How to Run:Feng Shui

This is an article from the original thread, posted by Phantom Stranger on the Roleplaying Open board

OK. Let's have a go...

How To Run Feng Shui

Part One: You Were Not Put On This Earth To Get It, Mr Burton
The Shadowfist/Feng Shui setting is a complex and confusing one, and there are bits that really don't go together. Using everything at once will not work. Pick a faction to pit your PCs against. Let them learn a little about that faction, and through that and helpful Innerwalkers, let them learn a little about the Netherworld. After they've got a good handle on that faction - after they've dealt it a blow - let it slink away for a while to lick its wounds, and step another faction up to the plate. Rinse and repeat. If you don't like cybergorrillas, keep the Jammers a threat on the fringes, like the Reavers from Firefly, and bring in your own version later. Save the gung-ho everything-at-once action for when the PCs start taking the fight to the enemies.

Part Two: Something To Do With Death
Make your players watch A Better Tomorrow. Make them understand that they are no-doubt, balls-to-the-wall, honest-to-God heroes... and that they can still die. Also make them understand that their best chance lies in forward momentum; the cooler they are, the harder they fight, the harder they hit, the more likely they are to keep going.

Part Three: Monkey Ninja Pirate Robot
Yes, a Feng Shui PC group can look pretty fucked up. Listen to your characters. Almost all melodramatic hooks can tie in to a faction. Use this to bring individual players to the forefront as different arcs roll around.

Part Four: We Didn't Start The Fire
Your PCs are in essence a new group muscling its way into a turf war. They don't know the rules, they only know they have to get involved. They should feel this to start with. But the moment they learn the rules, these are Heroes, and they should start rising.

Part Five: Capture The Flag
Don't let the game bog down into purely defensive actions to keep their feng shui sites. That way lies dullness. Forward momentum, not inertia.