Pyramid Review
Blood of the Valiant
Published by Ronin Publishing
Written by Chris Pramas
$19.95
Blood of the Valiant is the latest installment of the Feng Shui faction supplements. For those of you not familiar with Feng Shui, this book expands upon the Guiding Hand, one of a number of time-traveling cabals seeking to control the world through the mystical powers of oriental Feng Shui. This Guiding Hand sourcebook is well thought out and very useful, but not without a few very minor flaws.Chapter One lays out the history of the Guiding Hand, its associated agents and agencies in a concise manner. This section is filled with information directly relevant to each following chapter and is as much a synopsis of the secret war (from the Hand's point of view) as a treatment of the Guiding Hand's history. A chapter on philosophy follows, which for me was the most insightful of the entire book, it more than any other chapter encapsulates and brings to life the neo-Confucian ways of the Guiding Hand warriors. Chapter Three contains a number of locations important to the Guiding Hand. These sites are well thought out and quite original, especially Chef Ho's House of Dumplings. It would have been nice to have a few more sites that players could attune their personal Feng Shui to; the six sites in this chapter are better used to provide sinister backdrops for the Hand. I was especially taken with Madame Pei Pei's Pleasure Palace, run by reformed pirate/harlot now secret revolutionary Pei . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: December 24, 1998
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