... -Drew
drew@goats.com Edited 12/6/2002 10:34:07 PM ET by Bob the Dancing Monkey (BOBMONKEY)
Edited 12/6/2002 10:35:07 PM ET by Bob the Dancing Monkey (BOBMONKEY)
|
|
|
From:
Lon
|
Posted on:
12/7/2002 2:04 am
|
|
To:
Hindmarch
|
|
|
In our gaming group we use Feng Shui as kind of a general game engine not exactally as Feng Shui. The current ongoing game we have using it is based upon the Le Femme Nakita TV show. And the PCs are tracking down an Illuminati like group at the moment. Lon
|
|
|
From:
Queex
|
Posted on:
12/9/2002 5:22 am
|
|
To:
Lon
|
|
|
I like to use the Secret War. It gives my long-running campaign a focus and direction. I do try and make sure that the character's melodramatic hooks are adressed at some point, generally in a twisted and evil way. I do like to introduce major new elements and let the players have an impact on the game world. The current story arc involves dozens of Western dragons (Wyrms) running loose in 1996 and causing mayhem. They've made impregnible fortresses in 1850 and 1996, double-dipping a stone circle in Wales, and the dragons are currently formulating a plan to burn the site in 69. Just as soon as they find a means of getting there. That said, I also use Feng for one-off, random sessions that don't involve any of the backstory. The beauty of the backstory is that you can turn a non-secret war game into one very easily. And back again, if you close the netherworld. As far as character types go, we have a bit of everything. The player group changes quite a bit (although newcomers are starting to look a little pale alongside the old hands), and most things have appeared at some point.
|
|
|
From:
Hindmarch
|
Posted on:
12/9/2002 11:44 am
|
|
To:
Queex
|
|
|
Thanks so much for the skinny thus far, everybody! It's clear that The Dancing Monkey's PCs are pretty-tightly wound up in the War. Is this true for the characters in other games, everyone? Do your players make characters tied into the Secret War or do they make more ordinary folk who have to get wrapped up in everything as time goes on? word,
Will Hindmarch
Atlas Games
|
|
|
From:
SheliakBob
|
Posted on:
12/9/2002 11:52 pm
|
|
To:
Hindmarch
|
|
I've run FS several times with campaigns lasting from a dozen to just three or four sessions. While I've run Hong Kong based games a couple of times, most of the time I run in a hybrid Al Amarja that's been transplanted to the China Sea.
For those games, I had a couple of PC's who were OTE characters translated into FS, who just woke up one day to discover that their island was no longer in the Med and that things were VERY different. That campaign was completely Secret War oriented, since it involved a small cadre of Hermetics who knew that there had been a nexus change and wanted their version of the world back. (The Lodge and Agents of the Wheel had stamped out magic societies, retroactively, during the Inquisitions of the Middle Ages--there was an Ars Magica tie in as well, but I digress...)
We had a Hermetic "Physical Adept" with performance enhancing magical tatoos, a Gyonsi Hopping Vampire with free will who wanted revenge on the Lotus, a gadget using super spy who may have been an agent of the Gladsteins, or may have been working for the Lodge, and an assassin sniper--for hire. They found themselves primarily trying to protect "Lou's Booze" and fighting to take over a "Turtle Island" site in the bay from an infestation of crawling, sentient crustaceans, who MAY have come from space... Loads of fun!
|
|
|
From:
Queex
|
Posted on:
12/10/2002 5:06 am
|
|
To:
Hindmarch
|
|
|
Many of the players in my campaign were completely new to Feng, so they created melodramatic hooks unknowing of the back story. Some of the players who knew the background built it into their concepts. I like to let the characters' melodramatic hooks evolve as time wears on, what starts out as a quest to find a relative can become a quest to find their killer or protect them from a continuing threat.
|
|
|
From:
eXceL111
|
Posted on:
12/11/2002 10:21 am
|
|
To:
Hindmarch
|
|
I personnally prefer to start a game firmly anchored in the 1996 junction and with little involvement with the secret war. The first adventures tend to be light on the secret war, although the factions still provide much of the antagonists and the action.
From there, the game will evolve according to the players preferences: world adventuring (exploration, treasure hunting, mercenary work...), power grabbing (stealing, conning, grabbing money/personal power/influence) or the secret war.
In the end, I usually get a mix of the 3. After all, if you want to play in the secret war, you need to travel the junctions and accumulate power; if you want power, you will have to ally or clash with the factions and thus get at least a little bit involved with the secret war; if you adventure, you will get to meet the secret war and to improve your own power. The campaign tends to remain focused on the 1996 juncture though. Character types can include anything I suppose, but in the modern junction technology (including guns) and Fu play the main role. Supernatural creatures are supposed to be able to fit in (Transformation power required), and flashy magic is rare (i.e. a few Magic cops but barely any Sorcerer or arcanotech). Note that this comes up naturally as a consequence of the juncture modifiers in 1996. Sure, I start in Hong-Kong, but travelling to exotic locations is fun!
|
|
|
From:
Sensei
|
Posted on:
12/13/2002 5:55 pm
|
|
To:
Hindmarch
|
|
|
Hi, Will! I'm Christopher. After about 5 games, my players aren't really into the Secret War backstory yet. Only one player is from a juncture other than the Contemporary (he's a former Buro Monster Hunter gone AWOL). The rest are average joes from 1998. They're vaguely aware of the different SW groups, because of information they've learned from the Hunter PC, and also because during their latest session they found themselves briefly in a cave in 69 AD China (via a Trash Compactor to the Netherworld). They're not officially Dragons yet, but the Monster Hunter wants to become one to oppose the Buro. He's looking to hook up with a Dragon contact in the modern juncture, and will take the other PCs with him, most likely, within a few more game sessions. Our games play more like pop culture action movies than a big cross-dimensional time-hopping extravaganza, but I expect that may change when the players become Dragons. Even when they become familiar with the intricacies of Innerwalking and the different groups, play will stay centered on the Contemporary Juncture. Kung fu, a small arsenal, and a beat-up '78 El Camino are the trademarks of our play; nobody uses arcanotech and I don't yet allow sorceror PCs.
|
|