What are some of the things you learned about or researched, JUST for the purpose of RP?

[fatalrendezvous]

I have come to the realization that there is a pretty sizable portion of the things that I know... that I only learned because I was doing research for RP purposes.

Like, the only reason I know how card magic, card mechanics and sleight of hand work is because I wrote a character that cheated at cards. I studied cardistry, watched videos explaining and demonstrating various sleight of hand moves (many of which I still find just really visually amazing), learned about misdirection and all that other good stuff.

The only reason I know my way around the engine of a car is because of my numerous characters who are racers. They would know this shit, so I need to know this shit too or else I can't write them convincingly. So I've learned about cars, about engines, about street racing and the whole culture surrounding it. I would have NO reason to learn that stuff if not for RP.

What about warfare, military strategy, and combat tactics? I would literally never read Sun Tzu's The Art of War on my own time for my own leisure. But I have read it, and watched and read many other resources about medieval combat and warfare, just for the sake of telling a compelling story.

What about you guys? What are some of the things you've learned about for RP that you probably wouldn't otherwise be interested in?

 

[PoetLore]

I learned about fashion for more than one rp. Clothing and weapons of the time so I could be historically correct and not look like a buffoon.

Also about how altitude affects horses and people, because I am that person. (Also food prep as well...interesting stuff really)

 

[Spekkun]

I learned SO MUCH about Medival weaponry, war tactics, etc just to make a roleplay I was in more interesting :D It was way back when I was like...15. I bought books, watched videos, documentaries...you would think I was preparing to write a paper or something, haha!

 

[s p o o k]

Hahaha oh man. A few years back I invested a ridiculous amount of time into researching (if you could really call it that) Santa Rosa, CA for a high school RP I had. Lmao. Like Google map images and street names, where everyone lived relative to one another, etc.

I know there are other things I've applied a disgusting number of hours to, cuz that's just how my personality is. I get hooked on the little details haha. But I'm drawing a blank right now. In one ear and out the other I guess. ^^;

 

[Shiri]

I learned a lot of medical things through RPing as a doctor. It also helped me to grow as a person. And years later most of my friends switched to medical professions so that boosted my research.

Also researching how tabletop works has helped with my RP skills. I used to be super wishy-washy with the abilities of fantasy species and how they look. Then I learned how to apply rulesets. Just the other day I was able to create a monster from basically nothing and make it sound believably developed and tailor it to fit nicely in the world.

I've also done a lot of rummaging through information about feudal Japan since it is a popular setting, and of course my own interest.

 

[Diana]

My most recent research adventure has been looking into how group shelters for children & teens work. O:

My most WASTED EFFORT of research was trying to figure out when pizza delivery started for a setting in the 70s when I could have just asked my parents if they were ordering pizza then. >:[

 

[Sorrelfur]

I've always been a stickler at being accurate in my role plays. I had one roleplay where my character was pregnant and I wanted to be accurate, so I spent way more time than I should have researching. Things like when the first ultrasound happens, when they can find out the gender and amount, size of the bump as time goes on etc. Search history must've looked so weird!

 

[Astoria]

A bunch of the stuff I end up researching is silly stuff that nobody usually cares about most of the time. I wanted my fantasy kingdom worlds to feel real, so I've researched predecimal British currency, historic purchasing powers of old currency, economic policies, and maritime trade and naval power to get my settings right. I ended up picking up a coin collecting hobby from all that. For one character in a roleplay that was supposed to be a competent hacker and tinkerer, I researched cybersecurity topics, and funnily enough also ended up studying the topic in university.

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Very recently, I was researching if blood still existed in corpses for my vampire mortician OC since in a roleplay offsite, I heavily that he drinks from the corpse he works on. I learned that it's feasible, but he needs to get them back fast if he actually wants to feed on them.

 

[Quetzal]

I learned about some of the things people would eat while traveling on horse back. Though in the RP I did give myself a little creative license so my character cooked awesome food. :3

I learned about how medieval economy worked. Simple answer is that it was very self contained, mostly because traveling was too dangerous, so the merchant class was very small. There was also something about the Church in regards to good Friday. But I can't remember now...

There are countless other facts that I learned over the years for RPs. Not always were they of use. Sadly these days I'm having trouble remembering them or why I looked them up in the first place.

 

[Daz]

I've studied the lore of Akkorokamui and octopus biology for the sake of cecaelia and octopus spirit characters. For example, my D&D cecaelia character blushes purple as octopi have blue blood since it contains hemocyanin and my character had red skin.

 

[Reina]

I've research on what existed and didn't exist in medieval times. Like, how did they use the toilet then? When did houses get running water?

I've also researched about Ireland since I currently have a character that grew up there. I've looked up local places, town names and even the local cemetery where "his family is buried".