JC Bybee

This is something that has been nagging me for a while.   Netflix has ruined certain TV shows for me.   The reason why is simple, because I can watch a whole season or even a whole show in the course of a few days has allowed me to see the huge flaws that exist in some shows writing.   Some people would say that I’m being nitpicky about some of the things I’m going to bring up.   My response is, so what?   Other shows, other forms of entertainment don’t make these kinds of glaring mistakes.   Why are these shows allowed a pass?   And I’m not just referring to those shows that are canceled for being bad.   Some of these shows won awards. First off just a reminder I don’t do negative reviews beyond saying “Wasn’t my kind of book/movie/TV show”, so I won’t be naming any of these shows. Okay now for some of the issues I’ve been having.   The first that comes to mind is ignoring character development between seasons.   What happens...

An interesting problem I’ve run into as a writer is where to build dramatic tension.   Often in works of fantasy writers like to use the duel as a place to build suspense, or to throw in spontaneous witticisms to help with character development.   For me, personally, the duel is a terrible place for this.   The reason I say that is because I’m a practitioner of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA).   This is a rather broad classification used to cover a wide range of fighting styles used throughout Europe.   My group, Medieval and Renaissance Swordsmanship (MARS), focuses on swordsmanship of late Medieval and early Renaissance masters.   As a result of this study I’ve learned that duels last about ten seconds.   Not really enough time to dispense plot development. Another side benefit is I’ve learned that using wooden swords as a training tools, as is often the case in the media, is a terrible idea.   I won’t go into specifics right no...

Okay so I took a couple of weeks off.   It’s been a little rough in the Bybee household.   Anyway this week I’m taking a look at something that I’ve been interested in for years, but I’ve never had the time/motivation/guts to do it; game creation. Those who know me know that I’m a fan of table top role-playing games (RPG).   I’ve played in a few different systems from classics like Dungeons and Dragons to newer systems.   I’ve enjoyed most of them.   Some more than others.   In the few years I’ve been gaming I’ve come to learn that no system is perfect.   They are all good, but some have their flaws. The one that everyone likes to pick on is Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 edition.   This was the system that I started with.   I enjoy 3.5, I know it has its flaws, but it’s a good solid system.   In my opinion (and yes this is an opinion ) its major flaw is it is too easy to exploit.   With the right mindset and books you can cr...