ATTN ATLAS: Feng Shui 2 playtest/proofing

Games Discussion Feng Shui
1

Atlas Staff: if you could sticky this, pretty please, it'd be much appreciated.
Everyone else: reply to this post with your comments/notes/whatever. I'll update the top post so as to keep all the info in one place.

Chapter 1: Ki-Yaaah!

Chapter 2: Create Your Hero
Archer archetype. Bow and Arrow weapon should not have a reload value.
Bodyguard/Bounty Hunter/Gambler: Fast Draw I should read "Add 2 to your Initiative result. Your first action of the sequence must use Guns."
Drifter: K2 Rifle should have damage 13** (+1 bonus vs mooks) instead of 13* (which denotes pump action shotgun). This error is common in the rifle section of the guns chapter too.
Everyday Hero: Martial Arts should have an Asterisk, as everyday "all American" heroes don't know kung-fu.
Ex-Special Forces: For the Squad should read "When you assist an ally with an attack boost, the attack costs the ally only 2 shots."
Ex-Special Forces: Weapon values do not match those of the guns chapter. HK 45c: 10/2/3. HK mp5: 10/5/1. M16: 13**/5/1
Exorcist Monk: Staff damage is 9, not 10. Archetype has no skills at all.
Gene Freak: archetype should include Freakout feature from the relevant chapter. Archetype has no skills at all.
Karate Cop, Magic Cop, Maverick Cop: shotgun should be listed as 13* (pump action)
Killer: wrong stats for Beretta M12.
Martial Artist: damage value for Whirl of Fury is different from that in the relevant chapter.
Masked Avenger: armor values for the armor don't match those later in the book.
Thief: Hightailing It should read: "Spend 1 Fortune to get +2 Driving until next keyframe when you are the evader in a vehicle chase." Car has FS1 stats.
Missing Info: Big Bruiser archetype. Shotgun doesn't have any stats.
Misprint: Drifter archetype, Ammunitional Rescue shtick. "Like the Cavalry" is misspelled.
Misprint: Inconsistent style: the Bounty Hunter's and the Maverick Cop's Signature Weapon shtick is presented differently. One has the damage bonus already worked in, one does not. Flavor text is also different.
Assumed Misprint: Ghost archetype. Insubstantial shtick is different from that in the Creature Powers chapter. Was this intentional?
Assumed Misprint: Supernatural Creature archetype doesn't have any skills. Was this intentional?

Chapter 3: Butt, Kicking of

Chapter 4: Skills

Chapter 5: Guns, Guns, and Also, Guns
Misprint: "FN200o" should be "FN2000".
Assumed Misprint: Reload stat on the Beretta M12 and the FN P-90 seems awfully high for an SMG.
Edit Request: The words "experimental firearm" in the shtick "Bag Full of Guns II" should probably be "series of experimental firearms", to save GM's and players a futile search for a firearm with Damage 14. :slight_smile:
Clarification Request: Bag Full of Guns II-IV. Some guidelines for the Reload stat for the experimental firearms would not be amiss, even if it's as simple as "roll 1 die for the Reload value".

Chapter 5: The Mystical Profundity of Fist in Face
Misprint: This should be Chapter 6, and subsequent chapters should be renumbered.
Possible Exploit: Using Dim Mak as written against a Big Bruiser or a Boss with a high Wound Total actually heals them.
Clarification Request: Path of the Nunchaku. Are "Whirl of Fury" and "Nunchaku Nunchaku Nunchaku" supposed to work together? In other words, does using "Whirl of Fury" set your base damage to 14 and then "Nunchaku Nunchaku Nunchaku" ups it to 16,17,etc? Or do you have to pick one or the other to use?

Chapter Six: Vehicles and Driving
Misprint: Inconsistent style. "Six" is spelled out, all the other chapters are numbers.

Chapter 7: Sorcery, not just for Eunuchs anymore

Chapter 8: Creature Abilities

Chapter 9: Former Animals Anonymous

Chapter 10: DNA = Damn Near Anything

Chapter 11: Scroungetech

Chapter 12: Awesoming Up
Clarification Request: If your main attack is one that no one else in the group uses, it is by definition "the highest in the group". Therefore, you can't raise it ever. Was this intentional?
Misprint Advancement Paths. Big Bruiser can gain "Guns 11" as a backup attack. He already HAS Guns 11 as a backup attack.
Clarification Request: Advancement Paths. Cyborg, Drifter, Highway Ronin, Karate Cop, Killer, Magic Cop, Maverick Cop, Spy, Thief, Transformed Crab, Transformed Dragon and Two-fisted Archaeologist have backup attacks, but cannot ever raise them. Was this intentional?
Clarification Request: Of the archetypes that do not have Backup attacks, only the Bandit can pick one up. Was this intentional in all cases? I can see the reasoning for some (Full Metal Nutball, for instance) but not others.
Clarification Request: Advancement Paths. Old Master cannot gain new skills. Was this intentional? I can see the reasoning -- I can't picture, say, Mr. Miyagi learning combat driving or the proper uses of C4 -- but surely Intimidation or Info skills (among others) would have been appropriate.
Clarification Request/Assumed Misprint: Advancement Paths. Supernatural Creature cannot gain new skills. It can increase skills it already has, but the archetype doesn't start with any. Again, surely some skills would be appropriate?
[strike]Clarification Request: the Ghost has some Creature Powers but can never pick up any more. Was this intentional?[/strike]
Clarification Request: Should the Scrappy Kid archetype really have access to the Seduction skill?
Assumed Misprint: Sword Master can't pick up new shticks from Path of the Sword.
Shouldn't Signature Weapon be part of the Advancement track for the Archer?
Firm Grip (which enhances auto-fire) seems like an odd option for an Archer.
Battle Scavenge, which aids in finding a gun among the dead when you fail a reload check, seems like an odd option for an archer that doesn't need to worry about reloading.
Big Bruisers, Everyday Heroes, Karate Cops, Thieves have access to Fu Powers that cost Chi, can they spend their fortune to use those powers?
Is it intentional that the Big Bruiser not have access to the Path of the Hundred Names, which boosts survival?
Cyborg/Full Metal Nutball: Is there a reason a cyborg is limited to only a handful of Scoungetech options upon advancement? Is there a reason they can't take Plasma Tubules, Reflex Ramper, or Subdermal Plating, but the Full Metal Nutball can?
Gene Freak: Because Gene freaks are the only characters with access to mutant powers, limiting their options upon advancement leaves a large chunk of the mutant powers in chapter 10 inaccessible to any character, including some cool ones like Imposiblist, which would work great with the Archetype.
The limited access to Creature Powers upon advancement and the default options for Supernatural Creatures and Ghosts means that there are a number of Monster powers that are impossible to take, including: Courtier of the Yama Kings, Demon Punch, Deserter from the Hell of Flaying, Emit Smoke Screen, Empathic Rage, Exile form the Hell of Dismemberment, Flashback from the Hell of Knives, Monstrous Foot Stomp, Rage Against Machines, and School of Piercing.
The Ghost advancement track includes a powers that either doesn't exist anymore, or has had its names changed: Hellish Tolerance.
No one has or can take the Back for Seconds Gun shtick?
No one has or can take the Shake It Off Gun shtick?

Chapter 13: Enemies

Chapter 14: Running the Game
Misprint: p.298, paragraph 3, refers to "one of the characters who can heal others: Ex-Special Forces, Sifu, or Sorcerer". The Ex-Special Forces archetype does not have the Medicine skill: only the Archer and the Sifu do.

Chapter 15: Feng Shui Sites

Chapter 16: Factions

Chapter 17: Chi War

Chapter 18: The Netherworld

Chapter 19: Hong Kong

Chapter 20: Blue Moon Rules

Chapter 21: Shadow of the Future of the Apes
[strike]Missing Info: Mook weapons in fights 2 and 3 are missing Concealment/Reload stats. Mind you, it's not like Concealment matters, and if you're having to roll Reload for mooks something is seriously wrong, but still...[/strike]
Misprint: First two sentences under "The Prospectus and the Melodramatic Hook" (p.428) say essentially the same thing.
Misprint: p. 430-431 refers to adding more mooks "if you have a Killer or Maverick Cop to mow them down / scare them off." Maverick Cop can do neither: assume Masked Avenger is meant here.

2

We are supposed to send Feng Shui 2 errors and playtest comments to:

playtest@atlas-games.com

In regards to The Ex-Special Forces and healing The Ex-Special Forces Character can remove an Impairment with the use of Field Triage (pg. 46) I think that is what page 298 is referring to.

3

That's a lot of errata Darzee. Good catches, and you pointed out some weirdness I had thought was fine. I hope you've e-mailed this to the playtest e-mail account, as they said they were only taking errata through Oct 27th.

There are two parts I don't think are errors:

Actually this is correct, as per the section on mooks in the Enemies Chapter:
"Gun stats for mooks contain only Damage Values. Concealment mostly concerns player characters. A hero looking at a mook to see if he’s carrying a concealed weapon always spots it, if it’s there. Mooks don’t make Reload checks, so we skip that number also."

The way I read it, they have a few Creature Powers to pick from:
"Add any one of the following Creature Powers (provided you have its prerequisite, if any): Arcane Battery, Blood Drain, Death Resistance I-III, Foul Spew, Goldenheart Monster, Hellish Tolerance, Inevitable Comeback, Memory Drain, Mimicry, Night Dweller, Regeneration I-IV, Transformation I-II"

4

These are some of the ones I submitted over the past few days. I just did a quick cut and past of my draft file.

A clarification is needed on calculating the reload values of guns. Some guns can have a bullet in the chamber in addition to those in the magazine which will increase ammo capacity by 1. This will change can change reload value in many cases for most pistols if the gun has an extra bullet kept in a chamber. It also can make the reload value of a gun change in combat, since any reloads of the gun in combat will not have the extra round as the character is quickly popping out the old magazine and inserting a new one.

In the Publication History section you might want to mention these things.

The Shadowfistcard game is now published by Inner Kingdom games while bot Shadowfist and Feng Shui shared the same original universe, The history, players, etc.has played out the Secret War are very different in the Shadowfist game. (Basically just mention that the settings are similar in someway but are very different.)

The Atlas edition of 1st edition FS (which is the 3rd printing of the game) had some corrections and the missing archetypes that was in the original Daedalus 1st printing of the game (Daedalus had 2 printings of the rules a color and B&W version.) The Atlas version also broke up the narrative story that was all together in the begging of the Daedalus version and put the parts of it out of order and omitted one part of it, and put parts out of order in the beginning of the various chapter in book. Some text was changed in different printing of 1st edition to fix errors and update sections of text. Those changes are why some believe the Atlas version has different content than the Daedalus.

In the Getting To Old For This Shit section on page 333, it incorrectly says that in first edition present day always remained 1996. In the 1st edition supplement Blowing Up Hong Kong the present day was changed to 2005, all the other junctures remained the same though. (See pg. 5 of Blowing Up Hong Kong).

The Scrappy Kid in 2nd edition doesn't have the Sqirmy Lil' Bastard schtick that the 1st edition version had. The Distraction schtick was called Nuisance in 1st edition FS. Not sure why the name was changed or if this is an error.

In 2nd edition the Old Master has a Chi of 10 which means he has Fortune of 10. zeven with the change that Chi and Fortune are coming from the same pool this type looks to be unbalanced.

Big Bruiser the Very Big Schtick was called Ich Bin Ein Bruiser in 1st edition FS. Wondering why the name change. It was a unique schtick, but became a Stat Stchick in Golden Comeback.

The Ninja ought to have a sword as starting equipment in all juncture versions. (Note: That the Nija-to is a 20t century invention and was never used by an historical ninja.)

The Bounty Hunter is too Contemporary juncture specific the way he is set up currently in regards to skills, weapons, etc. 1st edition evoked a more 1850s feel for the Archetype due to the art it had. Some mods for other junctures would be useful.

Full Metal Nutball needs full stats for the experimental gun that Bag Full of Guns II can give. Just giving the FS damage for it isn't enough.

More Gun Errors

The Stats for the Beretta M12 on pg. 64 say 10/5/1 but in other places of the draft the stats are 10/5/6. The M12 can use 20, 32, or 40 round magazines. The Reload Value will change depending on what size magazine is used. First edition FS uses the 32 round magazine, it appears in Golden Comeback pg. 75.

The FN P90 has a 50 round magazine its Reload Value needs to be changed to be changed from 6 to 1. It also is in 1st edition FS in Golden Comeback.

Several guns give no indication of what the caliber of ammo they use is.

No futuristic guns that would be common in 2076 are given in the rules. An old 2056 gun from 1st edition would be more common than late 20th century and early 201st ones for GMCs and PCs to have.

Archetypes

Some errors that are on 1st edition Archetypes are also in the 2nd edition ones.

2 I spotted right away are:

The Magic Cop in the Atlas version of 1st edition is missing his Martial Arts skill and the 2nd edition version doesn't have a Martial Arts skill.

The Everyday Hero in the 1st edition FS schtick for improvised Weaponry is called "This'll Do". The schtick name got dropped by accident in the Atlas edition. The 2nd edition name is called Improvised Weapon Mastery I suspect because of this instead of what it is in 1st edition.

Also since many of the archetypes are conversions of 1st edition ones, corrected and expanded 1st edition archetypes to take into account all of the 1st edition errata, rule changes, changes in how certain schticks work, and options that are scattered in various 1st edition products and forum and old FS mailing list errata, etc.

Guns

Many of the guns in 1st edition FS had numerous errors and several of those errors were carried over to 2nd edition. Most of the errors appear to be a result of getting different caliber versions of weapons mixed up.

Some of the errors I spotted in a quick look at FS2 regarding gun statics re as follows in no particular order.

The Beretta 92 Centurion needs to be called The Beretta 92FS Centurion.

The Colt 1911A needs to called the Colt 1911A1. The description text of says incorrectly that it is a 9mm. It is a .45. (Other caliber versions of the gun have been made at one time however.)

The .50 Magnum Dessert Eagle is doesn't fire .50 Magnum ammunition. The gun needs to be changed to say .50AE Desert Eagle. AE is short for Action Express.

The Dessert Eagle does have a .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, and a .44 Magnum versions. Stats are diffrent for each of these versions.

The .50AE Desert Eagle also has a long barrel version. The long barrel version of the .50AE Desert Eagle has no difference stats wise than the standard barrel version in FS. In the Nexus RPG this is another story though.

The Sig-Sauer 220 has .38 Super version and the magazine capacity for it was incorrect in 1st edition FS. It first edition FS it has a corrected ammo capacity of 7+1. The .38 Super version in 1st edition FS terms is (9/2/9+1). The .38 Super version's stats were given on an old FS mailing list errata.

The E.T. "Series One Laseraim" has a damage value of 11, not 10. (This error is also in 1st edition FS.)

In description text of the Glock 17 change the text that reads "it's light and small for a 9mm" too "it's light for a 9mm."

The Walther PPK is a 7.65mm (.32 ACP) pistol not a .380. A 9mm version, the PPK/S, does exist damage and ammo capacity are different in the 9mm version. The PPK is banned from use by various British services following an incident in which a PPK jammed. In many movies the PPK is incorrectly called a 9mm and other similar looking guns are often used instead of it.

The Thompson M1A1 is a 20 round capacity gun with clip and a 50 round one when using a drum. 1st edition FS has the Ammo capacity wrong and the reload values in 2nd will be different depending on if you are using a clip or a drum.

The Mini-Uzi and the Uzi both use the same magazines. Standard 9mm UZi magazines hold 32 rounds, but 16 and 25 round ones are also common.

The ammo capacity of several guns in 1st edition FS are incorrect and this could cause the Reload value to be incorrect in 2nd edition to not be correct in some cases if the incorrect ammo capacity was used. (See the errata & additional FAQ thread on the Atlas forums for a list of the known 1st edition errors. (Note that all of the gun errors are not listed but the majority are.)

In the section about adding new guns not in the rules (playtest pg.151)

You want to mention or have as a sidebar this.

BTRC (Blacksburg Tactical Research Center) publishes a book of gun design rules called Guns, Guns, Guns made for use with several game systems. The latest printing has a section of Nexus / Feng Shui rules and the book was used by many early FS 1st edition fan to work up new gun stats. BTRC also publishes a companion book called More Guns, which has stats for over 500 different guns in it. It has detailed rules to work up the Damage values for weapons not found in FS book. both books are must have for those that want expand the weapons list in the FS rules.

5

Potential problem with names of creatures and other words.

Some words have incorrect definitions

This is a cut of some of the text of an email is sent

Zombies

Zombies show up several times in the exact but the correct term is ghouls.

The word zombie is misused incorrectly. The ones described in the draft are correctly known as ghouls.

I have entire blog post pointing out the correct definition of the word and why it is incorrect.

See this old blog post of mine:

The Z Word Or Incorrectly Named Monsters & Things

forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php ... rs-things/

Also note that some times this confusion can cause researching a particular creature in mythology difficult. See this other blog post of mine on translating and note the information on the Yakan.

Translation Fun With The Samurai Sample Game

forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php ... mple-game/

One other word that you need to make sure you use the correct definition for is kaiju it means "strange creature" and kaiju are not all giant monsters.

If you want to refer to a giant monsters only you would use the word daikaiju which means "giant kaiju".

6

Some more I spotted.

I also fixed the links in an early post in this thread as they didn't paste I noticed

Some of the scroungetech has no description describing what it is exactly and just gives what it does game wise. New players will have no idea what these items are since they were described in detail in first edition.

Some of the scrougetech is old arcanowave devices, but arcanowave isn't supposed to exist now, uses chi., and uses AI/O port. No logical or believable way exists that these items could be salved just based on the background set up in FS2 and the established description of these devices in 1st edition FS.