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.
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.
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
A guide to the Pathfinder's fairy realm, as well as those strange beings that rule it.
An adventure rebooting Dungeons & Dragons' classic Dragonlance setting.
An adventure and setting guide for Dungeons & Dragons, in which James did design work updating and expanding the iconic city of Baldur's Gate.
A guide to the ancient and anarchic city of Kaer Maga, one of James's most popular Pathfinder creations.
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.
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.
An in-depth look at the various worlds of Starfinder's core setting.
The definitive guide to Pathfinder's Outer Planes.
A variety of strange new alien races and monstrous foes for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game.
Contains a gazetteer of the jungle planet Castrovel, which James co-wrote with John Compton.
Contains James's gazetteer of Absalom Station, the heart of Starfinder's campaign setting.
Contains James's gazetteer of the great caravan city of Ular Kel, Jewel of the Steppe.
A superdungeon featuring a level from James alongside assorted gaming luminaries.
Contains James's gazetteer of Triaxus, a planet of centuries-long seasons and eternal war between dragons and dragonriders.
December 2012
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.
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 definitive guide to Pathfinder's campaign setting.
The second hardcover monster collection for the Pathfinder RPG.
Contains James's loving reinterpretation of the classic flail snail.
Contains James's gazetteer introducing the First World, Pathfinder's fairy realm.
Pathfinder's guide to running games and building worlds.
The definitive monster book for the Pathfinder RPG.
A comprehensive guide to the Pathfinder Society, the Pathfinder RPG's eponymous adventuring league.
Contains James's take on the classic rust monster.
Contains James's gazetteer of the elven nation of Kyonin.
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.
Contains James's take on classic lizardfolk.
Contains James's gazetteer detailing the Hold of Belkzen, ancestral home of Pathfinder's orcs.
Contains James's gazetteer detailing Varisia, Pathfinder's first and most iconic region, as well as early information on Kaer Maga.
One of the first adventures for the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, and containing the first appearance of James's iconic city of Kaer Maga.
Contains James's adventure "The Automatic Hound." A murderous beast stalks the streets of a quiet farm town.
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.
Features "Servant of Decay," a DVD bonus feature adventure written with Wes Schneider and Mike McArtor.
Contains "Shut-In," James's first published D&D adventure, cowritten with Wes Schneider. Jack the Ripper meets Jane Austen.