Legend Stuffing

Actual Play Name: Stuff of Legends Where I Listened: The Jovenshire on YouTube Where It's Available: YouTube alone, to my knowledge System: 5e (and puppeteering)

Clothing Only (but not enough, apparently)

Thoughts and Review

Stuff of Legends, a new launch in the ecosystem of actual play productions, is a mixed media experience: a four-player table and their game master, Joshua Ovenshire - active in addition to YouTube on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Twitch - with the added experience that their in-character interactions are acted out by a cast of Henson-esque puppets: a novel concept for a novel play-cast.

Full Disclosure

General Disclosures The actual play subject of this review is novel: as of this writing, there are a whopping two episodes that have been produced and released. As such - this review is based on an extremely limited data set. Where normally, I like to watch through a dozen episodes or more - as many as I need to in order to get a feel both for the game, as played, and for the table, as playing - this is not possible for Stuff of Legends, being as new as it is. That in mind - as the show is doubtless going to evolve as its run continues - the content of this review may become dated, or need to change: something that I may be slow to do.

Regarding Controversy On the surrounding controversy regarding this stream on its launch - an element acknowledged by a disclaimer at the start of episode 2 - this review takes no stance on the subject, will not link to nor comment on it, and will make no further reference to it, outside this box and the joke in the rating. The intent for this review is to focus on and highlight the elements of the stream that contribute to its value as a learning tool and its quality as a media production. Plus - the Kuo Toa character is way more offensive.

What I Like

First and foremost - it becomes evident upon immediate first watch that this is a professional production. The set for the game is clean, well-lit, and well produced. The actors involved appear to have been dressed and made up for the role. Puppets and puppeteers do not appear to have been thrown together as an afterthought - they have been given the full treatment to be a focal point of the show. It gives the impression of a television broadcast - designed, I would presume, to compete with the like of Geek & Sundry. I want to give kudos, right away, to the production team and the attention given to the quality of the stream: something that is increasingly common on YouTube, but may not be attainable by an amateur shop by comparison.

Secondly - the idea of integrating animation or miniatures with actual play is not a novel concept: nor has that inclusion never been used before as a differentiator between different play-products. In that sense, Stuff of Legends is not unique - but their incorporation of legally-distinct-from-Muppets is something I have not seen before in an actual play and is something that I quite enjoyed. In addition to the novelty - which, novelty should not be taken as a primary virtue, as by its nature, novelty wears off - the puppet cast lends towards a cartoon-ish, fun-house experience: something that appears to be part of the intention, part of the brand, that Ovenshire is creating.

What I'm Ambivalent About

Something that stood out to me that, initially, I had listed as a positive in my mind, but then - on deeper consideration - might turn out to be a double-edged sword: the player pool contains people who have never played the game in any incarnation before. On the one hand, I thought, "This is great! This is an invitation to illustrate the introduction of new blood into the tabletop RPG hobby." At my own table, I've had phenomenal success with normies - people new to the game come into it with an intrinsically out-of-the-box mindset: because they have no preconceptions about how the game should work, they have no hangups regarding buttons on their character sheet and have a habit of, by default, attempting to think in character rather than as character, if that elucidates the point.

But then I asked myself... if you had never played the game before... why would you opt into an inaugural experience... in a high-production YouTube channel.

The darker side of the prospect of having a never-played-D&D player on a highly produced and marketed actual play casts a shadow on the "play" aspect of the title. The cast of players are all entertainers and actors. It is entirely possible that they truly and honestly enjoy the game - but the suspicion I have is that the cast was assembled based on their chemistry: such that their interactions with one another and their jibs within the context of the game would make a good viewer-consumer product rather than to drive an actual play experience. The show does have routine 5e tips and insets - to show the audience which rule is being referenced in play - which is great for someone getting into 5e in the sense that it can help someone who hasn't played before figure out what's going on, mechanically, in the game.

I may be wrong. It may turn itself into a legitimate introduction. But... I play B/X - so, as a learning tool, it would still live in "ambivalence" land for me.

What I Don't Like

I've said it before... I hate character voices... but that's less of a concern when you've hired people to do them who do them professionally. In this case, the character voices aren't really distracting - but what is distracting - the humor at many points seems to be designed to offset. Much like 2000's Meet the Parents, Stuff of Legends in many consecutive lines leans in on awkward and embarrassing situations that can fall flat for a viewer that doesn't jive with the tone. Similarly, there is an abundance of meme humor - "natural one" or murder-hobo humor - stuff that your parents would put on Facebook after it had been circulating along other media circles for years. If you enjoy that stuff - absolutely, go for it: but social media is full of the stuff - and would probably be a more convenient source for it.

Additionally, like I mentioned above - I can't shake the feeling, watching the "game," that it's scripted. When dice are rolled, they are not actually visible to the viewer - so there is no verification that the result announced is the face showing on the dice. While - again, from experience - real dice are usually haunted: tending to enjoy a good story and will routinely betray you at an inopportune moment or explode in an equally inappropriate context - there is a level of coincidence to the order and effect, the nature of the way things pan out and showcase elements of the characters and present opportunities for le hilarious color commentary... it creates a nagging suspicion that you're not watching a game. Likewise contributing to the suspicion of a script is the direction the show takes in the second episode - which runs like a single-main rail line, including the implied resurrection of an NPC for no reason, into a theater show: again, catering to the wheelhouse of its players.

As a point of fact, it's not OSR, doesn't try to be, and doesn't intend to be. If it's not OSR, why are you writing about it? Good question.

In Conclusion

I'm probably not going to watch this show - though admittedly in largest part because I'm not interested in 5e. I watched the first episode to begin with because I was made curious by certain external factors - as well as the novelty of the idea and teaser trailer - and I wanted to post about it from the perspective of an outsider and weigh its good and bad aspects; I watched the second episode to try to confirm my position.

Will this show develop a following? The production values, the built-in audience from the system it uses, ... it's a perfect storm to grab attention and to drive likes and subscribes. The key will be whether they are able to build onto their idiom - if the show grows into something that a fan might become invested in, it may stick; on the other hand, if it follows a path that leans on its novelty as a crutch, viewership will naturally decline as the novelty wears off, necessitating a new novelty - which, I would presume, would take the form of a new show, new product.

So - should you watch it? If you enjoy the meme humor, this show might be for you - but if you're into fantasy adventure gaming? Maybe not.