Guns and Gears Authors!

Hello everyone!

Wow, as of the time I’m writing this the last couple weeks have been eventful, to say the least. One event that would be an absolute shame to overlook is this, the Guns & Gears author blog! Below are an array of the freelancers who helped make Guns & Gears possible. I want to note not everyone involved had the time to write or submit an introduction for themselves, so please keep an eye on the credits of the final book to see everyone else who helped make this project possible!

I do want to call special attention to one freelancer who is both an incredibly strong author and designer and who won’t get the recognition she deserves unless I use this opportunity to give it her but let me open with a bit of a story. In publishing, sometimes things go wrong—this is especially true when you’re undertaking back-to-back ambitious projects like Secrets of Magic and Guns & Gears that are looking to use new and unique templates or delivery methods for conveying information. Without getting too lost in the weeds, let me just note that basically all those things that can go wrong did go wrong at some point or another over the course of this project. One result of this was that we had to reimagine the presentation of quite a few elements in Guns & Gears during development.

Now, Jessica Redekop was absolute dynamite during this project. She provided insights and assistance to less experienced authors and designers, was an unfailing voice of support and positivity, and turned over some incredibly cool design work. Sadly, none of that work appears in Guns & Gears. Through no fault of her own, all of Jessica’s work ended up being in sections of the book that were heavily reworked in ways that required us to cut her submissions. I’ve done what I can to make sure at least some of those submissions make their way into other books so you’ll still get to see the incredible work Jess did, but I want to take this moment to note that even though none of her words appear in this book and she is not credited as a writer, Jess is very much a part of the team that made Guns & Gears the (in my humble opinion) incredible book it is.

With that out of the way, this blog is already way longer than it’s probably supposed to be, so I’m going to shut my digital mouth and let my amazing freelancers speak for themselves!

Michael Sayre
Designer

Jessica Catalan

Hi everyone! My name is Jessica and I’m a full-time freelance author. I’ve contributed to over thirty projects for Paizo, including Secrets of Magic, Galaxy Exploration Manual, Tech Revolution, “The Gilded Cage,” and PFS #3-99: Fate in the Future. My upcoming releases include Lost Omens Grand Bazaar, Book of the Dead, SFS #4-09: Through Sea and Storm, and Galactic Magic!

I wrote a wide range of material for Guns & Gears, including feats, vehicles, cursed and intelligent guns, a bunch of fun gizmos, and (my personal favorite) the dwarves of Dongun Hold. Contributing to this project was a blast and I hope it inspires.

Andrew D. Geels

Hi everyone! My name is Andrew D. Geels, and I wrote a number of items, hazards, and siege engines for Guns & Gears. I’ve been freelance writing for Paizo for a couple years now, starting back with “Rise of New Thassilon.” In addition to writing, I stream a variety of stuff at twitch.tv/pinstripedbarbarian where we’re currently going through The Slithering on Friday nights. I also have a blog at pinstripedbarbarian.com where I discuss all sorts of game design topics and share a bunch of character and monster designs. You can find me on Twitter @pinbarbarian.

Dustin Knight

Greetings, Pathfinders! I’m honored to have the opportunity to pen such entries as the Bullet Dancer archetype and the Lucky Draw Bandolier. Working together on this project with so many talented creators was incredible! I’m a blogger on the Know Direction Network, PFS Venture Lieutenant in King County, and host a Pathfinder Twitch Show every Tuesday and Friday! You can check out more of my work on DriveThru RPG, the 52-IN-52! Project, and right here on Paizo.com! If you want to reach out for freelance work or just to chat, feel free to contact me @WarlockKitsune, Email, or Discord.

Luis Loza

Hey, there! Luis here! It’s me, that developer who works on the Lost Omens line. I got to do quite a bit of work for Guns & Gears, most notably writing the automaton ancestry. I’ve always loved big robots and getting to update the automatons I originally wrote for 1E was a great time. I hope everyone has fun playing them! If you want to check out some of my other content, hop on over to luisloza.com!

Chris Mastey

Chris Mastey wrote several utility items in Guns & Gears. He’s a freelance RPG, science fiction, and fantasy writer whose past RPG work includes the Shadowrun e-books The Assassin’s Primer (Platinum on DriveThruRPG) and Lethal Forces (Electrum on DriveThruRPG). Chris also writes and runs his own RPG adventures at Gen Con and other gaming conventions. To see more examples of his RPG work and find out how to hire him for freelance work, visit his website at http://cmastey.wixsite.com/chris-mastey

Sydney Meeker

Hi all! I’m Sydney Meeker, I’m a Narrative Designer based in Portland, Oregon. I write primarily for video games, but I also work on TTRPGs, short stories, and poetry. For Paizo, I’ve worked on Lost Omens: Legends, The Grand Bazaar, and now Guns and Gears. Feel free to tweet at me or tell me what you think of my work @SydMeeker! When I’m not writing, I’m usually walking in the woods, kayaking, playing video games, or hugging my bitey little cat, Bean.

Jacob W. Michaels

Jacob W. Michaels got his introduction to design and the Paizo community in the RPG Superstar contest and is excited to be contributing to his first rulebook for Paizo! For Second Edition, he’s also worked on Lost Omens books, two Pathfinder Society adventures and several monsters for Adventure Paths. He’s excited for people to try the archetypes and gear he wrote for Guns & Gears. Jacob is also an administrator at the Freelance Forge forums (ask him about it if you’re interested in freelance writing/editing/arting) and has contributed to a number of third-party publishers—find a full list at paizo.com/people/JacobWMichaels.

Dave Nelson

Hey, everyone! I’m Dave Nelson and I’ve been freelancing for Paizo for a couple years now, you might have seen my name around. This time around I’m bringing you a few cool archetypes, some unique guns, and more information about Alkenstar (my favorite spot in the Inner Sea). You can find me on Twitter @davicthegrey, talking all things games, technology, and more.

Mikhail Rekun

Mikhail Rekun is a Russian-American historian, educator, and author. Previous works include Lost Omens Mwangi Expanse, Lost Omens Legends, PFS #1-15 Blooming Catastrophe, PFS #2-08 A Frosty Mug, and How Russia Lost Bulgaria, 1878-1886: Empire Unguided. One of these things is not like the others. He is also the creative director of the Luminant Age project, a Weird Fantasy Swashbuckler campaign setting for PF2, with pre-apocalyptic lightning staves, ichor cannons, and “spears of venomous light.” You can learn more about it at https://twitter.com/LuminantA and keep an eye out for our next Kickstarter: Armaments of the Luminant Age.

Mark Seifter

I'm Mark Seifter, Paizo's design manager and one of the four leads on the creation of Pathfinder Second Edition.

In Guns & Gears, I wrote a large number of different pieces, often working together with Mike on those sections he mentioned. Whenever things got rocky, I wrote more. But my biggest contribution was the inventor class. I hope you find the class to be exciting to play and brimming with the kind of reckless inventor personality that inspires you to make unforgettable characters!

I’m @markseifter on twitter. Check out my Twitch stream with Linda Zayas-Palmer, Arcane Mark, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7PM Pacific, and Saturdays at 10 AM Pacific at https://www.twitch.tv/arcanemark. We cover a variety of RPG and Pathfinder topics on Tuesdays and Saturdays, chosen by the viewers!

Kendra Leigh Speedling

Hey all! I’m Kendra Leigh Speedling, and I’ve been freelancing for Pathfinder and Starfinder for a few years now. I’ve always had a fondness for the steampunk/clockwork type of aesthetic, so when I was asked if I wanted to work on Guns & Gears, my answer was “definitely!” I did several of the class options for the book, and I hope people enjoy playing them! My full list of credits is on my website, klspeedling.com, along with an on-again, off-again NPC creation blog, and you can find me on Twitter @KendraLS.

Andrew White

Andrew White (he/him) is the lead front-end developer on paizo.com and an occasional freelance contributor to such works as the Advanced Player’s Guide, Bestiary 3, Book of the Dead, Tech Revolution, and Drift Crisis. For Guns & Gears, he created a bunch of gun talismans: single-use item enhancements for firearms that provide temporary benefits including but not limited to increasing their range, changing their damage type, and hurling tiny shrieking skulls to terrify their targets. His first published credit was a gigantic fey scallop that loved rap battling and puppet shows, and his most recent is a one-shot adventure about a fast-talking swarm of insects, misanthropic spider robot, jaded mercenary squid, and magical hacker who is also a telepathic bear teaming up to rob a space train together. He has a Twitter where he mostly just retweets his more eloquent colleagues at @plaguecontrol.