Hello Pathfinders!
The Pathfinder community is rapidly growing, reaching numbers in the hundreds of thousands, spread all over this great wide world. We thought it would be nice to get to know each other a little better in a new monthly blog called Pathfinder of the Month. Each month, we'll ask a member of our community to tell us a little bit about themselves. We'll feature players, hobby shops, and anyone else helping to make Team Pathfinder awesome.
Since our Customer Service team has the most contact on a daily basis with our community, I asked them who they thought we should feature first, and unanimously John Halpin was at the top of the list. Without further adieu, meet our inaugural Pathfinder of the Month: John Halpin.
Pathfinder of the Month: John Halpin
Hello, all! I'm John Halpin. I started roleplaying with basic Dungeons & Dragons, and I've explored numerous systems including Palladium, Hero System, 2nd and 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons, GURPs, the Marvel Super Heroes Role-Playing Game, Earthdawn, Feng Shui, Everway and, of course, Pathfinder. I've been playing for almost 32 years and have been a game master in my own game world for the past quarter century.
I'm active in four tabletop campaigns. As a GM, I run a game that has seen parties ranging from 1st to 30th level (I use the Epic Level Handbook, and am working on converting these character to the Mythic Adventures system). In my other groups, I play a human paladin/ranger of a forgotten deity, an elven warblade (played straight from the Tome of Battle alongside Pathfinder characters), and a redeemed human assassin. I began playing Pathfinder with the alpha release and have advocated the system to all of my friends, often running "one-shot" games for those who haven't yet converted. I also coordinated one of the card game beta tests.
I enjoy a wide variety of games, but I especially enjoy stories of redemption, war-based themes, and moderate levels of magic. Time travel and alternate realities are favorite themes of mine; every so often, I like to run sessions in which we take a break from my normal campaign to play an alternate reality version of the game world with new characters for the PCs. The biggest influences on my gaming style are J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson, Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels, and Dennis L. McKiernan's Mithgar series, starting with the illustrated Tales from the One-Eyed Crow.
I've been the Paizo "Dream Date" for the Gen Con ENnies award show for the past four years, and attended it with the Paizo staff, and have attended the last four PaizoCons. As a gamer, I believe it's my role to introduce others to the hobby, and I often run introductory adventures for those new to gaming. These sessions have been well received and typically include 6—10 people. I also helped coordinate three Pathfinder gaming days for my semi-local gaming store, Days of Knights, in Newark, Delaware.
Outside of gaming, I enjoy visiting abandoned areas, such as Centralia, Pennsylvania, with my friends, exploring areas that could be inspirations for future games. I'm an avid scuba diver and enjoy Hong Kong action movies. I also spend a lot of time online reading gaming blogs and message boards, including the Paizo boards, mostly as a lurker.
I live with the love of my life, my wife Heather, in New Jersey where we volunteer at a greyhound rescue.
From the Paizo family to yours, Happy New Year!
Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director
PS: If you'd like to nominate a Pathfinder of the Month, or would like to be featured yourself, send a blog of 500 words or less, along with a photo, to press@paizo.com.
