How much do you have to know about an established character before roleplaying with them?

[GhostDragon25]

Hello BMR,

This will no doubt seem like a 'noob" question to veterans, but this is something I have been trying to answer for quite a while. I will often come across people who have kinks I'm interested in, but are using a character from a universe I'm totally unfamiliar with.

In these situations, is it best to walk away or spend some time researching the character/lore? What should I deep dive into and what should I skim over during my research?

 

[Symmetra]

I only put the time and effort into researching lore or characters when I personally know the person and I know they aren't going to bail on me after spending all that time reading up on something I probably wasn't even interested in from the start. I think if a stranger is asking for you to do all that, it's better to walk away.

 

[Deante]

Honestly this is one of my big issues with playing fandoms. Either I feel I don’t know enough, the character is too one note, or if I know them I don’t think I can do them justice.

 

[Adamina]

I think it depends on the amount of researching you have to do. If it's a short wiki page, and you really want those kinks, I'd say go for it. You might have to ask how in-depth the person wants too. Some are only requesting a gist of the canon, like looks and a bit of background, which you can get away with pretty easily. I think you'd have to ask and just see.

 

[ImaginationGoneWild]

It depends on the story for me. If i really find it interesting then i'll put the time and effort into it to research characters and settings and whatnot but otherwise, nah. And I'm kind of wary of fandoms cause i want the canon characters to be portrayed as they were intended by its original creator and most of the time on roleplay forums these character just become sooooo out of character and i just feel bad for the creators... if i feel i can't portray them confidently enough then i'd rather steer clear out of respect for the creators, lol.

 

[Reika Tores]

As with nearly everyone in this thread I'd say it depends. Some roleplays don't work if you've met their character before or know much about them, especially with mystery-genre roleplays.

I think that some of the best fun had is when two characters learn about each other and have a natural growing conversations and learning to be around someone.

 

[RedRose]

I am not starting before I know your character's name, age (a range), physical look (again no need for measurement and I cringe at bra/down there precise size) and just a line of background. Pic is ideal.

 

[Zeth]

I try to at least watch a the show or clips of there video game on top of the wiki background thing. A good chunk of the character's personality and style can't be captured in a history paragraph and picture. That is for canon characters from a tv show or the like. I don't play other peoples characters because it never comes out right. Again, I don't play canon characters I don't think I can do. Being a game master I play a lot of NPCs of all kinds. But playing the main character, especially in a sexual game, is more detailed and intricate. Unless they just want a smut fest where two characters knock boots and ignore everything else. That is easy.

 

[LittleMiko]

Normally I just have a basic idea of a character and just roll with it
Unless its a character I've used before, then I've already got a fairly good idea of how they should act, but even then all characters are in development til I decide to stop using them completely

 

[Subliminal]

I would say most of the time the research isn't worth it. If people want to roleplay as or with certain characters they are usually pretty specific in what they want. If you don't know the source, reading a wiki is probably not going to be good enough. This is why I prefer to roleplay in established settings with ocs over something strictly canon based.

 

[di moon]

I tend to avoid fandoms-though if it's something I'm familiar with I usually don't have a problem with original characters in that universe. It's easier to learn about the setting than to spend all that time learning each individual character and what makes them tick.

As for what I need to know-usually a general plot and setting in mind. Character-Name, age, and just a general ideas of the sort of roles to be played or that's desired. Kinks look to be something usually stated up front, so I think that can be discussed before or during in an OOC message as we further plot and set up scenes and arcs.

 

[RedRose]

I have a Star wars story and despite I'm a huge fan since I'm a kid I'm a lot on the SW wikia...

 

[LizH]

Generally, unless I know the fandom, I can't be arsed, as the poster will no doubt have some very specific idea about how the character works and woe betide you if you disagree with their preconceptions.