So, what did all the cool RPG designers do, originally?

[Mouseferatu]

Well, I hesitate to respond to this thread, since it talks about "cool" designers, and I've very carefully cultivated my "dork" status...

I've got a degree in Creative Writing, but I wasn't able to make use of it professionally until I got into RPGs. I've worked a lot of minimum wage jobs--usher and concessionist at three different movie theaters (including a dollar theater; talk about scungy), staffer at Toys R Us, stock manager at a party supplies and paper goods store, and a proofreader (not a very good one) at an advertising agency. I wrote quite a bit during that time--a number of novels, mostly--and went from the ad agency into freelancing.

 

[James Jacobs]

Really? What titles did you work on?

Johnathan

I worked for Steve Oliff, founder of Olyoptics, for a few summers. I got to re-ink an issue of Sandman that came in too faded to work well as color guides, and also worked on Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, a short series called Atomic Age, and a few others (I got to color a page of Akira as my "job interview," which was kinda cool).

Had I kept at it, rather than going off to college at the end of that summer, I'd probably have my own coloring studio or something by now, judging by the fates of the other guys who worked there at the time. Probably would have been a fun career too, but Paizo's fun enough that I don't have TOO many regrets.