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Verad · **03-19-2015, 03:14 PM**

I have consciously avoided research in the following areas:

Combat:Â This is the big one. I know that a lot of people are very invested in realistic representations of combat. I just want to try to hit the guy and not get hit back by the same guy.

Economics:Â You'd think I'd do this since I'm playing a merchant character and whatnot. I have not. Of course, Verad is not a very good merchant, so perhaps this is accurate anyway.

Law and Legal History:Â I'd rather just make up weird and/or perverse laws as I go.

The Particulars of a Trade: Some time ago I had a character who was a jeweler and gemcutter. I tried to research lapidary and work it into my RP. I gave up because it became pedantic and nobody really cared. I might still do this if the particulars give possibilities for a story rather than restrict them, but I've found that they more often wind up being used as displays of learning.

The above can also be taken as my general attitude towards research in RP in general. When it's used to say "This couldÂ happen in RP," that's fine. When it becomes "This shouldn'tÂ happen in RP," I have trouble with it.

Bryn · **03-19-2015, 03:15 PM**

IRL, I am a bookseller. Whenever I embark on something new, I turn first to books.

Things I have researched for Bryn:

The history, language and culture of the Germanic Celts.
Noble titles of medieval Germany.
The structure of a sword and the names of various types of swords. Sword fighting techniques and medieval martial arts, warfare and weapons.
Guerilla warfare.
Roman military structure (Garlemald).
PTSD.
Dyscalculia.
Substance abuse.

It always feels like there's so much more I need to learn, but thankfully I enjoy it.

Mae · **03-19-2015, 03:42 PM**

For the most part, if I'm RPing having knowledge in something I don't actually have knowledge of (Except for combat. I hand-wave combat stuff because... well, LARP training with a halbred isn't the same as actually knowing how to use a real halbred, and I'm too afraid of ruining my hands to even consider learning how to actually use knives/daggers), I try to put at least a couple hours worth of research into the topic.Â
Some things (the Gardener's plant/herb lore, for example) is stuff that I've had interest and learned about over the majority of my lifetime, and there's other stuff that's just... knowledge I randomly collected.

Maia · **03-19-2015, 04:10 PM**

Oh, I just remembered a separate thing that I've researched for Maia. I wanted to create a social structure for her home tribe, which is a very small offshoot of the "main" Deh tribe. (Meaning that at one point in her tribe's recent history a Tia said "Imma leave you guys and start my own tribe, but we're still going to use the Dodo as our totem and you can't stop me because you're not my mom!")

So, with inventing something that might stand out in Maia's tribe, I researched modern-day flightless birds to grab ideas for what a "Dodo-esque" social structure might look like. I read about ostriches and chickens. There wasn't anything overly interesting about the former, but I did see (and use) some things from a chicken hierarchy.

As a result, in my headcanon of Maia's tribe (that will never come up or matter), the women had an ingrained "pecking order" where the strongest would have the most say in tribal decisions, and on down to the weakest, which would have no say. The Nunh fit easily into this as the "rooster" of the lot, although I decided to use a separate male leader in accordance with what I'd read from miqo'te lore. There were a few other small details (such as being highly social), but the main point is that I researched chickens for an unexplored detail within Maia's backstory.

Sounsyy · **03-19-2015, 04:12 PM**

Sounsyy has a lot of combat expertise that I do not. I have some hand-to-hand training but never anything with sword or shield fighting, which is Sounsyy's forte. I had an idea of what her style would look like, and then in another thread Nat pointed out this was a very Roman-esque style of scutum/shortsword-stabby fighting, so I did a bit of research into that era and style of fighting and adapted it to Sounsyy. Researched metals, weights of shields, what different parts of the sword could be used for in combat, etc.

Sounsyy's also a fantastic sailor, and this is something that's been a theme for a lot of my characters throughout my time RPing. I am not a sailor (much to my chagrin), so I've put in a ton of research into various nautical terms, ship parts and types, weather conditions, and pretty much anything related to naval, privateer, or pirate vessels for the last few hundred years. Also things like the East India Company or prominent female pirates like Jihng Sih were heavily studied topics to try to get the Limsa feel for my character and her history with the Barricuda.

I am a Paramedic IRL, so even though Sounsyy is pretty base when it comes to healing and medical knowledge, I do try to RP injuries and injury patterns as accurately as I can. As well as putting in a great deal of research into various medical conditions which might afflict my character. PTSD and alcoholism are two big things Sounsyy has to deal with, and while I've never personally been in a situation which would cause me to suffer from PTSD, I have had military friends who have and talking to them and putting in additional research of my own was quite helpful to try to genuinely and accurately portray that type of character.

Then of course I do massive amounts of XIV lore research...

Aris · **03-19-2015, 04:26 PM**

My new OC Roysa is a highlander, Astrologian when it's released, who practises tarot reading, different aspects of divination, as well as trading in medicinal herbs. She's still a WIP, but I'm thinking things like palm reading she doesn't actually believe in, but sells it in her shop as it 'comes with the territory'. Tongue

I know nothing about these things, and don't believe in any of it personally, but have been researching it. It's really enjoyable actually, learning something new along the way. I'm excited to finally roleplay Roysa when I've got her backstory sorted out. I'm not sure how I can include certain aspects and pull it off successfully without either a) stalking the other person's OC or b) asking about them about their character beforehand. ..I see lots of stalking in my future.

Faye · **03-19-2015, 04:36 PM**

Faye was originally created for a forum RP where she was a proper Victorian lady! That said, to do some research on the setting and the character, I read up on a lot of stuff about life and culture in Victorian England, and fashion and etiquette for the women of the time. Obviously, not all of that knowledge applies here in Eorzea, but some of it has stuck with the character.

Also, tea! I live vaguely in the southern US, so there's only one kind of tea here, and it's iced and overwhelmingly sweet (unless you're one of those heathens who like unsweetened). Since playing Miss Covington the tea lover, I've tried several different kinds of hot teas with various add-ins. And while I didn't do either specifically for RP research purposes, taking some classes in ballroom dance and a couple styles of martial arts has been really useful for my role-play. Blush

FreelanceWizard · **03-19-2015, 04:49 PM**

I'm not a mystical sort -- I'm a scientist by training and a corporate overlord IRL. So, playing someone who has a wide knowledge of magic theory and who performs ritual magic has required me to do a fair amount of research into various occultic systems. While L'yhta's philosophy of magic is probably closest to Thelema, I try to weave in other forms of mysticism where they make sense.

L'yhta also likes beer. I don't. So, I've had to do some research on that so she doesn't sound like a complete novice drinker. Smile

I've also done some research on cat behavior to get the tail and ear motions right for her, for while she is not a cat, as a miqo'te, she has cat-like features that I want to ensure come out in emotes. I'm really more of a dog person IRL. Smile

CrookedTarot · **03-19-2015, 04:53 PM**

I love research, so digging for info isn't difficult for me~!

As for playing within my own wheelhouse, I'm a salesman--Tarot is a salesman. He owns a shop selling the flotsam and jetsam of ages, I will (soon) be doing the same!

Telluride · **03-19-2015, 04:56 PM**

Research, research...

I have done a modicum of study of medieval musical instruments over several games, and brought it with me to this one. I am more of a simple enthusiast, though.

I spent countless hours of childhood reading about medieval weapons and siege warfare, though this particular game hasn't given much use for it, yet. The knowledge of stars and constellations and such has been a bigger help.

But as most of you know, I nab song ideas from very much everywhere, and seeing who recognizes them is a fun exercise.

Hyrist · **03-19-2015, 05:04 PM**

That's, a difficult question to ask.
There's a variety of sources have and continue to research from ,but mainly comes from a variety of knowledge in fiction writing, tabletop roleplaying games and, more and more lately, researching online.

This is backed up by what is nearing to be twenty years of roleplay experience in open RP settings, hitting a fairly broad range of subjects.

For me, more or less there's a process. It starts with inspiration, a drive to play a certain theme. This is followed by a touch of brainstorming to get the general idea of what I want to relay out in the plot.

Then there's Lore research - figure out where I'm breaking or bending Lore and make adjustments to make it believable, even if it goes against some established conventions (This is easier with FFXIV as they commonly break their own lore rules.) What I'm looking for more in my lore research is proof of concept - can it exist in the world?

Then it comes down to refinement of execution. These are the moment to moment posts of situations scenes, etc that need to be displayed accurately. Fight scenes are somewhat easier for me as I've been writing and dealing with various 'mechanics' for them for years and have some experience in live sword-fighting to help with some work. Other than that it's practice, if I find myself in a catch, I watch/read something of a similar subject of what I'm doing and let the input start to sort out ideas.

Needless to say this is a long process and it is not done all at once or all the time, I tend to build my plots pretty far in advance (which can mean they fall apart and I have to improvise but Ceste La Vi). However it is nice to have a routine to work when when you got the time or are suffering from writer's block.

Trade secret, also listen to a wide variety of music. A lot of movies, show, and film tend to use music as a way of controlling emotion and inspiration, and listening to music can sometimes trigger inspiration by invoking similar emotions. Something to do if you're looking for ideas or wanting motivation for research.

Klynzahr · **03-20-2015, 01:20 AM**

To help portray my Sea Wolves, I put a ton of research into sailing techniques and terminology. When writing dialog for Dani in particular, I will often keep several wiki pages open, with references to the points of sail, components of rigging, and their relation to the weather conditions. Dani references these concepts quite frequently in her conversation and I enjoy coming up with new 'sayings' for her on the fly.

Another area, where I am a little bit over my head is physical combat. For this, I refer primarily to historical novels or sometimes youtube. I also have a great reference person in my fiance, who fenced for years with his local renaissance fair. He's given me a number of solid pointers.

Some things that I am familiar with and have utilized are first aid, backpacking and open water swimming. I used to kayak competitively, which invariably leads to being unceremoniously dumped into every kind of lake and river you might imagine. I utilize this when portraying Klyn's love of the ocean and strong swimming abilities. I also keep a mental note of the items packed in my character's kits for long journeys. While I don't mention it in most emotes, I like to know what they would reasonably have on hand.

For injuries, first aid, and most healing scenes I am able to rely on my knowledge of wilderness first aid. Although I'm no paramedic, I can generally emote a fairly realistic non-magical response to injuries. I do rely on google to find extra details or information on more complex injuries.

.... So in other words, I've had to research all of the same RP points as Sounsyy, with the exception of FFXIV lore itself because I just look at her posts.Â Rolleyes

ArmachiA · **03-20-2015, 04:04 AM**

Things I've had to research for Armi:

Being a Nun/Priest: Armi was pretty much a Nun so I had to do a bit of research to see what being a nun is actually like. Did a lot of reading, watched a few documentaries. She was a devout as they came. Now she's an ex-priestess simply because there just wasn't enough lore about the subject ever put into game for me to be comfortable and in 2.0 I pulled her out. However, it's very ingrained in her history.
PTSD - Carteneau did a number on her, so did things that happened in the FC in 2.0. Honestly, if your character if in dark, deep storylines this is pretty much mandatory study.
Musical Theory! Since I planned on making Armi a singer/songwriter (Eventual Eorzean Idol) I actually studied song crafting, lyric writing, and melody composition. The orginal intent was to just write all my own music, but that... was an over shoot. So now I just write lyrics to already established (But not well known) melodies.
How to be shy - I'm not actually a shy person at all, but Armi is. I actually had to study how to do that... and while she's a lot less shy now (More weird) I still have to remember how to play shy.

Edvyn · **03-20-2015, 04:18 AM**

i've been roleplaying mages for ages, and with good reason: i've been fascinated by occultism since i was quite young

i have read deep into chaos magic (my main topic of study), thelema, hermeticism, goetia (both medieval and modern), tribal sympathetic magic, a bunch of edgy black magic, a bit of petro voodoo and a heap of other weird shit

liber null, liber kaos, the lesser key of solomon, the grimorium verum, the apophenion and the book of saint cyprian all sit on my desk

most of this reading comes into my RP wizardry in some form or another

Caspar · **03-20-2015, 05:43 AM**

I just watch lots of kung fu stuff and play lots of fighting games. o3o

I've been able to derive some faintly authentic movements from observing exaggerated but derivative forms from various games and works of fiction. They are usually based on some motion or real form that can be observed in action by reverse engineering the kanji name and applying it to Chinese video websites, lol.

The characteristics of the "hidden world" of martial artists as they interact with the setting are basically just me trying to fit the Jin Yong Jianghu into Hydaelyn and what I can flex around the existing lore I research on the wiki or through the forum.

The most martial arts I ever did was some tai chi and kendo in my college years.

If there's something I need to talk about at length, I usually study it on the internet extensively before or during the scene I do it in. Generally, I've fallen on strategic manuals like Book of Five rings to give some of the more esoteric theory involved a more genuine feeling. That's one resource I did actually read before, but I haven't actually used it for this character.

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RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes