People's Take On How To Roleplay A Veteran

[Natural20]

make being a veteran part of the character but not the entirety of the character, ie: there's more to the character John Army than the fact that John Army was in the Army. it is truly as simple as that. you might talk about the service with somebody else you encounter who was also in the service, or when your character is explaining their experience in the context of a job interview or something like that,  but you shouldn't go around talking about being in the military constantly. research enough that you can explain the who, what, where, when, why and how of your characters military service if it ever comes up. For example, if you're going to have a character that was a 0311 in the Marine Corps, pick out a regiment and battalion, figure out where that regiment is stationed, what conflicts they were in while your character was serving with them, so that you know your character's own lore if it ever comes up. You'll look fucking stupid if you say you were with for example, 3rd Battalion, Fifth Marines and tell people that you were in Afghanistan in like 2009 when you couldn't of been, because 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines was there instead. 

[Koko]

Like many RP concepts, show don't tell and less is more, you can give off Military Vet energy by the way you speak and conduct yourself without RPing an acute PTSD episode or talking about the military at all.

 

However, do your reading and have answers to service-related questions if you find another veteran, and be ready to switch to military lingo comfortably when it comes to where you served and have a few fun war stories to tell. Veterans in my experience share more of those than the gruesome traumatic experiences.

[SaintBatemanofWallStreet]

On 7/3/2025 at 12:55 AM, Engelbert said:

So you were in Iraq, like every other PD or SD officer most likely.

 

I mean, it's realistic.

 

The real life counterparts of the LAPD and LASD both offer big hiring incentives to veterans because they're already at least basically trained, have on paper job history of them being in a career that requires assimilation into an organization. They get preferences points in interviews, grants for suits, for interviews, uniforms and equipment. They also can double dip into their GI Bill during the academy so they're effectively getting paid more. And they can purchase more credit to go towards their pension which can over time take years off their career if they want it to. On top of that, there are hiring bonus incentives that are cash money.

 

I don't know about the LASD, but I know that the LAPD even encourages veterans to wear their military service ribbons on their PD uniform. They want veterans.

 

So that's why you have a lot of veterans in the LEOs. Because they entice the ever living shit of them to slide into a career path they may already be slightly familiar with.

[Benya]

22 hours ago, Natural20 said:

pick out a regiment and battalion, figure out where that regiment is stationed, what conflicts they were in while your character was serving with them, so that you know your character's own lore if it ever comes up.

THIS!!! Absolutely, if you're gonna RP a Vet get him actual lore that's realistic, researching the US Military isn't that hard, it's just Wikipedia.

[SaintBatemanofWallStreet]

2 hours ago, Benya said:

THIS!!! Absolutely, if you're gonna RP a Vet get him actual lore that's realistic, researching the US Military isn't that hard, it's just Wikipedia.

I would go as far to say you should research the unit you want the character in before you even have the veteran status implemented so you can make it work.

 

And it doesn't have to be a flashy unit either. Like nobody on this server is gonna go "You were 3rd Cav? Hah. You pussy." The overwhelming majority of this server wouldn't even know what that means.

[Benya]

1 hour ago, SaintBatemanofWallStreet said:

I would go as far to say you should research the unit you want the character in before you even have the veteran status implemented so you can make it work.

And with that the unit stereotypes. I'm working on making a cheat sheet of sorts for most major MOS-s and units with what they do, stereotypes about them and what units the MOS-s are found in mostly. I'll probably make an entire guide sometime too, vet RP is close to my heart and I hate seeing it RPd shittily.

[Alan_Blackjack]

12 hours ago, Benya said:

I'll probably make an entire guide sometime too, vet RP is close to my heart and I hate seeing it RPd shittily.

I'm thrilled to see your guide, really hopes to have a general pointer on how to roleplay it well.