A Tale of Two Holmes

Without going too long into it, I’m not going into anything new here given that the show in question was first aired in 2010 and has produced several seasons to date. However, it is a subject matter that has occurred to me recently and something I am interested in, hence my decision to write one of my occasional blog posts aside from the play reports (of which I now have to write two) and random gaming stuff that usually ends up here. I will warn that there are likely to be some mention of plot developments in both Sherlock and Doyle’s original stories though, for the most part, I will focus on personality issues.
 

I do very much love the original Holmes as written in Doyle’s singular style. I have been reading quite a few of the old stories recently now that my Kindle is operating again (my print collection being in the States). And this love for the original is probably why I didn’t watch much of the first season past A Study in Pink until well after the second season was completed and only really watched the third season in the last couple of weeks. Cumberbatch’s portrayal threw me off of my expectations and dropped some facets of Doyle’s Holmes while picking up others.

Some Superhero Tropes

There are several elements of superhero fiction and settings that I appreciate and some that I do not. In some cases, I dislike the underlying message that a particular element delivers and in other cases I simply don’t find the trope makes much sense. These are not entirely consistent likes and dislikes either. A trope I dislike in one instance is one that I feel is entirely appropriate in another instance. However, I’m going to go ahead and discuss some of these below and when I have issues with them and when I don’t.

Low Magic in Dungeons and Dragons 5e

Trying to model a low magic setting in most Dungeons and Dragons systems can be challenging since the core assumptions of the game assume a very magical reality. There is also the fact that there is often disagreement on what exactly is meant by the term “low magic”. The one common element is that magic is uncommon in low magic settings. Some would extend that to assume that non-human creatures are also rare and that magic is weak. However, this is not always the case. There are several fantasy stories considered low magic which have instances of powerful magic within them.

On the Dangers of Laziness

So, today (maybe yesterday by the time this gets out) I managed to take a hefty blow to my self-esteem and possibly damaged a project of mine and it is entirely my fault. I was lazy and approached a project as something I could just riff off. I did not equate in my mind that something which was "just a playtest packet" would need to be taken just as seriously as my novels, RPGs supplements and short stories.

Character Sheet Philosophy

I have recently run across the argument that any point buy game system will end up resulting in every player having the same exact build. The phrase used is “one true build.” This attitude mystified me because I have never seen this “one true build” materialize in over twenty years of playing roleplaying games the majority of which has spent with point buy systems such as HERO, M&M, BESM and the like. Comments that I’ve never seen it materialize were met with the assertion that my GMs must not have been making the games tough enough. Further comments from both myself and other point buy players that we haven’t encountered a GM where it is even a good idea to have everybody built the same way was responded to with the comment that once we figured out a GMs habits and tendencies then we would start building to respond to those and then everybody would end up with roughly the same build. Which is where I found the base discrepancy that was resulting in the idea of a “one true build.” These players read character sheets in a vastly different way than point buy games do.

The Purpose of Rules

Before I go further, I’m using the term “rules” here in reference to the systems of a game. Rules of etiquette and rules of the house exist in even freeform games even if they are not outright stated. For the rest of this rant, when I talk about rules, I’m going to be using it reference to things like character creation, task resolution, conflict resolution, health maintenance and the like.

Setting Conversions

Not all game systems are appropriate for all players. People just aren’t wired so uniformly that a single game can best serve the desires of every player out there. One player might thoroughly love a  playstyle and game system that another player just simply can’t understand. There might be a third player who enjoys a little bit of both systems preferred by the first two, but actually enjoys a third system much better. Some people might be more comfortable with a free-form RP situation rather than using any sort of system. None of this is accounting for the people who simply don’t understand or enjoy the hobby. This isn’t all that big of an issue and the general result was people trying various game systems until they found the one they most enjoyed.

5e Mechanical Differentiation

To start with, and I will repeat this later, mechanical differentiation isn't important except to the people for whom it is important. Since the sources of enjoyment in the hobby are subjective, that means what is important is subjective as well. But, that said, on with the little analysis I spent time on when I could have been moaning about my current bout with writer's block.

Cosmic Horror and Cthulhu

Note: This is a rant, not an essay.  I ramble, tangent, diverge and meander.  Be warned.

There is a common assumption that Cthulhu and company are cosmic horror. That they have to be cosmic horror and any use of them that is not cosmic horror is an improper use. They are taken to be a part of the genre rather than characters that most frequently appear within a genre. It is expected that if Cthulhu appears in a story that he must be an unbeatable foe that causes insanity merely observing him. To do otherwise is to not be using Cthulhu appropriately. However, while Cthulhu, Hastur, Azazoth and the like are characters primarily known for cosmic horror storylines they are not, in and of themselves, cosmic horror.

PCs and Main Characters are all "Special Snowflakes"

In recent years there has arisen a derogatory term that has been used to refer to players coming up with unusual concepts. The term is “special snowflake”. The concept is that a player isn’t happy being a normal character, they have to be special. They have to stand out somehow and so they take on some ridiculous backstory elements in order to explain an ill-conceived combination of character concepts. There are lists of red-flag character elements, tests to see if your character is a Mary Sue and many other such things. And if your character happens to hit something on that list then suddenly you get derided for wanting to play a “special snowflake.”

On the rights of denying the use of some concepts in RPGs

It is within the right of a gamemaster to deny concepts he doesn’t want to deal with. I myself have said “I’m not really comfortable running a game where one of the players is a drug dealer, could you modify the concept a little bit please?” Other players can also indicate that a particular concept is not to their liking and could you please not use that? They have less authority than the gamemaster, but they are still a part of the game and the game is best when everybody is comfortable and having fun.

Response to Legend of Five Rings essay on Asian and Western Storytelling

I do not know why I ever expect something useful out of essays regarding the differences between Western and Asian storytelling. As a result, I am almost always disappointed to find the same points and arguments made whenever I read such an essay; points and arguments which are disproven with even a passing familiarity with myth, legend and storytelling traditions. Since the essay which is provoking me is coming from the Legend of Five Rings RPG section on storytelling, that’s where I’m going to be pulling some of the points I’m planning to argue against.

Why we need fantasy.

There is a reason why we must have magic and fantasy in our stories. It has nothing to do with the sort of stories that can be told in fantasy. Rather, it is that desire for the fantastical that we must keep hold of. Whether or not you believe in faeries or magic or psychic powers or the like is pretty immaterial. But the desire for these things should not go away. And fantasy, whether it is dark and grim or childish and whimsical, drives and awakens that desire for the fantastical. The desire for the impossible.

The Batman Issue

So, having recently watched the Batman vs Spiderman Death Battle and seeing the number of people complaining about how Spiderman shouldn't be able to beat Batman, a few thoughts came to mind.

Stuff about Japan

I have lived in Japan for a little over two years now and I’ve been meaning to get to this discussion for a while now. There are a number of things about Japan that some Americans might be surprised about. Granted, some of this stuff is stuff that applies to much of the world, but still, given the fact that most people grow up in the general area, or at least country, where they were raised, it would still be a bit of a surprise.

What's Wrong with DC fans?

I am not a fan of DC comics. I am not a fan of Marvel comics. Both of them lost me sometime around the turn of the century.

I find them boring, predictable and absolutely unwilling to disrupt the status quo. The storylines are so full of conflicting nonsense that it's hard to get interested in the parts that attracted me in the first place.

Transhumanism

Does anybody else get tired of the trend for most movies smacking of transhumanism to be some sort of horror-fest where transhumanism turns out to be the big threat of the movie. The concept of the digital uploaded mind is under attack in the upcoming Johnny Depp movie. Admittedly, it's not my favorite branch of transhumanism, because I'd want us to know more about the way the human mind works and have much better computers first. Ideally, I'd like a true AI to occur before we even think about trying it.

That and I'm fond of my flesh.

Response to another Blog

So, I was linked to a blog post related to Frozen and how it is promoting a homosexual agenda.  I don't know whether it is or isn't.  It hasn't come out in Japan yet.

What D&D 3.5 Needed

What Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 needed.  A lot of this is stuff 4e did correctly.

But in the "real" myths...

To be perfectly frank, there is something of a fuzzy line between when something goes from being a story to being a myth, but I'm not going to go into that line of discussion.  My intent here is to discuss the tendency of some people to hold up the "real myths" as a criticism of various pieces of fiction that have come out in the last couple of decades.  Admittedly, I'm no stranger to making this argument, but I do at least try to make sure I'm referring to myths that actually developed organically within a culture as adverse to stuff that came out of more recent fictions, as in within a century or two.