Forums » RP Discussion » Historical, Ancient, or Period Characters

Gnaea (formerly Pulchra) is my oldest character, and is set within 1st century BC Rome. Or rather, her original setting was 1st century BC Rome with a fantasy twist, but with strong historical accuracy because playing something intentionally wrong makes me twitch. But I did spend three years reenacting the period for the public for educational purposes so...

I've had plenty of NPCs that are drawn from various periods in history as well, but Greece/Rome is my go-to.

You all are wonderful, it is so lovely to hear about your characters and opinions on historical rp!

Hey! I just found this thread, I've been looking for a partner to roleplay with for my character set in the Middle Ages, not too long after Genghis Khan's death.

My character is from a coastal city that is in present day Azerbaijan by the Caspian Sea. I got the idea for the character primarily based off of my researching my own heritage, and finding how much of a mutt of different peoples most people are. I decided to make a character while plotting his genealogy more or less, and Vismund came to be.

I'm looking for any Romance + Historical roleplay partners as well!

My character's back story is quite long, I haven't written it before and it'd probably be a book I'd want to write! I might put a short form in the RPR profile soon, though. So, sorry about that.

I appreciate history. I even volunteer my time at two museums. As such, I'm all for incorporating as much historical accuracy as possible, when it comes to such things. I enjoy historical settings, because modern usually seems to translate into "nameless urban environment" that doesn't really stand out very much. But, then again, it has been a good long while since I've undertaken anything substantial. Things may change.

That being said, I tend to offer a lot of flexibility in my characters. I'll create them with a setting in mind, but I'm usually just as liable to play them in another time period. Take my newest, for example, Corvus. Death is timeless, so he'll fit in pretty much anywhen. Dietrich's far more mortal, so playing in a 20th century setting would likely require the nixing of some futuristic augmentations. Regardless, I find it fun.

Wow! That is excellent to hear! What are your favorite parts of volunteering your time at the museum and do you have a specific time in history that you find most fascinating?

I love historical rp! I have many characters over many time periods but my favorite right now is a Shoalin monk that I have named Jian. He is just such a pleasure to play and so much fu to research!

Being I was going to start a thread on this very topic, I thought I would do a search first to see if this topic had been raised before. It is a bit old, but nevertheless, relevent, so here goes... (some of) my historical characters...

Maurice Deuguerre - I got the original idea for Maurice here in a board game I played a number of years ago with my brother called France 1940. It is set in World War 2 and the game had several alternate scenarios as well as the hostorical scenario where the German Army ran roughshod over the French and British. I thought about what it would be like to be a French Army soldier in that era and came up with the basis of Maurice. I refined him when I brought him 'to life' here on RPR in 2018 when I started a World War 2 RP set in Paris after the fall of France in June 1940. Also included on his profile is a character bio of his enemy, a German soldier named Rolf Steiner.

Issac Shannon - I created Issac after writing a story about a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806. The story was inspired by a character in a Dana Fuller Ross novel named Clay Holt. I have only roleplayed with him once.

Koko Bloodmoon - is also inspired by the same novel, and also by the movie 'Mountain Men', Jeremiah Johnson, and historical events of the Apsáalooke indigenous people.

John Roby - John here is the namesake of my cousin who fougnt and died in the Vietnam war. I created the character as a tribute to him, but have used him in a fandom RP based on the movie Platoon and the TV series Tour of Duty.

Nathan Collier - I created Nate for any 'wild west' RPs I may get involved in. I keep meaning to get into a group with him but time and tide always seem against me on this. Based on the gritty bounty hunter Newt Call from the Lonesome Dove TV series 2nd season, 'The Outlaw Years'.


On historical RPs, I've had some good ones over the years, but have noticed a tendency of late that historical RPs should not reflect the period culture, thoughts and attitudes. Is it ok to write from a viewpoint of the time period, or does the fact the actual roleplay is being written in the pestent day so is subject to present day culture, thoughts, and attitudes? What are your thoughts on the current trend to require modern attitudes in historical roleplays?