Sherlock Holmes -- Unstuck in time

[Wordmaker]

That's an awesome character concept!

I also like the idea of trying to keep him as a mundane human as much as possible, and definitely make him more focused on deduction and using Aspects rather than having a high Scholarship. There have been two (I think) Sherlock Holmes stories in which Holmes is the narrator, rather than Watson, and it's done to highlight that Holmes simply doesn't have Watson's range of medical knowledge, and without his friend and partner, many cases are that much more challenging as a result.

[Wolfwood2]

If we're going by the Sherlock Holmes of the books I'd personally drop Scholarship entirely, instead giving him a stunt or an Aspect (Home Made Encyclopedia of Crime) to get largely the same effect.  Holmes didn't have broad knowledge at all and actually actively avoided learning anything that wouldn't directly facilitate crime solving (his hobbies of recreational chemistry and the violin not withstanding).

Well...  A lot of people don't seem to get that when Holmes made that claim to Watson during their first meeting (about actively avoiding learning things), he was just messing with Watson's head.  Subsequently he demonstrates a wide range of knowledge about an incredible variety of topics.

Holmes has a nasty, sarcastic sense of humor and has no compunctions about lying to serve his purposes or because it would be funny.  If you've ever seen the television show 'House', that's actually a pretty good picture of Holmes' personality from the stories.

[Havok4]

One thing you should focus on with your character is making him very good at assessments and skill based declarations, that is something that any Sherlock Holmes based character should use up to the point of abuse.

I came up with a similar idea to this when thinking of potential characters. Namely that a summer court noble created a Sherlock Holmes like illusion to mess with the head of some poor mortal. Due to the prominence of Sherlock Holmes in mortal culture the belief of all of the readers over the years centered itself on the simulacrum of Sherlock and allowed him to attain independence of the fairy that created him. The character would have had a mix of deceit and detection based powers due to his nature as a living illusion. Also his high concept would have been nicely alliterative, Seelie Sherlock Simulacrum.

[Eldritch Donut]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_holmes
Hmmm... the scholarship and performance angles are trickier. His knowledge is, indeed, based on what he finds necessary for his work and interests. Perhaps an investigative stunt along the lines of using investigation in place of scholarship for research on evidence would be the correct approach.
He certainly maintained a catalogue of knowledge of forensic investigation techniques.
How about 'Forensic Scientist' or 'Encyclopedia of Practical Forensics'

Additionally, Holmes was a master of disguise and able to mimic patterns of speech well beyond simply copying accents.

Victorian Gentleman would certainly be an appropriate aspect for Holmes. The aspect could easily be invoked similarly to Harry's own 'Chivalry is not Dead, Dammit.'

Dr. Watson describes Holmes as living a 'Bohemian' lifestyle (one characterized by few permanent ties and largely focused on the individual's own pursuits (frequently esoteric or artistic in nature)). This could also be applied to an aspect. Holmes does what he does not primarily as a career, but because it is of interest to him. He's not a man of the system.
He is a loner and prone to fits of fugue. In our day, he would probably have been regarded as a low grade manic depressive.

Order in Chaos Holmes personal space appears to any conventional person as an absolute shambles, but his organization is not based on convention. It's more organic and holistic. Things in his space are positioned based on relationship, and he knows right where everything is. Despite this, he is also fastidious about his own appearance and grooming.

Holmes is a patriot as well. In many stories he undertakes a case for the good of England.

Holmes is also a habitual user of cocaine and, on occasion, morphine.

Holmes is a talented fist fighter and also well versed in martial arts and weapons (he uses his cane and a sword in the stories).

[Tedronai]

Holmes is a talented fist fighter and also well versed in martial arts and weapons (he uses his cane and a sword in the stories).

Better represented by the Armed Arts stunt and a decent-to-high Fists skill than by a comparable skill in both Fists and Weapons

[Cyberchihuahua]

Just tossing this out there. The series so far has been great, and the interaction between Holes and Watson struck me as very Harry/Murphy.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_%28TV_series%29

[Tallyrand]

Well...  A lot of people don't seem to get that when Holmes made that claim to Watson during their first meeting (about actively avoiding learning things), he was just messing with Watson's head.  Subsequently he demonstrates a wide range of knowledge about an incredible variety of topics.

Holmes has a nasty, sarcastic sense of humor and has no compunctions about lying to serve his purposes or because it would be funny.  If you've ever seen the television show 'House', that's actually a pretty good picture of Holmes' personality from the stories.

I disagree, I believe he was being very genuine.  He shows a wide array of knowledge primarily concerning important people (who he considered to be the likely victims of relevant crimes) and the effects of ware on objects (which is his primary source of evidence).  I'm pretty well versed in the Holmes of the books (and while House is a great modern interpretation I disagree that he represents Holmes' personality well rather he strongly resembles Holmes' idiosyncrasies).

[Bruce Coulson]

There have been different interpretations of Holmes' knowledge (or lack thereof).

It is generally accepted that Holmes' knowledge in his chosen field was vast; he was conversant with all major crimes, criminals, criminal methods, and the nascent science of detection.

Holmes deferred to Watson in any matter where applied medicine (as opposed to forensics) was concerned.  This might have been politeness; but given Holmes' personality, that seems unlikely. 

I think it would be fair (particularly if it fits your game, or your players' understanding of Holmes) to presume that Holmes' knowledge in any field that did not directly relate to crime was scanty at best.  (Holmes makes reference to Moriarity's mathematical acumen, but more as a way of letting the reader know that Moriarity was no 'common criminal'.  There's nothing to indicate that Holmes could follow the math involved in Moriarity's thesis.)

Holmes was portrayed as a focused genius; someone who was unequalled in his chosen field, but utterly unconcerned with anything outside of that focus.

[stabbald]

There have been different interpretations of Holmes' knowledge (or lack thereof).

It is generally accepted that Holmes' knowledge in his chosen field was vast; he was conversant with all major crimes, criminals, criminal methods, and the nascent science of detection.

Holmes deferred to Watson in any matter where applied medicine (as opposed to forensics) was concerned.  This might have been politeness; but given Holmes' personality, that seems unlikely. 

I think it would be fair (particularly if it fits your game, or your players' understanding of Holmes) to presume that Holmes' knowledge in any field that did not directly relate to crime was scanty at best.  (Holmes makes reference to Moriarity's mathematical acumen, but more as a way of letting the reader know that Moriarity was no 'common criminal'.  There's nothing to indicate that Holmes could follow the math involved in Moriarity's thesis.)

Holmes was portrayed as a focused genius; someone who was unequalled in his chosen field, but utterly unconcerned with anything outside of that focus.

I'd have to agree.

In regards to Watson, in "A Rare Disease" he intentionally hurts Watson's feelings in an effort to stop him from coming any closer to him while he feigns illness as he knows that Watson would spot the lack of real symptoms almost instantly. Even though Holmes starved himself for days and used his masterful abilities of disguise.

You don't need to understand a persons work to realise that they are a great leader in their field. A great example of this would be Einstien, considered to be one of the smartest people that ever lived and yet very few people understand the science behind his theories.

I like the idea of lowering his scholarship and using an aspect to represent his specialized knowledge.

[Daeglan]

Holmes High Trouble would actually be. Epic Asshole. If you read Sherlock Holmes or watch the recent movie you will notice this. A scene in the movie that shows it really well is when Holmes was meeting Watson and Watson's Girlfriend for dinner. Anachronism would be his third aspect. Another aspect Holmes has is I avoid life with drugs or something along those lines.