Atlas Games Forum Archive - Feng Shui - Getting a new group started

From: Master_Kiero

Posted on: 11/1/2004 7:13 pm

To: ALL

Message: 421.1

I may have a group, who are unlikely to have roleplayed but I'm sure I could bring round.

My plan for snaring them goes like this:

First off general talk to enthuse them about how cool the game is. Scope whether Action Films does much for them.

Second, once interest in roleplaying is secured, issue them with that 4-pager on the system, plus a page on the archetypes I'll be using (a brief description next to each, no more than that).

Third, on the day of the game, we watch "Big Trouble in Little China". Followed by a half-hour breakdown in which we choose archetypes and make characters.

Finally a four-hour game based on the "Eating Counter" adventure in the back of the book.

Critiques? Do I need some more steps to help sell it? Would another movie better capture the spirit of the game? Should I be going with a home-made adventure (ie ripped of a movie plot from somewhere)?

From: Sensei

Posted on: 11/2/2004 5:06 pm

To: Master_Kiero

Message: 421.2

in reply to: 421.1

I think the movie is perfect. I always reference BTiLC to people who want to know what Feng Shui's about.

I don't care for Eating Counter, but that's just a personal thing. I suppose it's fine for a starter game, since that's what it's designed for. (I just find it boring. If I were a new player, it wouldn't capture my attention all that much. But I'm fussy.)

Don't add more steps, no, cuz you want to get them to the game fast as possible. (Fast as a monkey on a rocket sled.)

Good plan, altogether!

Edited 11/2/2004 5:07 pm ET by Sensei (Sensei22)

From: KungFuStrong	Posted on: 11/3/2004 3:01 am
To: ALL	Message: 421.3 in reply to: 421.2
What is BTiLC?

From: Master_Kiero

Posted on: 11/3/2004 4:46 am

To: KungFuStrong

Message: 421.4

in reply to: 421.3

>What is BTiLC?

Big Trouble in Little China:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090728/

Jack Burton has to be THE archetypical Everyman Hero.

Edited 11/3/2004 4:47 am ET by Master_Kiero

From: IronJester76

Posted on: 11/3/2004 7:50 am

To: Master_Kiero

Message: 421.5

in reply to: 421.4

Agreed. To anybody who hasn't seen it, Big Trouble is argueably the 'most Feng Shui' film ever (i think Kill Bill is up there too, but Btilc has the crazy mystical/ magical element too) and Jack Burton IS the everyman hero. Mixed up in tong warfare and the evil plans of an immortal Demon, he spends the film wisecracking and refusing to believe his eyes, waving round a machine pistol stolen from a fallen mook. All he really cares about is getting his truck back. It should demonstrate what FS is about quite nicely.

It is silly, but i love it and so should anybody who has a remote interest in Martial arts/ action flicks - that should be anybody reading this post, and hopefully your prospective players.

To anybody interested, Comrades in Arms has the FS stats for the cast.

Good luck with snaring your players, your plan sounds fine.

Edited 11/3/2004 7:57 am ET by IronJester76

From: prophet118

Posted on: 11/3/2004 10:16 am

To: ALL

Message: 421.6

in reply to: 421.5

i did the same thing trying to get my group ready for FS... we just never had time to actually play the damn game (my first group)

second group... ugh... one guy was playing a karate cop (who insisted on speaking in poorly translated dialogue... ya know, english, but the mouth keeps moving)

the other guy was a maverick cop, whos answer to every situation was always to fill it full of holes... hard to leave mooks laying around who may offer clues (game ground to a halt..lol)

other character was a ninja who was successful at avoiding the characters all night.