Feng Shui: Case Files of Section 44 [1-4 players]

[color=red]Case files of Section 44

A Feng Shui campaignette for up to 4 players.

Posting rate whenever we can manage- I can check at least once a day (late morning UK time, usually) and that'll be a good baseline speed. We'll see what kind of turnover we manage once we're underway. If a player doesn't post for a while, I'll handwave them off-screen until they get back- I can do it with more finesse if a player knows they'll be away for a while and lets me know. For critical situations I'll wait for all players to respond, for by-the-by checks and questions I might respond as soon as I can to help keep things moving.

Combat will be 'sequence-at-once'- I'll announce a combat sequence with a description of how things stand at the start of the sequence. The players send me a PM with their intentions for that sequence (covering who they will attack, any stunts they'll try, how they'll use schticks and against what they'll active dodge). I then process the combat sequence and post what happens. I'll post a couple of examples of instructions after this.

Combat dice rolling I'll do myself, checks in non-combat you can do yourselves and post the Action Result in brackets.

Advancement will be minimal- I'll award an XP bonanza at the end of the story arc, but that will only be relevant if I run a sequel campaignette.

To help keep rolling simple, Fortune dice will work differently from table-top. When you spend a Fortune die on an action, you are guaranteed at least a marginal success.

Campaign summary in next post.

[color=red]Case files of Section 44

In 2007 Hong Kong, there is one final line of defence against the weird and the horrific. That is Section 44. Whenever a case gets too strange or too creepy for the regular police, it gets kicked to the scant half-dozen members of that elite organisation. They track down the source of the problem and eliminate it with extreme prejudice.

Characters must be contemporary juncture, but beyond that anything goes. I have all the sourcebooks, and just about anything found in them I'll let pass. Characters should have a Police skill (unless they are in a support role, like forensics or something).

The campaign will encompass one case they tackle. The tone will (with any luck) be a little like CSI or Law and Order, or any of those true crime things like FBI Files that we get late night on Channel 5 over here in blighty. Unlike most police procedurals, though, events will erupt into high octane action. For the record, the events are in the canonical Feng Shui Secret War, although the emphasis will not be on the secret war itself.

Three examples of combat instructions:

You know, I've been looking to play in or run a "supernatural crimes division" action game for quite some time. I'm looking for some Maverick Cop action this time around, but I'm not averse to playing a Kung Fu Cop either, especially if I happen to be the only one in this particular game. Kinda torn on whether to make this Maverick Cop a both-guns-blazing badass like Tequila or Max Payne, or to kit the guy out with a signature Magnum or a good boomstick of the Mossberg or Winchester variety.

And I'm still uncertain as for the melodramatic hook for this guy. Maybe his old mentor, the one who taught him everything he knows about police work, got himself perished or kidnapped and he's looking to set things right. Maybe, like Max Payne, he lost his wife to some seriously nasty scum or is in love with a smoking hot gun fu assassin. Maybe he's got a real bastard of a brother in the Triads who likes to make his life hell at every opportunity. Or maybe he has a vendetta against a certain evil sorcerer of either the Lotus or the Monarchs variety for summoning the demon that tore apart his last team, including a certain female partner that he had an unspoken love for.

Either of the above would be welcome. Via PM I have another player and a 'can't right now/watching with keen interest'.

I'll let the invitation cook for a little longer, but two players could make for a very interesting buddy cop feel.

On the subject of melodramatic hooks, I can't promise they'll be to the fore of the game (as I already have the skeleton outline planned) but I'll build them in as much as I can.

Noone else ? Are we only two players ?

Looks like it. I'll keep the books open until tomorrow, say, then get cracking.

So if anyone is in two minds, Hurry Now While Stocks Last!

Right. I'll get this under way, then. Two players is fine (and should leave the way clear for some great banter). If any latecomers want in, let me know.

Remember that you have to join the 'Play By Post Players' user group. I'll e-mail Atlas presently and start the ball rolling.

Nice! So basically we've got a supernatural buddy-cop pic going on. Some serious investigation and a good dose of gunplay and kung fu.

Count me in.

[color=darkblue]Huh, I'll be boogered. A PbeM. Sweet. I didn't see it until now. Maybe I'll get in on it, before you get too far.

I'd need a while to think of a PC, though. I'm in the middle of a different game system (giving it a test-play this weekend for a review I'm doing), so I don't have time for the next few days to get into this, but maybe if there's room afterwards in the group I'll give ya a PM and see if I can join in.

Sure thing. Still awaiting finalised characters, at the minute.

I'd like to play! Just got back from GAMA Trade Show ... exhausted ... let me think of a character if there's still room and get back to you this weekend.

Maybe a gun bunny like the blonde chick from CSI Miami? Only interesting? :wink:

The more the merrier, I guess. The buddy cop thing might fall by the wayside, but more players means a more robust story.

I assume that we're going by the Blowing Up Hong Kong version of Section 44?

Because I can easily see my character, who I'm naming Inspector Ken Huang for now, having been dragooned into Section 44 following that last case that ended in disaster when his team got ripped apart by that bloodthirsty demon. I can see Huang feeling quite embittered by the reassignment, and you can bet that his failure to protect his team, and especially his unspoken love Sun Meiying, is going to be haunting him big-time. And I can also see him wanting more than anything to bring the pain to the demon responsible, along with the bastard who summoned it.

Needless to say, Inspector Huang definitely knows about the supernatural now, and he hates it with a passion. And after the case from hell that got him assigned to Section 44, I think it's safe to say he's gotten his yin-yang yen.

More or less. I envisage a very small organisation, smaller than BUHK would suggest. The players would more or less be all of Section 44 that's fit for field work.

[color=darkblue]OK! Seriously, I'm done with my other game playtest, so I have some time to think about this.

Queex, you did say "anything goes" for contemporary PCs, eh? I don't wanna be a pain in the culo, it's just that I like playing some of the odder PCs that nobody else pays attention to... so if I tossed a Toaist Wizard or a Gardner at you, would that screw up your hard-core police storyline? :wink:

If so , I can always slap up a Magic Cop template, since we're playing a supernatural enforcement agency, but I like the offbeat a bit more than the obvious.

Lemme know.

If they're listed as contemporary, they're OK. They're just a Taoist Wizard or a Gardener with a day job at section 44. You'll need to spend some of your skill bonuses on Police, the more the merrier, and anyone with access to magic will probably try to minimise its use because, you know, that's exactly the sort of thing they're trying to put a stop to.

Okay, I posted my tentative character in the game's folder. Any suggestions?

Hey, Sensei ... I like the idea of having a Magic Cop in the party. I get the feeling that guns might not always do the job in a campaign like this, and it would be nice to have some magical backup. :slight_smile:

Character Sheet posted. Kinda torn as whether to go straight up Police 13, or to go with my current setup of Intimidation 10 and Police 8. Intimidation is definitely in keeping with a maverick cop, but seeing as this is supposed to be a CSI-style show...well...

And the Magic Cop would be a very welcome addition to our crew in case those supernatural nasties do show up (like they did in Huang's ill-fated last case). Though Michelle, I think, given that we picked weapons that are quite adaptable to custom loads (unlike say, a semiautomatic pistol), we should be able to handle most of the monsters that Queex might throw at us.