Tabletop Gaming

James is a co-creator of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Starfinder Roleplaying Game. From 2004 to 2017, he worked for Paizo Inc., starting as an editor on Dungeon Magazine, doing foundational work for Pathfinder, and eventually becoming the original Creative Director for Starfinder, as well as Executive Editor of the Pathfinder Tales novel line for Paizo and Tor.

Over the course of his career in tabletop games, James has written or worked on hundreds of RPG products that have won dozens of ENnie Awards, Origins Awards, and more. Presented below are a few of his favorites.


Starfinder Core Rulebook
The core rulebook for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, a science-fantasy evolution of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for which James was the Creative Director and a primary author.
Distant Worlds
An overview of the many worlds of Golarion's solar system, plus the alien societies that live there. Later evolved into the setting for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game.

"Seriously blew my mind." —io9


The First World, Realm of the Fey
A guide to the Pathfinder's fairy realm, as well as those strange beings that rule it.
Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
An adventure rebooting Dungeons & Dragons' classic Dragonlance setting.
Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
An adventure and setting guide for Dungeons & Dragons, in which James did design work updating and expanding the iconic city of Baldur's Gate.
City of Strangers
A guide to the ancient and anarchic city of Kaer Maga, one of James's most popular Pathfinder creations.
Pathfinder Adventure Path #187: The Seventh Arch
The first adventure in the Gatewalkers Adventure Path, in which a team of paranormal investigators must adventure into strange new worlds in order to unlock the secret of their own missing pasts.
Starfinder Adventure Path #13: Fire Starters
The first adventure in Starfinder's Dawn of Flame Adventure Path, in which PCs must stop the fascist occupation of a mysterious bubble city inside the sun.
Starfinder Pact Worlds
An in-depth look at the various worlds of Starfinder's core setting.
Pathfinder Planar Adventures
The definitive guide to Pathfinder's Outer Planes.
Starfinder Alien Archive
A variety of strange new alien races and monstrous foes for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game.
Starfinder Adventure Path #2: Temple of the Twelve
Contains a gazetteer of the jungle planet Castrovel, which James co-wrote with John Compton.
Starfinder Adventure Path #1: Incident at Absalom Station
Contains James's gazetteer of Absalom Station, the heart of Starfinder's campaign setting.
Distant Shores
Contains James's gazetteer of the great caravan city of Ular Kel, Jewel of the Steppe.
The Emerald Spire
A superdungeon featuring a level from James alongside assorted gaming luminaries.
Pathfinder #70: The Frozen Stars
Contains James's gazetteer of Triaxus, a planet of centuries-long seasons and eternal war between dragons and dragonriders.
December 2012
Pathfinder #63: The Asylum Stone
A dungeon romp through the anarchic city of Kaer Maga, including a golemcrafter's hanging manse, the lost laboratories of a runelord, and the ageless cavern-forest of a headless horseman.
Bestiary 3
The third hardcover monster collection for the PFRPG, to which James contributed assorted monsters including the ceratiodi, which he co-wrote with China Mieville.
The Inner Sea World Guide
The definitive guide to Pathfinder's campaign setting.
Bestiary 2
The second hardcover monster collection for the Pathfinder RPG.
Misfit Monsters Redeemed
Contains James's loving reinterpretation of the classic flail snail.
Pathfinder #36: Sound of a Thousand Screams
Contains James's gazetteer introducing the First World, Pathfinder's fairy realm.
The Pathfinder RPG Gamemastery Guide
Pathfinder's guide to running games and building worlds.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary
The definitive monster book for the Pathfinder RPG.
Seekers of Secrets
A comprehensive guide to the Pathfinder Society, the Pathfinder RPG's eponymous adventuring league.
Dungeon Denizens Revisited
Contains James's take on the classic rust monster.
Pathfinder #17: A Memory of Darkness
Contains James's gazetteer of the elven nation of Kyonin.
Pathfinder #14: Children of the Void
Contains James's initial overview of Golarion's solar system, which would later become the basis for Distant Worlds, and eventually the setting for the Starfinder RPG.
Classic Monsters Revisited
Contains James's take on classic lizardfolk.
Pathfinder #11: Skeletons of Scarwall
Contains James's gazetteer detailing the Hold of Belkzen, ancestral home of Pathfinder's orcs.
Pathfinder #3: The Hook Mountain Massacre
Contains James's gazetteer detailing Varisia, Pathfinder's first and most iconic region, as well as early information on Kaer Maga.
D2: Seven Swords of Sin
One of the first adventures for the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, and containing the first appearance of James's iconic city of Kaer Maga.
Dungeon Magazine #148
Contains James's adventure "The Automatic Hound." A murderous beast stalks the streets of a quiet farm town.
Dungeon Magazine #144
Contains James's adventure "The Lightless Depths," cowritten with Wes Schneider. The sixth installment in the Savage Tide Adventure Path, exploring the subterranean horrors beneath the Isle of Dread.
Dungeons and Dragons II: Wrath of the Dragon God
Features "Servant of Decay," a DVD bonus feature adventure written with Wes Schneider and Mike McArtor.
Dungeon Magazine #128
Contains "Shut-In," James's first published D&D adventure, cowritten with Wes Schneider. Jack the Ripper meets Jane Austen.