What are the wierdest things you've learned gaming?

[Evilhalfling]

The price of a machine gun in 1982 was 5000$
it is possible to attach it via swivel mount to the passangers side of a car.
you can get either a 45 or 90 degree arc with this method.
I want one.

 

[Mercule]

I have learned so much wierd stuff from gaming that I have a hard time figuring out what is "weird" and what is "normal" knowledge. That is, untill I get a weird look from somebody.

 

[KaintheSeeker]

The Wierdest..


Ah..

hmm......


six words

the peculiarity of tomcat sexual organs.

<don't ask for the story.. I couldn't believe it then.. find it hard to believe still)

 

[mythusmage]

Such as the fact the phallus has a barbed glans, and that it gets stuck in the female during coitus?

That's right, tomcats have a spiked mace for a willy.

 

[Savage Wombat]

Which is why female cats won't put out for just any tom dickin' hairy.

\apologies to Spider Robinson and Eric's grandmother

 

[KaintheSeeker]

Yup..

short version

we had a TON of homebrewed ideas we wanted to try out..

one of the players was an anime fan and wanted a 'catgirl' type.

the other mentioned in passing that point...

we all blinked and went.. "b---sh--!!"

he dug up an anatomy text from somewhere...

a LOT more to it.. but thats the readers digest version.

 

[AuraSeer]

Pigs: Has to be fully cooked (and I do mean fully) thanks to a parasite commensal with the pig. Eating under cooked pig results in trichinosis. Which is nasty.

This used to be very important, but nowadays you don't have to worry much-- at least not in industrialized nations. Food safety regulations generally prevent pigs from acquiring and spreading the parasite, and trichinella in pork is killed by freezing. Over the last few years the US has had only about 12 cases of trichinellosis per year, and most of those were contracted from the meat of wild animals. In the 21st century, eating a slightly rare pork chop is no more dangerous than eating a slightly rare steak.

This is actually something I learned for a game. My PCs succeessfully hunted and killed an animal, but critically failed the skill check for harvesting and preserving its meat, so I researched diseases they might catch from it. (Players get really nervous when you call for a Fortitude save at every mealtime. )

 

[devilish]

I learned how long it took an (average sized) body to burn to ash on a bonfire.

How long?

 

[Zander]

I learned that in the Japanese belief system/mythology, the Japanese royal family is believed to be descended from the diety Amaterasu. I mentioned that in a discussion with a Japanese friend and he was very surprised that a gaikokujin (foreigner) should not only know that but also know the diety's name.

 

[Wombat]

My problem is trying to detangle my interests in this regard. I've always been interested in mythology, comparative religion, history (especially medieval), and some tolerably obscure authors. Add roleplaying games into this mix leads to all sorts of questions of "Did I learn that while figuring out something for a campaign or because of a sudden interest in X topic?"

So, a lot of vocabulary (including highly specialized terminology regarding armour, philosophy, and biology), knowledge of many legend cycles, prices of various common items in the 15th, 16th, and 17th century, basics of statistics, interesting food & drink (both in terms of lore and recipes), new types of music and instruments, migration patterns of nomads, etc.

But as I say, rather hard to determine which particular strain of my interests and studies lead to any particular batch of trivia