From a smidgeon of lurking, I notice that many of you appear to have Back for Seconds. In Blood of the Valiant, it lists all but two of the Colour Principles, as "the other two are in Back for Seconds" ... except that it's now impossible to get hold of outside the Netherworld, presumably due to an Overly-critical Shift (similar to a critical shift, but whinges more).
Anyone have any details on what the Green and Orange Principles are, both conceptually and in terms of the unique schticks that they offer?
Erm ... except that I've just realised that there might be copyright issues here. Some general hints would be nice too, while I try to get my hands on a copy ... Ta!
Tell you what, how about I just post those two principles here. If you want the full stats for the monks, or the full background info, you'll have to track down a used copy.
Orange Principle: Whenever an orange monks uses a fu schtick, they gain a +1 AV bonus to their Martial Arts skill the next time they use a different fu schtick during the same sequence. In addition, practitioners of the Orange Principle are adept at combating multiple opponents simultaneously, and they receive a +1 AV bonuse to their Martial Arts skill when attacking three ormore opponents in one action. At the GM's discretion, beginning PCs may acquire this schtick by foregoing one of their starting fu schticks and lowering their Chi or Fu (whichever is higher) by 2. Instruction in the way of the Orange Principle is usually reserved for members of the Hand... [background information left out].
The "Green Principle" schtick is listed in the form of a regular fu schtick:
Immobility of the Turtle (Chi: 2 / Shots: 1): On a successful Martial Arts task check, the Green Monk can channel his Chi energy down into the surface he stands upon, rooting himself to the spot. This makes the Green Monks effectively unmovable until either the end of the sequence, or until he is killed. Immobility of the Turtle may be used as a defensive action. Only named Green Monks have this fu schtick.
The text furhter notes: "[Green Monks'] training has made even the unnamed Green Monks tought than the average mook. To reflect this, unnamed Green Monks go down on an attack with an outcome of 6 or more (4 or more in the case of attacks that take out unnamed characters on a 3 or more)."
Cheers! The Orange Principle looks handy for surprising players when they surround a single monk, expecting a swift and easy beat-down. And Green Monks will delay them more than they expect as the villain escapes. Thanks - one or both may make a surprise appearance in a coming episode.
PS: It would appear that, due to my continued muttering, someone has managed to find me a used copy, and is ordering it from the States for my birthday. As they are going to be one of my players in the next game, they are possibly going to regret this ...
For those of you wondering why Atlas can't reprint the Orange/Green monk material:
It was originally written by Hal Mangold, who I believe would be more than happy to see it in print again. However, since he was actually paid for his "Back for Seconds" material, and it was probably "work for hire", Daedelus had exclusive and perpetual ownership of the text.
When Daedelus went under and the rights for Feng Shui reverted back to Robin Laws, Robin got ownership of everything he'd written, including whatever he wrote in Back for Seconds, but not ownership of anything written by other authors. Those are still, in theory, owned by Daedelus, not Atlas. However, posting an "excerpt" should fall somewhere within a "fair use" exception to copyright law.
I suspected/feared something of the kind. Does explain all of the strange lacunae (such as the frequent references to Furious George and Orangutank in the Gorilla Warfare sourcebook, but complete lack of any stats or descriptions).
As Jeff did. As long as the excerpt isn't too long.
Thanks for all of your clarification there!
Oh, and as a non-Shadowfist player, whose newly-ordered copy of Back for Seconds is still in the post from the US, and is being delivered by way of a Christmas present, what does CHAR stand for? [grin][/i]
[color=darkblue]CHAR stands for Cyborg Humanoid Arcanowave Revenant. They're partially composed of Netherworld matter, which normally can't leave the Netherworld... but the fact that a soul damned to the Underworld is bound inside each CHAR makes the thing able to exit the Inner Kingdom and wreak havoc in any juncture.
"The Orange Principle looks handy for surprising players ...And Green Monks will delay them."
[color=darkblue]Yeah, and they're much more popular than their little-known brothers, the Plaid Monks, who have the ability to stun any PC with a fashion sense who fails a Will roll against a Difficulty of 10.
