Post originally by Manga Boogie Man at 2004-11-02 23:16:40
Converted from Phorums BB System

"Special effects are based on selected options which have specific rules effects (each Shtick gives has its own rules which must be remembered individually, like the effects of spells in D&D) and they are often activated by expenditure of Chi points."

This is the key reason that I've never run Feng Shui, even though I have owned Feng Shui and Golden Comeback for over four years (I loved the setting and premise of this game). Remembering all those special effects rules and schticks, which all worked differently than one another, in the heat of the game just seemed impossible, which killed the pacing while I flipped frantically through the book to find them. It also tended to lead to enemies fighting stupid, since I couldn't remember what their specialties and schticks did and plan accordingly. Enemies that fight stupid does not make for a challenging and exciting fight scene.

I base this commentary on experiences running other games, mostly superhero games with extensive power lists, not from running Feng Shui (I read the book cover to cover in less than three days on and off, but my enthusiasm for it waned about halfway through as I began to realize that I was never going to be able to remember even half of this stuff in a real session. So I never ran it. The group I was playing with never really got interested in it, either, so the game has never really seen action. Something about that archetype-based character generation system rubbed them the wrong way, even with the level of customization possible in each of the archetypes). The overall gamemastering experience looks to be about the same as a superhero game with regard to the rules, even though the setting and flavor are different.