Jacob is a long-time freelancer designer who has slaved away over many Raging Swan Press books. His most recent book for Raging Swan Press—the eventure Where There’s a Will—is now available in 5e, OSR, Pathfinder 1 and Pathfinder 2 editions.

We recently had the opportunity to ask Jacob a couple of questions!

What was your first gaming book?

I think the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set.

If you could pick one module to play again for the first time which would it be?

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. It's my earliest gaming memory (and truthfully we played mostly homebrew when I was young, so I don't have a lot of memories of modules).

Recommend a gaming book, adventure or supplement you’ve read in the last year.

Answer came there none!

Beyond the obvious (books, dice and so on), what do you make sure you’ve got with you when you game?

A Diet Coke, and a (reusable) water bottle.

Other than where you normally play, where would you love to game?

Nowhere; I'm very happy playing at my home or a friend's house.

Who has inspired you most in your design career?

Not a single person, but the various Paizo RPG Superstar contestants. I was literally inspired to enter that contest by all the previous finalists, and that's what got me into game design. Lots of great designs there that I still go back and look at (plus I've been lucky enough to work with numerous people from that contest).

Choose five words to describe your last design project.

Kingmaker Adventure Path 2e conversion and expansion: Bigger than I ever imagined.

Where do you do most of your design?

The actual writing is in my home office. I often come up with a lot of basic ideas while walking the dog (or driving, or as I'm trying to fall asleep), and use the voice recorder app on my cellphone regularly to make sure I don't lose them.

Where can people learn more about your work?

I talk about my projects on Paizo.com, and the Raging Swan Discord channel. A full list of my work can be found at paizo.com/people/JacobWMichaels.

About Jacob

Jacob W. Michaels has been gaming for 30 years, since he went on an Expedition to the Barrier Peaks in the third grade. A newspaper editor in eastern Pennsylvania, he's had work published by Paizo after finishing in the Top 16 of Paizo's RPG Superstar in 2012 and 2014. In addition to writing or contributing to a dozen five-star products from Raging Swan, he has published a module, Ironwall Gap Must Hold, with AdventureaWeek.com. A founder of Swords for Hire Development, his work has also appeared in products from Flying Pincushion Games, Jon Brazer Enterprises, Louis Porter Jr. Design, Outland Entertainment, Rogue Genius Games, Rusted Iron Games, and in several Wayfinders.

His parents and sister have always been supportive of his hobby, and he appreciates his wife's encouragement, even if her reaction to watching her first (and only) gaming session was "there are some things you can never unsee."