Pathfinder’s NPC Core is now out! This book had a very large pool of authors to get a wide variety of creative takes on NPCs and GM tools across the book.
Pathfinder NPC Core, available now! Cover by Wayne Reynolds
I’ll kick us off! I’m Logan Bonner (he/him), Pathfinder Lead Designer and the design lead on NPC Core. I shepherded the crew through pitching and picking levels for the NPCs, and most of my actual writing on the book was stitching things together and occasionally filling in some extra space. The best medium social to interact with me is on Bluesky, where I’m @loganbonner.bsky.social. (Please note that I’m happy to talk about the game, but I don’t answer rules questions on social media!)
Now let’s hear from some of our other esteemed authors!
Rigby Bendele (they/them)
I am so excited to see NPC Coreending up in your hands! I worked on the NPC Connections subsystem in the appendix. One of the priorities I had while designing that subsystem was making it flexible for a wide range of relationships, especially since some of my most notable gaming stories involved the various NPCs that my group cared for along the way. I hope this is a tool that helps out at your table.
Mercenary band art by Ilina Naydenova
Katina Davis (she/her)
Hello, I’m Katina! You might have seen me on the forums as Paizo’s Webstore Coordinator, or playing in some of our streamed games. I’ve also been lucky enough to contribute to several Pathfinder and Starfinder products since 2017, and I was delighted to write the gnomes for NPC Core. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the eccentric rainbow-haired ancestry who blanches if they don’t experience enough wonder in life, and I hope that connection shines through in this book. You can find a full list of my TTRPG writing credits here, and connect with me on Bluesky at @KatinaDavis.
Rue Dickey (they/he/xe)
Rue Dickey (they/he/xe) is a mixed-race, nonbinary, disabled marketing mage and frequent freelancer! By day, they work as Paizo’s Marketing & Media Specialist, managing marketing projects and serving as a point of contact for news media, reviewers, and content creators—you’ve probably seen him around on the Paizo blog and forums! By all other hours, Rue does a variety of freelance and consulting work, including work on the upcoming Daggerheart RPG from Darrington Press! Rue was thrilled to add their voice to the Mystics in NPC Core! As a home practitioner of traditional Romani and Arapaho spiritualism and magic, Rue enjoyed getting to bring some of those elements to the NPCs in this book, as well as add some fun flavor options!
Gnome conservationist art by Gunship Revolution Katrina Hennessy (she/they)
Hello, all. I am thrilled to have contributed to this book. I hope you enjoy the tengu section. I also hope players will enjoy the language of feathers and tengu expressions finding fun ways to incorporate them into their characters. This was my first Pathfinder assignment for Paizo, though my contribution to Curtain Call made it to print sooner. I have also written some Starfinder Society adventures and made a few contributions to third-party products. I’d like to thank the entire team who made this project a success, particularly Logan Bonner for leading the way. While I am not very active on social media, the best place to find me is @gmnumbat.bsky.social. I can also be found playing or running games for Paizo Organized Play.
Sara Jeffers (she/they/he)
Sara Jeffers is a Two-Spirit member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, in what is now known as Washington and British Columbia. Their heritage and culture influence not only her graphic and narrative designs but also his approaches in problem-solving and community building.
Michelle Jones (she/her)
What’s up gamers, my name is Michelle Jones and I wrote several of the villains presented in NPC Core, including the fiend caller, fleshwarper, and hero hunter. I hope you and your tables have many fun, terrifying, horrible times encountering them. Hopefully they don’t kill too many of you. Good luck!
If you want to see my non-Pathfinder work, you can find me at AleshaKills.itch.io or follow me on Bluesky @aleshakills.bsky.social.
Christiana Lewis (she/her)
Hey there! This is my second project with Pathfinder and it’s extremely dear to me. As a BIPOC author, getting to write lore about orcs and half-orcs was… healing. When I’m not writing, I’m reading fantasy books bigger than my head, crocheting wonky dragons, and maining Sue Storm on Marvel Rivals. I’d like to thank my husband, Josh, for always inspiring me to be brave and ensuring I’m hydrated. And to you, reader—I hope this book brings about some of the best roleplay you’ve ever seen. May the dice be ever in your favor!
Legbreaker art by Tatiana Pavlova Jacob W. Michaels (he/him)
Hi, I’m Jacob W. Michaels. You may know me from such Paizo projects like PFS 5-08: Protecting the Firelight and PFS 6-00: Salt of the Ocean, plus my work in various Pathfinder rulebooks and Lost Omens titles. I got to work on everyone’s favorite goblins for NPC Core and I can’t wait for them to be unleashed on your unsuspecting players! Also, this book has my first published recipe, which you will hopefully like more than my wife did during our many taste tests (fun fact: She only likes pickled cucumbers, while I like everything pickled except cucumbers).
Matt Morris (he/him)
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. I’m currently awaiting the launch of my first Kickstarter, a TTRPG called Remnant Years: Tales of a Ruined Land.
I made friends with some mystics for this book, and I’ve still got pockets full of wooden beads, iron nails, and garlic! (And only a few minor curses.)
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.
Patchen Mortimer (he/him)
Hi, I’m Patchen Mortimer (he/him). Ever since writing the lizardfolk ancestry for Lost Omens Character Guide (recently revised in Player Core 2), I’m always thrilled when the Pathfinder team invites me to flesh out our scaly friends a little more. In this book, I wanted both GMs and players to find plenty of fresh hooks to inspire their own play, from new myths and superstitions to musical stylings. And sure, some PCs might get harpooned (trident-ed?) along the way—whoops! As a new father, I’m hard to find these days, but try @patchdj on Bluesky or Twitter’s corpse, or listen to my indie rock radio show most Tuesday nights at https://wmuc.umd.edu.
Big goblin boss art by Gunship Revolution K. Tessa Newton (she/they)
Whispered tales passed down through the ages tell of a time when I darkened the hallowed halls of Paizo alongside the esteemed editing team—but that was long ago. My foul deeds have been attributed to many names; the one you likely know best is K. Tessa Newton (she/they). For the NPC Core, I (alongside Michelle Jones) described that cadre of knaves I know best: the villains!
This assignment was actually quite a challenge. Villains defined by their “job” (like an evil pirate captain, a corrupt judge, etc.) would go in those other sections instead, leaving us to muse on the fundamental aspects of villainy. We hope you like the evildoers we came up with and use them to ruin players’ days for years to come!
You can find me on Instagram @eye.lur, or via email at ktessanewton@gmail.com.
Mikhail Rekun (he/him)
Приветствую, уважаемые читатели!* My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and I’m a Russian-speaking Ukrainian-American historian, educator, and author. I’ve been writing for Pathfinder for a fair few years now, so if you’ve ever been attacked by a kholo, it’s probably my fault. I’m sorry. (I’m not sorry).
For my crimes, I’ve spent a goodly while in academia, and so it was natural that I’d end up writing the Scholars section of this book. In absolute honesty, most of the new NPCs are just lightly fictionalized versions of myself and my old colleagues (I rather fancy that I’m an avuncular professor these days, though I spent many years as an exuberant apprentice).
If you find my writing to be amusing and/or traumatic-college-flashback-inducing, you may also be interested to learn that I’m the Creative Director of the Luminant Age Campaign Setting. We have plenty of peculiar and particular academic material there, with more on the way. Give it a look!
*Privetstvuyu, uvazhaemye chitateli!
Welcome, dear readers!David N. Ross (he/him/his)
I’m a longtime contributor to Pathfinder and Starfinder (this is about my 60th original release) on projects like Fists of the Ruby Phoenix or theAbomination Vaults Adventure Path for 5e. When I’m not writing or editing for Paizo or various other RPG publishers, I’m a fan of archery and folklore and also support groups for game designers (such as Freelance Forge) and the LGBT community. In NPC Core, I’m proud to have helped this distinguished team with new officers and amurruns (catfolk). My officers are combatants and inquisitives, tricky foes abusing authority (especially the grand inquisitor), or useful allies. The catfolk I imagine as braggart rivals or enthusiastic allies. You can see my socials and details at http://linktr.ee/davidnross.
Sibyl art by Tatiana Pavlova Tony Saunders
Hi, my name is Tony Saunders! I am one of the co-founders of Team+, which is where I spend most of my time writing these days. I was an author on War of Immortals and have been credited on Legendary Games titles, Battlezoo Bestiary: Strange and Unusual, the Gardener’s Guide to Gaming, and a few other projects. What time I don’t spend being a software engineer and father, I spend writing. I wrote for the companion section for this book. Lucky to be a part of such a stacked team of authors.
Joel Southall (he/him)
Hi! I’m Joel Southall (he/him), and I’ve had the pleasure of writing for NPC Core, where I crafted stats and lore for a few NPCs, drawing on my studies in Indigenous philosophy and myth, as well as literary influences ranging from Shakespeare and Mark Twain to J.R.R. Tolkien. I also contributed to Starfinder Bounty #9: Burning Ambition and served as a cultural consultant for Paizo on a monster inspired by Ojibwe legend, informed by my Ojibwe heritage and knowledge of Indigenous lore and practices. Additionally, I wrote for the IndieCade 2019 award-winning educational computer game When Rivers Were Trails, which explores Indigenous resilience during the era of the federally mandated General Allotment Act of 1887.
With a background in journalism and a Master’s-level education in philosophy, I’ve transitioned into web and software development but remain passionate about game development. I live in Eugene, Oregon, and frequently collaborate on both local and remote game projects. You can check out my game development work at greatlynxdesigns.com/game-development.
Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her)
Hello! I’m Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her), frequent contributor to Paizo. Some of my recent work has been on Singer, Stalker, Skinsaw Man for Curtain Call, Destroyer’s Doom for Triumph of the Tusk, and the upcoming The Acropolis Pyre for Myth-Speaker, as well as a section in Rival Academies! For NPC Core, I wrote the section on elves, and I enjoyed delving into various aspects of elven cultures, from the more woodsy and jungle ranger types to elves of elegant noble courts. The book’s stat blocks will definitely be useful to GMs, but I also love the little lore tidbits for the groups and ancestries, which I think will really add a lot of depth to encounters with these folks. My favorites of mine are a small snippet about enemies-to-lovers scholar rivals (some academia gossip crept into this project, too!) and a table of elven banquet dishes that I hope makes you as hungry reading as it did me writing!
You can check out my past work at my website, klspeedling.com, and follow me on BlueSky @kendrarara.
Aiuvarin translator art by Paulo Magalhães Kyle Tam (she/her)
Hello! My name is Kyle Tam, and I had the pleasure of making the traveling actor, court jester, and puppeteer Performers! My thought going in was “performers have many faces,” so I’d love for you to bring those many sides to your table. If you liked my work here, then you might enjoy checking out some more of my writing in Howl of the Wild, or some of my personal and collaborative work at my website https://whatkylewrites.carrd.co. Thank you for checking out the NPC Core and happy rolls!
Jamie Trollope (he/him)
Hi! I’m Jamie Trollope, a researcher and writer who’s been playing and GMing TTRPGs for over 30 years. I’ve written for various third-party products, including the NPC Index line, and was lucky enough to get to work on NPC Core. Getting to write about halflings was a real joy—storytelling and food are two of my greatest loves, so it felt like the perfect match. I’m incredibly grateful to have been part of this project and to have worked alongside so many talented people.
Ruvaid Virk (he/him)
Heyo! I’m Ruvaid (he/him) a real-life NPC that happens to write for Paizo sometimes. You might know me from some of my previous work such as the bloodrager archetype from War of Immortals, Hongal’s entry in Tian Xia World Guide, the vishkanya ancestry from Impossible Lands, or the Starfinder horror bounty Echoes of Woe. For this cool book, I worked on the themed spell lists section, to provide your NPC spellcasters some fun thematic flair. If you like, you can follow me on Blue Sky @darthruvaider.bsky.social for any future updates. Cheers, and happy gaming!
Mountain guardian art by Paulo Magalhães Grady Wang (he/him)
Hello, I’m Grady Wang and one of the cofounders of the Gallant Goblin, a TTRPG review channel and publisher. I’ve had the honor to write for Tian Xia, Season of Ghosts, and Spore War, as well as for the Infinite Masters program on Pathfinder Infinite, developing products such as the Queerfinderseries and Rare Ancestries: Ifrit Genies. I was thrilled to contribute the kobold section for NPC Core, as I love these scheming little reptiles in all their forms. The chaos they can unleash with traps and pets makes them so fun to add to any game. But if you just want to cuddle them, we also make kobold plushies at https://koboldplush.com!
Andrew White
Hi, I’m Andrew White! You may remember me from other cool Paizo things like Secrets of Magic, Guns & Gears, Book of the Dead, Rage of Elements, Howl of the Wild, and being the Digital Products Lead here at Paizo! For this particular project, I had a blast (pun not intended, but now that I see it, I’m leaving it in) writing up a whole bunch of bomb-throwing hobgoblin and steampunky engineer entries, including two of my favorite fantasy archetypes: “dangerous lunatic in power armor with freeze ray” and “even more dangerous lunatic who flies around with the help of a tank of explosive rocket fuel strapped to their back”. You can find me reposting smarter, funnier people on Bluesky at @plague control.bsky.social.
Basil Wright (he/they/xe)
Hi, I’m Basil (he/they/xe). Most people know I’m a lover of scoundrels, so it makes sense that I ended up making some fun criminals for this book. I wanted to harness my inner crimeboy while making these characters, and I really hope you can feel the seediness as you read. This was a really fun project to work on, and I hope everyone has fun playing. You can find more of my work on my website https://towerofbasil.wordpress.com.
Read more at this site