i kinda wanna give this game another chance. how viable is loremater/archeologist RP if i want to learn the lore of the world. how are they presented?
In Kenshi people like this are known as Tech Hunters. It's a viable option for a playthrough given that the world has a significant amount of lost history / secrets to discover, but unfortunately the game offers no path to join the Tech Hunters faction or work in conjunction with them, and there are virtually no questing or reward systems to help you set goals or recognize you for your effort.
In terms of gameplay it should be pretty fun though, since exploration is one of the game's strong points and you'll get to see a lot of the world this way. You could run a small, lightly-armored party that relies on Stealth and Athletics to keep you out of harm's way, or go the "expedition" route and build up a force of heavily armed guards that can carve a path through hostile territory.
Not a bad way to play the game, all things considered. And there might be a few mods you could pick up that would help with the LARPing aspects somewhat.