Hello, players! Like the blog from earlier today, we want to shine the spotlight on the authors who contributed to Year 4 of Pathfinder Society. The Year of Boundless Wonder may be over, but that doesn’t mean these adventures are going anywhere!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

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Letterio Mammoliti (he/him)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-06: Signal from the Electric Laboratory

Hello everyone!
My name is Letterio Mammoliti (he/him) and I wrote Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-06: Signal from the Electric Laboratory for the Year of Boundless Wonder. This adventure was truly a joy to write since it was set in one of my favorite regions, Ustalav! Without a doubt, the best part was creating the NPCs, in particular Revecka, and trying to tie some of their stories together. Besides, it is always great when you have a chance to put a few oozes and other mad experiments into an adventure!

My somewhat abandoned twitter is @Letterio_DM, where I should definitely be more active. I have worked on Starfinder Society Scenario #5-09: Counterfeit History and I have worked on Pathfinder Howl of the Wild, which was an amazing opportunity and a real blast!

As usual, I am grateful for the incredible patience and support of the editors, and it was inspiring to see amazing people working together for Pathfinder Howl of the Wild!

Alex Speidel (he/him)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-08: Battle for Star’s Fate

Greetings, Pathfinders. The stars are at rest, so I shall spare a moment for you.

My scenario was one of the last that Mike Kimmel assigned, and I’d been talking with him for a while about writing the first Crystal Key scenario because I liked the pitch of “we have to stop that weird alien from doing the things to peoples’ brains.” However, I was a little skittish about writing a high-level scenario, so I settled on Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-08: Battle for Star’s Fate, where I got to write about a sad automaton who wanted to look at the stars. As my favorite character is a cosmos oracle, I fell in love with Star immediately, and I’m so happy they’re living their best life in Golarion, right Shay? Right?

One thing I meant to talk about when the scenario was released was that I used the Deck of Endless NPCs to generate the friends you meet! Brinna, Croll, and Induren were all generated using the cards from the deck before I fleshed them out, which was a fun brainstorming exercise. Rasool was an NPC I loved in Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-21: In Pursuit of Water, one of my sleeper favorite scenarios, so I decided to bring him back, and Darius is a nod to my friends on the Foundry server who insist I promised them a carpenter class at some point. And for those who asked: the “tinker, tailor, soldier, spy” connection? Complete coincidence, honestly. The mind works in strange ways!

I do want to give a shoutout to our developers and editors. They’re the best in the business, and they stopped me from doing things like, and this is a direct quote, "creating an influence encounter larger than Bid for Alabastrine’s.” They saved you all, and I’m so grateful.

Catch me on Bluesky (@alexspeidel.bsky.social) or Mastodon (alexspeidel@dice.camp) or, y’know, here on the Paizo blog most weeks. Go now, the heavens speak to me once more.

Isis Wozniakowska (she/her)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-10: Arclord’s Abode

Hey everyone, I’m Isis Wozniakowska (she/her) and for Pathfinder this season, I wrote #4-10 Arclord’s Abode, the ending of the two-part story arc that I luckily got to share with fellow author Michael Bramnik. We put in a lot of work to make sure the two scenarios really felt like they tied into each other without alienating players who were only doing one of the two, and I think we both managed to achieve that in the best way. I love the character of our dear Arclord and how they develop across the two scenarios, and I had so much fun designing a Wizard’s manor gone haywire. Magic shenanigans are one of my favorite fantasy topics, and I put my heart into making this magic as wacky as I could.

On a more personal note, this scenario is one that I’m especially proud of looking back on because, while I was unaware at the time of writing it, my health condition was quickly starting to degrade from a condition I have that no one (including myself) realized was flaring back up until a couple months later. So, the fact that I finished it at all is an accomplishment I’m so proud of, and even more so seeing that it came out so well in the end. Organized Play has been a big part of my life since I came back to it as my main social outlet after I had my first hospitalization for this condition four years ago. So having this scenario be part of that ongoing comeback means a lot to me. So, I hope you all enjoy Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-10 Arclord’s Abode!

Art by Beto Lima

Jacob W. Michaels (he/him)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-11: Prisoners of the Electric Castle

Hi everyone, I’m Jacob W. Michaels (he/him), the author of Year 4’s Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-11: Prisoners of the Electric Castle. For inspiration, I initially turned to various escape heists in popular culture, but the adventure really came together when I realized I was writing Star Wars (Episode 4: A New Hope). You’re Obi-Wan disabling a “tractor beam,” and Luke, Han, and Chewie are rescuing Leia, and it fit perfectly (though Bremix is no Princess Leia, even if he would probably insult certain PCs’ height).

There are a few things I love about this adventure: I got to play with a couple of possible endings, where the climactic final fight depends on how you deal with challenges throughout the scenario. There are also a bunch of callbacks to first edition run-ins with Aslynn for longtime PFS players to find. (I’ve loved reactions when PFS veterans hear Thurl’s name!) My absolute favorite, though, is the moment players realize they’re 100% going to steal the Gale’s Claw. Those are the great moments you tell fellow gamers about and keep as a story for your PC.

This is my fourth adventure for Paizo, and I’m looking forward to No. 5. Thanks to everyone who lets me write them; the other amazing people who make them all come together—editing, fantastic art, layout, and everything else; and thank you for playing and having fun with them!

Matt Duval (he/him)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-14: Shattering Golden Chains

Hello! I was privileged to have Shay invite me to follow up on the fantastic fun of Letterio Mammoliti and Solomon St. John from Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-08: Foundation’s Price and Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-12: Fury’s Toll,respectively, and continue the adventures of the new Sedeq Lodge.

With the conflict with Fasiel ibn Sazadin coming to a head, I wanted to build on the groundwork laid in those prior adventures with Safa’s backstory and bring out Fasiel’s charming personality so players would be chomping for a chance to get a piece of him. It was also an opportunity to touch on the importance of properly wording wishes, which has been an ongoing problem for Fasiel since he was first introduced in Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-16: Freedom for Wishes. All the fun of diabolic contracts with a hefty topping of mischief.

There’s a little twist in the final encounter that I won’t spoil, but the player reaction to it is always delightful when I’ve run the scenario. The PCs have a lot of latitude on how to approach all the encounters, and it’s been great seeing what creative ideas players come up with.

I can’t wait to see where Safa’s adventures take the Pathfinders next!

I can be found on Twitter @sleepyfelix.

John Curtin (he/him)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-16: Dacilane Academy’s First Great Prank War

Hi, my name is John Curtin (he/him) and I had the profound honor of being asked to write Dacilane Academy’s First Great Prank War. Having a decade of experience working in schools and a long-seated love of mythology and folk tales, I loved being able to weave these parts of my life into my first Pathfinder Second Edition adventure, and the fact that I got to bring so much of my absurd sense of humor to bear was the cherry on top! My favorite part of this adventure was how silly I got to be. There are so many opportunities for chaotic fun when you’re writing fey shenanigans, and I really pushed myself to imagine what magical pranks could be and how they can get even wilder when fairy magic gets involved. I was also thrilled to return to Dacilane Academy and revisit the students and school—I hid plenty of references to the past adventures for the studious GM and Organized Players to uncover. I hope this adventure brings lots of laughs, and I can’t wait to hear the table stories that it spawns. Here at Paizo, I’ve got more Starfinder credits upcoming; you can read my words in the upcoming Starfinder Enhanced, and in true freelancer fashion, the projects I’m most excited to tell everyone about are still under NDA. To hear about my latest and greatest, you can follow me on Twitter @Curtin_Writes and explore the currently inactive @StarfinderFacts, at least until someone gets me a BlueSky invite.

Illustration by Nicolas Espinoz

Lysle Kapp (he/him)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-17: Trapping the Hag’s Claw

This past year saw the publication of my first two Starfinder Society adventures and also an adventure that took on a very personal meaning for me, Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-17: Trapping the Hag’s Claw. For this assignment, as I had done for each of the Starfinder adventures, I began by delving deep into the setting’s rich and detailed lore. The Pathfinders were to face a challenging and recurring threat from their past. The PCs were to drive a collective story about bringing a decisive end to one chapter of Society’s history and laying the groundwork for the next. During this writing process, I unexpectedly lost my mother to a stroke. Suddenly, the collective story I was writing for the PCs became my own.

Fortunately, like the PCs, I didn’t face the changing chapters alone. My developer, Shay Snow, was incredibly supportive and accommodating. Both old gaming friends and new stepped up to do some playtesting, providing much needed fun and laughter along with suggestions for improving the adventure. With this support and my own memories and losses from which to draw, I set about creating an inspiring adventure filled with numerous callbacks to previous adventures (spanning across two editions!). My hope is that the final adventure honors the work of those who came before me, lays a strong foundation for games to come, and foremost, provides players with hours of fun and excitement!

Dennis Muldoon (he/him)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-99: Blessings of the Forest

Greetings Pathfinders! My name is Dennis Muldoon (he/him). This year, I was delighted to co-author this year's interactive special, #4-99 Blessings of the Forest with Ivis K. Flanagan. I've long admired Ivis as an author, a GM, and a dedicated Organized Play volunteer (as well as a friend), and it was a privilege to get to work with her on this adventure. I'm really proud of what we came up with, and I hope you all have as much fun playing it as we did writing it. My favorite part was crafting a final confrontation to be compelling and challenging at all levels, including connections between the tiers to tie them together. I look forward to hearing the tales of the brave Pathfinders who take on this assignment! You can find me on Twitter (until Groetus finally comes for it) at @dkmuldoon. 

Ivis K. Flanagan (she/they)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-99: Blessings of the Forest

One of my favorite things to GM are multi-table specials. The energy that fills a room as everyone interacts with the same story, working towards common goals, is the epitome of what society play means to me. So, when Shay offered me the chance to co-write this year's special alongside veteran author Dennis Muldoon, I jumped at the chance!

I was excited to dive into the history of the society and help bring that forward to both new players and longtime veterans. What does it really mean to be a Pathfinder? Why have we stayed out of Kyonin for so long? And why do we want to be here now? These were all questions I explored while weaving my part of the story.

In addition to unannounced projects coming up, you can find some of my upcoming Paizo work in Starfinder Enhanced. Outside of here, I am working with some other cool people on an Adventure Path that will take you to the heart of Kong: Skull Island. Check it out on BackerKit if you want more details!

When not diving into the depths of esoteric Pathfinder lore, or digging my way through the word mines, I’m disguised as a Gifted Intervention teacher, or running quests for Auryn, my feline who has me wrapped around his paw. Virtually, you can find my list of credits on my Paizo profile, and you can connect with me on Twitter @NorseButterfly, Mastodon @NorthernDreamer@dice.camp, or Bluesky @NorthernDreamer.bsky.social, where I mostly muse about teaching, gaming, and politics. Feel free to reach out, as I am always on the lookout for cool projects and fun conversations!

Though Lost Omens Highhelm has been out for some time now, we wanted to take one last look at the book and the authors who made it possible. Dwarves are known for their fine crafts and the work these authors put into Highhelm would make any dwarf proud to display this book next to their finest blades and armor. As these authors share a bit about them and their work, consider letting them know if you like their work in the comments or following them on social media!

Luis Loza
Creative Director

Art by Mirco Paganessi

Caryn DiMarco

Hello, my name is Caryn DiMarco and I was thrilled to contribute The Depths section of Lost Omens: Highhelm. I had a lot of fun thinking about the different countercultural elements that might bubble up in a less-structured part of the city and how they would interact with the dominant customs that shape the rest of Highhelm.

If your PCs ever venture out of the main city, I hope they take the chance to learn the local legends (and perhaps rescue some local daredevils) at Diomira's Drop, splurge for a snail mucin facial at The Smelted Bank, or perhaps get in on the action at The Fight Pits!

Michelle Jones

What's up gamers! It's ya girl, Michelle Jones, here once again, back to provide you with the finest player options in all of King's Crown (and the only player options in King's Crown... cause I wrote them all). If you want weapons that literally deal death, then there's no topping Ornmarr's Fell Arms. If you want stealthy, political intrigue, there's plenty for that too. And for the GMs who love to confound and terrify their players, I have created a special gift in the bestiary, known as the Bloodstorm.

If you want to keep up with me, you can follow me on twitter @AleshaKills or check out my indie projects at Aleshakills.itch.io

Art by Sandra Posada

Matt Morris

I’m Matt Morris, and I’ve been lucky enough to do freelance writing for Pathfinder and Starfinder for several years now, working with Paizo and a few third-party companies, including Everybody Games and Rogue Genius Games.

I was excited to expand on the cultures, subcultures, and countercultures of the great city of Highhelm, as well as to bring the fiery god Angradd into Second Edition. My favorite contribution to the book was the gazetteer of the Five Kings Mountains; it has everything you need for an adventure right outside Highhelm's doors. If you need directions from Fort Dagh to Mount Gustus, I'm your guy!

I keep an up-to-date list of my work on my Paizo profile, and I’m always looking for interesting projects, so feel free to contact me if you are looking for a reliable writer!

When not writing, I’m teaching high school English near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Dave Nelson

Dave Nelson is a queer and neurodivergent freelancer who learned way too many facts about goats and mules writing for this book. He also wrote the Stalwart Defender, details on the dwarven pantheon, and the new animal companions.

Art by Sandra Posada

Mikhail Rekun

Приветствую, уважаемые читатели! My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and I’m a Ukrainian-American author and historian. You may know me from prior works such as Dark Archive,  Impossible Lands, and The Mwangi Expanse, alongside a couple dozen other Pathfinder works.

Here in Highhelm, the section I wrote up was limited to King's Crown. So, if you get yourself eaten by a very charming shadow ooze or caught in a nuclear explosion created by a dwarven apocalypse cult, blame me (I am not sorry).

When not working on bringing nukes into Golarion, I'm the Creative Director of the Luminant Age campaign setting, a post-apocalyptic weird fantasy swashbuckler. It also has nukes (we call it the omphalic flame), alongside mecha-cultists, psychic angel-trees, and whatever-it-is a Masqued Strix is. You can find us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LuminantA (assuming Twitter still exists when this goes up) or check out our published products at https://luminant-age.itch.io! And for a real treat, check out our forthcoming Kickstarter, Paragons of the Luminant Age, a book full of archetypes and NPCs—including the Esseweaver, written by the one and only Mark Seifter!

Erin Roberts

Hey y’all, I’m Erin Roberts and I had the absolute pleasure of writing the Stonebreach section of Highhelm (including the Stonebreach options). I’ve lived in cities my entire life and getting a chance to give some love and new depth to a fictional city was a real joy. I was especially excited to work on Stonebreach, the most working-class area of Highhelm, and try to capture the hardworking, hard-playing, sometimes hard-up but rarely hardhearted vibe that I envisioned being a part of daily life there.

In addition to being a city dweller, I’m a writer of stories and games. I usually have at least two projects going at any one time and was thrilled to be recognized this year as one of the winners of the Diana Jones Awards Emerging Designer program. I have lots of cool stuff coming up, including an article in the final issue of MCDM’s Arcadia (out in late July). To keep up with what I’m up to, visit me at linktr.ee/erinroberts.

Art by Sandra Posada

Shan Wolf

Hi, my name is Shan, and I helped write some of the Dwarven Gods, including one of my favorites: Trudd! I've been writing for Paizo for a bit now, and every project I get on is better and better. I truly hope ya'll enjoy Highhelm because it's an amazing book put together by amazing creators!

If you want to learn more about me or my work? I'm at @Fenrirs_Chosen on twitter!

And of course, we also want to thank our other authors for their great work on Highhelm!

• Piper Amatrudi: King’s Heart (page 60), King’s Heart Options (page 72), Defenders of Highhelm (page 106), Highhelm Gear (page 112), Pagulin (page 131)
• Dan Cascone: History (page 12)
• Dana Ebert: Notable Figures (page 38), From Dwarven Legends (page 114)
• Sen H.H.S.: Folgrit (page 119)
• Stephanie Lundeen: A King’s Wish (page 6), Highhelm Overview (page 8), Gazetteer Introduction (page 44)
• Liane Merciel: Trade and Industry (page 20), The Clans (page 30)
• Owen K.C. Stephens: Government, Law, and Crime (page 16)
• Andrew White: Draangvit (page 118), Magrim (page 122), Graul (page 130)

Art by Sammy Khalid

Hi gay happy Pride!

Pride month is a time to celebrate queer joy, a time to be out and proud about our existence. Pride is a protest and always has been. For every victory, like the Respect for Marriage Act or the removal of the ban against gay men donating blood, there are just as many setbacks to equality. States like Florida and Texas pass law after law banning discussion of queer issues in schools and gender-affirming medical care, which whips the outrage machine into a frenzy and leads to Target employees being attacked over the yearly Pride collection. The LGBTQ+ community wonders every day what new attacks on our freedom, our right to simply exist, await us in the news.

The theme of this year’s Pride is “Rage and Resilience.” In recognition and celebration of our wonderful community of LGBTQ+ staffers and freelance contributors, we asked them to submit something about what gives them strength. We hope you enjoy hearing from them and encourage our community members to share their own responses in the comments!

Happy Pride, everyone! May you all get a new set of rainbow dice that rolls as well as mine does.

Alex Speidel (he/him)
Organized Play Coordinator, known bisexual

The story proceeds dramatically, as it usually does

Solatra (credited as Sasha Laranoa Harving; nov/nov)

Age 15. I came out as pansexual. My community was fairly progressive, but I still encountered people who thought I should just pick an easier label.

Age 16. I came out as aromantic. Anyone who had met me knew I was a hopeless romantic, in love with love, and told me it was a phase.

Age 17. I came out as a trans lesbian. I was met with anger, derision, mourning someone who did not die.

As time went on I debated if any of those things were accurate at all. I felt anger at myself for not figuring it out earlier, at my community for not letting me express myself.

Fast forward. Age 27. I'm out and proud as a xenogender aromantic pansexual lesbian. It is the multiplicity of my existence, the fact that I can be all of these things at once and love with all my heart that makes me strong.

Find what makes you strong and let it lift you up, and when people tell you your identity is wrong, know that they are simply too weak to accept your truth. In adversity there is community. In love there is life. Be strong. Together.

James Jacobs (he/him)
Pathfinder Narrative Creative Director

I find strength from friends and family, but thinking it over, I’ve got a potentially unexpected answer to the question “What gives me strength?” Horror gives me strength. I understand that the genre isn’t for everyone, but it defines who I am. From a kid watching horror movies with my dad, or while reading horror comic books and novels given to me by my grandparents, or while writing horror stories for school, the genre of fear has always given me strength. Whenever I finished a story (be it a movie, novel, game session, campfire tale, or whatever), I felt stronger, especially while growing up amid horrors both small (those endless school bullies) and enormous (the threat of nuclear apocalypse). There’s a reason horror sees its greatest growth during times of despair—and when times are good, the genre falters. It’d be nice to live in a world where I didn’t need horror to feel strong, but in the meantime, horror helps me continue my journey toward that world. Especially when I get to share my love of horror with friends or family, so… huh. I guess friends and family ARE at the core of it all!

Carlos Cabrera (he/they)

It gives me strength/I am jealous that my World of Darkness character is doing multi-gender polyamory better than me right now.

Mios, the iconic thaumaturge. Mios is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.

Marlowe Miller (they/he)

As a genderfluid Caddo person who has had my gender questioned by strangers since I started middle school, I know that I'm able to make a change just by existing as a visibly queer person. My mere presence challenges the public's preconceived notions of trans people. It's scary sometimes, I won't lie—but it's unavoidable and a responsibility I must bear. I couldn't do it without the help of my chosen family, both here at home in Alabama and in other states.

People question why I stay here when the law is becoming more hostile by the day. I stay in Alabama because I love the queer communities that flourish here, and because I know that if there weren't so many trans and gender-nonconforming people down here in the South, our lawmakers wouldn't be trying to legislate us out of existence. I stay in Alabama because there are people down here who can't leave and we need to stand together to survive. I stay in Alabama because it's my home, and I'm determined to keep it and my communities safe from people who would see it all destroyed. What gives me strength and keeps me going? Community.

Rue Dickey (they/he/xe)
Marketing & Media Specialist

Hey, I’m Rue (they/he/xe), and I’m a mixed race, nonbinary, disabled creator, as well as Paizo’s Marketing & Media Specialist! I’ve been doing freelance writing with Paizo for about a year—my first writing credit is in our newly announced Pathfinder Howl of the Wild, and I’m new here on the marketing team! Above all else, my friends and family give me strength. I have the joy of living with my two wonderful spouses, Rina and Jalen, and I know that they’ll always be there for me just like I’m here for them. My parents are proud of me even if they don’t necessarily understand what I do. It’s wonderful to know that I’m surrounded by people who I love and who love me back. Another thing I find strength in is the goodness of people—and how our community is quick to come together to support those in need. Running two very successful fundraisers for trans rights didn’t just help monetarily; it also showed folx in Florida and Texas that we care about them worldwide. And we won’t let them be erased. We’re here, we’re queer, and we won’t be erased.

Eren Ahn (they/them primarily)

If I'd been asked this prompt last year, I would have written a lot of flowery prose about the importance of family and friendships. I still draw strength from my community; I love and appreciate all of the people I've been fortunate enough to build relationships with, both being born to them and forging them through time and long conversations at 1:47am.

That being said, this year I've reached a level of self-confidence and inner strength I never had before. For the first time, I feel focused and at ease enough to fight for myself in both my professional and personal life. I draw strength in being able to live my life in appreciation of myself, and I hope that's a sentiment many others can agree with. I find a lot of peace in knowing that I always have myself in my corner. I don't know if I would be as happy as I am now without them.

You'll see my work in both Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia books, and as of this being published, I'll have announced the first creature-focused module a friend and I are collaborating on! You can learn more about that on my Twitter @chromathesia.

Amber Stewart (she/her)

I’m Amber Stewart (she/her) and what gives me strength is seeing how my work and that of my peers serves as an idealized mirror for players to see themselves represented in-game, or as a playground to explore their identity in fantasy. Coming to recognize and accept where you fit on the spectrum of orientation and gender identity is a unique thing for each of us, and TTRPGs can be part of that process—it absolutely was for me. You might not immediately recognize that something in-game reflects part of who you are, and play can help unlock some of that identity and provide an avenue for you to explore it: I know that playing female PCs (at an ever-increasing frequency over time) was for me part of my journey to accepting myself as being trans, and then as an outlet to explore that identity well before anyone in my family but my partner was aware.

Now, I might play to my own experiences more than not in my content, but with a broad freelance community, we get a LOT of voices represented. It’s cool, inspiring, and wholesome to see and I’m ever prouder of this community with each passing year.

Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her)

Hello! I'm Kendra Leigh Speedling, bisexual (and demisexual) disaster and frequent freelancer for Paizo. You may have spotted my name on several books recently, including Pathfinder Treasure Vault and To Defy the Dragon, a Starfinder standalone mech adventure that might help tide you over until Mechageddon!.

It’s a tough time to be queer, especially for our trans and nonbinary friends and family. I’m not as recognizably queer as many others, which has advantages and disadvantages. I could stop talking about certain aspects of myself and pass as straight, but I don’t want to. My pithy answer to what gives me strength is spite. My more heartfelt answer is community, both among LGBTQ+ folks and allies in the Paizosphere and among my other queer friends. The bigots are vocal, but acceptance is increasing overall, particularly in younger generations. I think the recent backlash against us is driven by their fear that they're losing.

Sometimes I come across historical photos online, grainy black-and-white images of queer couples, of people proudly wearing clothes associated with a different gender, and I feel a sense of community across time. We have always been here. We will always be here. And we are worth celebrating.

Brent Bowser (he/they)

Growing up in a small farm town, I used to think there was something wrong with me because I was the only one. Gaming helped me find myself and others like me. I've volunteered with the Organized Play campaign for over ten years, and the caring, generous, accepting friends I've made saved my life. And if bigots and jerks don't feel welcome in Organized Play, then I've done my job.

Jessie "Aki” Lo (she/her)

My name is Jessie Lo, better known as Aki/Akino, and I’m a Bisexual Asian-Canadian freelance artist, writer, and community content creator.

Tons of things bar me from opportunities to create within this space, but what I find that gives me strength is spite. Spite is my biggest motivator, it empowers me to persevere when I feel like I can’t. As a queer woman of colour, I already live in a world where I have to work harder to get by. As an Asian woman, I am constantly fighting the stereotype of being obedient and quiet. However, I genuinely could care less of what others think, so as long as I succeed and continue to uplift marginalized voices with my work, like co-producing my multi-award winning Pathfinder Second Edition podcast Goblets and Gays. It's incredibly surprising what a healthy amount of spite can do for your motivation. Truthfully, I’m just a loud little hater who can find ways to empower and support myself and my community.

If you’d like to see more queer, spite-fueled projects, please continue to support me. https://twitter.com/akinomii_art

Caryn DiMarco (she/they)

I'm Caryn DiMarco (she/they), and my freelance work from Paizo ranges from Pathfinder Society adventures to contributions to the Lost Omens and rulebook lines. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to work with a team of freelancers, developers, editors, and more that represents the richness and complexity of the LGBTQ+ community.

Those spaces we make for ourselves and each other are a key part of what keeps me resilient. I find it easy to get overwhelmed by bad news (especially when it's so widespread). When I do, I'm able to remind myself that the small actions we take to make people feel welcome and safe make a difference. Whether that's making sure our settings represent the diversity of our world, taking steps to keep the games we play inclusive, or simply sharing the bits of LGBTQ+ culture that sustain us, all of our individual efforts become something bigger and more powerful when combined.

Grady Wang (he/him)

Growing up, the pervasive message about strength was that it comes from within—the action hero who goes it alone, the player character who levels up after each struggle, the message that boys need to suck it up. As I grow older, I’ve learned that personal strength only carries you so far. True strength comes from opening yourself up to others, even if it also makes you vulnerable. For me, strength comes from community.

I am so lucky to have found an amazing community in tabletop. From the inclusivity at cons to the thoughtful and empathetic team at Paizo to the generosity of my fellow freelancers, I have learned and grown so much. My goal is to give back and encourage the same behaviors that inspire me to stand up for my beliefs and live my truths. One such way is through the Queerfinder zine series on Pathfinder Infinite, which aims to introduce queer-identifying aspiring designers and artists to veterans in the industry. Another is working with the Storytelling Collective to provide resources for designers of all backgrounds. If your dream is to work in tabletop, please feel free to reach out. We are all stronger together.

Lovely Ria is a Pact Worlds pop icon chosen by Desna. Ria is nonbinary and uses xe/xem/xer pronouns (pronounced “zee,” “zem,” and “zer”) to represent xer genderfluidity and connection to the queerness of the alien cosmos. Ria’s wild travels took xem all the way to Cynosure, home of goddess Desna

Jenny Jarzabski (she/her/xe)
Starfinder Senior Developer

Hi, I’m Jenny Jarzabski. Working with the Starfinder team is one of the things that fills me with pride and fuels my hope every day that a better world is possible.

When encountering a Starfinder NPC (nonplayer character), you can assume that character is queer unless explicitly stated otherwise. This is only partly a joke considering the myriad weird and wonderful celebrations of queer identities in the setting.

Examining society’s gender constructs and ultimately turning them upside down is a long and proud tradition for sci-fi creators. As we create infinite fictional worlds, we imagine humanity’s own infinite possibilities. Here on Earth many people recognize multiple genders in humans, though the truth is more complex and subtle even than “male,” “female,” and “nonbinary.” In the fictional worlds of Starfinder, understanding has progressed even further. Add aliens to the mix and it gets super interesting!

For example: maraquoi, a fur-covered simian species, have seven genders that each play a different role in reproduction. Shirrens—an insectoid, choice-obsessed people who broke away from the destructive Swarm—present three genders: female, host, and male. Astrazoans are shapeshifting echinoderms with no inherent concept of gender, and synthetic lifeforms like anacites and androids can choose to adopt humanoid gender roles and pronouns or create their own.

I’m proud of my personal contributions to our queer cosmos, not to mention the fantastic additions to the Starfinder setting made by dozens of queer creators. To those creators: I’m honored to help amplify your voices and develop your work. Because of you, the Starfinder multiverse is a more beautiful, diverse reality.

Starfinder is set far in Pathfinder’s future, in an era when many alien cultures have already achieved peace and prosperity, and social progression has advanced beyond the norm here on Earth. This vibrant reality is imperiled by threats from both beyond the stars and in their own backyards, but even in the face of these dangers, a Starfinder character can proudly be who they are. And that’s why Starfinder’s worlds are worth fighting for, just like ours.

Dustin Knight (he/him)
Starfinder Developer

After years of contemplating the definition of love, I find an endless source of strength in the seemingly endless journey to completely learn what it means to love oneself. It might seem a little intense to bring this up in a blog post for a tabletop RPG company, but I couldn’t have made it this far on my continuing journey toward self-acceptance and self-respect without these games, this community, and these annual blog posts. The commitment to love expressed and confirmed time and time again by this community has helped me learn who I am and accept that with pride instead of guilt or shame. There is an unparalleled cathartic magic to roleplaying and storytelling, and I draw endless strength from the idea that my contributions to our hobby may help others down their path of self-acceptance and self-love.

Katrina Hennessy (she/they)

I hesitated to write this, not only because life is at its chaotic best, but because I feel I don’t belong. I’m not really a part of the LGBTQ+ community, yet I’m not not part of it. For most of my life I knew I didn’t fit, but I played my part anyway. I am a happily married woman with adult offspring, but I still don’t fit in The Box where most of society automatically places me.

The Paizo community provided strength and support to learn by allowing me to witness others on their own path, providing hints and a direction to look. I think I now know which labels apply, but it doesn’t really matter. All of this has helped me better accept myself and feel less different. I won’t say normal, as I’m not sure that is a word that should ever be applied to any human being. Everything about humans (and probably most living creatures) exists on a spectrum.

So, if you aren’t sure where you belong on the spectrum, that’s OK. If you want to poke around and try to work it out, this is a great community to be in while you do so. No obligations to make announcements, fly flags, or anything else. Nothing wrong with doing so and please accept and respect those who do. Being quietly personal about your status also deserves respect.

Andrew Mullen (he/him)

I’m Andrew, and a few months ago I realized I’m bi! That was sort of a weird thing to have happen, seeing as I’m a dude in his late 30s with a wife and a toddler. I guess when society assumes you’re heterosexual, and your attractions mostly match up with that, then you assume you’re straight, too.

I draw a lot of strength from my family. When I told my wife, Melissa, about the realization, she was just glad I’d discovered something about myself. As we talked more, she projected a very uncomplicated and sincere sense of affirmation. What better than that, when you’re open and vulnerable in unfamiliar territory? My parents and close friends were similarly supportive!

You know how the right acts like it owns the “traditional” family? Well, queer folks of all stripes are out here having families that look like a 1950s all-American ad. It’s very satisfying to disprove and reject bigotry by being myself.

Alexi J. Greer (they/them)

I remember living in Orlando in 2021, with my polycule and gathering of queer and trans friends. I didn’t know what would happen in the next two years, but there was something in the air that made me pause that summer. “I think we should seriously consider moving up near your family in New England,” I told my fiancé. I worked through illness and sleepless nights to make the move work, but it did. Then it wasn't even three months before I was messaging my friends down in FL. "Stay strong and keep going. We're going to make a plan to bring you up here."

What gives me strength are the people I care about and my determination to see them happy. And my confidence that we can fight for happiness; not just our own, but others' too. Happiness should be chased, not negotiated for as if it were a commodity to be rationed out. Evil pretends to represent the majority, but it's a boldfaced lie. There's a wider world that wants you here, with us, and shining as your full self. And if you're in need, I know I'm not alone when I vow to support you too.

Pathfinder Lost Omens Firebrands is here! Just like with any rebellion, there were a lot of people that put in work to make this book possible. Among them are the wonderful authors for Firebrands. We wanted to give them a chance to share their excitement for the book, as well as some information about themselves and their projects. If you’ve enjoyed these authors’ work, let them know in the comments below or by following them on social media!

James Beck

Hello, my name is James Beck, a Jewish LGBTQ+ freelance writer, and I wrote Passenger and the Fire’s Finest faction! You might know me either as one of the members of Eldritch Osiris Games, which is a workers’ co-op publishing house; Osiris on deadly d8; or @geekjames513 on Twitter, where you can find me geeking out heavily with the PF2e community! I was so honored to be working on a book that let me explore themes of freedom and exploration and I hope you enjoy the book as much as I have. Everyone on the project was super supportive and awesome to work with and it was a true honor to be a part of the process!

Art by Roberto Pitturru

Rigby Bendele (they/them)

In Firebrands, I was excited to revisit the gods Picoperi and Thisamet for Pathfinder Second Edition, who are azata empyreal lords. During this process, I thought a lot about what type of people would focus their worship on these deities. After all, deities devoted to pranks and celebrations aren’t as all-encompassing as gods of community or commerce! Thinking about the dangerous lives of Firebrands was a perfect framing for these deities since celebrations and merriment are necessary to keep up the hard work of revolution. I also took a dive into the pirate’s life with Besmara and the Firebrands operations in the Shackles. Again, my focus was on thinking about how the life of a revolutionary Firebrand would intersect with life on the seas and shores. This section was a joy to write, and I hope the salt-crusted Shackles operations provide campaign hooks for your own adventures—be they against the Red Mantis, Chelaxian incursions, or the environment.

Jessica Catalan

Hi everyone! My name’s Jessica Catalan and I’m the Starfinder Society Developer and a freelance author who primarily writes for the Pathfinder and Starfinder RPGs. For Pathfinder Lost Omens Firebrands, I wrote the Life of a Firebrand and Vaunter’s Carnival sections, notable figures Iqani Truthspinner and the Mockingbird, the gods Chaldira, Grandmother Spider, Marishi, Milani, and Nivi Rhombodazzle, avatar statistics, and the spells. I’m particularly fond of Iqani Truthspinner, as well as Tanglehop, a character inspired by my daughter who you’ll find in Vaunter’s Carnival. I’m incredibly proud to have been a part of Firebrands, and I hope that the love and enthusiasm that everyone poured into this book resonates with you and your fellow gamers. Take care of each other out there. The world could use a few more Firebrands!

Art by José Luis Islas López

Dana Ebert (she/her)

Working on Firebrands was an amazing adventure, during which I fell in love with so many of the colorful characters I got to create for it. While Ayaanala, Hollow Hart, and Sahru Sital stand out as some of my favorites, Ishii Bunji will always be close to my heart, because I created him as a love letter to the transmasc community. I started out knowing I wanted to show that this wholesome chubby trans guy could also be immensely powerful and desirable, and with each successive draft he gradually transformed from an insatiable warrior into someone whose strength comes from kindness and inner joy. A kind of strength that, I’d like to think, can defy tyrants. Thomas Coughlin is also an important character to me, for far more personal reasons. He was named after a very dear friend of mine, who passed away shortly before this project started. Thomas loved roleplaying games, and being able to name a character after him in a book like this felt like the best way to honor his memory. All my love and thanks to this amazing community, this writing team, and the staff at Paizo, who continue to make Pathfinder one of the best TTRPGs in the world. Cheers!

Sen H.H.S

Hi everyone, it’s Sen H.H.S.! Yeah, I’ve been popping up a lot lately because there are just so many fun things to write about and create for Golarion. For Firebrands, other than writing about their relationships with other organizations or nations, I also wrote Jin Li, a new God of Dares who’s a carp that leaped so high that he turned into a dragon! In fact, according to my chat records, he leaped so hard that my computer crashed while writing about him. I am most likely making and retweeting a lot of memes about him after the release, which you shall be able to find on Twitter @Senhhs. See you all there and three cheers to the Firebrands book release!

Art by Firat Solhan

Matt Morris

I'm Matt Morris, and I’ve been lucky enough to do freelance writing for Pathfinder and Starfinder for several years now, working with Paizo and a few 3rd-party companies, including Everybody Games and Rogue Genius Games. I managed to smuggle some information about Firebrand activities in Galt and their other campaigns around the Inner Sea into this book. (I used the hidden pockets in this fashionable jacket! Thanks, Yelayne, and you other gods watching over chaotic shenanigans.) I keep an up-to-date list of my work on my Paizo profile, and I’m always looking for interesting projects, so feel free to contact me if you are looking for a reliable writer! When not writing, I’m teaching high school English near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Jessica Redekop (she/they/he)

Hello! I’m Jess. You might recognize me from the Treasure Vault author’s blog last month. In Firebrands, I wrote Arshea, Silverspice Zzapo, and the new feats in the Other Archetypes section. I think they speak for themselves, but if you somehow aren’t sold on Firebrands yet let me answer the question on everybody’s mind: yes, there are new feats for the dandy archetype. Look forward to more of my work in Rage of Elements when it releases later this year. Outside of writing, you can find me on the Know Direction network as a cohost on the Legend Lore podcast and cast member on the upcoming Tavern Rats actual play podcast. I’ll also be a judge for this year’s RPG Superstar competition. To keep up with everything I’m doing, you can read my tweets on the tweeter, where I'm @tectonomancer.

Art by Roberto Pitturru

Shahreena Shahrani

Marhaba, apa khabar semua? Hello, how’re y’all doing? Shahreena here, and I helped write the Faith section of Lost Omens Firebrands. I am fascinated by communities of people and their cultural practices, and had a lot of fun thinking and writing about how they relate with others in this fantastical setting. Speaking of faith, to fellow Pathfinders fasting and celebrating this month, Ramadan Kareem! When not gaming, I teach regional and cultural studies of the Middle East and North Africa, and deliver lectures/presentations on hot topics to government agencies and personnel. I also enjoy working on retelling world folklore on my YouTube channel: Storytime with Auntie Nina. If you’d like to contact me about working together, guest/public speaking opportunities, and/or learn more about my projects, you can reach me at: shahreena_s@yahoo.com.

We also want to thank our other authors for their great work on Firebrands!

• Joan Hong: Ranik Helt (page 46), Firebrand Backgrounds (page 75), Magic Items (page 84), Services (page 92)
• Aaron Lascano: Beacons across the Inner Sea (page 6), Campaigns (page 98), Katapesh (page 118)
• Luis Loza: History (page 8), Factions (page 24), Nightwave (page 28), Devrin Arlos (page 40), Karthival (page 43), Options Introduction (page 74), Firebrand Training (page 76), Equipment (page 82)
• Ron Lundeen: Other Groups (page 34), Mwangi Expanse (page 104), Old Cheliax (page 108)
• Stephanie Lundeen: Silver Ravens (page 32), Shensen (page 48), Lubaiko (page 62)
• Erin Roberts: Salt Breakers (page 30), Shimali Manux (page 49), Vulmia Manux (page 51)
• Michael Sayre: Firebrand Training (page 76)
• Ruvaid Virk: Other Archetypes (page 78)

Toward the end of last year, Paizo went through several departmental reorganizations to more accurately reflect the types of products we create and allow various subject matter experts to work more closely with the peers whose efforts mirror or complement their own. We’ve also had some new additions to the team (and more to come, so stick around through the end of this blog) whose names we’d like you to know. I’ll let everyone, including me, introduce themselves in their own words!

Jason Bulmahn

Hello everyone, I am Jason Bulmahn and I am the Director of Game Design at Paizo, in charge of the entire Rules and Lore team. I first got my start with Paizo back in 2004 as the Managing Editor of Dragon magazine but then served as the Lead Designer for the first edition of the Pathfinder RPG. Today, I work on setting the goals and design objectives of our games, envision major projects that won’t even be announced for several years, coordinate game ideas with our partners, and work to ensure that the team has everything they need to succeed.

At night, I leave behind my guise as a mild-mannered game designer and turn into… yet another game designer, working on my own Pathfinder 2E setting called Eventide. I also tinker with other games under the name Minotaur Games, creating a zombie apocalypse hack of Pathfinder 2E called Hopefinder. You can find me streaming Wrath of the Righteous most Tuesday nights on Twitch and playing other games on Saturday afternoons (twitch.tv/JasonBulmahn). I can be found on almost every social media platform (just search for Jason Bulmahn), but I am most active on twitter @JasonBulmahn.

Michael Sayre

We meet again! I’m Michael Sayre, the Design Manager for the Rules & Lore team. My direct reports include Creative Director Luis Loza, Senior Designer James Case, Senior Developer Eleanor Ferron, and Developer Landon Winkler. I coordinate between them, our Lead Designer Logan Bonner, and the other teams in and beyond the creative department to plan and facilitate the creation of hardcover rulebooks, Lost Omens books, and a variety of other product types. I also do design and development work, leading and writing for those same books. You can follow me on Twitter as @MichaelJSayre1.

Logan Bonner (he/him)

Hello, out there! I’m Logan Bonner, the Pathfinder Lead Designer. That means I’m on overwatch for the game rules as a whole, looking for opportunities to introduce new systems and options and to make sure they come out at a pace that’s neither too slow to be exciting nor so fast it overwhelms folks and makes it too hard to keep up. Also, to make sure all the pieces fit together well. Rules sustainability and consistency, basically. One of our big goals with Second Edition was to give the books in our Rulebook line a better grounding in the lore of the world, and people have been really enjoying all we’ve added to make their characters and games feel more immersive. I’m looking forward to this new team structure, which will let us blend the story, world, and rules in more fun ways.

You can find me on Twitter, where I’m @loganbonner, or occasionally on Mastodon as @loganbonner@dice.camp.

Luis Loza

Hi, everyone! I'm Luis Loza, Creative Director for the Rules & Lore team. You might now my work from helping create the Lost Omens line of settings book, and I'm going to continue helping shepherd the setting as Creative Director. I look forward to some of the exciting events we have planned in the future of the Lost Omens setting and I hope you'll enjoy the ride! I live on a variety of places online, but the easiest spots to find me are on my twitter account (@donatoclassic) and my personal website.

James Case

I’m James Case, Senior Designer here at Paizo. My responsibilities include proposing, leading, and developing new rulebooks; designing new classes, subsystems, and supporting products; and training freelancers and new members of the team. You can follow me on Twitter at @toriariaria.

Eleanor Ferron (she/her)

Hi, I'm Eleanor Ferron, a Senior Developer on the Rules & Lore team. I work on the Lost Omens line with Luis Loza to bring the world and setting of Golarion to life!

Landon Winkler (they/them)

Hi, I’m Landon Winkler, a Developer on the Rules & Lore team. I’m new to the team, so still very much learning the ropes. Mostly, I just want to create fun creatures and other bits of stories for everyone to use. I love playing support, so getting these things polished up for your table is a great way to do that behind the scenes. On the off chance you need to get in touch with me, I can be reached at @landonwinkler as long as Twitter lasts. Cheers!

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If you’re interested in joining this team, we’ve actually opened up two new positions! We’re looking to hire one new designer and one new developer for the team, whose responsibilities will be in helping us plan and create the new content produced by the Rules & Lore team. While industry experience is strongly preferred for people interested in these positions, these are not intended to be senior positions, and we do have room for talented and interested parties who are earlier in their TTRPG careers and might have great ideas but need a little more training and experience. You can see the specific requirements of these positions here on our Careers page.

Hello!
I’m Michael Sayre, the design manager here at Paizo and one of the cover authors for Pathfinder Treasure Vault alongside Mark Seifter and Kendra Leigh Speedling. I was the voice for both the plucky kobold Purepurin and the mighty dragon Valashinaz, as well as the writer for the new base weapons, story-based crafting, and a wide variety of other items scattered throughout the book, like the new thrower’s bandolier previewed in the “Varmints in the Vaults” blog.

As proud as I am of the work I did on Treasure Vault, I’m even more proud of the freelancers whose contributions made this book possible, so we’re taking this opportunity to let some of them tell you a little about themselves and the work that they did on this book. Without further ado…

Mark Seifter

I'm Mark Seifter, Roll for Combat director of game design, and Paizo's former design manager as well as one of the four leads on the creation of Pathfinder Second Edition. In Treasure Vault, I wrote a variety of topics, but the parts I'm most excited about are the crafting variant rules and nature crafting sections, including the magic gardens! Check out Arcane Mark, my Twitch stream with Linda Zayas-Palmer, Tuesdays at 7 PM Pacific, and Saturdays at 10 AM Pacific at https://www.twitch.tv/arcanemark, as well as my Roll for Combat live YouTube stream with Stephen Glicker at https://www.youtube.com/c/RollForCombat/.

Discord: https://tiny.cc.arcanemark
Twitter: @markseifter

Kendra Leigh Speedling

Hello, all! I'm Kendra Leigh Speedling, and I'm one of the cover authors on Treasure Vault! My sections were: alchemical foods, artifacts, cursed/intelligent items, grimoires, missives (with Jessica Catalan), relics, spellhearts, staves, and wondrous consumables. I love cool loot, so this book was awesome to work on! I can't pick a favorite item, but the cooperative waffles have apparently been making a splash, so I'll tell you I gave them that form to celebrate the return of the mithral waffle iron in PF2. I played a PF1 sorcerer who not only bought one, but liked it so much that he put one of his scant two skill ranks every level into Craft (waffle). And he always made the party breakfast.

Twitter: @KendraLS

Jessica Catalan

Hi everyone! My name's Jessica Catalan and I’m the Starfinder Society Developer and a freelance author who primarily writes for Pathfinder and Starfinder. For Treasure Vault, I contributed to the wands and missives sections. Treasure Vault was a delightful, collaborative book to work on, and I look forward to seeing all the new tricks, treats, and treasures it contains unleashed on gaming tables! Enjoy!

Andrew Geels

Hi there! I wrote for Treasure Vault’s specific magic shields, alchemical bombs, and elixirs sections. This is the fourth Paizo book I’ve written for, and probably the one I’m most excited to see get used! Magic shields were a blast to write, especially with new shield types. The starfall shield in particular is one of my favorites (turning into a meteor is cool), but I also love entries like the warding escutcheon, and the door-themed stone tower shield that becomes a door or a stone tower. Making new bombs and elixirs with weird niches was a fun challenge. I can’t wait to hear stories of trueshape bombs turning the tide against werewolves, or numbing and soothing tonics pulling parties through deadly fights.

Twitter: @PinBarbarian Website: pinstripedbarbarian.com

Yvonne Hsiao

Happy Treasure Vault Day everyone! This is Sen.H.H.S., you friendly Taiwanese TTRPG writer, back again with-- you guessed it-- more fulus! You can find the first set of fulus I wrote back in Secrets of Magic. After you've showered Treasure Vault with love, don't forget to check on recent and upcoming publications to which I have also contributed, such as Lost Omens: Firebrands, Starfinder Ports of Call, and last but not least, Rage of Elements! To see what else I'm hyping up these days, you can follow me on—

Instagram: senhhs_writes
Twitter: @SenHHS
Website:https://senhhs.carrd.co/

Dustin Knight

Greetings, Pathfinders! Since writing weapon runes for Treasure Vault, I've become the Developer for Starfinder. And while my focus has shifted to the other side of the Gap, I'm so happy to keep busy as a freelancer and Pathfinder Infinite contributor during what free time I can scrape together. Feel free to hit me up on twitter, where I can't wait to hear about all the shenanigans caused by the nifty items in this book (especially the authorized rune).

Twitter: @WarlockKitsune

Jacob W. Michaels (he/him):

Fire burn and caldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the caldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog.

Hi everyone, I'm Jacob W. Michaels, and I'm hoping the potions I created for Treasure Vault won't lead you to your doom, like the witches did Macbeth. It was a lot of fun adding some potions to the mix, and playing with options outside the traditional spells-in-a-jar formula. If you like these items, check out my work on Pathfinder Society or other rule books, Adventure Paths and Lost Omen titles, and raise a glass—of Cayden's Brew or some nonalcoholic potion of your choice—to Valashinaz and the wonders of her hoard.

Matt Morris

I’m Matt Morris, and I’ve been lucky enough to do freelance writing for Pathfinder and Starfinder for several years now, working with Paizo and a few 3rd-party companies, including Everybody Games and Rogue Genius Games. I was excited to trade some magic weapons to the mighty Valashinaz! (I'm still waiting for the kobolds she promised would clean out my garage, though.) I keep an up-to-date list of my work on my Paizo profile, and I’m always looking for interesting projects, so feel free to contact me if you are looking for a reliable writer! When not writing, I’m teaching high school English near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Website: https://mattmorris.carrd.co/#

Jessica Redekop (she/they/he):

Hi! I'm Jess, and I wrote some fun new catalysts for Treasure Vault. I hope you have fun with them! My favorite is the Euphoric Loop, which lets you get a little more out of charm during combat encounters where you know the spell can't last. If you'd like to see more of my work, I also wrote the items in the Material Changes shop of Lost Omens Grand Bazaar, and perhaps later this year you will even see my name in, on, or generally just around Rage of Elements...?

Twitter: @tectonomancer

Mari Tokuda

Hi! My name is Mari Tokuda, and I worked on the mystical, magical oils of the Treasure Vault. Uhhh, so who am I, anyway? I love dogs and have an irrational fear of anthropomorphic food. What? It's creepy!

Professionally, I'm an ENNIE Award-winning writer (I was one small part of the team that won 2022's Best Writing category). Mostly, I'm a big, old nerd who specializes in creating games and fiction. Do you like tabletop games? You must if you're here. Well, I've worked on a bunch of them! Do I love them? So. Much. Let's be friends! You can find me on-

Facebook: mari.tokuda.writes
Twitter: @MariTokuda
Website: https://www.maritokuda.com/

We’re in the heart of Black History Month! In honor of Black excellence in the tabletop industry and beyond, here are some wonderful creators in our community to introduce themselves and share some of the amazing work they’ve done.

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Isis Wozniakowska (she/her)

Hey all, Isis Wozniakowska here, I wrote Starfinder Society Scenario #3-21 and #5-04 as well as the upcoming Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-10, and I've done work for Pathfinder Secrets of Magic, Pathfinder Dark Archive, Starfinder Interstellar Species, and more to come.

I got into this whole TTRPG writing thing by answering an open call for writers of color, which is not the kind of thing I can advise when a lot of people I know ask me how to get into this. It's something I think about a lot, how I sometimes feel like I've gotten more chances as a writer lately because I can answer these specialized calls for people who come from specific backgrounds. It's taken me months to come to terms with that possibility of having my own privileges recently as the creative world tries to diversify its talents. And it's been especially complicated for me as someone who spent her formative years living with a white European father in a nicer city than people with my skin color often do.

But I think these days I've finally learned that these opportunities are important because they're the kinds of opportunities that my mother's family couldn't have had years ago, and that my dad as an immigrant never had the luxury of being offered either. So I'm here, I'm creating fantasies and cultures in a world as diverse as our own. And I'm proud to call myself a Black writer or a Mixed writer or whatever other adjectives need to be thrown in front of there to remind myself that I'm here building a name for myself and my family going forward. And I can be proud of the fact that I get to have opportunities that people like myself would have never had in generations before me.

If you want to find more of me, my Twitter is a @wozenstein, and you can always keep an eye out for more Paizo work from me in the future.

Shan Wolf (he/they)

Hi everyone, I am a freelance game designer and contributing author on both the Pathfinder and Starfinder lines. My credits include Starfinder Bounty #4: Poacher’s Prize, the Adventure Toolbox for book 1 of the Starfinder Drift Hackers Adventure Path, the Starfinder Ports of Call hardcover, the Adventure Toolbox for book 2 of the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path, and the upcoming Lost Omens Highhelm sourcebook. My primary focus as a writer is in Black and Indigenous liberation narratives, monster creation, archetype creation, history and lore, and writing revolutionary and inherently anti-colonialist themes.

Besides all that, I am a huge Pathfinder and Starfinder booster. I love these games as they help bring to life amazing fantasies about being heroes and saving the world, or universe, and that is always something I’m interested in doing, or just talking about in general.

If you’re interested in my work, or hearing my views, feel free to take a look at my twitter @Fenrirs_Chosen and you will see an outspoken and passionate advocate for Black liberation, and making the tabletop space more open, safe, and inclusive.

Erin Roberts (she/her)

Happy Black History Month, y'all! I'm Erin and in addition to being a prose writer and a creative writing teacher, I've been a freelancer for Paizo for a couple of years—how time flies! I've written for a few Lost Omens books, bringing things like Impossible Cake (Pathfinder Lost Omens Grand Bazaar), the Tunwalkers (Pathfinder Lost Omens Knights of Lastwall), reflections on time from the Ladies of Shadow tea and assassination guild (Pathfinder Lost Omens Travel Guide), and a look at the artists and buildings of Golarion (Travel Guide) to their pages. I've also had fun in space, writing a bounty (Starfinder Bounty #3: A Green Place) and adding to vlaka lore (Starfinder Interstellar Species).

Outside of the Paizoverse, I’ve written for D&D (Journeys Through The Radiant Citadel), World of Darkness (Hunter: The Reckoning Fifth Edition) and several awesome 3PP and indie projects (including Anansi’s Tapestry of Lives and Moonlight on Roseville Beach). What’s next? I’m a game writer for a future Foundry VTT project and you can catch my freelance work in projects like Pathfinder Lost Omens Firebrands, Pathfinder Lost Omens Highhelm, and other fun places not yet revealed by the mythical powers that be. I also chat with a bunch of writing folks every week as one of the hosts of the Writing Excuses podcast, new every Sunday. I usually share whatever shenanigans I'm up to next on Twitter at @nirele, so feel free to follow me there!

Those of you excited for a campaign filled with strange shenanigans have no doubt been paying attention to the Gatewalkers Adventure Path. If you get to play in this one, you’ve probably already picked up your free Gatewalkers Player’s Guide and started coming up with your character. If you’re planning to GM this campaign, you’re probably eagerly awaiting the first volume to hit your local game store’s shelves so you can get to prepping.

As you all prepare to dive into the mysteries, dangers, and friendships this Adventure Path offers, let’s take a look behind the curtain and get to know the authors who brought this trio of adventures to life.

James Sutter
Pathfinder Adventure Path #187: The Seventh Arch

When Gatewalkers architect Patrick Renie hit me up to write for this AP, I didn’t think I had time. Then I heard the pitch, and I made time. As the author of the Pathfinder First Edition Campaign Settings The First World and Distant Worlds, as well as a former Starfinder Creative Director, I've always been a sucker for Pathfinder’s fey realm and other planets, and the chance to write an adventure that visits both was simply irresistible. As soon as I finished writing, I immediately turned around and launched my own Gatewalkers campaign, and I hope your group does as much laughing and screaming as ours!

If you’re interested in checking out more of my TTRPG work, you can find it at jameslsutter.com —but my big release this year is actually a young adult romance novel! Darkhearts is a queer rom-com all about falling in love with the boy who stole your chance at rock stardom, and you can preorder it now!

Jason Keeley
Pathfinder Adventure Path #188: They Watched the Stars

Hi, folks! I'm Jason Keeley, game developer person and author of the second volume of the Gatewalkers Adventure Path. I'm a big fan of "weird stuff" in adventures, so I was happy to contribute to an Adventure Path that is thematically linked to the "weird stuff" book, Pathfinder Dark Archive. Moreso than any other adventure I've written for Paizo, “They Watched the Stars” is a bit of a road trip, so I got to include a bunch of strange vignettes the players can encounter on their way from point A to point B.

I would love to tell you more, but I don't want to spoil the surprises in store. I will say that one of my favorite bits is the initial encounter with a halfling ghost pirate captain and the new construct I designed that protects their derelict ship. How's that for a tease? If you want to talk about more weird stuff with me, you can find me on Twitter @herzwesten. And maybe check out my free game about cereal mascots, This Compleat Breakfast, available on itch.io here!

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Adventure Path #189: Dreamers of the Nameless Spires

Hi there! I’m James Jacobs, one of Paizo’s creative directors and the author of the Gatewalkers finale! I came to this project pretty late in the process but was delighted to join forces with “TEAM J.” The plot of Gatewalkers—with its ties to elves, aliens, and conspiracies—was really up my alley, but particularly the last adventure that heads into the frozen north. Horror and cold go together perfectly, and being able to dive into inspirations like Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, John Carpenter’s The Thing, and the quest for the Northwest Passage in Dan Simmons’s The Terror was a blast to say the least, as well as drawing inspiration from real-world explorations like Shackleton’s search for the south pole. And finally, extra thanks to Michael Sayre for help and for getting things started with the heart of this particular story; I hope I did it justice!

...I and Wes Schneider took over the big conference room at Paizo and began to work out what Pathfinder Adventure Path was going to do to follow up its first official campaign for the Pathfinder Roleplaying game. We knew we wanted to do a sandbox-based Adventure Path (in part because we were excited by the challenge, and in part because there was a lot of call and request for something like that from Pathfinder gamers at large), and by the end of an afternoon-suddenly-become-evening-without-us-noticing, we’d sketched out Kingmaker, the idea for building a kingdom, the grid-based settlement-construction concept, and the basic ideas for the region in which the campaign would take place. I went on to craft the outline for the Adventure Path and started hiring authors, while Wes focused on writing a detailed gazetteer for the Stolen Lands that would appear in the Guide to the River Kingdoms alongside the launch of Kingmaker itself.

Kingmaker would go on to become one of our most successful Adventure Paths, inspiring not only a novel, but two different video games and eventually the core of an entire rulebook, Ultimate Campaign. Going back to revise it all was a huge lift, but at the same time, there was a sense of comfort and nostalgia as I returned to the original adventures. Memories of the scramble to get the first volume, Stolen Lands, done in time to get it to the printer returned as well—I had the help of author Tim Hitchcock to create the central encounters for this adventure on a VERY tight schedule but wrote a fair-sized chunk of the framing and “connective tissue” to bring together the Stag Lord’s Fort, the Sootscale Kobolds, and more into one sandbox to explore. Beyond this, though, the task of finishing off the remaining five adventures fell to other amazing authors.

So, without further ado, let me share some of the memories several of the original Kingmaker Adventure Path’s authors had when they looked back on their time helping to create one of Paizo’s most beloved campaigns!

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Creative Director

Rob McCreary

Rivers Run Red
Working on Kingmaker happened at a time of some major changes in my life, so I have some strong memories associated with it. Rivers Run Red was the second Adventure Path volume I wrote for Paizo, and I loved having the opportunity to put in homages to some classic wilderness adventures I had played when I was younger. I was also writing the adventure just before my wedding, and to top everything off, I was on my honeymoon when Paizo offered me a job!

A few months later, following a move from Europe back to the USA that was longer than a trek through the Stolen Lands, I found myself working on Kingmaker as an editor. I felt privileged to contribute to the AP not only as an adventure author, but also as an editor, helping to craft and polish what I still believe is one of the best sandbox wilderness adventure campaigns out there. I’m super pleased to see it updated to Pathfinder Second Edition, giving gamers a whole new chance to chart their destinies and build kingdoms of their own!

Jason Nelson

War of the River Kings
Kingmaker was a ton of fun to work on, blending PC-level adventure with kingdom-level threats and high-level skullduggery. I started with the tournament, building out not just standard medieval events but also adding some wahoo flair suited to high-level characters in a magical world. The villain was different, too, with Irovetti as a bombastic foil for the PCs, a braggart and pretender but treacherous and dangerous, putting himself forward as this gracious neighbor and really showing them a good time while working to stab them in the back. I never even really saw him as evil, just a rival who had his own ambitions and saw the PCs were in the way. The warfare was a challenge because while we had all the basics of the kingdom rules, we really didn't have the specifics of mass combat done yet, so the original version was more event-based, I think with the villains using fey magic to flood the heroes' capital city. My lasting memory of writing my adventure, though, was somewhat bittersweet, as my brother Brian passed away shortly before I finished it. He and I had picked up the hobby together as kids, and even in his final months, we got together with my kids and played a few more times. I appreciated Paizo including a dedication to him in the original adventure.

Richard Pett

Sound of a Thousand Screams I’m beyond excited about seeing Kingmaker released as another fabulous Paizo super-tome and updated to fit Pathfinder Second Edition. What a fantastic adventure path to work on with such talented folks.

One of the things I particularly recall about those days was the Adventure Path segment outlines were much more raw, just over a paragraph of backstory for my section with, “A great menace coming over the PCs’ realm and the nymph’s followers harassing the PCs. With First World blooms heralding the arrival of the nymph.”

My first draft synopsis was a long way from the finished article. I did like that title though.

The line that really strikes me as joyful in looking over the old emails from the wonderful Wes was, “You’ve got a TON of flexibility here, so make it cool.”

Well, I hope the Sound of a Thousand Screams is cool, the sparking ideas back and forth—throwing in the jabberwock for example—was such great fun, and whilst this adventure sticks out as one of the hardest to complete (writing Wormwood Mutiny was slightly trickier with so many untouchable NPCs in a low-level adventure), it was certainly the most rewarding.

The really wonderful thing about working with such talented folks was seeing how the adventure developed and how James performed his incredible magic on my final draft—soaking the adventure with Bestiary 2 monsters and dragons to name but two things.

It was such a great honor to be a part of this wonderful AP and the Paizo family. Thank you, James, and thank you, Wes.

Huzzah!

Neil Spicer

Blood for Blood
Writing for Kingmaker felt like the culmination of a long-held dream and a trial by fire. It was a banner year for me in 2009. I’d won RPG Superstar. I’d finished my turnover for Realm of the Fellnight Queen. And, like every other freelancer, I hoped to someday write for the flagship product line, but fully expected I’d have to work my way up to it over many months or years. Then, out of the blue, Wes Schneider asked if I could take on 30,000 words in two months because Kingmakerhad fallen behind. My exact words to him were: “HOLY CRAP!!! Are you freakin’ serious!?!?!? Yes! YES! A thousand times YES!” I know, because I kept the email. That’s how much it meant to me. I gave everything I could to it, thundering into my word count like a raging barbarian, knowing I couldn’t let Paizo down. It was my first BIG assignment. It tested me in all the right ways. I learned so much from it, and I’ll always be grateful for that opportunity.

Greg A. Vaughan

The Varnhold Vanishing
What to say about designing The Varnhold Vanishing? It came at a perfect time when I was wanting to explore several very different ideas in an adventure or adventures: I was interested in doing something Roanoke-ish... check. And I really liked the idea of a settlement/fortress less well-established than the usual stone keep that had become sort of the adventure standard, something with more of a colonial America feel to it like the blockhouse and stockade at Varnhold... check, check. I had recently read Pressfield’s Last of the Amazons, and the chance to do something with steppes horsefolk really appealed to me as well, not to mention his description of the “Gate to Hell” giving the perfect entry to Vordakai’s tomb... check, check, check! The growing setting that was Golarion and its first foray into a sandbox-style world exploration with Kingmaker gave me the opportunity to do it all at once, and with a powerful undead cyclops to boot. What more could you ask for?

Illustration by Mirco Paganessi

Do you know who writes the things you love? While the writers of our Paizo products are always credited in the front and back of the books, a simple name in a byline doesn’t give readers much information on the people who work to bring the setting to life! As a final blog to wrap up our promotion of Pathfinder Lost Omens Impossible Lands, I reached out to the authors of the book with the intent of promoting them, as well as any other personal work they would like to showcase, so that new fans of their work could find other projects, RPG products, websites, livestreams, and more to enjoy!

And if you enjoy something, consider telling the creator about it! Many people have the misconception, born from admiration, that artists and authors are buried in compliments. Sadly, this is often far from the truth, especially in an online era of anonymous and low-effort denigration. Support the things you love, to better let them thrive!

Eleanor Ferron
Pathfinder Developer

Illustration by Yuri Luz

Basheer Ghouse

Basheer Ghouse is a Desi Muslim writer, game designer, and cultural consultant based out of San Jose. He worked on Nex for Impossible Lands and has also worked on Starfinder, Spire, Midgard, and other IPs. He is currently developing Guns Blazing!, an indie RPG about international volunteers fighting monsters literal and political in an alternate 1925, and can be found at patreon.com/havocfett.

Michelle Jones

What's up gamers, I'm Michelle Jones and I'm here to provide everything an aspiring Blood Lord needs to get a leg up on the competition. From a quick primer on curses, to magical items that'll give your necromancy a little extra body, if you're adventuring in Geb, then I've got just the thing for you. And uh, be careful around those Stone Sisters, hm? They may look harmless from a distance, but they do not get along well with others. Very cliquish. Just be sure to temper your ambition; you don't want to end up like the Cursed King.

For more adventuring tips and updates about my other work, follow me on twitter @AleshaKills. If you're a Thirsty Sword Lesbian enjoyer, you can find my 3rd-party playbooks at https://aleshakills.itch.io/.

TJ Kahn

Hello everyone, TJ here, and I helped write the Religion section of Impossible Lands! (See, hubby? That M.Div. was good for something!) Plus a few intros.

I'm a BIPOC gay author, dog father of two and teen father of one (only the dogs listen), and together we all live in the Bay Area. If you ever want to catch me, I'm usually at PaizoCons with my Find the Path Podcast friends. I have a children's book coming out this fall, plus some novellas on the way, and feel free to get me gabbing about ASL or Star Wars!

Dave Nelson

I'm Dave. I wrote the ugvashi. Please pet your new pangolin buddies with care, to avoid accidents.

Illustration by Sophie Medvedeva

Mikhail Rekun

Приветствую, уважаемые читатели! My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and I wrote a number of pieces throughout the book, though most notably the Ghoran ancestry and the History section, as well as the Introduction, the very first words you see in the book.

History in fantasy is always an interesting challenge, because it doesn't really resemble “real” history very much. People on Earth are crazy, chaotic, and unruly, with societies changing, merging, and falling apart in a matter of generations. Fantasy however adores its grand sweeps and imagined antiquity, and few places in Golarion showcase that as strongly as the Impossible Lands, where Geb and Nex continue a war that in our world would predate the invention of written language. On the other hand, we don't have any immortal wizards roaming around, so one wonders what life would be like if Sargon or Menes still had a say in things.

If strange histories are your thing, I’m also the creative director of the Luminant Age project, a Weird Swashbuckler setting in which history has a tendency to be bitey and aggressive, and Survivors of the earlier age are one of the great boogeymen of the world. If that interests you at all (you know it does), please follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LuminantA or check out our published products at https://luminant-age.itch.io!

Michael Sayre

Hi, I'm Michael Sayre, a design manager here at Paizo and a contributor to Lost Omens Impossible Lands! I wrote the Bhopan section and most of the accompanying mechanics, the kashrishi ancestry, and a few other things, as well as some additional design and development on the project. Impossible Lands is such an amazing book, I was thrilled at the opportunity to be a part of it and to have my work placed alongside that of so many other talented and creative people. I'm really looking forward to using more of the Impossible Lands in my own future adventures. You can follow me on Twitter at @MichaelJSayre1 for random design insights, video game thoughts, and whatever I happen to think is worth sharing.

Shao Han

I'm Shao Han (绍涵), an academic-turned–game designer from Singapore. This marks the first time I've contributed so much for a Pathfinder Second Edition project. I hope long-time fans and new players alike will find something to enjoy in this book!

I'm especially grateful for the tremendous opportunity to update Alkenstar and Dongun Hold! As a 40-something citizen of a small nation focused on diplomacy and technocracy, I brought in my formative experiences growing up during the Cold War to evoke the tensions of buffer polities caught in the Impossible Lands' uncertain détente and escalating saber-rattling. I've also imagined large-scale, lasting effects of magical war and technological development on the region's societies and politics.

I also enjoyed designing new mechanics for the Impossible Lands: gunslinging options, fleshwarp ancestries and feats, as well as fleshforged creatures!

My personal favorite creation in this book? The existential struggles of the fleshforged skinskitter. OK, wait, no, it's the cats of Dongun Hold. If you've seen social media posts about cats in this book... well... Mewbe you have a feline of what we are kittying in store for you!

You can find out more about my projects (and be subject to my cat-astrophic puns) on Twitter @TanShaoHan!

Illustration by Yuri Luz

Ruvaid Virk

Heyo! I’m Ruvaid Virk and I’ve been a freelancer with Paizo for a little over two years now. For Impossible Lands, I got to revisit vishkanyas, which were part of my very first assignment in Bestiary 3, and turn them into a full-fledged ancestry! I also wrote the deity entries for Chamidu and Ragdya, and the bestiary entry for ratajin.

My biggest contribution however was in the Jalmeray section. I split the city of Niswan with fellow author Saif Ansari, and wrote the Introduction, A Day in Niswan, a Year in Niswan, the People of Niswan, Culture, and Locations sections. In the Adventuring in Jalmeray section, I wrote the ceru familiar, new weapons, and the new updates to the Student of Perfection archetype! Being Pakistani, Jalmeray is rather important to me, and being able to see my heritage reflected in these pages means more than I can put into words.

If you’d like to follow me or read more about my work, I’m on twitter at @Darth_Ruvaider, where I mostly retweet things, and occasionally say something of my own. I also hope you check out my spooky scenario Starfinder Bounty #5: Echoes of Woe, and look for me in upcoming projects! Cheers!

Jabari Weathers

I'm Jabari Weathers, and I'm a freelance illustrator, writer, and game designer based in Baltimore, MD. I had the honor of drafting the cities of Ecanus, Quantium, and Oenopion and the wider region of Nex that contains them for Lost Omens Impossible Lands. I hope you dig what I and everyone else have in store for this book. I had a ton of fun working on it! You can find me on twitter @Goblinprincete and my illustration work (and contact for any work) at Goblinprincete.com.

Brian Yaksha

Hello. I am Brian Yaksha, a nonbinary Bihari–Irish American game designer from a rural backwater in the Northeastern United States. I have contributed thoughts and writings toward the asuras, rakshasas, vanaras, and the nature of how colonialism would shift entities born of symbols, now removed from the accepted status quo of folkloric origins. I have also previously contributed an article concerning Ravithra in Pathfinder Adventure Path #161: Belly of the Black Whale, and am known elsewhere in the industry for world-building work on Best Left Buried’s Deeper , Throne of Avarice, and Spoils of the Gorgon Coast; Rakehell; Brinkwood: The Blood of Tyrants; Dolmenwood; and Academies of the Arcane, as well as editing on Putrescent Regnant and CY_Borg. I am fascinated by random generation tables and the emergent narrative design born from such mechanisms. My independent works can be found at goatmansgoblet.itch.io.

This Hispanic Heritage Month, we thought it’d be fun to have some of our staff, freelancers, and members of the community write up some magic items inspired by their background and culture to put into your games!

We hope everyone enjoys these items and ¡échale ganas en tus juegos!

Background illustration by Olivier Bernard
Kazutal by Ksenia Kozhevnikova
Yllaldo Monk by Sammy Khalid

Joseph Blomquist

As a Nuyorican, my relationship to Puerto Rico was challenging at first. Whenever I went to PR, I was the only cousin that barely spoke any Spanish. A real connection came with food—especially once my grandmother introduced me to a tiny local fruit, the quenepa. Each island has a different name for quenepas, and it was extremely difficult to get back home in NY. It was a great start to a lifelong love of Puerto Rico and a reminder of an amazing woman that never knew how much her grandson cherished every moment we shared.

Would you like to know more? Follow me on twitter (@DoctorMono) or check out my recent Paizo releases: SFS Scenario #4-13: Hard Reset and PFS Scenario #4-02: Return to the Grave.

Glowberry — Level 1

Magic Item
Price 5 per bunch
Bulk L per bunch
Capacity 10; Usage 1/hour
A glowberry is a bioluminescent fruit that grows in tropical regions throughout Castrovel. The bright-orange fruit begins to glow immediately when the thin, green-brown peel is broken and the fruit is exposed. The flesh continues to glow even if cut into pieces or pulverized into a liquid. Glowberries grow in bunches on trees that can grow as tall as 100 feet, often bearing thousands of bunches every season. While the colloquial name glowberry is common for the popular fruit throughout the Pact Worlds, each individual Castrovellian culture has a different name for the fruit. When the fruit is exposed, a glowberry increases the light level by one step in a 10-foot radius for 1 hour.

---

Carlos Cabrera

Art in one form or another has always run in my father's side of the family. I have a younger sister who paints, my late father and one of my older brothers draw (cartoon art and comic book art, respectively), and I've been known to draw, write, and design games. I also have an uncle who can play Santana by ear, the musician by which I acquired my name. My father was a huge fan of Santana's music, and on my mother's side my grandfather's name was Charles, so they agreed. Over the years I've dabbled in music here and there, be it ukulele or electric bass, and most recently classic guitar.

I thought it would be a special idea to create a magical guitar: an instrument that not only played the piece of culture being performed but also granted a memory. This instrument can most often be found within the hands of a calaca, which I designed for the first edition of Pathfinder and Luis Loza brought into second edition here.

Memory Guitar – Item 4

Divination, Mental, Magical
Price 100 gp
Usage held in 2 hands; Bulk L This simple guitar appears worn and battered from use, but upon close observation, the damage seems to be intentional. From the correct angle, the guitar’s scratches and marks seem to form a simple picture, such as an environmental scene or a crude face.

Activate [three-actions] Interact; Effect You play music with the guitar and the instrument’s power shares a memory with your audience. When sharing with an audience, you share a memory of yours with anyone within 30 feet. This has the effects of mindlink for anyone that can hear the music.

Activate [three-actions] Interact; Frequency once per month; Effect You play the guitar and the instrument attempts to help you recover a lost memory. You can either have a specific memory in mind, such as trying to remember a childhood event, or let the guitar find a memory for you. You recall the moment with perfect clarity and reestablish it permanently in your mind with the failure effects of modify memory.

---

Luigi Lizza González

When I was a kid, I joined my school's music club and discovered the cajón drum: a wooden, box-shaped percussion instrument primarily used in Criolla and Afro-Peruvian music. You play it by slapping the sides and corners to mark the beat and guide the dancers. At first glance, it doesn't look like it could generate a great variety of sounds, but you would be surprised. Also, that instrument helped me realize how much I enjoy working in tandem with others to create something beautiful (in this case, music).

As a person born and raised in Perú, the dream of entering the gaming industry seemed so distant and unattainable that, for a long time, I didn't even think of trying to accomplish it. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Pathfinder community is one of the most welcoming spaces to be part of. So, now, as a published author and a co-owner of Eldritch Osiris Games (@EldritchOsiris on Twitter), I can explore my most quirky sides and put my love for arts, philosophy, and storytelling to good use. If you want to see my silly face and know more about my work, you can find me on Twitter as @LuigiLizza.

Guiding Cajon Drum — Item 5

Enchantment, Magical
Price 160 gp
Usage held in 2 hands; Bulk 2
This wooden, box-shaped percussion instrument resonates with great power when struck. The drum is large enough that you can’t play it while holding it. Instead, you sit on the drum and play it with both hands. Sitting on or standing up from the drum requires an action, which has the move trait. You’re flat-footed while sitting on the drum, but you gain a +1 item bonus to Performance checks to play the drum. The drum is loud and creatures within 100 feet of the drum can hear its music, regardless of the ambient noise, though it can’t penetrate silence and similar magical effects.

Activate [one-action] Interact (auditory, emotion, enchantment, mental); Frequency once per round; Effect You play the drum, unleashing a rhythm that gets other moving. Up to 2 allies that can hear the drum can use a reaction to Stride 5 feet.

---

Luis Loza

When I was little, I would see people playing with trompos—wooden tops that were spun by pulling on a string. People could perform cool tricks with them including scooping them up into their hands or guiding along the string in intricate manners. Trompo tricks are similar to yoyo tricks in how much coordination they require and how impressive they can be to watch. It was only much later in life that I learned that trompos weren’t exclusively a Mexican toy and were actually common throughout Latin America and even in other parts of the world. Even knowing that, trompos still feel like a Mexican thing to me, so I wanted to make a cool item that made use of one!

Tornado Trompo — Item 18

Air, Evocation, Magical
Price 19,000 gp
Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L
Various runes are carved along the entirety of this wooden top. Spinning the top requires wrapping a thick string around its base and pulling the string in a vigorous motion. Wrapping a string and pulling the string each require an Interact action. The top’s magic is connected to the power of the wind, which becomes evident when placed on a surface as it hovers in place.

Activate [two-actions] envision, Interact; Requirements A string is wrapped around the top and you have a hand free; Effect You lightly pull on the string and catch the top in your free hand. It spins in place, hovering over your open palm, sharing its power over the winds with you. You gain the effects of fly as long as you keep the top in your hand. You can Release the top at any time to end the effect.

Activate [two-actions] command, Interact; Frequency once per day; Requirements A string is wrapped around the top; Effect You call upon the top’s power and give the string a powerful pull. The top travels across the ground in a 120-foot line. As it does, it unleashes a powerful vortex of winds, becoming a tornado temporarily. This tornado has the effects of whirlwind (Secrets of Magic 141) except that it’s not limited by being used outside or in a cramped space and can’t be sustained. Creatures in the tornado’s path must attempt a DC 38 Reflex save to determine the effects of the tornado. The tornado ends after traveling its full distance, causing any creatures that rose in the air due to a failed save to begin falling immediately.

The Lost Omens Travel Guide has been out for a few weeks and we wanted to take a break from all our travels throughout the Inner Sea to highlight the authors who made the book possible. There’s been a lot of love for Travel Guide and we wanted to give these authors a chance to share their excitement for the book, as well as some information about themselves and their projects. If you’ve enjoyed these authors’ work, let them know in the comments below or by following them on social media!

Luis Loza
Senior Developer

Rigby Bendele (they/them)

My contributions to this book consisted of the "What People Know" (page 70) and "Nature and Animals" (page 96) sections. Much of my writing comes from my life, and when I wrote the nature section, I went back to my days as a nature camp counselor and how my relationship with the world around me changed when I was truly immersed in it. While I think that it's easy to get away from the mundane reality of survival in a fantasy game, I hope that this section inspires players and GMs to think about how their characters would interact with the physical world (and that many, many people will enjoy buying pet possums for their characters!).

If you want to hear more from me, you can follow me on Twitter @rigbeesknees or subscribe to my free queer sci-fi and fantasy book review newsletter at Transgenre Books.

Illustration by Sandra Posada

Dana Ebert

I'm Dana Ebert, and I'm always delighted to be back with my Pathfinder family! I wrote the Cuisine chapter (page 38) (including its recipes!) for Travel Guide, and I had so much fun writing it that it may just be my favorite contribution to date. I had the idea early on to make the author somewhat monstrous—simultaneously reveling in the reader's attention while smugly gloating or antagonizing them. The result was Maharajah Lakadbaghasura, a rakshasa of sophistication and renown, and I hope he wins over some fans! Special thanks to everyone in the Pathfinder community who has tried out the recipes. I've been watching your reviews and they're so much fun!

That brings me to some exciting news—I'm in the process of opening Portland's first tabletop roleplaying brewpub with some very talented people! TPK Brewing Co. is a majority queer, women-of-color-owned craft brewery coming to Portland, Oregon, in 2023. Waiting for you there will be an ale for every tale and a staff of full-time professional Game Masters ready to run your favorite games. You can learn more at tpkbrewing.com and sign up for our newsletter to receive ongoing updates!

Dustin Knight

Greetings, Pathfinders! Dustin Knight here, host of Infiknight Reviews! I'm still thrilled to have been assigned the trade section of Travel Guide (page 32). Pre-industrial fantasy armchair economics is my jam, and being able to spend a week completely obsessing over the price of wool in 13th century Europe helped me pin down realistic price points that take into account everything from taxes to spoilage while still accurately reflecting the prices of equipment in Pathfinder Second Edition. I loved being able to scatter a bunch of Easter eggs throughout my section, especially in the art orders, and I can't wait to see if our readers catch them all! If you want a hint for one of the more obscure references you can check out my Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-06: The Crashing Wave! If you like my work feel free to check out, and feel free to contact me on my discord if you want to talk!

Illustration by Mylene Bertrand

Aaron Lascano

I'm Aaron Lascano, a Latino writer, designer, and editor from NYC. I worked on the holiday section in the Travel Guide (page 24), which was a fascinating exercise in thinking about community-building and cultural practices. I really enjoy working on sections like that (you might recognize my name from Monsters of Myth or Grand Bazaar). I'm currently contributing to an indie TTRPG project, and I'm also pushing my own TTRPG system to playtest! If you want to follow my progress on a narrative-forward system that offers dynamic systems for combat, exploration, and social interactions, and that explicitly draws upon Latin American history and culture, I'm @devlascano on Twitter.

Stephanie Lundeen

Hi, I'm Stephanie Lundeen, Ph.D., and I've been a freelance writer and editor for years. The Travel Guide is my favorite Lost Omens book yet. I love world-building—it's my favorite part of writing for Pathfinder. And I love traveling in real life and reading travel guides, so this was a perfect project for me. It turns out that an imaginary travel guide is even better! Plus, to write the Folklore, Mythology, and Religion sections (page 80), I got to do lots of research (no joke here, I love to research) as well as be creative. I'm so excited to have been a part of this great addition to Golarion, truly one of the richest fantasy worlds around.

In addition to writing for—and playing a lot of—Pathfinder, I play Starfinder! I'm part of an actual-play Starfinder podcast, Intrepid Heroes (http://knowdirectionpodcast.com/category/podcasts/intrepid-heroes/). I also co-write a blog devoted to another passion of mine, open adoption, at http://www.ouramazingforeverfamily.com.

Illustration by Sandra Posada

Jessica Redekop (she/they/he)

Hello, everyone! It's me, Jess, here to excitedly point out my work in the Lost Omens Travel Guide. I was responsible for the fashion section (page 44), and as a lover of beautiful things, I was delighted by this opportunity to create something that fits so neatly at the intersection of TTRPG fantasy worldbuilding and fashion. Please use the introduction of the pompadour to Golarion responsibly!

For more fashion content from yours truly, you can find fashion items in the Material Changes shop of Lost Omens Grand Bazaar, and perhaps some fresh content for fabulous Firebrands in the upcoming Lost Omens Firebrands...? To keep up with everything I'm doing, I'm on twitter at @tectonomancer.

Nathan Reinecke

Hello! I'm Nathan Reinecke, purveyor of fine guides and obsessive studier of fictitious magic systems. I wrote about magic in the Inner Sea (page 74), a topic that's been covered a lot but always from the perspectives of ghost kings and runelords and high magical scholars. Writing from the perspective of a dabbling wizard discussing magic as seen by the normal person is probably my favorite freelancing project I've ever done. If you enjoyed my prose and want it in game form, I run PF2 games at https://startplaying.games/gm/fedoraferret, and you can also keep an eye out for an upcoming (yet unnamed) live play podcast from me and my very entertaining friends.

Illustration by Mylene Bertrand

Mikhail Rekun

Здравствуйте, уважаемые читатели! My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and I’m a Russian-speaking Ukrainian-American historian, educator, and author—you might recognize me from the Dark Archive, where my humble name graces the cover.

In the Travel Guide, I wrote the Crime & Law section (page 64), in which our humble hostess, tiefling black marketeer and con woman Kharmione Nyx (“Golarion’s own Saul Goodman”, as one reviewer called her) describes all the ways in which you can get in and out of trouble with the law. Come for the detailed table of legal punishments, stay for the chicken jokes.

If you find my writing appealing, I’m also the creative director for the Luminant Age project, a Weird Swashbuckler set in a world of state inquisitions, profane mechanisms, and a court system where you have to wear giant bird masks. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LuminantA or check out our published products at https://luminant-age.itch.io!

Erin Roberts

Hi, y’all! I’m Erin Roberts, a TTRPG freelancer (and fiction writer) with recent & upcoming work in Lost Omens: Firebrands, Starfinder: Interstellar Species, D&D’s Journeys through the Radiant Citadel, and Hunter: The Reckoning Fifth Edition, among others. For Travel Guide, I had the absolute pleasure of writing two sections – retired assassin Alvinia Lodge’s entry on Time & The Calendar (page 6) and tiefling art reviewer Deraaka’s section on Art & Architecture (page 50).

While there was so much to love about this project, including my browser tabs full of dance styles, water clocks and blackout poetry, my favorite part was thinking about the ways that living in Golarion makes everything from the daily ticking of the clock to the most elaborate expressions of creativity different and special. I also deeply enjoyed exploring the ways that culture and place impact the way different folks in Golarion tell time, create art, and build the structure of their worlds, all through the voices of two people who live there. Truly a dream come true. To see what I’m dreaming up next (and/or yell at me about time & art), you can find me on Twitter at @nirele.

And of course, we also want to thank our other authors for their great work on Travel Guide!

• Katina Davis: Religion (page 88)
• Ron Lundeen: Pastimes (page 58)
• Ianara Natividad: The Stars (page 116)
• Dave Nelson: Weather & Climate (page 106), Rare Events (page 112)
• Simone D. Sallé: The Stars (page 116)
• Diego Valdez: Everyday Life (page 12)

Greetings, players! Those of you who are avid readers of the Paizo Blog know that when we release hardcovers, we often release author blogs to give our authors a chance to talk about what they wrote for the book. I decided that hardcover authors shouldn’t get to have all the fun, so we’ve got not one, but two author blogs for Organized Play coming your way!

This week’s blog features authors who wrote for Starfinder Society’s Season 4: Year of the Data Scourge. In a couple weeks, we’ll be hearing from the authors of PFS Year 3: Year of Shattered Sanctuaries. Enjoy!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Alison Cybe (they/them)
SFS #4-02: Settling Accounts

Hi all! I’m Alison Cybe (they/them), and I’m pleased to say that Paizo has asked me to create a few adventures for them. By now, you’ll have had a chance to play my most recent Paizo project, Starfinder Scenario 5-03: Combatant’s Concerto: Fugue of the Traitor, which is a murder mystery adventure in which you’re trying to root out an enemy agent while also exploring themes of the crimes of imperialism and radical social change conflicting with terrorism. But today I’ve been asked to discuss an earlier work: Starfinder Society Scenario #4-02: Settling Accounts.

On one level, I’m super glad, because I had the chance to introduce a new species into the Starfinder setting for this adventure. I wanted to write rabbitfolk because they’re awesome, but I also wanted to make them feel genuinely different, new, and unique to the setting. So I gave them their own unique culture, nature, and physiology. But that isn’t all I wanted to do with the adventure. I’m not ashamed to say that my adventures are political in nature. All art is political, and the games we play are as much an artform as they are hobby. Settling Accounts is an exploration into cultural contamination. It follows a Pact World celebrity whose first contact with an indigenous species, while not aggressive or of ill-intent, inadvertently causes significant and irreparable harm to the native culture. This type of story isn’t restricted to fiction; it does and has happened countless times across the world. We need look no further than studies into so-called cargo cults or the “invasion via media” in countries such as Bhutan to see it occur. Every year, we hear of more actions taken by nations to subsume and eradicate indigenous cultures such as unmarked graves in Canada’s Indian residential schools or the abuse of Australia’s Stolen Generation. We’re used to thinking of these abuses as things of the past, but they happen today. They happen now. And they do not require the point of a gun. They can happen with simple, thoughtless, arrogant belief in one’s own correctness.

Dennis Muldoon (he/him)
SFS #4-10: The Way In

Hello! I'm Dennis Muldoon (he/him), and in Season 4 of Starfinder Society I was delighted to write both SFS #4-10: The Way In and the new interactive special, SFS #4-99: A Time of Crisis. These presented very different challenges to write, and I enjoyed both quite a bit. For The Way In, I was inspired to create an adventure that felt like an action movie, complete with a villain monologue. My favorite part is the dramatic scene in the conclusion. For A Time of Crisis, I really enjoyed the process of thinking through the challenges PCs would face given the premise of the adventure, and then making sure they were represented in the adventure. My favorite part was coming up with opportunities for PCs to dictate how they solve problems and improve their situation.

Matt Duval
SFS #4-11: A World’s Ambition;
PFS #3-17: Dreams of a Dustbound Isle

Hello! I’m Matt Duval and author for Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-17: Dreams of a Dustbound Isle and Starfinder Society Scenario #4-11: A World's Ambition. I also got to write the return to Salvation’s End for this October, Starfinder Society Scenario #5-10: Shadow of the Vault Lord as well as some other adventures from prior years. Grateful to get asked back!

I went down a lengthy wiki-hole learning about gray goo scenarios for A World’s Ambition and imagining the culture and environment that might arise, but I also did a deep dive on robot dragons. I’d put dragons in everything if they’d let me, and Jenny Jarzabski’s initial email already mentioned them. Yes!! I also included some fun, subtle references that might clue in the observant about the true nature of the adventure’s omnipresent antagonist.

The Dustbound Isle is packed with my other favorite things: surreal extraplanar events, mysteries and puzzles for the players to solve, and so many tie-ins to prior adventures. I pulled ideas for nightmares from Pathfinder RPG Horror Adventures, my most-used PFS1 sourcebook.

And as for Shadow of the Vault Lord… patience. Your doom comes soon enough, feeble heroes!

I’m @sleepyfelix on Twitter, where I mostly post TTRPG stuff and occasionally pics of food I baked or critters I saw.

Ivis K. Flanagan (she/they)
SFS #4-12: A Festive Operation

Heylo! I’m Ivis K. Flanagan, and I wrote Starfinder Society Scenario #4-12: A Festive Operation. This scenario takes the holidays celebrated through the month of Kuthona that Jenny first shared with us and lets the players actually experience them. To me, holidays are about families—the ones you’re given, the ones you’re making, and, most importantly, the ones you choose to love. My goal with this “Starfinder Holiday Special” was to help others feel that love and hopefully bring a smile as well. The reunion at the end has to be my favorite part because it opens a surprise and brings together family who chose to be.

Looking forward, I’m a contributing author to a few announced and unannounced upcoming Paizo projects, including some cool stuff coming in Starfinder Interstellar Species this October. Outside of writing projects, I can be found running Organized Play games, brewing plans for another year of Extra Life fundraising shenanigans, and chilling with my cat. You can find me on twitter @NorseButterfly where I am working to post my current antics!

Scott D. Young (he/him)
SFS #4-15: Feuding Faiths

I'm Scott D. Young (he/him), and I wrote Starfinder Society Scenario #3-10: Live Adventure Extreme! and Starfinder Society Scenario #4-15: Feuding Faiths. Previously, I've written other scenarios for both Starfinder and Pathfinder 1E/2E Organized Play campaigns, and I'm currently the GM for the Young and Adventurous podcast on the Know Direction network.

For Live Adventure Extreme!, I had the great fortune to work with Thurston Hillman as my developer. Getting to add a chapter to the Society’s relationship with Zo! was a treat, and I really enjoyed the chance to take some of the established NPCs and add to their stories. As part of my research for the project I contacted Starfinder Developer Jenny Jarzabski, who had created the wonderful announcer duo of Lethea and Quill, to make sure I got the tone of her creations down accurately—I hope it worked!

In Feuding Faiths, developer Jessica Catalan and I got to explore how religion works without a monopoly on divine magic as such—very different than in pre-Gap Golarion! We also tried to broaden the view of worshippers of each of the key religions, so that the “bad guys” don’t always wear their guilt on their sleeve. (Or DO they? Hmm...) I hope people enjoy them!

You can find me hopefully running a table at a con sometime soon and as “Scott D. Young, Author” on the holosphere. (The “D.” is important—ordinary Scott Young's are everywhere, and there are even a couple of “Scott Young, Author” usernames out there!)

Michael Bramnik (he/him)
SF Bounty #2: Test Flight

Hello world! I'm Michael Bramnik (he/him), and while more of you might know me as a GM or Venture Captain over the last decade, I’ve been fortunate to have recently seen Starfinder Bounty #2: Test Flight released! Crafting Test Flight was an extremely fun process—it allowed me to tap into my background in science and engineering from when I was working towards a PhD in geophysics and as a researcher for the U.S. Army, while also giving several nods to classic spaceborne science fiction encounters at the same time. I’m most happy that the adventure allows players to have so much agency in deciding how to tackle each challenge, allowing it to be re-playable without feeling repetitive.

I'm also very excited for the upcoming release of Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-05: The Arclord Who Never Was. I don’t want to get ahead of myself and give away any spoilers, but I will say this: make sure you don’t lose your head when you play it!

If you want to get in touch with me beyond the Paizo Forums as CanisDirus, I'm also on Twitter as @CanisDirus0.

Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her)
SF One-Shot #3: System Takedown

Hello! I’m Kendra Leigh Speedling, a freelancer for both Pathfinder and Starfinder. This past year, I wrote Starfinder One-Shot #3: System Takedown, where a disparate group of rebels must infiltrate a Veskarium military communications facility to broadcast proof of the misdeeds of a corrupt Veskarium consul on Pulonis, the pahtra home world. System Takedown has a unique twist: the rebels are livestreaming the infiltration (with their location scrambled, of course) on the channel of one of the PC pregens! So if you’re running the game on a stream yourself, your players can respond to its chat as if it were the in-game one. I provided scripted chat responses for games without an actual live chat, and I had fun coming up with things viewers of a Starfinder vid channel might say. I also enjoyed the chance to have the PCs strike back at the Veskarium’s colonization, and while the adventure doesn’t free Pulonis, it does—hopefully!—make a part of it a nicer place to live.

Other than System Takedown, my most recent work has appeared in Starfinder Drift Crisis and Pathfinder Dark Archive. I also got to keep up the tyranny-fighting theme with To Defy the Dragon, a standalone Starfinder adventure coming out in October, in which the PCs get to find ancient mechs and fight a dragon in them! If you like, you can follow me on Twitter @KendraLS for more project updates and the occasional cat picture.

While Pathfinder Lost Omens Knights of Lastwall has been out for some time now, we wanted to take another look at the book and the authors who made it possible. Much like the Knights of Lastwall put in the effort to further the cause of good, these authors gave their all to create the latest exciting entry in the Lost Omens line of books. As these authors share a bit about themselves and their work, consider letting them know if you like their work in the comments or following them on social media!

Luis Loza
Senior Developer

Art by Will O'Brien

Banana C.

Hi! I’m Banana and I had the privilege of working on a few of the deities, specifically Iomedae, Pharasma, Ragathiel, and Sarenrae. I had such a great time writing up the rituals involved for each deity, especially Pharasma’s. I’m a sucker for any god of death and goth stuff. Aside from this book, my latest work has been on Suburban Consumption of the Monstrous, Exquisite Crime, Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft and Betrayal at House on the Hill 3rd Edition. You can also find me on Twitter and TikTok @bananachangames and on YouTube under https://www.youtube.com/c/BananaCGames.

Jessica Catalan

Hi everyone! My name’s Jessica Catalan and I’m the Starfinder Society Developer and a freelance author. For Knights of Lastwall, I contributed Avalorex, the Knightly Training and Lastwall Sentry feats, the spells, details on the Eye of Dread region, and—my personal favorite—entries on the gods Arqueros, Kols, and Vildeis, and all the avatar stats. This book was a really fun project to work on and I’m grateful to have been a part of it. Dig in and enjoy!

Art by Christoph Peters

Ryan Costello

Hello, I’m Ryan Costello, contributor to Knights of Lastwall and Director of Operations at the Know Direction Network. Until recently, I was always up to my eyeballs in Pathfinder. Now that I’ve stepped away from the Know Direction podcast, it’s more meaningful to me when I get to participate in a Pathfinder project. And what a project! Knights of Lastwall takes the classic imagery of chivalry and combines it with the sensibilities, forward thinking, and creativity that makes the Lost Omens line some of my favorite Pathfinder content ever.

I especially liked working on the “Other Groups” article and exploring the Charcoal Battalion from Oprak’s Ironfang Legion, the Final Epitaph philosophy of Pharasmin knights, the orcs of the Rampart Warband, and my favorite¬¬: the undead hunting Eagle Knight splinter group known as the Vulture Knights. By eating carrion, vultures play an important role in disease containment in our ecosystem. Tying vultures to hunting undead wrote itself, and I got to cast these vilified creatures as the noblest of heroes. The section I worked on that will probably see the most play is the “Knights of Lastwall Backgrounds” article. As my wonderful developer Luis put it, you can tell I wrote this section by the wordplay.

You can follow me on Twitter @KDRyanCostello and check out knowdirectionpodcast.com for more Pathfinder and other TTRPG enthusiasm and content from me and the rest of the staff.

Alastor Guzman

Hey, I am Alastor Guzman, your local Mexican game designer. I’m a freelance designer and writer and have worked on several indie games and some bigger projects like Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel. I was honored to be able to write some of the factions in the “Other Groups” article as well as some magic items for Knights of Lastwall. It was lots of fun designing new magic items for a Pathfinder book, looking for the mix of utility, purpose, and awe in the items that will see your table. I also enjoyed developing the groups and their interrelationships in a way you can use in your games.

Besides my work as a freelancer, I have also worked on smaller Mexican projects such as the ENNIE-nominated The Maze and Tezca Sentai. I am currently working on new projects like a legendary fight system for fantasy RPGs, and fantasy settings based on Mesoamerican mythology. You can follow me on Twitter @alastorgv or support me on Ko-fi. If you are looking for a narrative or system designer, you can check my work and send me an email at alastor@axostories.com.

Art by Christoph Peters

Erin Roberts

Hi! I’m Erin Roberts, and I loved bringing a little bit of love to this book by writing the married knights Buttons and Fenn Tunwalker, along with the intro to the “Factions” article, a few of the minor factions, and Milani, the Everbloom. While I had a wonderful time writing all of it, creating a couple whose love for each other and the knights they watch over is a source of strength during tumultuous times was particularly meaningful for me, given *gestures at the world*.

I’ve appeared around these parts in the past as part of Pathfinder Lost Omens Grand Bazaar (everything is cake!) and in Starfinder Bounty #3: A Green Place, and I have work coming up in Pathfinder Lost Omens Travel Guide and Starfinder Interstellar Species. Follow me on Twitter @nirele for more about those projects and other fun things I’m working on!

Ashton Sperry (they/them)

Howdy! It’s me, your nonbinary freelancer friend on the internet! I wrote the entries on Khagrig Daybreak and Gendowyn in Chapter 2, and the “Broken Lands” and “Other Campaigns” sections in Chapter 4 of Knights of Lastwall. Every project I’ve been on has been a distinct honor and pleasure, working hand-in-hand with my fellow authors as well as our developers to bring this fine material to y’all. With my sections, I got to explore some of the more unusual characters tied to the Knights, which I had a lot of fun doing; “How does a Chaotic Neutral fey queen tie into the faiths of the knighthood?” and “How would my knight character fit into a campaign set in Vudra?” were just some of the questions I got to explore in my submissions for this fine tome. As always, you can find me on Twitter @WhoTweetedThis where I talk about gaming stuff and post the occasional piece of art. Thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoy Knights of Lastwall!

Isabelle Thorne

Hallo everyone! I’m Isabelle Thorne, trans girl and long-time Paizo contributor. I had a big hand in this one, as you might guess from the cover! The Knights of Lastwall really are my baby; I first developed them in the Pathfinder Lost Omens Character Guide and followed through in Pathfinder Lost Omens Legends with the Iomedars, all leading up to this. And they’re the first piece of Pathfinder I really got to shape from the start. So, this is kind of a big moment for me!

And there’s so much. In addition to most of the section intros and other bridges, I contributed the in-depth looks at the Crimson Reclaimers and Shining Sentinels, and the insight in “Life as a Knight of Lastwall.” I also got to show off some of my NPCs from earlier books, like Beirivelle and Ileana (and Clarethe again!). Additionally, I had the opportunity to explore deities through a knight’s eyes; Kazutal, Falayna, Shelyn (finally!! I’m so happy), and our first look at the Vudrani deity Suyuddha. Finally, I expanded on my knight vigilant and knight reclaimant, plus feats for other archetypes.

Beyond this momentous occasion, I’m expanding into freelance editing and fiction; you’ll get to see some of that in Queerfinder on Pathfinder Infinite and the recently crowdfunded Sinclair’s Library. Hopefully I’ll have so much more yet to show you. ^_^

Art by Hazem Ameen

Greetings, Archivists,

Pathfinder Dark Archive is almost here! This book wouldn’t have been possible without the creativity and skill of the authors who contributed. To celebrate the release, we wanted to turn the blog over to these writers to reflect on their inspirations for the project and let you know what else they’re up to. Without further ado, here are some of the creators responsible for bringing the paranormal to you! If you liked a section, consider letting them know in the comments or following them on social media!

James Case
Senior Designer

Alternative art of Thaleon and Mios by Denis Zhbankov

Rigby Bendele (they/them)

I’m incredibly proud of my work on Dark Archive, including the Rumored Cryptid adjustment (page 61), "The Beast of Birchfrost" cryptid adventure (pages 66–71; turn to page 69 to see pictures of my son), “Tempting Curses” (page 162) and “Bargained Contracts” (page 164). During the design process, I spent a good amount of time at my local library flipping through folktales. One difficulty with writing concepts based in folklore is avoiding appropriation, as there are a number of tales and creatures that get presented as universal but actually have specific cultural origins. I worked hard to make my pieces feel like they could've come from real world folklore without appropriating.

This work challenged me in ways that made me grow as a designer. It was my first time working on a Pathfinder hardcover book and focusing on mechanical options instead of adventures. I'm excited to see it in everyone's hands at this point. I'm particularly eager to see how people use this work in the future, as I love the collaborative nature of tabletop games.

If you want to hear more from me, you can find me on Twitter @rigbeesknees or check out my work in the Pathfinder Lost Omens Travel Guide.

Jessica Catalan

Hi, I’m Jessica Catalan! I’m the current Starfinder Society Developer and a freelance author who writes a whole lot of words for Pathfinder and Starfinder! For Dark Archive, I wrote the Experimental Cryptid adjustment on page 60, “Time (Oracle Mystery)” on page 188, and “Hazards of Perception” on pages 122–125. Dark Archive is a weird, wild, and wonderful book and I’m beyond proud to be a part of it!

Banana Chan (she/they/he)

Hi! I'm Banana and I'm a game designer and screenwriter. When I was asked to write for Dark Archive, I was ecstatic (but I tried very hard to stay cool so I wouldn't embarrass myself). I wrote the rituals and the adventure “The Verdure of Iblydos” on page 148. Please note, I'm not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, I've just done a lot of research for this adventure (this is for any other fans of the podcast Cults). The big inspiration points for me (other than the Cults podcast), were folk horror movies, such as The Empty Man, The Invitation, The Wicker Man, The Blood on Satan's Claw and (of course) Midsommar and how new age beliefs currently operate. The cult leader, Mother Mitera, is specifically inspired by Nine Perfect Strangers, Goop, and Teal Swan.

Art by Tuan Duong Chu

Sen.H.H.S

Hi all, Sen.H.H.S. here. I'm a TTRPG freelancer who started my debut with Pathfinder Bestiary 3 and has since contributed to several other books including Pathfinder Lost Omens Monsters of Myth, Pathfinder Secrets of Magic, “Ready? Fight!” from the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Adventure Path, and Starfinder Drift Crisis. For the Dark Archive, I had the privilege of working on the first half of “The Last Dream” mindscape adventure on page 208. Yes, “that” map was my doing, you're welcome. :D Currently, I am working on a Pathfinder Infinite project featuring a team of Taiwanese writers. We hope we'll be presenting something about a traveling salesperson with interesting items sometime in the future. Please follow me on Twitter @SenHHS to discover when that will become available.

Oh, lastly, I just want to say

SPIDER BOYFRIEND’S GETTING HITCHED YEAAAAAH!

Joshua Kim (they/them)

Hey everyone! I’m Soup (they/them), a terminally hermit-inclined person that they keep letting write weird stuff. It was incredibly fun to write about the paranormal in a world where “normal” means magic, ghosts, and dragons. I wrote some of the case file lore sections and made sure to include lots of fun prompts that I hope will get your brain juices going. I think I was pretty successful at writing some spooky stuff and I hope you find it as neat as I did! I’m actually about to start running a Pathfinder Second Edition game for my weekly group and the Dark Archive will definitely be a cool book to draw from. I’m super excited to take a look at what the other authors have contributed! If you wanna find more of me rambling about games, writing, customer service, or my obsession of the week, feel free to follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/LiteralSoup)

Daniel Kwan (he/him)

Hello! I'm Daniel, a podcaster, game designer, and cultural consultant based in Canada. You might know me as the co-host of the 2x Gold ENnie Award winning Asians Represent! podcast or from my game design work (Candlekeep Mysteries, Avatar Legends, Wicked Congregation, Ross Rifles, & Motherlands RPG). I am also one of the co-founders of Level Up Gaming, a Toronto-based organization that provides the autism community with opportunities to develop social skills through tabletop gaming experiences. I wrote the “Sounds of Violence” incident report on page 115 of Dark Archive. The story prompt revolves around the aoyin, a creature from a classical Chinese text called the Shanhaijing (the Classic of Mountains & Seas)!

Art by Tuan Duong Chu

Jacob W. Michaels

Hi there, I’m Michael W. Jacobs—the so-called “evil” twin of Jacob W. Michaels, or so “they” would have you believe. But I ask, is it evil to expose you to the Echoing Pale? Would it not be worse to leave you in the dark, ignorant to all the lurking dangers blending in with the rest of us on Golarion? What if you didn’t know? What if you didn’t have to always be looking over your shoulder, wondering why the merchant you’ve worked with for years now scowls when you enter her shop? That casual greeting—just a friendly passer-by, or someone who thinks they know you, for some reason you can’t figure out? What if? (Evil twin aside, I’m actually Jacob W. Michaels, regular Paizo freelancer. I got to do the intro to Mirrors and Imposters section on page 116 of Dark Archive. It was a blast, and I hope it gives you something to reflect on.)

Andrew Mullen

Hello, Andrew Mullen here! My contribution to this book is the Mutant Cryptid template on page 59. Want to spice up a monster by making it weak to the memory of the taste of borscht, or some even more bizarre phenomena? I've got you covered! I've always enjoyed monster design, so I was very glad to offer ways GMs can make stranger adversaries.

Beyond this, I'm involved in two other projects of note. Alongside Mikhail Rekun (who you may recognize from the Dark Archive cover!) and Isabelle Thorne (who you may recognize from the Lost Omens Knights of Lastwall cover!), I'm a key member of the Luminant Age team. Luminant Age is a third-party campaign setting for Pathfinder Second Edition, a post-apocalyptic world of strange faiths, strange magics, and stranger creatures. You can find us at http://luminant-age.itch.io. I'm also a judge for the Brewmaster’s Compendium round 3] over on the Pathfinder Second Edition subreddit! Check out your community's creations and see what strange things lurk in areas even the Dark Archive has not cataloged!

Mikhail Rekun (he/him)

Приветствую, уважаемые читатели! My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and I’m one of the cover authors for Dark Archive.

I’ve always been interested in what one might call “Weird History.” As a historian, I mostly deal with formal, scholarly research and education—I even have a book, How Russia Lost Bulgaria, 1878-1886: Empire Unguided (Lexington Books, 2018). After hours though, I’d go down Fortean rabbit-holes like the Eilean Mor disappearances or the Philadelphia Experiment. So, when James Case asked if I wanted my name on the cover of the Dark Archive, well, I could hardly turn him down now, could I?

I wrote the lore sections for the Secret Societies (page 74), Deviant Abilities (page 94), and Curses and Pacts (page 156) sections, as well as “The Sacral King” incident report (combining Emperor Norton I of America with the Fisher King concept, for you Weird History fans) and the “Wishes in Krasnoprudny” adventure, along with several mechanical tidbits here and there.

If you like what you see here, I’m also the creative director of the Luminant Age project, a Weird Swashbuckler setting currently working on fulfilling our second Kickstarter. If you're fond of chimeric vampires and razor-wire whips, please follow us on Twitter at @LuminantA or check out our published products at https://luminant-age.itch.io!

Art by Sammy Khalid

Solomon St. John (they/them),
Editor

Greetings internet. I go by Sol, and I put my teenage special interest in cults and other esoteric faiths to use writing the lore of the Cults section (page 136) along with the “Occult Skill Feats” (page 78) that I hope you’ll enjoy. Atypical understandings of the divine are some of my favorite things to explore, so it was a real treat to take a broad look at some of the unexpected ways people in Golarion connect with the sacred and profane.

My first year and change at Paizo has been delightfully busy; in addition to working full-time as an in-house editor, I also wrote my first OP adventure, Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-12: Fury’s Toll, along with the “Spectra, Corrupted” adventure hook for Starfinder Drift Crisis and the undead companions & familiars from Pathfinder: Book of the Dead which, yes, includes the one that made everybody cry. I’m not sorry. :)

Mark Seifter

I'm Mark Seifter, Roll for Combat director of game design, and Paizo's former design manager as well as one of the four leads on the creation of Pathfinder Second Edition.

In Dark Archive, I wrote an assortment of different pieces, the foremost among them being the thaumaturge class on page 30. Thaumaturges use magical implements and exploit weaknesses and sympathetic connections in order to create magical effects without spellcasting and support various playstyles. I hope the class intrigues you and inspires you to create new characters, but most of all I hope it's fun to play!

I’m @markseifter on Twitter. Check out my Twitch stream with Linda Zayas-Palmer, Arcane Mark, Tuesdays at 7 PM Pacific, and Saturdays at 10 AM Pacific at https://www.twitch.tv/arcanemark, as well as my Roll for Combat Live YouTube stream with Stephen Glicker at https://www.youtube.com/c/RollForCombat/. Both shows cover a variety of RPG and Pathfinder topics! You can also join my discord at https://tiny.cc.arcanemark

Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her)

Hi, all! I'm Kendra Leigh Speedling, and I wrote the reflection versatile heritage (page 119), apocryphal domain spells (page 142), and the sleepwalker archetype (page 206). The question of what's considered "weird" or "mysterious" in a setting with established magic and supernatural abilities has always been one that's interested me (what exists on the margins of a fantastical world?), and Dark Archive was a great opportunity to explore that. Getting these sections was really cool to work on, since at one point or another, I've written stories about both mirror people and dream magic. The apocryphal domain spells were also a fun challenge, as I tried to come up with more metaphorical or abstract associations with the usual domains. I hope people enjoy these new character options! You can find me (and cat pictures) at Twitter @KendraLS, and my full credits are on my website at klspeedling.com.

Art by Christoph Peters

Alex Speidel (he/him)
Organized Play Coordinator

My family has a very dumb “game” reserved for wedding receptions and other events where we sit around for a while. It goes like this:

Alex: [picks up their knife] This is a duck.
Matthew: A what?
Alex: A duck.
Matthew: Ohhhhh. [takes knife]
Matthew: [to Carol] This is a duck.
Carol: A what?
Matthew: [to Alex] A what?
Alex: A duck.
Matthew: [to Carol] A duck.
Carol: Ohhhhh. [takes knife]
Carol: [to Bill] This is a duck.
This continues until our table gets called for dinner. Anyway in this book there’s a spell that lets you create a contagious illusion, enjoy!

For more excellent content like this, follow me on Twitter @AlexSpeidel.

Isis Wozniakowska (she/her)

Hey all, I’m Isis Woz, one of Paizo’s freelancers. I’ve written for Secrets of Magic, wrote two Starfinder scenarios (Starfinder Society Scenario #3-21: Frozen Ambitions: Renewal’s Blight and Starfinder Society Scenario #5-04: Fragment of the 4th), and I also did work on the upcoming Starfinder Interstellar Species. But for Dark Archive I wrote the mind smith archetype (page 204) and I’m so happy with how it came out! I hope people enjoy having a sword made of pure mental energy to play around with.

For me, Dark Archive was such a treat to work on since it covers so many interests that I’ve had in fantasy. As a longtime fan of paranormal and psychic detective stories—and a comparative literature major with an emphasis in mythology and spiritualism—this book is one that I’ve been excited for since I was given the chance to write for it. Hopefully you all will enjoy it too.

If you ever want to swap character concepts, Dark Archive or otherwise, you can find me on Twitter as @wozenstein, where sometimes I talk about TTRPG things but most of the time I just talk about and retweet Ace Attorney jokes.

Art by Christoph Peters

The Drift has broken. Faster-than-light travel is unreliable. The galaxy is in chaos, and opportunists lurk in every star system. Starfinder needs heroes, and with the recent release of Starfinder Drift Crisis, your characters can be part of the action! But this book wouldn’t have happened without heroes of a different kind: the authors who joined our team to tackle a totally new kind of book, all the while with fire in their eyes, passion in their hearts, and in their brains 101 new ways for your PCs to rediscover that in space, nobody can hear you scream. Meet some of the great minds who helped bring you the Drift Crisis!

John Compton
Starfinder Senior Developer

Illustration by Miguel Regodón Harkness

Dennis Muldoon

Hi Starfinders! My name is Dennis Muldoon. In addition to being a freelance author, I'm also an avid Starfinder player, GM, and organized play Venture-Captain in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was very excited to contribute to this book, writing the Blazing Speeds adventure seed, as well as the ChiwaTech faction and volocoth devils. For more Drift Crisis-related content from me, check out the new Starfinder Society interactive special, SFS #4-99 A Time of Crisis.

Sen.H.H.S.

Hi all, Sen.H.H.S. here! You may have seen my name around some Pathfinder products such as Bestiary 3 and Secrets of Magic. I was also in Starfinder's Galactic Magic, and am delighted to be back to join the chaos that is Drift Crisis, where I wrote about the Drift before everything went sideways. You can follow me on Twitter @SenHHS to keep track of what I'm up to, though I think the disruption to the Drift has disrupted my tweets somewhat. So! You can look forward to more of my work in the upcoming [static] and [white noise] which is going to be released in [more static] hello is this thing on [all static and endless white noise]

Mikhail Rekun

Приветствую, уважаемые читатели! My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and I wrote the Pahtran Independence section as well as the Hymothoa.

In my day job, I’m a history teacher and historian, and as part of that I’ve spent a lot of years teaching decolonization and the end of the European imperial system to students. So when I wrote up the Pahtran bid for independence, the examples of decolonization were very much on my mind—especially the multi-cornered disaster that was the Congo Crisis, but to a lesser extent also Algeria and Vietnam. Decolonization is a big, messy, complicated subject—too big to treat seriously in either this post or the 2-page Pahtran Independence section, but I do hope that I’ve managed to capture at least a little of that messiness in a gameable format.

If you enjoyed reading about the Pahtran political crisis, I’m also the creative director of the Luminant Age project, a Weird Swashbuckler setting currently working on fulfilling our second Kickstarter. If you like the idea of your PC becoming a senator while fighting thousand-year-old glasswrought engines, please follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LuminantA or check out our published products at https://luminant-age.itch.io!

Alison Cybe

I’m Alison Cybe, and I created the themes for Drift Crisis! It was a blast; themes are super fun elements which can do a lot to enhance your character. I know that when a player is starting out, they choose their theme based on which stat benefit they gain, but they also come with extra abilities as you level up. I like to surprise players with those; make each one quite unique to that theme! Each time I make one, I try to combine a selection of upgrades which are both fun and create a character unlike anything else!

Drift Crisis is a lore event. There’s a school of thinking in game development which teaches that heavy lore is something to be avoided; that it gatekeeps casual players from the game. I don’t believe that. Players love lore. A good, deep sense of history to the cosmos, with a large number of groups pursuing their own goals and agendas, it all creates the sense of a living and breathing world. Drift Crisis contains so much for players, outside of the options; it provides a means to look at the cosmos anew.

James Rodehaver

Hey everyone, I’m Jim, James, Evil Jimjam—it all means me. I had the honor of contributing to The Drift Crisis with the Trifold Legionnaire adventure seed. I was inspired to explore a conflict where the antagonist was so focused on a goal that they became a force of destruction. I wanted to highlight the theme that the impact of someone’s decisions, even without malicious intent, can put them on the wrong side of conflict. I also added Sovereign Trinity to the NPC rolodex. The story of some power-hungry figure with a messiah complex attempting to elevate themselves to godhood is a classic and the Drift Crisis felt like the perfect opportunity for someone to try that with Triune.

In addition to contributing to the Drift Crisis book, I am going to appear in the Drift Crisis actual play stream on Paizo’s official twitch channel. More details are coming soon, but I’m excited to play alongside some amazing pro streamers and one of Paizo’s own is going to be in the GM seat!

John Curtin

Hi Paizo, I’m John Curtin! You may know me from such internettings as Starfinder Facts on Twitter or Bearly Factual Productions on Patreon. While I’m normally full of the absurd and wacky on social media, in Drift Crisis I tackled the very serious topics of Near Space’s troubles in the Crisis, and maybe the most solemn subject of all: loot. While you’re enjoying the Treasure Tables in the back, be careful near the artifacts; some of them can get pretty nasty. Fun fact: The Leng Luminary was inspired by a lantern from my wedding to my partner! Hope you enjoy Drift Crisis as much as I plan to, and can't wait to talk more about what I have coming up in Interstellar Species!

Illustration by Laslo Ludrovan

Kendra Leigh Speedling

Hi, everyone! I'm Kendra Leigh Speedling, and I did the Cracks in the Cosmos adventure seeds/spells, the riftstalker (which got some extremely cool Princess-Mononoke-vibes art), Shaizera of Radiant, and everyone's favorite unethical highly acclaimed media mogul, Zo! I think the Drift Crisis provides a good opportunity for some cool, unusual adventures, and I had a lot of fun being a part of it (and throwing in First World shenanigans). If you end up playing Cracks in the Cosmos as a full campaign, I'd love to hear how it goes! You can find me (sporadically) on Twitter @KendraLS, and if you'd like to check out other things I've written, my credits are on my website at klspeedling.com.

Jessica Catalan

Hi, I’m Jessica Catalan! I’m the current Starfinder Society Developer and a freelance author who primarily writes for Pathfinder and Starfinder. I contributed a lot to Starfinder Drift Crisis, including the 'Drift in Crisis’ article, The Vast, factions (Eyeswide Agency, Hellknights, Tetrad), class options (mystic, technomancer, vanguard), stat blocks (gravity, vorclash, Drift Architects), and the Alluvion Fractures adventure seed. The Drift Crisis is an exciting event to be a part of and I look forward to seeing the adventures and content our community creates as a part of it!

Rigby Bendele

I contributed the Moored faction, the Chaos on Absalom Station adventure seed, the drift saboteur, and Aleksana Guryari's NPC write-up for this book. When writing the Moored, I spent a lot of time looking at the way we make meaning during a crisis. I pulled on time that I spent in activist communities when thinking about the Moored. When big moments of crisis happened, these groups would often get overwhelmed by well-meaning people finally motivated to join their local orgs. However, this also meant that orgs suddenly had to go supporting 20 people to hundreds. These moments of crisis seemed like they would be a good thing, but weathering the sudden change in resources truly taxed them.

If you want to hear more from me, you can find me on Twitter @rigbeesknees or check out my work in Galactic Magic and the upcoming Pathfinder Dark Archive releases.

John Godek III

Hi everyone! I’m an avid Starfinder player, 5 Nova GM, podcaster, and recent kidney transplant recipient. I teach entrepreneurship and marking as a professor for my day job. Prior to academia, I founded tech startups, and served on icebreakers and law enforcement cutters in the US Coast Guard. I was a federal law enforcement officer, and one of only 200 people in the world qualified to pilot polar class icebreakers. I visited both the Arctic, and Antarctica, transited the Northwest Passage, and circumnavigated North America. For Drift Crisis, my experience in federal law enforcement and as a sailor inspired my sections on the Stewards and Free Captains factions, as well as the starship infiltrating Azlanti Stellar Scout. My current work in academia aided me in drafting the Stabilization Protocol adventure seed where you track down Drift experts from across the galaxy.

I have three podcasts on the Know Direction Network: Intrepid Heroes – a Starfinder actual play with GM Ron Lundeen and Eleanor Ferron among the players, Presenting – interviews with game creators, and Digital Divination – a show with Starfinder Development Manager Jason Keeley. Recently I started a Youtube channel for the Presenting and Digital Divination podcasts: http://gamingdivination.com.

Andrew White

Hello! I'm Andrew White, Paizo's front-end engineering lead and a freelance author who has written for a whole mess of Pathfinder and Starfinder projects going back to the Advanced Player's Guide. Lately, I’ve also been working closely with the folks at Foundry VTT to convert Paizo’s adventure content for virtual tabletops. My contributions to Drift Crisis were a bunch of new class options for precogs, solarians, and witchwarpers, my favorite of which is the ability to deliberately enrage eldritch beings from beyond space and time in the hopes that they’ll eat your enemies before they eat you. Have fun with that one!

If you’d like to see more of my work, I also recently released the Danger Dossier on Starfinder Infinite, which addresses Starfinder’s only major flaw by adding froghemoths to it; I’m a contributing author to a bunch of exciting announced and unannounced upcoming Paizo projects, including one of the Drift Crisis Case Files, and I can occasionally be found retweeting stuff written by better writers at @plaguecontrol.

Kate Baker

Hi, I’m Kate Baker, frequent contributor to Starfinder and Pathfinder products, and I was delighted to get to work on Drift Crisis. This book is such a fun shakeup of the setting, and I know everyone who plays the game will find some great ideas for implementing this storyline. I particularly enjoyed getting to write the Swarm adventure seed.

You can follow me at @KateBakerGM on Twitter to find out more about what I’m up to!

This month, we're celebrating Pride with our co-workers, freelancers, and community content creators. For many of us, Pride isn't just a June event, it's an all day, every day existence. With that in mind, we asked, "What are you proud of in the last year?"

Art by Sebastian Rodriguez

Aubrey (she/her)
Community Content Creator

My name is Aubrey, I use She/Her pronouns, and I am the GM and Co-Producer for Goblets and Gays. We are a very gay Pathfinder 2e podcast. What I am most proud of in the last year is my show, the work my players and I have put into it. We have built an audience that is bigger than I ever expected. We were nominated and won an award, Podcast that Rolls like Family from the 2021 TTRPG Gifs awards.

We've gotten a chance to work with so many people from all over the world. We got to collaborate with Nat20 Productions to launch a Live Actual Play show as well. We are rapidly approaching our second anniversary and we are just getting started.
https://themadqueen.carrd.co/

Raychael Allor (she/her)
Marketing and Licensing Coordinator

I'm Raychael Allor, Paizo's Marketing and Licensing Coordinator! The thing I'm most proud of this year is finally allowing myself to be proud of what I've accomplished and endured. I'm still here, I worked hard to get to this point, despite many obstacles, and I'm allowed to be happy, no matter what my brain likes to tell me.

Alexander Augunas (he/him)
Freelance Contributor

Hello, I’m Alexander Augunas (Asexual/Biromantic/Male)! I’m Know Direction’s Everyman Gamer and the Master of Ceremonies of Know Direction Beyond, as well as the publisher of Everybody Games. I also write for Paizo and Pathfinder 2E / Starfinder when I’m not working my day job. This year, I’m proud of the work that my team and I did on Kitsune of Golarion, a Pathfinder Infinite product that details kitsune ethnic groups from across Golarion. I’m also thrilled that my first Adventure Path volume, Starfinder Adventure Path #51: Into the Dataverse, was announced a few weeks ago at PaizoCon. Finally, I’m proud to be celebrating my first Pride as biromantic and of my new partner, who’s been amazingly patient with me as he and I work to figure out my feelings. If you are questioning or ever start to question yourself, please give yourself the time and kindness to figure it out in whatever capacity you need. Sometimes the answer is simply acknowledging the feelings you had at the start, and that can be scary. Take a step back. Breath. It’s okay. We’ve all been there, and many of us still are. You’ve got this

Art by Fabio Rodrigues

Rigby Bendele (xe/xem or they/them)
Freelance Contributor

Community is what will save us, and I've seen my community come together over the past several years. Whether it's been mutual aid programs, labor solidarity, or activist communities, I've seen those around me step up and mobilize to protect each other. I've also worked to be someone my community would be proud of, especially when it comes to ensuring I don’t leave vulnerable members behind.

As I look to the future and continue to see a cycle of advances in rights and then backlash, standing together is vital. While living under cissexist oppression has been hard and there are never any guarantees of what the future holds, it is always worthwhile to put in the effort. I owe so much to those that organize movements. I can never repay that debt; I can only try.

I guess this is where I talk about my own work, and how much I’ve done this past year or what my upcoming releases are. If you’re interested in that, you can find my work in the recently released Starfinder Drift Crisis and in the upcoming Pathfinder Dark Archive, Lost Omens: Travel Guide, Starfinder Interstellar Species, and Pathfinder Society Special #3-98: Expedition into Pallid Peril.

I also run a free newsletter about LGBTQIA+ speculative fiction (mostly sci-fi and fantasy). If you want to hear my thoughts on queer literature, you can subscribe (or read the archive) at Transgenre Reads. You can find me @rigbeesknees on Twitter.

Brent Bowser (he/him)
Great Lakes Regional Venture Coordinator

This past year I’m proud to count myself among the many who’ve realized their worth. I mustered up the courage to tell my boss, “Treat me fairly, or I’m going elsewhere.” Here I am now, living my best life in a new job, recording a stand-up comedy special, my first Organized Play Scenario coming out this month (PFS: #3-16: Escape From Oppara), and an editor of The Journal of Dungeoneering For Hip and Attractive Professionals. From Starbucks and Amazon to every individual altering their situation, I’m proud of us collectively striving to make life better for ourselves, and each other.

Carlos Cabrera (he/they)
Freelance Contributor

Hi, my name is Carlos Cabrera and I identify as bisexual. I have written for Pathfinder in both first and second editions and have done some additional voice acting work. My latest credit to date is the voice of Ashasar for the Pathfinder Society Special #3-99: Fate of the Future, which played at GenCon last year!

The thing I am proud of most in the last year is my willingness to diversify my career and follow my freelancing work wherever it takes me. Not only did I decide to start pursuing voice acting after stumbling upon it in the Seattle indie video game scene, I have two board game projects currently in the works and one has been picked up by a publisher!

I look forward to wherever my career takes me next and should be returning to writing more content for Pathfinder soon as well. You'll be able to find all of my upcoming project announcements at http://somethingclevergames.com!

James Case (he/him)
Senior Designer

Hi, still James here, still gay. I worked on a lot of Paizo stuff I’m proud of this year, but instead of those, something else I’m proud of is making my first forays into professional media translation and translating some anime, including both an episode with a ton of puns and an episode that made my roommate go “wait why hasn’t that character stopped talking yet it’s been like a minute and I don’t think she’d breathed.” Between this and the RPG thing, middle school James would be proud. I also (with my stepmother’s help) figured out how to stop messing up a few recipes that had been giving me trouble this year, which I’m proud of too! All this and more can be found on the Tweetosphere at @toriariaria.

Art by Sebastian Rodriguez

Caryn DiMarco (she/they)
Freelance Contributor

Hi! I'm Caryn (she/they). I write marketing content as my day job, but the much cooler answer to "what do you do" is my recent experience freelancing for Paizo! I wrote Bounty 14 (The Blackwood Truce) and PFS scenario 3-10 (Delve the Pallid Depths)... and hopefully more fun things in the future. You can (sometimes) find me on Twitter talking about my work: @caryndi

My proudest moment in the past year was, in fact, seeing something with my name on it published! It was the culmination of a lot of effort I've put in over the years, and also a new opportunity to learn and grow as a writer. On a more serious and somber note, I'm also proud of the resilience and resistance of the LGBTQ+ community recently. I wish it wasn't necessary. But speaking truth to power, doing what you can to make your community better, and even just living your truth even though others are hostile to it are all accomplishments. I'm simultaneously proud to be fighting the good fight where I can and grateful/humbled to be part of a community that has given me wonderful examples of how to do so.

Dana Ebert (she/her)
Freelance Contributor

Whenever anyone complains about inclusion I add a gay character to their favorite game.

James Jacobs (he/him)
Creative Director

Hey there! I’m James Jacobs, and I wear a lot of hats at Paizo—lately I’ve been developing Adventure Paths, standalone adventures, and of course the behemoth Kingmaker project. Last year has been yet another rough year, and looking back on it all it’s difficult for me to isolate anything in particular I’m proud of myself other than just making it to this point, so instead I’ll say I’m proud of all the amazing freelancers who work for Paizo and have been so supportive of us—not just in the past year, but for the past 19 years I’ve been working at Paizo. I’ve come close to quitting the job or moving on several times—many of them in the past year—and the kind words and support of freelancers is one of the things that’s kept me here. I’m proud of you all, but more to the point I’m thankful for you all.

Dustin Knight (he/him)
Freelance Contributor

Greetings, Pathfinders! My name is Dustin Knight (Asexual/Biromantic/Male)! I’m the host of Infiknight Reviews on Twitch, producer of Know Direction: Beyond, author of the Fox’s Cunning blog series on Know Direction, and a Venture-Lieutenant for the Pathfinder Society! I'm very proud of the successful creator space and community that developed on the Infiknight Reviews Discord channel. And this year I’m proud of all the work I’ve done with Pathfinder & Starfinder Infinite, developing my own work like Infiknight Archetypes: Spell Trickster and writing with other incredible authors in collaborations like Kitsune of Golarion. Of course, I’m super excited to see how people react to my work in Lost Omens: Travel Guide, and I’m extremely grateful for the overwhelming positive response I got for Nouru/“Tattletail” in Lost Omens: The Grand Bazaar. And, to save the best for last, I’m immensely proud of my incredible new partner whose kindness, sweetness, and endless thoughtfulness have helped me learn to love myself and open my heart to share my love with another. Over the years this blog has been such a source of inspiration, learning, and opportunity for me, and I hope I can help pay it forward by offering my fellow creatives a helping hand and safe creative space where they can be free to express and learn who they are with open minds and open hearts. (@WarlockKitsune on Twitter)

Sonja Morris (she/her)
Director of Visual Design, Elder Gay

In addition to all of the things I worked on at Paizo over the last year, I am proud of myself for actually finishing Horizon Forbidden West and not giving up on Elden Ring (though I haven’t finished it yet). Twitter @robosapienx, Insta @robosapienx

Art by Vlada Hladkova

Dave Nelson (he/they)
Freelance Contributor

Hey, all! For those that don’t know me, I’m Dave Nelson, a bi and aromantic freelancer for Paizo. In a year full of accomplishments and personal growth, there is clearly one thing I am proud of most of all. I am proud to be a part of the freelance community that took collective action last fall to fight for Paizo staff. I remain proud that I took a stand for others and honored to be in the company of those that did the same.

If you want to take a look at my work, my words are coming up in Lost Omens: Travel Guide and Drift Crisis: Case Files (my first hardcover credit!) You can find me on the bird site @davicthegrey where I share photos of cats and other great things that catch my attention. I’ll be launching a new project soon and that’s the best place to hear all about it.

Jessica Redekop (she/they/he)
Freelance Contributor

Hi, I'm Jess! You might remember me from essential PF2 content like the APG’s dandy archetype, Lost Omens Grand Bazaar’s wig of holding, and the upcoming fashion section of Lost Omens Travel Guide. I'm one of several asexual Paizo contributors, and I couldn't be prouder of the community of talented and diverse professionals I get to work with. Paizo freelancers achieved a lot in the last year, and the collective action we took last year to improve working conditions for Paizo staff and ultimately demand recognition for the United Paizo Workers union ranks high among my proudest moments. It is my privilege to continue working alongside this incredible, kind, and fierce group of creators I get to call my peers.

If you’d like to check out more of my work, you can go straight to Hell (literally, as in the plane, Hell) in Drift Crashers #1: The Perfect Storm, my Starfinder adventure path volume available either now or soon! I play Xiadani on Valiant, a PF2 actual play on the Know Direction network, and tweet into the tweeterverse from @tectonomancer.

Art by Raphael Madureira

Simone D. Sallé (she/they)
Contract Editor

Hey, I'm Simone (she/they), a queer editor, writer, and general language enthusiast. Among other things, I wrote the primal magic treatise and witch journal entries for Secrets of Magic, and as a contractor I've been a contributing editor on numerous Paizo publications! I'm delighted and honored to work alongside so many phenomenal creators in this community who do such great work on the games we love.

It's hard for me to celebrate my achievements, but after many years of freelancing on the side, I'm proud of taking the leap to self-employment and making Wildwood Editing my full-time job. I love running my own solo business and continuing to learn more about myself, my craft, my community, and how to build better worlds, both in games and in real life. If you’d like to follow along, I have a monthly newsletter about games, language, advocacy, and more that you can sign up for here: https://www.subscribepage.com/wildwoodediting.

There’s a lot to celebrate during Pride Month, but don’t forget that queer history is important, queer folks are everywhere, and we need your support all year long. (And if you’re newly exploring your identity and wondering if you’re queer enough to belong, the answer is YES. Welcome!)

Kendra Leigh Speedling
Freelance Contributor

Hi all! I’m Kendra Leigh Speedling, a freelancer for Pathfinder/Starfinder, and I’m bi and demisexual. Most recently, I’ve worked on Book of the Dead and Guns & Gears on the Pathfinder side, and Drift Crisis and the one-shot System Takedown on the Starfinder side. This year, I’m proud of tackling two big projects back to back, which was a big challenge! One of these was To Defy the Dragon, a Starfinder adventure module out this fall. I had a great time working on it, and I hope people enjoy not only getting to take down a dragon tyrant from the seats of mechs, but also discovering the other things the ruins hold—some of which might tug at their heartstrings. (I’m not sure how much I can say about Project #2 yet, so…I’ll leave it at that!)

More broadly, I’m proud of those in the Paizo community—staff, freelancers, and fans alike—who have united to push for positive change over the past year. This is a rough time for a lot of people—especially queer people—but knowing there are so many doing their best to make gaming more inclusive and welcoming gives me hope. Stay awesome, everyone.

Isabelle Thorne
Freelance Contributor

Hallo! I’m Isabelle Thorne, long-time Paizo contributor (most recently to Lost Omens Knights of Lastwall) and proud trans girl. ^_^

This year is a pretty big deal for me. In addition to contributing lots of content to the aforementioned Knights of Lastwall, I’ve gotten started as a freelance editor for works like Queerfinder on Pathfinder Infinite, among several others, and I’m pushing myself to make editing a full-time gig. In addition, after many long years and struggles, I’m finally making an effort to leave my hometown and move somewhere more affirming and supportive, where I can have a real community and my own life. It’s going to be tough, but I’m hoping it will really pay off in the end!

Art by Sammy Khalid

Esther Wallace (she/her; zhe/zher),
Community Content Creator

Hi y’all! I’m Esther Wallace (she/her, zhe/zher). I’m a queer/bisexual, genderfluid, disabled creator and game designer.

My biggest point of pride in the last year is finishing my graduate degree, where among other things I studied tabletop as a form of ritual and meaning-making. Right now, I’m extremely proud of designing my first game, Front Porch. It’s a worldbuilding game about gossip and gossip’s power to create and unravel social bonds and social worlds, and it will hopefully drop in July 2022.

I’m also the GM of Chromythica, a trans and queer-led Pathfinder 2E actual play. Our story focuses on two gnomes, a tief-elf, and a talking dog who stumble on a vast plot of Draconic intrigue and Infernal meddling, learning in the process that they’re fated to shape the destinies of dragons and the course of history. I’m immensely proud of everything we have accomplished as a trans and queer cast! Together, we imagine a story where trans and queer people not only survive, but thrive. I’m proud of us for telling the stories that we most want to encounter in this world. We’d be delighted for you to join us in our story if you’re just finding out about us!

Finally, I’m proud to have created #tabletopaccess, a hashtag for disabled gamers to share our experiences in the tabletop community.

You can find me on Twitter @dungeonminister (or @chromythica) and on the web at oakgrove.games, chromythica.com, and hallowedbe.org.

Grady Wang (he/him) and Theo Thourson (he/him)
Community Content Creators

Grady Wang (he/him) and Theo Thourson (he/him) are life partners who cofounded and run The Gallant Goblin, a TTRPG publishing company and product review channel on YouTube. We are proud of everything we have accomplished in the last year to become a self-sustaining LGBTQ+-owned small business as well as promote queer-identifying creators in the tabletop space.

We launched Queerfinder on Pathfinder Infinite in January 2022 as an in-world travel magazine featuring queer-friendly stories, NPCs, locations, and plot hooks as imagined by queer creators. The magazine celebrates existing industry talents, such as Paizo contributors, as well as up-and-coming designers and artists trying to break into the industry. We're so proud of our passionate and talented team, who not only strive to elevate each other but to improve industry conditions through advocacy for wage transparency, better contracts, and higher pay. Together we're developing many more exciting stories to share with you in upcoming issues!

We were also thrilled that our band of rainbow kobold adventurers, originally conceived as a Pride Month fundraiser for GLSEN in 2020, are making the leap into the real world as huggable plushies. After over a year of development, we launched our new Hero Plush brand on Kickstarter and are so proud it became one of the top 40 plush Kickstarters of all time! We hope to bring more cuddly, aspiring heroes into homes in the coming years! You can find us on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

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Show your pride, Paizo golem, goblin, or nufriend style! These enamel pins made by Campaign Coins feature a Paizo golem, a Pathfinder goblin or a Starfinder skittermander, all in the Pride flag colors. Five dollars from each pin sold will go directly to Tabletop Gaymers and championing the visibility and inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community through tabletop gaming.

This Lunar New Year, we thought it’d be fun to have some of our staff, freelancers, and members of the community write up some magic items inspired by lunar new year to put into your Pathfinder games!

Happy Year of the Tiger, and wishing everyone a safe and prosperous new year!

Art by Mirco Paganessi

James Case

My howmi (I couldn’t properly pronounce halmeoni when I was a toddler, abbreviations were made) is a great cook, but growing up, she made Korean food very rarely (Too much chopping! Just chop chop chop! Howmi don’t wanna chop so much!). New years was always the big exception, where she’d make enough food to feed everyone for... honestly, several days. We always had to have our tteokguk first to make sure we’d have good luck for the next year, and it was always the right way to start things off. Happy new year!

Tteokguk of Time Advancement — Item 5

Consumable, Magical, Transmutation, Polymorph
Usage Held in 1 hand; Bulk L

Dumplings and rice cakes float invitingly between seaweed and egg in this comforting soup. While normal tteokguk helps you gain an extra year of age when you eat it, the magic in tteokguk of time advancement takes this a step further.

Activate [one-action] Interact; Effect Upon eating the tteokguk, you gain several years of age, morphing into an older version of yourself. Your physical appearance and personality change to those you would have at any age older than your current one. This grants you a +4 status bonus to Deception checks to pass as the chosen age, and you can add your level as a proficiency bonus to these checks even if you're untrained. Furthermore, unless a creature specifically uses a Seek action or otherwise carefully examines you, it doesn't get a chance to notice that you aren't at your true age. This lasts until morning of the next day, at which point you are temporarily immune until the next lunar new year.

Eleanor Ferron

Every new year, my dad's side of the family would gather at my grandma and grandpa's house for a large family reunion. There weren't enough rooms or beds for all the cousins, us kids would fight with one another, and of course after a few days we were all sick of being there. But they're some of my fondest memories. On New Year's Day we would make sushi and lotus root, serve kuromame and the horrible lucky fish cake (which I would begrudgingly choke down a single slice of), but my favorite was my grandpa's inarizushi—tangy sushi rice inside sweet fried tofu pockets. I struggled for ages to be able to split open the delicate fried tofu without ripping the pockets open, and was so proud of myself when I got good at it. In Japan, they are said to be favored by the rice goddess Inari and her fox servants. I didn't know anything about the myths associated with them until later; my brother must have told me when he got interested in studying Japanese culture. Grandpa probably would have gotten grumpy if we'd brought it up, but he might not have minded giving one to a hungry fox. He loved nature and animals, and would go out in the morning to garden and feed the flock of California quail who hid in the tiny bamboo thicket on the edge of his yard. They came so often we used to call them his little chickens.

You really shouldn't feed wild animals, but in a fantasy game it's harmless fun.

Shrine Inarizushi — Level 1

Divination, Consumable, Divine
Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L

Activate one minute (Interact)
A splash of sacred sake in the rice vinegar used to prepare this sushi makes it a suitable offering to the goddess Daikitsu and her favored fox servants. You place the sushi before a shrine of the goddess Daikitsu or in a wilderness area that naturally harbors foxes. For the next hour, whenever you are in exploration mode, roll a separate Search activity check with a +1 status bonus; this does not affect your Speed. If the check succeeds, a fox appears to inform you of this discovery as best as it can, although it cannot speak.

Sen.H.H.S.

In the days leading up to Chinese New Year, my family and I often visit Songshan Ciyou Temple for our annual prayers to the gods there. Like many other temples here, Ciyou Temple hosts a multitude of Taoist-Buddhist gods under one roof. Other than just for convenience, I think it is also a testimony of variety and complexity within a culture, something I do my best to reflect in my writing.

Last year has been a full-on bumpy ride, but it was consequently highly rewarding. I learned a lot, tried a lot, and flailed a lot in the process. I’m grateful to be a member of the greater Paizo creative community as their support means the world to me. There is a lot to look forward to, and since I can’t talk about many of them right now, follow me on Twitter (@SenHHS) for when those announcements drop!

Wishing everyone a happy Year of the Tiger! *Roar*

Incense Bundle of Annual Blessings — Item 8

Consumable, Magical
Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L

The twelve incense sticks wrapped in this bundle vary in shade and color, reflecting the deities the months are named after. Offering all incense sticks to their respective deities within a week is said to bring unparalleled luck, though gaining entry to all the necessary shrines and temples can pose quite a challenge. Those that complete the challenge gain can, when affected by a misfortune effect, automatically disrupt it as the incense wards off the bad luck. This ability can be used once a month for the next 12 months.

Jessie Lo

Hi I’m Jessie, you can find me on my Pathfinder 2e podcast @GobletsandGays and on Twitter @akinomii_art. During Chinese New Year, it is very common to give out hongbao, red packets/envelopes, to your loved ones. Usually, they contain money, which is used to wish good luck, health, and wealth for the new year. It's also common to give out red packets as gifts, which often means a red packet is reused by several people until it wears out. It has also become common to get red packets from malls, which usually have a piece of chocolate, candy or special coupons.

Hongbao of Many Things — Item 5

Conjuration, Magical
Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L

This enchanted long, red envelope is decorated with beautiful illustrations in gold ink. The hongbao holds twelve slips safely within.

Activate [one-action] Interact; Effect You draw a randomly selected slip from the hongbao, which transforms permanently into a useful item. Until you draw another item, the illustration on the outside of the hongbao changes to one of twelve animals, matching the item pulled. Each slip can be drawn only once; after the last slip is gone, the hongbao becomes a non-magical red envelope that retains the illustration of the final slip drawn. The effects of each slip are as follows:

1. 3d4 small firecracker pellets that let out a loud squeak when thrown against a hard surface.
2. Embroidered leather armor made from oxhide.
3. A lesser healing potion, except it is applied as a balm instead of drunk.
4. A stuffed bunny dressed in red robes.
5. 50 feet of coiled silk rope.
6. A bottle of snake wine.
7. A wooden, horse-drawn wagon.
8. A musical instrument made out of a ram’s horn.
9. A collapsible metal-banded bo staff.
10. An ornate jeweled egg.
11. A small, jade, statuette of a guardian lion dog.
12. 6 delicious pork buns that function as emergency rations.

Tan Shao Han

Happy Lunar New Year! May you all enjoy roaring good fortune in the year of the tiger! Based in Singapore, Shao Han (https://www.curiouschimeras.com/) is a member of the #RPGSEA movement who has created content for various RPGs, including Pathfinder 2, Blades in the Dark, and ARC. Fun fact: Due to Shao Han being taller than most of his family, he enjoys a +1 to his Cooking Lore checks when eating yusheng, and adds the reach trait and gains the critical specialization effects on his chopsticks attacks.

Seven-Color Raw Fish Salad — Item 8

Consumable, Divination, Fortune, Magical
Price 88 gp
Usage Prepared with 2 hands; Bulk 1

An appetizer popularized in Goka, seven-color raw fish salad (qicai yusheng) is both fun and tasty to eat. This large platter of salad of raw fish, seafood, fruits, and vegetables of various hues is dressed in generous drizzlings of crushed peanuts, plum sauce, and sesame oil. During the Lunar New Year, consuming the seven-color raw fish salad (as 'seven colors' sounds similar to 'seven riches') is a grand, often messy, affair of spectacle and skill. Diners gather around the platter with long chopsticks to toss the salad, lifting the assorted ingredients as high as possible without dropping them off the table; erudite diners lead the table in uttering auspicious sayings to wish good fortune for the new year.

Activate 1 minute (command, Interact); Effect You toss the ingredients of the seven-color raw fish salad into the air to prepare the dish. You must attempt a DC 20 Cooking Lore check, with the following results.

Critical Success You manage to toss the ingredients deftly without wasting food, and your enthusiastic recitation of auspicious sayings is well received—a sign of impending good fortune! For the first month of the coming year, you enjoy a +2 bonus to skill checks to Earn Income and Diplomacy checks made to Gather Information about job opportunities.

Success You toss the ingredients adroitly, wasting a minimum of seafood, and your delivery of auspicious sayings is respectable. For the first month of the coming year, you gain a +1 bonus to skill checks to Earn Income and Diplomacy checks made to Gather Information about job opportunities.

Failure You fumble too many of the ingredients to have enough left to eat.

Get ready to reboot your spell caches with Starfinder Galactic Magic! This exciting new supplement dives into the most magical parts of the science-fantasy Starfinder setting, with a new class, a wealth of class options, dozens of new spells, and articles on how magic and religion affect day-to-day living in the Pact Worlds and beyond. Of course, none of this would be possible without our talented authors! Let’s learn a little more about some of them and what they worked on for this book in their own words. And if you’re a new (or returning) fan of any of these authors, be sure to check out their other projects, websites, livestreams, and more!

Jason Keeley (he/him)
Starfinder Development Manager

Illustration by Arturo Gutierrez

James Jacobs (he/him)
Creative Director

I’ve had the good fortune to write a lot for Pathfinder and helped to invent a fair portion of its deities, but always in the context of the fantasy genre. The chance to revisit some of these elements in a different genre is exciting and liberating. after spending decades with deities like Desna and Sarenrae flitting around in my head as divinities first in my homebrew game and then more recently in Golarion. Alas, there was only so much room to talk about Desnan dream stations or to explore the implications of what worshiping the goddess of the sun might entail when you’re in outer space, but hopefully the entries in this book will help spark new ideas for how to use these deities in your game! And of course, on the opposite side of the “friendliness scale,” being able to lean into the science-fiction tropes of the classic pulps and explore how Nyarlathotep and the Elder Mythos functions in Starfinder was equally delightful. But the thing I’m most excited to see once this book’s out is all the amazing content created by all the other authors in this book!

Jessica Catalan (she/her)
Starfinder Society Developer

Hello! My name is Jessica Catalan and I’m the Starfinder Society Developer. I’m also a mother, gamer, blogger, and freelance author who primarily writes for Paizo’s Starfinder and Pathfinder RPGs. You can find a list of my currently announced writing credits on my Paizo profile (meloriel). Some recently released highlights include Secrets of Magic, Guns & Gears, Lost Omens Grand Bazaar, Galaxy Exploration Manual, and Tech Revolution.

For Galactic Magic, I wrote the mystic and witchwarper class options, twenty spells, and numerous deities, including Kadrical, Lamashtu, and all the ancestral deities. Galactic Magic also marks two big firsts for me. This is the first time I was hired to create entirely new deities of my own design (Dagosarn, Flux, Isvith, Jalvari, Meyel, Romgul, Uvonn, and the Vesk Saints). Galactic Magic is also the first time I was hired for freelance development work, making this my very first developer credit.

I’m beyond thrilled to have been a part of this book and I look forward to seeing it hit gaming tables! Enjoy!

Rigby Bendele (they/them or xe/xem)

I'm a sometimes-poet, sometimes-game designer doing my best to make engaging, inclusive tabletop games. In Galactic Magic, you'll find my work in the technomancer and Oras section. When I was writing the Oras section, I thought quite a bit about Donna Haraway's "A Cyborg Manifesto" and the way in which cyborgs offer a rejection of the separations between animal, human and machine. This should probably tell you that I'm a queer theory nerd (which is the crux of my academic background) and that I love thinking about alternative ways of being through TTRPGs. While Galactic Magic is my first hardcover with Paizo, you'll find my name on more books soon and can enjoy more of my Starfinder work with SFS #3-07: Strike at Zone 78 and SFS #4-04: Mission Not Found.

You can find me on Twitter @slothscout.

Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her)

Hello, all! I’m Kendra Leigh Speedling, and I’ve been freelancing for Pathfinder and Starfinder for about six years. You might remember me from this year’s Starfinder GenCon special, #3-99: Perils of the Past. I’m delighted to have been a part of Galactic Magic, helping give the “fantasy” side of “science-fantasy” some love. I did several sections for the book, including the faith introduction, the Besmara and Weydan entries, the Parallel Truths, and the new operative class options. I’ve always been fond of exploring how magic and faith interact with a highly technologically advanced setting, so this assignment was a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed crafting the operative options, which hopefully add a little magical flair to your operative of choice!

I’ve got a few more Pathfinder and Starfinder projects in the works currently, though most of them are still Forbidden Knowledge at this point. I can confirm, though, that I got my grabby hands involved in Pathfinder’s upcoming Book of the Dead! In my non-freelancing downtime, I can be found hanging out with a book or video game—usually Animal Crossing these days—or pretending I know how to bake. You can find a full list of my writing credits at klspeedling.com and I’m on Twitter as @KendraLS, where I sporadically post cat pictures.

Besmara: illustration by Guilherme Olivieri

Sen.H.H.S. (she/her)

Hello, readers! Sen.H.H.S. here. You might have seen my name before in some Pathfinder Second Edition products such as Bestiary 3, Secrets of Magic, and many others. (See my carrd for the full list: https://senhhs.carrd.co/#portfolio) With Galactic Magic, it looks like I've made the jump over to write even more magic in a different(?) universe. This book has been a long time coming, and I hope you'll get to experience the magic (pun intended) within its pages soon. You can always find out what I'm up to on my Twitter @SenHHS. If my calculations are correct, you might get to witness me tweeting about "trace analysis in Golarion" in the next little while, for every reason whatsoever.

Shay Snow (they/them)

Hi, I'm Shay Snow, I'm an editor at Paizo, and I wrote up a bunch of species-specific spells and the entry on Zon-Kuthon, surprising exactly... no one! As my mutuals on Twitter know I'm a pretty big Zon-Kuthon fan so I joyfully jumped when offered the chance to give the pain man a new write up for Galactic Magic. You may have seen me in a few Starfinder scenarios, Pathfinder’s Lost Omens Grand Bazaar and Tech Revolution and I have a few things coming out in Lost Omens Monsters of Myth. Additionally, you can find my name on a few Coyote & Crow projects!

When not writing, I’m usually discussing Native issues and rights over on my Twitter @SpellsInSugar, where you can also sometimes catch me talking about video games and horror media. You can keep up with my work, or even contact me for hire, through my website https://shayjay.carrd.co/!

Jessica Redekop (she/they/he)

Hi! I'm Jess, and I wrote about some fabulous outsider deities in Galactic Magic ! Even though it's a smaller section, I'm particularly proud of my work in this book. It gave me an opportunity to introduce a lot of cool content into Starfinder, and there are some lines scattered through the section that are quite personal to me. I won't spoil which gods are included, but if you're familiar with my past work for PF and SF, some of them are very "me." :) I hope you like Starfinder's new and returning outsider deities as much as I do!

For more of my content check out Valiant, an actual play Pathfinder podcast on the Know Direction network, where I play Xiadani the aasimar druid. You can also find me @tectonomancer on Twitter.

Mikhail Rekun (he/him)

дравствуйте, уважаемые читатели! My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and you may recognize me from previous Starfinder products such as the Galaxy Exploration Manual (where I wrote about Accord and created the Starship Toolbox) and Starfinder Adventure Path #31: Waking the Worldseed (where I wrote the Hibb article), along with plenty of Pathfinder stuff. In my more mundane life, I’m a Russian-American historian, educator, and author.

Galactic Magic was a bit of a weird project for me. John Compton contacted me and said ‘we need magical nanomachines and we need them as soon as humanly possible.’ Well, I’m never one to shirk from a challenge, and produced the magical options for the nanocyte in basically a weekend. I’m reasonably pleased with the results, especially the ability to make fancy nano-runes and sigils like a proper anime protagonist. (That was what John wanted, right?)

Nanites are also of some interest to me for other reasons, as when not writing for Paizo, I’m working on Ourichor: Fulcrum of the Luminant Age alongside the inimitable Andrew Mullen and Isabelle Thorne (follow us at https://twitter.com/LuminantA). I shan’t share too much in the way of details, but let’s just say that fans of microscopic shenanigans may find our upcoming release, Armaments of the Luminant Age, of some interest to them.

John Godek III (he/him)

Hi everyone! My name is John Godek and I am an avid Starfinder GM, player, freelance author, and podcaster. I had the opportunity to write several sections of Galactic Magic and I can’t wait for you to see them! I created two brand new soldier fighting styles—the spellbrawler and the archer—along with new weapons, gear boosts, fusions, and armor upgrades that synergize with these styles as well as offer cool options for other styles and classes. In addition, I formulated nearly three dozen new magic spells, including spells that provide basic utility, create different types of barriers, and are related to or originated in the Vast. Finally, I crafted three new legendary artifacts of tremendous power, each steeped in ancient lore. Other Paizo projects I have forthcoming include work on the Drift Crisis hardcover, backmatter in Starfinder Adventure Path #44, and my very first adventure—Starfinder Bounty #1: The Cantina Job!

You can find me playing with the Emerald City Lodge in Seattle, or you can listen to my podcasts on the Know Direction Network, including: Digital Divination with Ron Lundeen, Intrepid Heroes, a Stafinder actual play, and Presenting, a podcast where I interview game designers, developers, artists, and writers.

Worlanisi: Illustration by Addison Rankin

Nate Wright (he/him)

Evening, everyone. I’m Nate Wright, a blogger on the Know Direction Network and a freelancer who has contributed to multiple works from Paizo. Some of my favorites include the anadi ancestry from Lost Omens The Mwangi Expanse and the memetic zenith from Starfinder Adventure Path #24: The God-Host Ascends. The best part about writing for this book has been visualizing the awesome abilities I’ve always wished my character could have and getting the opportunity to share that vision with the rest of the community.

If you want to see my most recent work, you’re in need of a freelancer, or you just want to watch me share cool art I found, you can find me on @RoscMan on the cursed bird app.

Dennis Muldoon (he/him)

Hi folks! My name is Dennis Muldoon, and I've been freelancing for Paizo for a few years now. I've contributed to almost every line Paizo publishes, now, most recently SFS #4-10: The Way In, the Azlanti Space Age material in the toolbox of Starfinder Adventure Path #42: Whispers of the Eclipse, and the ssumzili and golgopo monsters in Pathfinder Adventure Path #171: Hurricane's Howl. For Galactic Magic, I wrote the experimental apparatus mechanic alternate class feature for all your magically inclined mechanic needs, along with magic-themed mechanic tricks for mechanics of all types. I'm also extremely excited to bring the Lucky Drunk himself into Starfinder with a section on Cayden Cailean! My full list of credits is on my Paizo profile, and you can find me on Twitter @dkmuldoon.

Kate Baker (she/her)

Hey, Starfinder fans! I’m Kate, and I’ve been writing for Starfinder and Pathfinder for about five years. I was delighted to get to write the sections on Hylax and Talavet for this book. Hylax is near and dear to my heart after writing one of the Attack of the Swarm volumes, and I even have a tattoo of the Crown of Hylax! Talavet speaks to me equally, with such a strong focus on the importance of stories, something I’ve never appreciated more than in the last year and a half. I hope you enjoy reading about their role in the galaxy, along with the many other deities featured in this book.

Follow me at @KateBakerGM on Twitter to hear more about what I’m working on, including some upcoming projects for Starfinder Infinite!

Let these mythical creatures not be overshadowed! Our freelancers aren't monsters in any sense of the word, but according to the vernacular of today's internet, you could call them absolute beasts! While the writers of our Paizo products are always credited in the front and back of the books, a simple name in a byline doesn’t give readers much information on the people who work to bring the setting to life. Instead, I reached out to the authors with the intent of promoting them—as well as any other personal work they would like to show off, so that new fans could find other projects, RPG products, websites, livestreams, and more to enjoy! If there's a section in the book that you particularly liked, why not check out the author behind it today?

Eleanor Ferron
Pathfinder Developer

Dana Ebert

Hi there! It's Dana Ebert (she/her), and I'm so excited to be back so soon! In Monsters of Myth, I took on Desert's Howl, which first appeared in Mythical Monsters Revisited almost ten years ago. This version expands on Jalari's story, while reimagining Desert's Howl as a unique monster with brand new lore and abilities for Second Edition.

I honestly adore the final stat block for Desert's Howl. I conceptualized its abilities with the intent of using mechanics to convey the feeling of being hunted and toyed with, and this version is simply vicious at denying the player characters rest and recovery in between encounters with the creature. With the release of this book, I hope that there'll be a few more Desert's Howl fans in the future!

As always, thank you so much for reading and making this community such a wonderful place! If you use Desert's Howl or any of its lore in your campaign (I'm very fond of Jalari's treasure coins, myself), I would love to hear about it on Twitter (https://twitter.com/MistressDanaRPG). And if you ever want to know more about what I'm currently working on, you can find that information on my Linktree (https://linktr.ee/MistressDanaRPG).

Sen.H.H.S

Hello, readers and greetings from Sen.H.H.S., your freelancer who lives across the Pacific Ocean from North America. You may have seen me around in projects such as Bestiary 3, Ruby Phoenix's Goka Gazetteer, Secret of Magic, and many other publications. For Monsters of Myth, I wrote the kaijus. When this assignment first came down, I was internally screaming because my gods, the pressure to deliver! Just how am I going to do these gigantic walking natural or supernatural disasters justice? After copious amounts of kaiju wikia consumption and kaiju movie clips (Pacific Rim is the best movie ever!) I hope the end result is as awe-inspiring (or horror-inspiring) as intended. If you’re interested in knowing what I'm up to recently in the TTRPG sphere, follow me on Twitter @SenHHS where I bemoan how my current reading list of forensic textbooks is raising eyebrows.

Aaron Lascano

Hello! I’m Aaron, and I wrote and designed rules for two sections in Monsters of Myth: Kuworsys and Somnalu. I had an absolute blast working on both of them, as I did a bit of research and reading of epic myth to prepare (a quick recommendation: The Epic of Gilgamesh is a genuinely incredible read). I’m fascinated by how myths are remembered, and how interpretations and treatments of myth change over time. I hope my sections even encourage players to do a bit of that themselves.

With Kuworsys, I had the opportunity to craft a new story around a pre-existing location, and with Somnalu, I got to contribute to the story of a legendary figure from Pathfinder’s past. I’m very excited for players to explore the ever-shifting ruins of Kuworsys’s labyrinth and to descend into the depths to confront slithering Somnalu.

If you’re interested, you can find me on Twitter at @devlascano. I make narrative-focused TTRPGs on Itch and I do freelance work on games whenever an opportunity arises. Cheers!

Andrew Mullen

Howdy! I’m Andrew Mullen, writer of xulgaths and quite a few other monsters at this point. For this project, I worked alongside Josh Kim and Liane Merciel. Josh wrote Kothogaz’s lore, and turning that into rules was an exciting challenge. I wanted a big, campaign-ending abomination to have more ‘breadth’ in the story than just the confrontation where you hope to kill it. For the Melfesh Monster, I just got to read through Liane’s fantastic work and pluck out tidbits to turn into monster abilities—she gave me a ton to work with!

Beyond my co-authors, I want to give a special thanks to my cousin Sameer Gupta. He’s a talented musician who focuses on American jazz and Indian classical music. Given Kothogaz’s ties to Vudra, it was important that I do right by any real-world Indian cultural aspects I used for inspiration. Without Sameer, the Craft Disharmonic Instrument and Raga of Remembrance sections wouldn’t be nearly as flavorful, interesting, or accurate. You can check him out on his website, and across social media as @tablajazz. I also highly recommend his album “A Circle Has No Beginning”—it’s gotten me through a lot of late night deadline pushes!

Shay Snow

Hi, I'm Shay Snow (they/them), I'm an editor at Paizo, and I wrote up the Kallas Devil and partnered with the extremely talented Liane Merciel to stat up Ulgrem-Axaan! I hope my skipping rhyme and lovely letters bring you lots of shivers, and I hope you enjoy all of the neat things that both the Kallas Devil and Ulgrem-Axaan can do for your games! You may have seen me in Pathfinder Lost Omens Grand Bazaar and Secrets of Magic, and I have a few things coming out in Galactic Magic. Additionally, you can find my name on a few Coyote & Crow projects!

When not writing, I’m usually discussing Native issues and rights over on my Twitter @SpellsInSugar, where you can also sometimes catch me talking about video games and horror media. You can keep up with my work, or even contact me for hire, through my website https://shayjay.carrd.co/!

Soup

"Heya, I’m Soup! I’m a nonbinary Korean-American freelance writer/game designer/podcaster/streamer. I love nothing more than cool new angles on classic fantasy tropes. I’m really excited for this book because I got to draw from Korean mythology and tradition to bring you the Taljjae, a creature inspired by the real-life mask dancing of Korea, and hopefully a cool addition to your games. You can find me streaming video games here (https://www.twitch.tv/literalsoup), my work here (https://literalsoup.com/), listen to my podcast here (http://absoluteterritorycast.com/), or contact me about business inquiries at literalsoup@gmail.com."

Jake Tondro

From a tall tower of ivory Tondro arose,
Where tales of Tolkien and Arthur he’d told.
But he exited, hexed, a man in exile,
To get a gamer’s refuge working for golems.
Then in plague, a plentiful pestilence,
Luis and Eleanor, developers at large,
Boldly offered a boon to the bairn.
“Fafnheir,” they said first, “of linnorms the father
“And Grogrisant, greedy for imperial guts
“Belong in this book, do not betray us!”
This task Tondro gladly took up
And laboring long in darkness and light
He sang the six-eyed lion’s song
And wove a wyrm from stubborn words.

It’s been a long journey, but Absalom, City of Lost Omens is almost here! That means it’s time for the authors of that book to step forward and take a bow. While the writers of our Paizo products are always credited in the front and back of the books, a simple name in a byline doesn’t give readers much information on the people who work to bring the setting to life! I reached out to the authors with the intent of promoting them—as well as any other personal work they would like to show off, so that new fans of their work could find other projects, RPG products, websites, livestreams, and more to enjoy! If there’s a section in the book that you particularly liked, why not check out the author behind it today?

Eleanor Ferron
Pathfinder Developer

Allie Bustion

Hey there, Allie here! I’m a freelance game designer and writer with indie projects of my own but also work on games like the Thirsty Sword Lesbians expansion Advanced Lovers and Lesbians (“Shinsei Galactic Puroresu: The Final Engagement — Revolution”), Brinkwood: The Blood of Tyrants (“The Scene Is Dead, Long Live The Scene”), and Into the Mother Lands. Sealord Amodjun and Iolanthe were among the first NPCs I ever wrote for Paizo. Looking back, I think I’ve grown a lot since, but they’re NPCs I’ve still got some fondness for.

You can find me around the internet on Twitter talking about my cat (http://twitter.com/madpierrot), Twitch playing and making games (http://twitch.tv/madpierrottv), TikTok serving up GMing and game design advice (https://www.tiktok.com/@lemadpierrot), and Patreon also making games (http://patreon.com/madpierrot). You can also check out my itch.io page ((https://madpierrot.itch.io/) for my games like HEIST and The Way You Make Me Feel.

Jeremy Corff

Hello! I’m Jeremy, and I was thrilled to write Haigen Topkick for the Absalom, City of Lost Omens book. The Puddles has always been a great adventure location in Absalom, and I couldn’t pass up a chance to contribute to that dangerous local. I hope ol’ Haigen has a chance to make things more complicated for anybody who ventures into the water-logged district he calls home.

If you’d like to find out more about other projects I’ve worked on, you can find me on Twitter at @Belabras or at my Starfinder blog https://solorunstudio.com/ where I post weekly homebrew Starfinder content. You can also find my work in my Starfinder adventure “Added Value,” in several Legendary Games publications, Wayfinders #16 through #21, on Starfinder Infinite, and in the upcoming Kingmaker Anniversary Edition Companion Guide.

Vanessa Hoskins (she/her)

Hello everyone! I had the pleasure of writing The Docks and the Wise Quarter sections. The Docks is the perfect place to go to wish loved ones a "bon voyage" or check on the latest imported wares from Arcadia. There’s also Besmara’s Boardwalk for some carnival games and deep-fried foods, or The Mithril Chef for a fine dining experience where Chef Claudette Butterfoot creates masterpieces out of rare, and sometimes dangerous, ingredients.
If you want to get cozy with a book at a tea house, or study for your Conjuration final, or engage in book-smuggling, then the Wise Quarter is the place for you. As one of the sleepier parts of Absalom, it’s perfect for students, scholars, and library enthusiasts. Just watch your coin purse, because the Learned Guard cares more if you paid your silver letters than if someone took your coin purse. What are "silver letters" you ask? Read the book!

Once you’ve done that, read Vellum & Lace, a work of serialized fiction on Pathfinder Infinite that takes place in the City at the Center of the World and explores all sorts of exciting locales.

James Jacobs

A book about Absalom was one of the first things we published ages ago, and since then most of the development for the city has happened organically across all sorts of products—but mostly through Organized Play. A big part of what I worked on in this book gets categorized under the “Help Erik create text for the connective tissue” once we got started with the first (and smaller) incarnation of this book. There was a lot of connective tissue to create, but my focus was mostly on NPCs and additional locations and sidebar content. Looking back on it all, though, I think the part I enjoyed the most (and I hope folks like it as well!) was writing the various songs that you’ll see in some of the sidebars. It was tough to not go on for pages once I got going on one of them!

Virginia Jordan

Virginia is a life-long PNW resident who loves nothing more than beekeeping, memes about dogs, and completely useless facts about Medieval history. Having worked at Paizo for two years, their time there only fostered their love of fantasy roleplaying games. Their favorite Pathfinder subjects to write about are diseases and fae creatures, and the weirder the subject matter, the better. In their free time, they enjoy LARPing and creating props and costumes. They are also a professional photographer with a focus on non-traditional portraiture. You can find their work at JordanImages.com

Matt Morris

I’m Matt Morris, and I’ve been lucky enough to do freelance writing for Pathfinder and Starfinder for several years now, working with Paizo and a few 3rd-party companies, including Everybody Games and Rogue Genius Games.

The Lost Omens line for Pathfinder Second Edition has given me the opportunity to explore some of my favorite parts of the setting in the Lost Omens Character Guide, Lost Omens: Gods & Magic, Lost Omens: Legends, and Lost Omens: The Grand Bazaar. Now I’m excited to be contributing to the description of the Coins, Absalom’s bustling commercial district.

I keep an up-to-date list of my work on my Paizo profile, and I’m always looking for interesting projects, so feel free to contact me if you are looking for a reliable writer!

When not writing, I’m teaching high school English near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Mikhail Rekun

Уважаемые читатели, дожили! I’m Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and you may recall me from past Lost Omens such as Legends (Baba Yaga, Eutropia) and Mwangi Expanse (Mbe’ke, gnolls, Mwangi Jungle, Terwa Uplands). When not writing for Paizo, I’m a Russian-American historian, educator, and author.

I wrote for Absalom fairly early in my freelancing career, and it was until very recently my largest project by far. I wrote the Shadow War section, the Petal District, and several of the NPCs, including Dyrianna, Lady Adrielle, Lord Kerkis, Lord Avid, and my personal favorite, Samel Maleagant of the Court of Black Paper (last seen snooping around Eutropia in Lost Omens Legends). Looking back, I’m still quite proud of the things that I wrote, particularly the Court of Black Paper (an exceedingly heterodox Norgorberite cult) and the contours of the Shadow War at large (a political struggle with genuine issues that make for some very strange bedfellows).

I should mention that I am also working these days on a different sort of city book, Ourichor: Fulcrum of the Luminant Age, a rather stranger sort of city spread across seven ancient derricks in a world recovering from the Cold Darkness. Check it out at https://twitter.com/LuminantA!

David N. Ross

I'm delighted to bring you much of the chapters on Absalom’s ancient and magical keeps and the military organizations that run them. I have a special place in my heart for the Starwatch and all sorts of spycraft. Since I can never get enough politics and intrigue, my next big project is a Pathfinder first edition sourcebook with rules supporting that kind of play. It’s called Spheres of Guile from Drop Dead Studios, and it's now live on Kickstarter! You can also find me on Twitter @DavidRossWorlds

Shahreena Shahrani

Marhaba! I’m Shahreena Shahrani, a Malaysian-American educator, writer, and researcher. I’ve been contributing to the expanding worlds of Pathfinder and Starfinder for several years. I can’t tell you how happy I am that this book is finally out!

My contribution to the licit and illicit! markets and drugs, trademasters, and guilds in the Lost Omens line for Pathfinder Second Edition has been inspired by the peoples and cultures of the Middle East. From the stimulating qat cultivated on the terraced mountains of Sana’a (Yemen); to the historic Khan el-Khalili souq in Cairo (Egypt), where merchants and artisans enjoy the thrill of haggling and bartering with customers; to the night market at Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakesh (Morocco), where vendors and their wares appear almost magically with the setting of the sun; and the incredible warmth, generosity, and strength of diverse peoples. I also named one of the NPCs, Namira, after my cat!

When not gaming, I teach Arabic and Persian culture courses, and deliver lectures/presentations on hot topics to government agencies and personnel. Additionally, I create storytelling adapted from world folklore on my YouTube channel.

I’m always looking for interesting projects, so feel free to email me at shahreena_s@yahoo.com.

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.

Before we crack open the Starfinder Galaxy Exploration Manual and dig into more of its exciting contents, let’s take a moment to learn about the authors behind the words. We asked our esteemed colleagues to take a moment and introduce themselves to our community, including how they like to be called, their pronouns, a bit about their interests, and where you can find them on social media!

artist Alex Stone

Alexi Greer

"Hello! My name is Alexi and I wrote the technology section for the Galaxy Exploration Manual. This book is full to the brim with worldbuilding deep-dives, and I had a blast writing for such a fascinating subject. My other works for Paizo can be found in the Starship Operations Manual and the upcoming Starfinder Society Quest Pack: A Waltz Through Myriad Worlds.

I live in the wild, untamed lands known as Orlando, Florida. When I’m not writing as a freelancer, I’m organizing Society events and volunteering at local conventions. My other hobbies include historical sword fighting, dice collecting, and reptile keeping. Despite all of those things sounding suspiciously dragon-related, I am unfortunately human. Not-so-unfortunately, I share my living space with two furry overlords: a tailless cat named Hecate, and a tail-included cat named Mystique.

I’ve worn a lot of hats in the tabletop industry, from game store management to card warehouse stocker. Writing has been my favorite hat, though. It’s not just a chance to create something new, but an opportunity to help readers do the same with their own games. I hope when you read the Galaxy Exploration Manual you find new ideas and new ways of viewing old topics. Should you ever see me at a convention, feel free to say, “Hi” and tell me about your Starfinder adventures!"

John Curtin

My name is John Curtin and I’m thrilled to be making content for Paizo! Besides being part of the absolutely amazing team that worked on the Galaxy Exploration Manual, I’ve contributed the Opulus Ambassador to Starfinder Adventure Path #30: Puppets Without Strings, created the astriapi and ravenous drakes for Starfinder Alien Archive 4, and co-wrote the repeatable Starfinder Society Scenario #2-19: Truth Keepers with Natalie Kertzner. I started playing TTRPGs on a middle school bus ride where a friend introduced me to the idea of a story I could interact with, and my bookish brain immediately latched on and hasn’t let go since! I’ve been casually writing adventures and characters, off and on, for the 20-some-odd years since, and love sharing stories with tables of fellow adventurers and story-tellers. All of this culminated at PaizoCon 2019, where a highly goofy Twitter side project and a chance introduction to Joe Pasini culminated in a follow-up message post-con where I apologized for being an awkward dolt and suggested that I of course would be thrilled to write for Starfinder, even if wasn’t the impression that spilled out of my mouth while I was busy being starstruck from meeting a real Paizo employee in the flesh. The rest, as they say, is history!

When I’m not gaming or writing, my wife and I love to explore the outdoors, try new cuisine, and check out museums and live performances of all stripes. You can follow me on Twitter at @Curtin_Writes for food pics, GM/writer thoughts and inspiration, and links to my “almost-canon” projects!

artist Mirco Paganessi

Chris Lambertz (she/her)

Hey, y’all! You may know me from my time at Paizo in various roles. In the two years since I’ve become a substitute paraprofessional and have undergone a total creative reset. With some encouragement from my friends and former coworkers, I took the opportunity to contribute to Alien Archive 4 and the Galaxy Exploration Manual. I have a deep love of the natural world and sharing all I can about it with others. Writing up the desert biome entry prompted diving into all I could find about the earth's own fantastic and weird arid ecosystems, and if anyone ever wants to talk about those plants, rocks, and critters, I'm 100% down! Lately, I get outside with my sweet pittie-lab mix, Sagan, maintain more than 50 houseplants, take pictures and video, and work on my incredibly laggy Animal Crossing: New Horizons island. You can find me at @chrisandmtns.

Solatra Lilac Harvinkai (nov/nov)

Hi, I'm Solatra Lilac Harvinkai, regularly credited as Sasha Laranoa Harving (nov/nov), and I'm a freelance designer! I wrote the mechanic, solarian, and vanguard class options you'll find in the Galaxy Exploration Manual. I'm also an active participant in Starfinder Society as a four-nova GM, and a regular contributor to design work for several third-party publishers. When I'm not writing for Paizo I'm usually working with Legendary Games on their Stellar Options line (among other things), helping Storm Bunny Studios with the Starfinder conversion of the World of Alessia campaign setting, and advocating for queer liberation in the city of Chicago. If you enjoy my work, you can find me on twitter at twitter.com/kingtheline.

Jessica Catalan (she/her)

Hi everyone! My name is Jessica and I’m a full time freelance author. I started freelancing in 2019 with Starfinder Society Scenario #2-03: The Withering World and over the last two years I have contributed to just over 30 projects for Paizo, including the Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide, Pathfinder Bestiary 3, Lost Omens Legends, Lost Omens Ancestry Guide, Starship Operations Manual, Alien Archive 4, Starfinder Adventure Path #39: The Gilded Cage (volume 6 of the Fly Free or Die Adventure Path), and seven organized play scenarios. For the Galaxy Exploration Manual I wrote the technomancer and witchwarper class options, the alignment world attribute, and (my personal favorite) the background section, which is a series of random tables to help players create or further develop their character's backgrounds, life experiences, and relationships. Contributing to the Galaxy Exploration Manual was a wonderful experience and I couldn’t be prouder of the final product. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I do. Follow me on Twitter: @d20diaries.

artist: Alex Stone

Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her)

Hello! I'm Kendra, and I've been freelancing for Pathfinder and Starfinder for about 5 years now. I wrote the airborne biome, mystic connections, operative exploits, and the NPC toolbox for the Galaxy Exploration Manual. I really enjoyed working on all those sections, but my favorite part was probably the food sidebar of the airborne biome. Adding in little details like food, cultural traditions, and aphorisms can make a setting come alive and feel like a living world outside the game table, so I always try to work those in where possible, whether writing or GMing.

Other Paizo projects I've worked on recently include PFS Scenario #2-15: A Dirge for Sarkoris; the caligni, maftet and scalescribe in Pathfinder Bestiary 3; and Starfinder Adventure Path #37: The White Glove Affair (volume 6 of the Fly Free or Die Adventure Path)—which also involved some food research, funnily enough. I have a few other cool things in the works as well, both in Pathfinder- and Starfinder-land, and will hopefully be able to say more about those soon!

When I'm not writing or playing TTRPGs, I can be found reading (current obsession: the October Daye books by Seanan McGuire), playing video games (Dishonored 2 right now, or Animal Crossing when I need something relaxing), or baking in my very tiny kitchen. You can follow me on Twitter @KendraLS for cat pictures, updates on my PF/SF projects and fiction, and occasional rambling.

Mikhail Rekun (he/him)

Приветствую вас, уважаемые читатели! My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and I’m a bit of a regular contributor to these blogs. You may recognize me from past works such as Lost Omen Legends (Baba Yaga, Eutropia), Pathfinder Scenario #1-15: Blooming Catastrophe, and Starfinder Adventure Path #31: Waking the Worldseed (the Hibb Gazetteer). When not seeing how much I can mix satiric comedy and cosmic horror, I’m a Russian-American historian and educator, specializing in diplomatic history. I’ve published a book, even, which some people have read.

For the Galaxy Exploration Manual, I’m responsible for the Starship Toolbox, most notably the Known Variable (working title: The N-1-MH), and the Accord section, which means that if you ever want to use Leadership in Starfinder, you may thank and/or blame me.

Today though, I also want to mention another project I’m working on: Ourichor: Fulcrum of the Luminant Age is a setting based around the idea of what happens when a high-cyberpunk technological society collapses very, very thoroughly, and then a thousand or so years later you have a nice, swashbuckling pseudo-Renaissance city state built on the ruins (literally). Check out our Twitter at https://twitter.com/LuminantA, and keep an eye out for upcoming product—our first kickstarter project (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/luminantage/fauna-of-the-luminant-age) will be delivered soon, which means the second one is on the horizon. Stay tuned! You can find more of my work at @LuminantA.

Shahreena Shahrani (she/her)

Marhaba/hello fellow Pathfinders and Starfinders! My name is Shahreena. My works are often inspired by world languages, cultures, and traditions. I’ve contributed to several projects for Starfinder; more recently, the Religion section in the Galaxy Exploration Manual. I was excited about contributing to this section--especially, the adventure hooks--as some were inspired by the zany interactions among characters of my local lodge. (Buckeye Lodge, y’all are awesome!) In 2020–2021, besides playing online with many amazing inter/national Pathfinder and Starfinder players and sharing my love of GIFs with nufriends, I embarked on a new creative journey. I started adapting world languages, folktales, and legends on YouTube. If you’re interested in seeing these works, please visit my YouTube channel: Storytime with Auntie Nina. Other interests include travelling, writing children’s literature, reading/editing my husband’s fiction, spoiling my cat (Namira), and eating Jeni’s Ice Cream. Oh yea, my favorite Jeni’s flavor is midwest whiskey & pecans.

artist: Mirco Paganessi

Simone D. Sallé (she/they)

Simone D. Sallé (she/they) has been a freelance author for more than three years, and an editor for over 5; they're currently contracted full-time as an editor with Paizo. After their author debut in Alien Archive 3, their writing has appeared in several Paizo books, including the upcoming Secrets of Magic and Lost Omens Grand Bazaar (additional titles can be found on their site at wildwoodediting.com/credits). Their love of stark, snowy winters made writing the arctic section for Galaxy Exploration Manual a joy, and they hope you feel cold reading it.

Simone’s always down to discuss book recommendations, en dashes, and conscious language on Twitter @virsamajor or Instagram @wildwoodedits. When not writing or editing, they can be found devouring fantasy and sci-fi library books, playing a vesk android pilot (#FlyFreeorPaizo) or an arctic scientist (Subnautica Below Zero), or mushroom-spotting on hikes with their Disreputable Dog, Penny Kibeth.

Abigail Slater (she/her)

I have been writing stories since I was five, and recently have been lucky to be included in several exciting Paizo projects. Before that, I wrote for local outlets such as The Northern Light and Edible Alaska. In 2014 I was honored to win the Hot Key Books' Young Writer's Prize. Writing for Starfinder opened my eyes to how diverse the community of tabletop game writers is, as well as made me realize how limitless the genre truly can be. My hobbies include running, squishing my cats, and playing Talisman way past my bedtime.