Hi everyone, haven't posted for an age but I very much looking forward to Feng Shui 2 when it lands soon.
I do have a question on some of the playtest rules.
It's 3 shots to pick up an object - which to me seems like quite a lot of shots for a simple action (although granted, this might change before the actual release).
As it seems like it might get in the way of some cinematic flair, I take it that you can do this as part of a stunt in an action instead (outcome 4+). So for example, if I wanted to leap upon a pool table, nab a cue laying there and swing it at the nearest Mook, that would be just a 3 shot action, but it would require either an outcome of 4 plus, or the Mook would get +2 to his Def?
If that's true, could the same be said of some of the reloading options? Not the actual reload perhaps, but perhaps Drop and Draw, Switch Weapons, Drop Your Weapon? - Could they all be incorporated into a current stunt rather than be part of the reload rules as they stand?
Call me old school, but if a player is picking up an object and making an attack with it, I would consider it all as part of the same 3-shot action. The last thing I want is a player thinking, "If I pick up {blank} it will take 6 shots to attack with it, but I'm better off just shooting twice for those 6 shots since I get more attacks". Shooting twice is likely to be much more boring than whatever the player wants to do with a pool cue or a cash register.
If I were going to insist that picking something up would be a separate 3-shot action, then it would probably be because:
It's heavy/unwieldy/slippery/delicate.
It's a MacGuffin that I want to get tossed around the battlefield a lot.
It's a ticking time bomb.
The object is being defended or guarded by something (and may require a check of some sort)
I'm also not comfortable with the idea that if a player comes up with an interesting/cool stunt, it only happens that way if they roll 4+. If a creative player comes up with something undeniably cool and interesting, I give them a bonus (usually +1 to +3) before they roll. But if the die explodes and they roll really well on top of that, I'm also cool with them embellishing something extra on top of that.
I used to always house rule in the old game that a great stunt descriptor gave you a bonus to your roll - something that I really wished they had put in FS2.
The stunts, if I'm reading them well are only on an outcome of 4+ if you want to describe something cool after you've rolled a great roll. Any other time, if you declare the stunt before you roll, then it increases the opponents def by 2 . - which is slightly better (if I'm reading it right that is).
