This week, I'd like to introduce Sara Dean.
I've known Sara for over 30 years and she's been playing in my gaming groups on and off since 1989. She often plays great characters that have a butt-kicking attitude and abilities to back it up. In the past, she's played a leader, a rebel and everything else in-between. It should also be noted that she was the first girl to game in my groups and is one of the best players I've had the pleasure of running game for.
Years Gaming: I have been gaming for 25 years as
of June.
Midnight Legion Years: I am an original member of the
Midnight Legion. DT has not been able to get rid of me in all these
years.
Favorite RPG: My favorite RPGs and my favorite
Superhero RPGs are the same: a tie between Marvel Saga and Champions (Hero).
Past Superhero RPG Characters: I will not bore you with the full
list of Superheroes I have played, and I can't remember all of them anyway, but
here's a sampler: Olympia (martial artist, with enhanced atributes),
Riptide (water control), Delta (shape shifting, enhanced intellect), Comet
(flying, flame control) , Gemini (replication, detection skills), Iron
Butterfly (matter transmutation), Kyrie (flying, strength), Vault (Olympia's
daughter-martial arts, enhanced attributes).
Favorite Superhero RPG Character: Olympia is my favorite of the Superheroes
I have played.
Favorite Comic Book Character: I don't generally read comic books,
but when I did, my particular favorites were Daredevil and Impulse. Why
should I chose just one?
Favorite Comic Book: I will always love the Uncanny X-Men
for their soap opera quality, but the first 12 issues of Impulse are the only
comic books I know I will never give away.
Tell the readers a bit about yourself.
I am a mom, writer, musician,
artist, and caffeine pusher. I am also a lover of theater sports, the
only sports for which I am willing to injure myself. Drama is great, but
there is no better feeling than laughter, mine or that I have caused in others.
I am highly social, but initially
shy, so taking on characters suits me very well, and I really like boys (I
could call them men, but truthfully, men at play are boys). I have always
surrounded myself with boys when possible.
How did you get into role playing games? How old were
you?
I was on friendly terms with
DT, although we rarely hung out. However, there was a boy that did
hang out with him that I really wanted to get to know, and my efforts over the
previous three years had not been greatly successful. Anyway, DT
cornered me on a bus ride back from our senior (which means that I was 18) trip
to an amusement park, and twisted my arm (gee, what a hard sell) to begin
making my first character.
I arrived interested in hanging out
with a boy, but returned regularly to explore the fantastic world of heroes and
villains. It was better than the soap operas I grew up with because we
were saving the world! And in our imaginations, looking great in spandex.
I have never even wanted to get over my need for spandex. I can
enjoy other genres in RPGs, but no others are as fulfilling.
What do you like about superhero RPGs?
If you read the stuff above, you
can probably figure this out yourself. RPGs give me an excuse to be social with
a wonderful family of misfits called The Midnight Legion. I love them
enough that I would play a post-apocalyptic, Star Wars, in mechs game for
months on end just to hang out with them.
The games themselves are great ways
for me to practice (most of) my favorite activities. The writer in me
gets to create well rounded characters with full back stories and find out what
they will do in all sorts of situations. The musician just occasionally
and irritatingly breaks out in song. The artist gets to design and draw
the characters in action or in expressive moments. The caffeine pusher
and mom just tend to feed the Legion. I love to bring cookies and k-cups
and the weekly offering (usually milk chocolate Dove) to the household goddess
(DT's wife). Then there is the challenge of committing to play and further
develop the characters genuinely, which can be quite entertaining drama,
particularly when the characters are designed with very human flaws.
You listed Olympia as your favorite superhero RPG
character. What makes them your favorite?
Olympia is my favorite
because she was the first character I created as a full person. I
understood who she was and the things that motivated her or scared her.
I wanted her to be lots of things my
other heroes were not. I always played selfish brunettes who were out for
glory or fame. Olympia is the classic American blonde bombshell,
motivated by her love of her brother and the responsibility of using the
abilities she has developed to make the world a safer and more healthy place.
She has a disarming mix of innocence and determination, along with some
really notable flaws, like alcoholism.
I have been Olympia through a few
incarnations, but my favorite will always be her first, in which she married
and had children. Since her creation, I have been dedicated to my
characters having personal lives, having ties to the world beyond heroing.
What do you like about The Tribute Universe?
The thing I love most bout the
Tribute Universe is that it is my playground, but I have always enjoyed
DT's creativity and dedication to the games. The Tribute Universe is
complex enough to allow many very different games to occur and have loose connections
that encourage crossovers and more complex relationships. For instance,
our teen members have met our Watch characters. One of the teens is even
the great nephew of a Watch Character. The Tribute Universe is as well
developed as I expect my characters to be.
Do you have any villains that you particularly like to
hate? Why?
Spider Ninja Bitches.
That's what we call them, anyway. They are creepy and irritating
and incredibly fun to take down. The best part is, Olympia has no clue why she
is being hunted. If you have a good GM, I recommend leaving some mysteries in
your character's background to be discovered during play. I am a masochist, and
leave things to DT often.
Can you recall a favorite moment in a TU campaign?
Olympia has met her match
in Dare. She is debilitatingly attracted to him, and can barely talk
without embarrassing herself. Of course, I personally, have never
experienced that. So, during a holiday game, while our characters were
celebrating the New Year, Olympia enthusiastically offered Dare hot cocklate.
She clearly tried to say "hot chocolate" and "hot cocoa" at
the same time, but there is no way to explain that while beet red, in shock,
and trying to figure out how to go back in time and shut yourself up.
That moment is tied with the night I
found out how awesome the Takedown advantage is by defeating about 21 spider ninja
bitches in one round.
Do you find it hard or easy to think of characters?
I find it impossible not to think
of characters. That said, it can be hard to think of the right character for a
particular setting. When I think of a character, she springs from my mind
pretty fully formed, so it is hard to compromise a character to make her fit.
I often approach my GM with multiple character concepts to figure out
which one will fit.
What’s your favorite non-superhero RPG character? Why?
Shaela Dreen is my favorite
non-superhero character. I love the freedom of playing a chaotic neutral
character who is a super complex person.
Do you have a favorite superhero comic storyline?
X-Men, Dark Phoenix Saga and
Daredevil: Man Without Fear.
Besides RPGs, what other games do you like to play?
I have recently developed
Munchkin mania, but I also love Taboo, Scattergories, and Boggle. No one
will play Scrabble with me for some reason.
How many dice do you own? Which ones are your favorites?
I can't believe a gamer asked me
this question, but I will go count. 57 in my dice bag, 5 in various
places in my kitchen, 4 in my desk, 8 in my jewelry box, 2 on a shelving unit,
at least 3 in my car, and a full D&D set I carry in my purse. I
would bet there are some of my dice in my kids' rooms also, but I did not
search there. It might have been more interesting to ask what I found in
the bag with my dice.
