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Your name:
Julian Vargas
Location: Dekalb,
Illinois
Age: 23
Sex: Male
Family:
I have three brothers and a sister (whom I have never met in person).
My brothers and I run the gamut in social roles. I am an extrovert,
writer, and (generally) intelligent person whereas my younger brother,
for example, is an introverted tattoo artist and (genuinely)
intelligent. I have a twin (fraternal) who recently returned from
deployment as a marine in Afghanistan.
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My older brother is a
gamer like myself, though his gaming has increased exponentially since
a chance encounter with a gang member consigned him to a wheelchair (a
short but infuriatingly senseless story). My older sister, bearing the
beautiful name of Zarai (Sar aw ee), lives in Cuba. The embargo makes
staying in touch with her difficult.
Religion:
My family moved quite a bit during my childhood for a reason that was
never properly explained to me. I believe it had something to do with
extended family members disapproving of my mother's marriage to my
father (She is Cuban, he is Mexican. Isn't it refreshing that all races
can participate in racism equally?). As we moved, our mother would take
us to whichever church happened to be nearest our new home, regardless
of denomination.
As such, I have been
baptized twice, been a Mormon, Catholic, Witness, and any number of non
denominational Christian. Now an adult, I maintain some distance
between myself and organized religion, not necessarily distance between
myself and God. I don't believe I need robed men (or women) to form a
connection with Him (no offense to the clergy).
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Education:
I learned English at the age of nine and promptly fell in love with it.
Due to the constant, nomadic wanderings of the Vargas clan, I found
myself perpetually in
the role of 'new kid' at any number of elementary schools throughout
California. It
seemed that I went to school in every town in California that had a
Spanish name
(That's Sacramento == > south).
My constant need to make
new friends led, I believe, to my current ease with
social situations. Long drives and moves left me trapped in a car with
naught to
do but read or count mile markers. I began to develop adeptness with
the written
word that has followed me from the Pacific to Lake Michigan, but my
skills in math
are, frankly, embarrassing.
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I never finished high
school, dropping out in an ill advised plot to antagonize my mother. I
grew up and received a GED, which I utilized to gain entry into a
community college. Back in the familiar role of student, I excelled
again and became an honor student, maintaining a 3.75 GPA until my
transfer to a state four year university, where I am currently pursuing
a Bachelor of Arts degree, to be followed by either a Master's or a
Master of Fine Arts degree. My high test scores and lack of financial
support entitle me to one Go Directly to College (Do Not Pass Go or
shell out 50,000 dollars) card, which I no longer feel guilty for
taking advantage of.
Hobbies/Activities: I rollerblade, write (a lot), and am
at the point where bar crawl can be listed as a hobby.
Have you ever lived, or are you
currently living, in your parents' basement? No, I moved
out when I was 17.
What is your favorite word?
Cadera! It means hips in Spanish, but I love it because I convinced all
of my non Spanish speaking co workers (all of them) that it was a
terrible swear word by only uttering it when something bad happened and
always apologizing for it afterwards.
How many
languages do you speak? I speak English, Spanish, some
German.
If you
could have one superpower, which power would you pick? Flight,
hands down. Were it not for my childhood games of 'who can stare at the
sun the longest' (I won most of the time) and subsequent terrible
vision, I probably would have strived to become a pilot.
What is
one thing that you regret that you would go back and change if you
could? Dropping out of school. I would be so much
further along if I hadn't.
What is
the one thing you want to do before you die? Write
something that will be remembered well (by anybody).
You've
just purchased a small island off the coast of any continent of your
choosing, and you are preparing to start your own country there. What
does your flag look like? It would be a completely white
flag with a tiny black smudge in the center. When asked by any visitors
to my glorious nation of one, I will grandly inform them that it is a
sacred image of a polar bear blinking in a blizzard, then laugh until I
couldn't breathe.
How much
wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck would chuck wood?
Well, a wood chuck would chuck as much wood as a wood chuck could
chuck, wouldn't it, Chuck?
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Tell us
about your favorite RPG character that you've ever played.
I mostly DM/ST/GM these days, but back when I first got into the hobby,
I played a mage that boastfully
proclaimed his power to any that would unstopper their ears long enough
to hear. He
was also incredibly lazy, so he didn't earn much in the way of
experience or treasure,
but his ability to utilize his weaker powers to maximum effect allowed
him to fake being
more powerful. My favorite moment with him was one in which a freak
storm hit during
an escapade up a crumbling tower. By sheer chance, lightning struck an
enemy mage
that was preparing to unleash vile unpleasantness all over my unarmored
hit points
during my initiative count. Naturally I took full credit, using my
action that round to
conjure sizzling smoke from my fingertips and glare menacingly at the
(dead) mages
enforcers.
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What are your favorite RPGs? I play D&D
mostly, but I've always loved Shadowrun. I was
able to convince my gaming crew to allow me to break away from their
beloved Realms and run a Shadowrun game for three
glorious months before they began to fidget and ask why this temporary
game was lasting so long. Ingrates…
What was your first RPG session
like? I was reading at a combination used
bookstore/comic book shop/games shop when the owner informed me that he
was closing shop and I had to go unless I was in the game that night.
Curious, I lied and said that I was. I sat in on a session of AD&D
as an observer to the Temple of Elemental Evil
campaign. The next week I was trying to untangle the mysteries of THAC0
and rolling up a thief.
What was your WORST RPG session
like? My worst session was my first one as a DM. In an
attempt to force me to grow a thick skin, my nascent gaming crew did
their worst, utterly destroying the campaign that I had written in a
single nights gaming. They still feel bad about it, but I won't tell
them that the campaign they trashed was written as a novelist would
have written. Railroad plots and massive amounts of exposition would
have resulted in a worse evening by far.
Who is your all-time favorite
person to game with? It's a toss up between my older
brother, who is of the old players versus that “dice slinging screen
monkey” behind the DM screen (me) with hilariously paranoid theories as
to why NPCs do anything (“Why did that guard nod at us? Smells like
we've just been marked for a sniper. Julian, I stick to broken field
movements, constantly changing direction and ducking randomly.”), and
my friend Rob who's exploits have coined the gaming table phrases “MWP
(Mad With Power)” and subsequently “Blowfish MWP” (wherein his mad
schemes for power balloon out of control and sting his party). “In
exchange for the Steel Grimoire I would gladly trade you this ancient
blade and three fine horses. My comrades are of course fully aware that
it is in my possession, and were they able to find their horses and
make it to this meeting they would agree to the trade.”
Do you
have anything gaming-related to plug? Not really a plug
but a sort of request. I'm creating a post apocalyptic campaign setting
ad any suggestions would be appreciated. I collect my various works at www.apocmirror.blogspot.com
so if anyone wants to add any ideas to what I'm working on, feel free.
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