You have magic and chi-powers, a corrupt empire run by demon-worshipping eunuchs, demons and ghosts, peasants and folk heroes, huge open spaces and low technology. A rich tapestry of cultures and many languages and dialects. No demi-humans (thankfully), but you do have hengeyokai (Transformed Animals) and demons.

For those that way inclined, you even have the traditional "classes": Warrior (Ex-Special Forces and Martial Artist), Priest (Magic Cop as Crusading Priest), Rogue (Thief, Ninja and Spy), Wizard (Sorceror). Plus loads of other types.

Anyone with me?

I have put quite a bit of work into a full conversion of Feng to generic fantasy. It's still very much a work in progress, but in play it works well. The beauty of Feng is that the system lends itself to a modular approach. I can send you the rtf, if you're interested...

As it is, I recently grabbed a copy of "Nexus: The Infinite City", which was what Robin Laws based the Feng Shui rules mechanics off of, from what I understand. It's supposedly a generic rpg base system from which to devise whatever rpg universe you'd like. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I'm intrigued.

I think you could easily use Feng Shui to do a mythical china style game. In fact, I just started running one this weekend for two players (the gm of our Exalted game, and another player). I think it's working out pretty good. One is a transformed Dragon, the other is a Taoist swordsman (which the player created using the Shaolin Master archetype from Blood of the Valiant).

I came up with some basics to create a "secret war" that is central to the setting, and modified the factions (Lotus, Hand, Ascended and 4 Monarchs) to fit. I even have info on the Silver Dragons, and the Order of the Empress from Thorns of the Lotus. The pc's know about the Monarchs, since it's tied to the history of the setting, but know nothing about the other factions.

It's nowhere near over the top as Exalted, but that's a refreshing change of pace for the continual over the top antics we have there. Watching the pc's (and one npc) struggle against a big bruiser, doing a few points here, a few points there, and the players wondering "Can we take this walking mountain?" was pretty cool. They had an easier time with a squad of mooks and two named pc's (both martial artists, though one had only one fu schtick, and was not really that tough).

The players had a blast, and we intend on playing it when time permits after our Exalted game dies down when we play (since we sometimes end early, we can run short 2-3 hour sessions every so often).

I've been itching to do something with Feng Shui again for awhile now. This new game, and the demon I'm going to run at the Big Apple Anime Fest, should fill my cravings for some Feng Shui action now :-)

To follow up on an earlier post, I had some more thougts of using Feng Shui factions in one specific setting. This information is background material for a side game of Feng Shui I am running for the group I play Exalted in. We had our first full session today, which went well (even though I need to refamiliarize myself with the basics a bit more). So here is what I came up with; maybe someone else will find it useful for running fantasy games using Feng Shui:

The Four Monarchs: These seemingly immortal siblings once conquered the Empire about 1,000 years ago, and fractured it into 4 parts. They fought petty wars with each other, not caring to what it did to the people they ruled. Only Pui Ti, Queen of the Ice Pagoda, treated her citizens with any sense of decency. 300 years after their rule started, a rebellion against their rule began. The Silver Dragons, a band of heroes, waged battle against the Monarchs to free the empire. Led by the enigmatic Dragon wreathed in Jade, they forced the Monarchs into laying siege to the Forbidden City (which was neutral ground to their four kingdoms). While the Silver Dragons gave their lives battling the Monarchs, rebels in the 4 kingdoms simultaneously attacked and captured the monarchs major Feng Shui sites, stripping them of much of their power. The Monarchs fled, and still maintain small kingdoms on the edges of the empire. The realm of Ice is to the north, the realm of Fire to the south, the realm of Thunder to the East (on the island we would know as Hong Kong), and the realm of Darkness lies to the west. The monarchs scheme to regain what was once theirs, but are unable to garner the power to once more invade the Empire. Their fractious nature makes them unable to work together for long periods of time, so they no longer stand united.

The Guiding Hand: Formed during the reign of the Monarchs, this group within the monasteries of Shaolin, Wudang and other religious orders helped to galvanize the people, without attracting attention to their respective temples. Once the Empire was restored, the Hand became a brotherhood of members of the different religious societies, and a place for them to share philosophy and martial arts. Within the last 2-3 years, the Hand has started to recruit heavily to increase it's numbers. They have learned that a faction of Eunuchs in the Son of Heaven's service have turned to the arts of sorcery, and are using their powers to oppress the people for personal gain. In addition, they have learned that another secret society, the Jade Wheel, is controlled by animals who have broken with their li, and have assumed human form. Once more, the Hand must Guide the Empire, and preserve the Mandate of Heaven.

The Jade Wheel Society (Ascended): Led by transformed animals, this group once helped the Silver Dragons in their war on the Monarchs. They did so not to free to the Empire, but the weaken the magic flowing in the Empire, making it easier for them to resist turning back to their true forms. Magic has lessened in the Empire, and the Ascended have been happy. Now, rumours of a group within the Empire's beauracracy using sorcery has them alarmed, and they plot ways of weakening their power. If this means controlling the Empire, then so be it.

The Eaters of the Lotus: A group of palace Eunuchs have mastered the art of Sorcery, and now use it to further their own ends. They have so far been unsuccessful in subverting the Emperor, but are still able to use their positions to siphon money into their personal coffers. They tend to use alot of supernatural creatures to do their bidding, which has drawn the attention of other secret societies, notably the Guiding Hand and Jade Wheel.

The Silver Dragons: Heroes of Legend who died at the hands of the Monarchs, the title of Silver Dragon is one with great honor. Few heroes truly aspire to such greatness. For those that do, the fame to be had is great. Anyone can call themselves a Silver Dragon; few can actually be one. Doing what is right and just, and serving the people, not the Empire, is the heart of a Silver Dragon's purpose. Those that lay claim to the title of Silver Dragon today have had run ins with the various societies mentioned above. Each time, it was seemingly by accident. Or was it?

Of course, I've left out the Jammers and Architects, since they don't sit well with the time period. Other, minor factions (such as the Order of the Empress that is in the Lotus book, and that I mentioned earlier in this thread) take their place in the so-called "Secret War" of it's time.

So, what does everyone think?

Thanks for posting that for me over here. I came up with all that over the weekend, to give some basic background for our game. Right now, we're doing a simple revenge story (the swordsman pc, the transformed dragon, and the npc ghost of the swordsman's sifu) are tracking down one of the Five Masters (Five Old Masters who killed the swordsman's sifu, and whose clans destroyed his school). The swordsman also believes they stole the scroll with all the school's techniques (ie all the Fu schticks the school uses). The ghost of his sifu's daughter (who basically had her spirit removed from the Wheel of Reincarnation to seek vengeance, after beseeching the gods as she lay dying)thinks they did it out of jealousy (and for the scroll), but the ghosts grandfather (A Taoist Wizard the pc's met while following the ghost) told them he believes someone else used the attack as an opportunity to steal the scroll. Two men mentioned were an Imperial general yet to be named, and the brother of the swordsman's sifu (who has his own school, and the other half of the scroll with the techniques his school uses on it). It's shaping up to be a good mystery, and I haven't even decided who set the Five Masters against the swordsman's school. I mean, the Guiding Hand could have (because the sifu rebuked them), the Ascended could have (because the sifu was in the Hand), or the Lotus could have (as the sifu and his students did slay some demons terrorizing nearby villages). They may not find out until they confront the last of the Five Masters, so I have an ongoing storyline to run for quite some time...

Stefan