Happy Pride, ‘Finders!
Each year, the United States celebrates LGBTQ+ Pride Month in June in honor of the protests that took place at the Stonewall Inn, a queer club in NYC. The first Pride was a riot, and every Pride going forward is a protest. We’re here, we’re queer, we have always existed, and we will always exist.

This year’s theme for Pride Month is “Reflect. Empower. Unite.” with a focus on coming together as a community, standing up for ourselves and each other, and learning from the trials of our predecessors. Support has always been a central pillar of queer communities, and as we face new waves of bigotry and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, lifting each other up is more important than ever.

We’ve invited LGBTQIA+ Paizo employees and contributors to share their words with us for this community blog!

Also, Paizo is proud to be participating in Seattle Pride this Sunday, June 30^th! If you’re in the area, come to the parade and cheer on the Paizo kobolds in the parade!

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Zigvigix (they/them), host shirren and faction leader of the Advocates.

Alex Speidel (he/him), Organized Play Coordinator

be gay form unions

that’s it that’s the submission. what more can I say.

Avi Kool (they/he)

Hi all, I’m lead editor at Paizo and a nonbinary trans man. Being queer has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, even if I didn’t have words for it when I was young. As time has gone on, being queer exposed me to the world of social justice and activism, and I am a firm believer that no one is free until we all are free. Queer people are actively under attack in our current political climate. This is why it’s so important to me to center queer experiences in my work. At Paizo, we have the opportunity to spread awareness of queer identities to a large number of people, as well as making queer people feel seen in our books. So Paizo will continue to be queer as heck, and I’m proud to be part of that.

Basil Wright (he/they/xe)

I know that the fight for equality, freedom, and safety by my Indigenous community in the States is being echoed elsewhere, whether it's in Palestine, the Congo, Sudan, or in the United States of America. As Juneteenth goes by, I am reminded about the power of community, of the strength of those who stand beside you and uplift you and work towards a common cause. We are all stronger together. More often than not, I have found community with Indigenous creators, with Black creators, with queer creators (and many of us holding all these identities together, such as myself). I want to continue to create games and stories that highlight the importance of community, of belonging, of togetherness. We are better, together.

If you'd like to support my work, two of my games best exemplify the theme of community: Mouseia and Well Wishers, which you can find on my Itch.io page (https://kobanya.itch.io). I also have a Ko-Fi (ko-fi.com/kobanya).

Kofusachi (he/him), the pansexual god of joy and prosperity.

Carlos Cabrera (he/they)

In honor of reflecting over this past year, in 2023 I wrote that it gave me strength/I was jealous that my World of Darkness character was doing multi-gender polyamory better than me. This year I am happy to report that we are now equals! I would like to give a very special thanks to my partners for giving me their love and their time whenever able.

Looking at the year ahead, you will be able find my upcoming work as developer for the Welcome to Night Vale RPG by Renegade Game Studios. Things are about to get weird.

Caryn DiMarco (she/they)

I'm Caryn DiMarco (she/they) and you can find some of my recent work in books like Lost Omens Highhelm and Howl of the Wild. I'm proud to be a contributor to those books, and to a world like Golarion where LGBTQ+ stories, themes, and characters are the norm. TTRPGs have always been an escape for me, and seeing my identity and experiences reflected in the pages of my favorite gaming system is a comfort and a joy. 

Thank you to all my fellow authors, our wonderful devs at Paizo, and the many gamers I share tables with for coming together to show that diversity is natural and equality is attainable. Our real-life magic may be the stories we tell together, and our real-life dragons look more like bills and endless to-do lists, but the possibility of a better world is not a fantasy. Sitting down to play (or run) games with my community always reminds me of the potential within every one of us. 

Hao Jin (she/her), asexual sorceress.

Connie Chang (they/he/she)

Happy Pride, Paizo! Connie Chang here (they/he/she). I wrote Quain for the Tian Xia World Guideand a flash fiction about gay Grandmasters. Outside of Paizo, I'm the Game Master for Transplanar RPG, an all-transgender, people of color-led dark fantasy actual play channel telling stories in a noncolonial, antiorientalist multiverse. Transplanar is an ENNIE-nominated, CRIT Award-sweeping channel that has been featured in Polygon, Dicebreaker, and Gizmodo and discussed on NPR, The New York Times, and Dropout TV.

I'm thrilled to announce Transplanar's first-ever IN-STUDIO series, GODKILLER: LAST HOPE! LAST HOPE is a two-person, eight-episode show about Litany, the titular Godkiller forged for a single purpose: to slay the Immortal Emperor of Heaven—and their mother’s sister. After a monumental failure, Litany teams up with a heroic cultivator and travels across a richly layered fantasy world inspired by my diasporic Chinese heritage, learning what it means to truly become.

LAST HOPE utilizes my original holypunk duet game, GODKILLER, which is being published by Evil Hat Productions. If you're a fan of Tian Xia's Asian fantasy setting and/or queer interrogations of divinity, then tune in June 29 for the premiere of GODKILLER: LAST HOPE on Transplanar RPG's Twitch or YouTube!

Behind the scenes images from GODKILLER: LAST HOPE.

David N. Ross (he/him)

Being a gay man has always been important to my experience of RPGs. Not only has gaming been an activity I shared with my gay friends and even my now husband, but living outside gender and relationship norms has been a common experience connecting me to many fellow game designers.

My most recent Paizo work has yet to be announced, but you can get the 5e version of the Abomination Vaults Adventure Path now. Outside Paizo, I have recently been bringing adventures for Tom Cartos and the DM Lair to Pathfinder rules, and collaborating with my husband on a cooperative storytelling card game under the working title Pax Ad Astra.

Honora Tren (she/her) and Zupisha Loralu (she/her), lovers and New Valor Defense Force Guardians.

Dustin Knight (he/him)

Pride is a protest. All love is valid. Nothing I expose here can come close to supplanting these powerful words, but in the past year I’ve felt such a deep connection to these two ideas as I’ve grown to learn more about what I am and what it means to be a part of both the LGBT+ and Paizo community. You must learn to love yourself before you can properly love another. And that means being proud of yourself and your accomplishments, even though it feels like you are fighting a voice deep inside you that hates you for what you are. All love is a valid form of protest. And learning to love yourself despite what the world’s hate has planted deep inside is the ultimate act of defiance, and one I have only been empowered to face thanks to the unity of this incredible community.

Proud to Love Myself.

James Beck

Hello! My name is James Beck, I am a freelancer whose work you'll primarily find over on Pathfinder Infinite, where I have several Infinite Masters titles with Eldritch Osiris Games. One thing that I absolutely love about Golarion/the Pact Worlds is how much I can see myself in it. I love seeing fellow LGBTQ+ people that populate the world! I've been out and proud about my identity since 7th grade and one of the big draws of Pathfinder/Starfinder has always been how welcoming it is to me. Not only have the universes of Paizo been welcoming but so has the Paizo community, from fellow freelancers to Paizo staff and the broader community at large. I wish everyone across the world a happy pride! Be yourself!

Link to Eldritch Osiris Games: https://www.eldritchosirisgames.com

Arshea, Spirit of Abandon. Nonbinary deity of freedom and sexuality.

James Jacobs (he/him), Pathfinder Narrative Creative Director

The previous 12 months since last year’s Pride blog have been busy as we’ve navigated the frenzied switchover of Pathfinder from OGL content to the Remastered rules. That’s mostly all behind us now from an in-house production standpoint, and it’s a relief to be back on track exploring brand new stories. One of those tales I’m really delighted to see hit the shelves, though, isn’t an adventure or even a game. I’m talking about Liane Merciel’s upcoming novel, Godsrain. It’s the first novel Paizo’s published in a long time, and it’s helping to kick off the War of Immortals plotline, but the part I’m delighted most by is that my favorite iconic Merisiel and her wife Kyra are front and center to the plot. Bisexual representation is something I’ve been passionate about since the start of Pathfinder, with Merisiel being my chosen heroine for this quest. I can’t wait for you all to see what adventures she and the others up to while they’re also saving the world!

Katina Davis (she/her)

Representation is important year-round, but during Pride month I feel especially compelled to step forth from the shadows like a bisexual vampire to celebrate queer stories. I don’t always feel qualified to speak on queer topics because I’m married to a man and could easily be mistaken for straight. Then I remember how I once felt under-represented and less sure of my identity, and how isolating that can be. It’s taken me years to understand myself enough to find peace and joy in who I am. If I can reflect that queer joy back to even one person who might feel lonely and confused, that’s worth it to me. Just imagine the power of entire communities full of that energy!

My years working and freelancing for Paizo have been instrumental to my queer identity because they’ve introduced me to a diverse and supportive group of people that I’m incredibly grateful for. It makes sense given that we’re all tied by our love of a cooperative game—this community is one big adventuring party. We roll initiative together.

You can find my freelance credits, social media, and other links here: https://katinadavis.carrd.co/

Wat Ryshel (he/him), trans ysoki butler.

Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her)

Hello, all! I'm Kendra, frequent Paizo contributor. You might have spotted my name most recently on Howl of the Wild and Treasure Vault. I've also got two Adventure Path volumes coming up that I'm excited to see hit people's tables: Singer, Stalker, Skinsaw Man for Curtain Call and Destroyer's Doom for Triumph of the Tusk. Part of what helped encourage me to be open about being queer was seeing others in the TTRPG community do the same, especially those whose identities more easily fly under the radar. "Unite" is the last part of the blog theme for this year, and every time I see (or write!) a queer NPC in an adventure or lore book, it gives me a sense of belonging. We're here, we're not going away, and as in any good adventuring party, it's important to have each other’s backs. Happy Pride!

Kyle Raes (he/she)

My name is Kyle Raes (he/him, she/her) and I’m pansexual and bigender. I’ve been contributing on and off again to Pathfinder for years alongside maintaining my daily blog that analyzes the various options available to characters in both Pathfinder and Starfinder.

It was seeing the sort of community that Paizo has attracted through these games that actually helped afford me the self-reflection to realize my own preferences and identity.

This community, both the players and even the writers and other staff at Paizo stayed true to themselves even with pressures out there trying to deny them that, and for that I am forever grateful, rocky times and all.

Right now, I’m between major projects, but I just this past month published my first submission on Starfinder Infinite!

Elemental Experts is a book with five archetypes for Starfinder giving both casters and non-spellcasting classes a way to go all in and specialize in a particular damage type as masters of that element! The book has all commissioned art by absolutely brilliant artists!

You can find my blog at https://dailycharacteroption.tumblr.com/

My Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/Kyle_Raes_Daily_Character_Option

And also check out my very first published homebrew on Starfinder Infinite! Elemental Experts - Paizo | Starfinder Infinite

Tiya/Tiyo Stories (she/he), genderfluid legendary wayang storyteller.

Lynne M. Meyer (she/they)

It’s impossible to talk about my queerness without talking about games, because they’ve been interwoven from the outset. I was introduced to TTRPGs by an actor friend (now spouse) who’s been playing and running games since the 1980s. Sure I’d love it, he invited me to join his upcoming campaign. I was hooked almost immediately.

I was alsostarting to come out to myself around this time.

All the characters I’ve played have explored queerness in some fashion. As I say in Thom James Carter’s book They Came to Slay: The Queer Culture of D&D, games—specifically, inclusive games with good queer rep—gave me a safe space to figure myself out and unpack years of comphet.

Icon Marsha P. Johnson said, “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.” This month, I’m part of Queer Games Bundle 2024—a bundle of nearly 500 games, software, and zines from 271 queer creators across itch.io. The organizers put it best: this bundle is a direct action that you can take right now to support queer people in a life-changing way, and help nurture the diverse queer games community.

Find me on Bluesky (@lynnemeyer.bsky.social) and Twitter (@Lynne_M_Meyer).

Ixthia the Unbreakable, the nonbinary faction leader of the Exo-Guardians.

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

It’s me, your friendly local nonbinary circus goth! Over the last fifteen years, I’ve cycled through a variety of labels—nonbinary lesbian, ace lesbian, nonbinary bisexual, trans man, nonbinary trans man, the list goes on—but through all of that change, I have had the love and support of my partners, my close friends and family, and my community. Queer community is vital—in some cases, it is literal lifeblood when bigotry causes institutions to abandon us.

Love is powerful. Love in a world that tries to shame you and hide you away is a protest. And love is a fire that cannot be snuffed out.

Last year’s Pride blog was one of the first projects I took point of here at Paizo, and I’m proud and elated to have continued the tradition through our various community and culture blogs full circle back to Pride. Even “small” acts of solidarity like this give hope and voice to people who have historically been silenced.

Keep up with me on the internet: https://twitter.com/ilananight13, https://bsky.app/profile/ilananight.bsky.social, and http://ilananight.space!

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And, for a special Pride preview, have a sneak peek at one of the items coming in Player Core 2: the Elixir of Gender Transformation! This item was written by Avi Kool, Lead Editor.

Elixir of Gender Transformation Item 1+
Alchemical, Consumable, Elixir
Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L
Activate [one-action] (manipulate)

This clear, bitter liquid can be ingested to change certain secondary sex characteristics. Different formulations create different changes—for example, one variety might cause the voice to deepen and promote body and facial hair growth, while another might cause fat redistribution around the hips and the growth of breasts. These changes tend to be accompanied by shifting of the fat in the face, sometimes dramatically or sometimes more subtly changing the user’s appearance. Changes from this elixir take place gradually over the course of months or years, depending on the type.

Type lesser; Level 1; Price 1 gp
The elixir must be taken every week, and changes occur over the course of a year or more.

Type moderate; Level 3; Price 8 gp
The elixir must be taken once a month, and changes occur over the course of a year.

Type greater; Level 6; Price 35 gp
The elixir must be taken once, and changes occur over the course of 6 months.

From our tables to yours, happy Pride from Paizo!

Golarion and the Pact Worlds are filled with people of all sorts – this is just a small collection of our wonderful trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming characters!

Two of our iconic heroes- Mios, the Iconic Thaumaturge (they/them) and Kyyduh, the Iconic Evolutionist (they/them).

The world is frightening for a lot of trans people right now – with our rights under attack at local, state, and federal levels here in the United States and around the world. Trans people and queer performers like drag queens are being forced back into hiding in a cruel movement that threatens to set us back decades.

But we will not be erased – and we will keep making art and worlds that show trans and queer people that we belong. We have always been here, and we always will be – the world is richer with us in it.

In celebration of the gender diversity of both our settings and our community, this blog is a collection of trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming canon characters across Starfinder and Pathfinder – as told by their writers and people who see themselves in those characters.

l’setsya Wyrmtouched (she/her), a ganzi spellcaster with flowing blue hair.

Amber Stewart (she/her)

Il’setsya Wyrmtouched began as my arcanist PC in Rise of the Runelords, where she gave me an in-character outlet to express my inner self every week through a CN, wildly unfiltered, fun by any means character. She was and remains a whole lot of -GOALS- with a bucket of common PC characteristics of mine taken to a delightful extreme: after magically transitioning via a protean artifact, the Lethe Wall of Galisemni, she’s magically skilled and silly, with high intelligence, low wisdom, a fifteen-foot-long tail, happily married to her half-faerie dragon wife. Seriously, what’s not to love? I first wrote about her and her Wyrmtouched siblings in Planar Adventures and later, when I serendipitously needed a protean-linked NPC in my volume of Agents of Edgewatch, “Ruins of the Radiant Siege,” she was right there, practically begging for the job. Of course, a whimsical hedonist who’s a literal agent of manifest chaos isn’t going to work with every party, but she’s a fun challenge, and in that role, she was my attempt to make as close to a patron saint of Chaotic Neutral transwomen as I could.

Tesyovensku (they/them), a fetchling witch

Ashton Sperry (they/them)

Howdy! I'm Ashton, your nonbinary friend on the internet and occasional freelancer for the great folks at Paizo. And now I get the opportunity to tell you all about one of my proudest achievements in my freelancing career!

Tesyovensku is a nonbinary fetchling I wrote up for Lost Omens: The Grand Bazaar. You may have even had the chance to encounter them in a certain Pathfinder Society scenario! Getting to create a character whole-cloth who shares my gender identity was a thrilling experience, and I'm so glad they've resonated with so many people out there.

Tesyovensku's story is also one about triumph over adversity, something that I think many of us are struggling to achieve these days. The future for the queer community seems bleak, and honestly, if my little contributions to Paizo's canon can provide a glimmer of hope, then I am deeply honored and touched to have made things a little bit better. Together, we can all pull through—and maybe have a nice cup of tea while we're at it.

Arhan Benimaya (he/him), a human tattoo artist.

Avi Kool (they/them) – Lead Editor

Arhan Benimaya (he/him) is a human trans man from Cheliax who fled religious persecution as a child with his family before settling in Absalom. He used his art skills to help support his family and save for a serum of sex shift, and he grew up to be a successful tattoo artist in Absalom’s Docks District. His boyfriend is an azarketi dockworker named Brine, and the two of them can be found in Arhan’s shop along with Arhan’s service dog, Apple the mastiff. You can read more about Arhan in Pathfinder Lost Omens: Grand Bazaar!

Mios Uriev (they/them) is a nonbinary human from Caliphas, Ustalav, and the iconic thaumaturge. They worked as a night coach driver before being bitten by a werewolf, but using their extraordinary resourcefulness and willingness to try anything, they cured themself—though they’re still not quite sure which cure they attempted did the trick. Upon realizing they were cured, Mios gave up the life of a driver and decided to try their hand at adventuring, knowing that all monsters have weaknesses, if only you can find them. You can read more about Mios at https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6si2a?Meet-the-Iconics-Mios.

Brent Bowser (he/they)

I was struggling to find the voice I wanted for Vidrizix (NB Dragonkin) in Starfinder Bounty #8: Lost Dragon's Legacy, so I started using mine as a placeholder. The more I fleshed out the character and their relationships, the more I connected with them. I replaced instances of "he" with "they." It felt so right with Vidrizix that I realized I should do the same for myself.

Vidrizix (he/they), a purple dragon kin.

Dana Ebert (she/her)

I've been a Paizo contributor for three years now, and I'm not ashamed to admit that my all-time favorite NPC is still Iltara Clavela (she/her), who I created for Lost Omens: Grand Bazaar and put a lot of myself into. Her story has all my favorite tropes—fey blessings, ill-fated bargains, and the power of names. While Iltara was far from the first trans woman in Pathfinder, she was the first NPC whose shop offers gender-affirming transmutations to patrons! If you haven't seen this artwork by @hailiiz of Iltara and Ralliadra, a fellow trans shopkeeper from Grand Bazaar, you should check it out!

Tragellon Pearlcask (he/him), a muscular dwarf crab fisher.

John Compton (he/him) – Senior Developer

Tregellon Pearlcask (he/him)
The sky citadel of Highhelm has many mouths to feed, and local dwarves of the Pearlcask clan have developed sophisticated aquaculture that supplies the city with a wide variety of shellfish. In Pathfinder Adventure Path #193: Mantle of Gold, something sinister has sneaked into Tregellon Pearlcask’s caves, afflicting his prize crab (whose art we can’t wait to show you). His being a trans man isn’t crucial to the adventure; it’s just who he is, and he openly affirms it with Pearlcask humor. He’s described as “dressed for working on the water, wearing little beyond sturdy trousers, a teal sash around his waist, and several pearl studs in his ears. He’s muscular, with a horizontal scar under each pectoral ("Molting scars,” he acknowledges with a knowing wink, if asked)."

Michael Bramnik (he/him)

Hello there! To quote a friend, I might be, “straight enough to calibrate a Kinsey scale,” but I long for the day when months like these are no longer needed except purely in celebration. I fervently believe that LGBTQ+ visibility and positive representation are vitally important if we are ever going to move on to a better future.

For Pathfinder Society #4-05: The Arclord Who Never Was <spoiler> the character of Alyreha (who is encountered with a different name at first) is trans. I made this decision because of her study into the magic of True Names. Having been honored to escort friends to their procedures in the past and seeing just how much more “them” they were afterwards—it just felt right for the story of someone finding herself. </spoiler> It can be a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment (but is more pronounced in Isis Wozniakowska’s #4-10: Arclord’s Abode) because I think that normalization might be the most important aspect of representation, or, to use a movie quote from my childhood that taught me this lesson quite early, “peoples is peoples”—a lesson I hope future allies will learn. For this and all months to follow, I wish you all the best.

A floating skull with pink magical glow.

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

While I haven’t had the joy of writing any published trans characters (yet), I have seen myself in so many Paizo books- it’s one of the reasons I love the games we make and am so happy to be a part of this company! Above all, Arhan Benimaya(he/him) from Lost Omens: Grand Bazaar spoke to me very strongly as a Jewish trans man. Seeing someone who looks like me and whose story echoes with my heart made me even more certain that Golarion was a place for me.

Shay Snow (they/them) – Pathfinder Society Developer

Kyyduh is the Starfinder iconic evolutionist, which I worked on and helped create with the Starfinder team earlier this year. If you ask Kyyduh about their gender, their answer will be "Gender? don't even know 'er!" The agender pahtra uses they/them pronouns, no matter what form or shape they adapt while being an evolutionist. They identify as bisexual, with no true preference to gender, and they’ve identified as agender since they were a tiny kit shedding their first canines. They have ADHD and struggle to focus on verbal instructions, but when given written instructions they can adapt and pick up almost any skill presented to them.

Creating Kyyduh was a special experience for me, and allowed me to explore agender expression through a character that I knew would be public-facing. I was a little nervous when the blogs went live, unsure of how the Paizo community might feel about a nonbinary iconic, however I was genuinely overjoyed when I saw so many cheerful and welcoming comments, validating Kyyduh’s identity and disability. Kyyduh’s a bright, cheerful pahtra and will be facing so many upcoming adventures in the Starfinder universe!

Domakayo (he/him), a Vesk in a glittery bodysuit.

Tineke Bolleman

Domakayo (he/him), from Starfinder Society Scenario #3-15: Frozen Ambitions - The Preluria Connection. He is a little ode to drag performers.

Domakayo is a performer living on Vault of Vorlath. He performs in bars and has a dedicated fanbase. Domakayo dresses in his well known glitter bodysuit and discoball tail extension, and paints his scales in vibrant colors to mimic and exaggerate the colorations of female Vesk. His dance performances are lively and are punctuated by crushing items, a play on old fashioned Vesk courtship dances.

Domakayo loves expressing himself through his dance performances and the transformation he goes through before getting on stage. He has no stage name, finding comfort in using his own name and being who he was not allowed to be back home.

Rhenei Aldori (they/them) from The Swordlord's Challenge  always felt pressured by the demands of Ysoki society. Ysoki have a relatively short lifespan, and in Rhenei’s family there was a big emphasis on settling down while young and having kids. Classic gender roles never seemed to fit. Mom. Dad. Nanny. Caretaker. Babysitter. Even if not pressed into a parental role, their family would still press them into a caregiver role. When Rhenei clearly stated they did not wish any of this, there was a huge fallout. Rhenei left their home, and eventually ended up studying Aldori swordlord. After training, Rhenei swore the swordpact and is now Rhenei Aldori.

Rhenei loves expressing themselves by wearing colorful clothing.

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We’re happy to be able to bring so many of these characters to life here at Paizo—and to let our trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming community members know that they are safe, welcomed, and celebrated here.

If you’re looking for ways to help the queer community—especially queer youth—this Pride, consider donating to the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, volunteering with a local or online queer youth center, and speaking out against transphobia when it pops up around you. The proceeds of Paizo’s Pride Pins – available in Vigilant, Goblin, or Skittermander – benefit Tabletop Gaymers, an organization dedicated to making sure LGBTQIA+ players feel safe and welcome at the table.

Trans pride, trans power, trans rights!

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.

What are you proud of in the last year?

Tabletop Gaymers is proud just to get back into the swing of things! Last year we attended all four of our planned conventions and started off this year being able to join everyone at PaizoCon. It is wonderful seeing all the smiling eyes (keep those face masks on, please)! We loved seeing everyone proudly wearing their gaymer and ally badge ribbons and appreciated everyone visiting our table.

We're proud of a lot of other things too! In the past few months... We've gone from a team of 4 overwhelmed directors to a booming team of 16 officers! Having all the fresh souls on board has revitalized the organization and we've already started on some great new things:

We are revved for Origins next week to have our own booth in the exhibit hall. We are going to have our own "Gayme Room" at Gen Con this year with nearly 100 events already planned. We launched and debuted our "Pride Flag Badge Ribbons" at PaizoCon. We have got some sweet new enamel pins and other pride swag coming out in the next few months. Our Discord server finally hit the 500-user threshold. Our new Twitch channel is picking up rapidly. And we're on the verge of launching a safe-space program for friendly local game stores.

Last but certainly not least, we are not proud but grateful and humbled to have Paizo select Tabletop Gaymers as one of the beneficiaries of their "Pathfinder Second Edition Beginners Bundle" alongside The Trevor Project.

If you want to know more about Tabletop Gaymers, possibly get involved and join the team, visit our website at TabletopGaymers.org or get in touch at contact@TabletopGaymers.org. We would love to hear from you.

Happy Pride Month!

Jeff Sorensen (he/him),
President

First Time at PaizoCon 2022

This Memorial Day weekend, I had the opportunity to volunteer at PaizoCon 2022 for Tabletop Gaymers. I joined as an officer in the beginning of the year because I believed in the non-profit’s goal of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion by championing the visibility and recognition of the LGBTQIA+ community through tabletop gaming. Paizo has been an active supporter of Tabletop Gaymers and asked us if we’d like to come and run a table in the vendor area of the convention in Seattle.

I had never been to an RPG convention before and honestly felt somewhat lost in many conversations involving Pathfinder and Starfinder. As a board game designer, I sadly have only dipped my toes into the water of RPGs. Due to most RPGs needing a larger time commitment and a group being available to consistently meet up, this just hasn’t been an area of the gaming world I’ve had a chance to explore. But after coming to this Con and seeing the excitement the attendees felt, I am remotivated to try and play!

According to Carrie, an amazing volunteer we had, this year's convention was significantly smaller than previous years thanks to covid. There were times when we just hung out at the table and chatted or talked to the Paizo employees. Other times we had people coming up to the booth to ask for our rainbow “gaymer” and “ally” ribbons as well as our neon green pronoun ribbons. The amount of “thank you’s” I heard from attendees filled my heart. It was amazing to see how many people donated and shared their stories of realizing they were a gaymer or of having a friend that was.

Over the past few years, I’ve become aware of how important RPGs are in helping people explore their traumas, sexualities, and sexual orientations. Roleplaying in a safe space allows players to create characters that are as similar or different as they please. You can try on a new pronoun as your character. Using Roll20 and other online sites players can add their character names and pronouns to their signature. This helps remind players during the game, similar to how our pronoun ribbons at conventions can help attendees appropriately identify themselves.

While talking to attendees, I heard stories about men creating female characters to allow them to help express their more feminine side. Their characters charged into battle in a new outfit every time, screaming things like “if I can wear this, you can too!”—promoting the body positivity of the cow people. But also, I learned about the darker side of the online RPG space with people propositioning players to go into different chat rooms to do questionable things in exchange for valuables used in their games. One man I met told me that people assumed he was a girl like the character he had created, but because his voice function wasn’t working on his computer, he was unable to prove that he was a male behind the mic. He experienced harassment and propositions until he finally was able to get his audio working on his computer to prove his gender. The experience was eye opening to him and made him feel for all the females that want to enter the RPG space.

As a girl, I have felt uncomfortable at times in new spaces, but I can say that this convention was incredibly welcoming to gaymers and newbies to RPGs. Attendees were more than delighted to answer my questions about how they create their characters, choose their campaigns, and build their groups. One other vendor explained to me that RPGs are on the rise and they are experiencing a shortage of Dungeon and Game Masters to the point of it becoming a paid gig at some of his local game stores. One Paizo employee said the first game of Pathfinder he ever played he GMed. He started too ambitious with a group of 12 then broke them off into two smaller groups, and by the end of the year, when both campaigns ended, he felt like he could conquer any challenge! I am doing something similar by jumping into my first D&D campaign in celebration of Pride month with a three-episode live-stream hosted by WIGI (Women in Games International) Tuesday nights starting June 14th.

It was amazing to have such detailed conversations with strangers. Most were self-proclaimed introverts, but when they were with their people, they blossomed into conversations about all things Paizo and beyond. It was also really cool to see people’s excitement in Tabletop Gaymer’s new Pride Flag ribbons. Attendees donated to collect ribbons that they felt described them. The ribbons also caused interesting conversations of which ribbons were collected the most. The answer was asexual, nonbinary, trans, and bi were a 4-way tie, with others closely behind. I also had many people proclaim they were still figuring it out. Which I get. I wear the “lesbian” ribbon but I don’t think anyone is 100% anything. So sometimes I still struggle with choosing the appropriate label for myself. In person I typically stick to the term “gay” until further pressed. Then I use “lesbian”. But at gaming conventions, thanks to organizations like Tabletop Gaymers, I feel more comfortable wearing these fun, colorful ribbons.

I did have someone come up to the booth and ask about the ribbons. After recognizing he wasn’t a gaymer, I offered him an ally ribbon. In response, I was given a speech on how he didn’t feel comfortable labeling himself an ally. That it felt fake in a way. I’ve heard this argument before and do understand that “ally” is a term that should be given. But as a gay girl I can say that seeing those ally ribbons on people makes me feel safe, supported and more comfortable in a space with people I don’t know. I’m an extrovert but I still feel intimidated at times wanting to sit down at a table of men. Seeing that rainbow ribbon really does ease the tension, similar to when I see pride flags outside of different shops. It makes me know that it is a safe and welcoming space. We all need a safe space, and that’s what our organization works to do at conventions. I am so thankful for Paizo promoting us and allowing us a chance to share our message with the attendees of PaizoCon!

Also, I did get a chance to play one game while I was here, and that was the Steve Jackson and Pazio crossover game “Pathfinder Revolution,” the board game. I got to play the first game outside of development and it was great! It’s officially added to my must-buy list. We played the 4-player game but the game scales higher. I’m not sure how that goes, since the rules change, but for the game I played, I really enjoyed the refresh on an old Steve Jackson game. Apparently, this game was a surprise even for many of the Paizo employees that saw the game appear in the glass case.

If you’re a fan of Pathfinder and Starfinder I highly recommend checking out this very friendly small convention hosted by Paizo in Seattle. This may not have been as large as GenCon, but the stories attendees shared about how these games helped them learn about themselves was amazing. I especially liked that Paizo updated their starter characters to include lesbian characters; that honestly motivated me more to learn more about the system and world. I would 100% attend again. So, thank you Paizo for having us! And for anyone looking to find our ribbons, you can find us at Origins, GenCon, DragonCon, and PAX Unplugged this year! Plus, our online store stocks up on all things rainbow, so check it out and donate to a great cause that helps gaymers like me feel safe and excited to be in this amazing community!

I look forward to meeting more amazing people at future conventions!

Happy Pride Month!

Danielle Reynolds (she/her)
Officer

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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.

Heartbond (APG), artist Valeriya Lutfullina

June is Pride Month, a time for the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate their lives, their struggles, and their identities. It’s also a time to remind ourselves and those around us that the fight for equality is not over. The first Pride celebrations were inspired by the Stonewall riots, a six-day riot against police brutality, led by community leaders including Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman.

Pride is important because LGBTQ+ individuals do not have equality in any country. The Human Rights Watch reports that 69 countries have national laws criminalizing same-sex relations between consenting adults. At least nine countries have laws criminalizing “forms of gender expression that target transgender and gender nonconforming people,” and many more countries don’t need to pass laws to ensure their police forces and militaries do the work of suppressing LGBTQ+ lives. Worldwide, gay, trans and non-conforming individuals face legal and illegal discrimination, abuse, and hatred. There are places in this world I will not travel with my fiancé because I am worried we will face physical and verbal abuse, and some of those places are within driving distance of where I live. Here in America, my rights are debated on a daily basis in local, state and federal court.

My fellow contributors to this blog and I are lucky that many of us live in a country that will not arrest us, directly, in most places, for our sexuality or gender. We are lucky that Paizo is a company that does not discourage us from expressing ourselves in our personal lives, and that permits us to create beautiful and diverse worlds that represent the world as we would like to see it. But we are lucky, and every gamer knows that sometimes the dice run hot, and sometimes you roll a 1. None of that is guaranteed to us, and it could be taken away in moments - or slowly, over four years.

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I started with the depressing stuff not because I wanted to, but because I didn’t want it to get lost. But that’s not all of what Pride is. Pride is also about joy in who we are, and in our community. It’s about gathering and celebrating our lives, the freedoms we have fought to achieve, and to remind ourselves that it is all worth it.

For this year’s Pride blog, I asked our staffers and contributors to tell us about something they’re proud of from the past year. I told them that it didn’t have to be gaming related; that, in fact, this was a chance to use the platform we’re lucky to have to shout out the things that don’t get attention. I’d like to thank them all for sharing themselves with me and with the Paizo community.

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Associate

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Alexander Augunas, Paizo Freelancer

I'm Alexander Augunas! I'm the Know Direction Network's Everyman Gamer, publisher of Everybody Games, and a freelancer for Paizo Inc. This past year has been a crazy year for us all, but I like to think that I did some good work during the chaos and confusion of the global shutdown. In Lost Omens: Legends, I presented Golarion's most powerful sorceress, Hao Jin (set to appear in the upcoming Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Adventure Path) as an asexual woman whose experiences with asexuality I personally identify with, a prospect that I felt was one of the most deeply empowering and important RPG articles I have ever written. Second only, perhaps, to The Rot in RPGs, a blog article I did for the Know Direction Network where I analyzed how systemic racism has impacted tabletop RPGs and offered some suggestions on what we as a community should do to combat it. It's a deeply researched piece that I wrote in response to the murder of George Floyd, and it's an article I hope inspires gamers to keep doing better as a community for those who are marginalized. Because I truly believe that if we try, we can change. Games have that kind of power, and I firmly believe that as creators we have the responsibility to use our power to better the world we've inherited.

Sonja Morris (she/her), Managing Art Director

On June 15th, my wife and I celebrated 19 years of marriage (21 years of being together), of which I am very proud.

Carlos Cabrera, Paizo Freelancer

The thing I am most proud of this year is somehow finding a better work and life balance over the course of it. I know this time has been hard for so many of us, but what I discovered about myself getting through it is where my healthier boundaries are and how to lay them down more confidently. When my pandemic fatigue set in, I signed up for the Moderna trial. When I had to make big, life-altering changes at home, I found a place where I can still be a part of my incredible 4 year old's life.

I am proud I was able to do all of that on my own terms. Creatively, this has led me down new paths of freelancing. I have a coming project I can't wait to tell people more about—my first ever built and pitched privately with the help of a new friend. I am also planning a return to voice acting. There is a lot to look forward to, but you know what also helped a great deal? My partners of more than one gender who made it a point (in a pandemic!) to be in my company.

Hao Jin, artist Gabriela Marchioro

Shay Snow (they/them), Paizo Freelancer

I’m super proud that I’ve pushed myself this year to accept projects that I would normally shy away from. I’ve spent a long time turning things down because of a deep fear of being under qualified or just the belief that I wouldn’t be good enough when compared to other people who came before me. This year has been a rollercoaster ride, but I can look back at it and actively point out my victories and places where I’ve excelled and grown as a person. My partner, my friends, and I have watched me break out of my comfort zone and restore my self-confidence in not just my writing and editing skills, but also in myself and my ability to handle large projects. I look forward to another year of accepting things and showing not just other people, but showing myself that I can handle anything thrown my way.

James Jacobs, Pathfinder Creative Director

Writing adventures about ghosts and cultists and things that go bump in the night has long been something I’ve enjoyed, but with Malevolence, an adventure I ran for several folks here at the office last year before writing it up as a standalone adventure for Pathfinder, I finally got to create that haunted house adventure I’ve been eager to write. Several of the spooky, creepy events and encounters that I inflicted on my players made it into the adventure, along with a few that I had planned but they never reached and a few more that I made up specifically for the adventure. The in-depth mechanics for how players can unravel the manor’s mystery by researching, investigating, and interpreting haunted dreams is one of my favorite parts of the adventure, and I can’t mention the other favorite part without spoiling something big. Still, it’s exciting to get Malevolence out into the world after it spent a few extra months in shipping delay hell, and I hope it does as good a job providing your group with a bit of escape from the horrors of the past year as it did for me to write it.

Amber Stewart (she/her), Paizo Freelancer

It has been a really awesome year for me, and I’m super proud of not only having my first AP entry released with Ruins of the Radiant Siege (in which I’m thrilled to have included an explicitly trans NPC Il’setsya Wyrmtouched) but for also finally, FINALLY finishing with school and receiving my doctorate (Doctor of Pharmacy). I hope that this next year can be just as great and even more productive!

Dr Monsylkis artist Graey Erb

Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her), Paizo Freelancer

Hey, all! I'm bi and demisexual, and I've been freelancing for Paizo for a few years. It's been a tough year, globally speaking, but I hit a few personal milestones that I'm proud of, the release of my first AP volume (The White Glove Affair) being one of them. What I'm focusing on here, though, is a little more mundane: I've been talking to people.

I'm not a very outgoing person, which has always made networking intimidating to me. I'd talked to people off and on at PaizoCon, but until recently, I hadn't really gotten to know anyone in the freelancing community too well. With the con's shift to being online, though, I was more comfortable casually chatting. After that, staying in touch with other freelancers seemed to flow naturally, and before I knew it, I was in a community of talented writers and fun people, some of whom I now count as friends as well as colleagues. I look forward to meeting them once in-person cons are safe again! And...well, maybe you'll see me hanging out at the hotel bar next PaizoCon. I promise not to flee if you come say hi. :-)

Dana Ebert (she/her), Paizo Freelancer

Hi there, I’m a Paizo freelancer and am proudly BIPOC, queer, and transgender! I do other things as well, including professional GMing and voice acting. Without a doubt, my proudest accomplishment this past year was nailing my first freelancing assignment with Paizo. It’s no secret that the book in question is Pathfinder Lost Omens: The Grand Bazaar, and while I can’t spoil any of its content, I think I can share that in the end I was able to write something deeply personal that I hope will resonate just as powerfully with other people who share similar experiences. In fact, I’m definitely going to be talking about it on Twitter once the book is released, so if that sounds interesting then you can follow me there at @MistressDanaRPG. Until next time, endless love and support for each and every one of you who help to make our community a more inclusive, diverse, and welcoming place!

Dustin Knight (he/him), Paizo Freelancer

The word I've used to describe this last year has been surreal. I'd repeat again and again: survive, not thrive. And yet, I struggled every day to do something I could be proud of, even if it meant fighting to convince myself that I deserved to rest. But even as I write this, I find myself pondering what it means to feel pride. It's tempting to drop names and links in some hackneyed attempt to avoid today's undertaking, but it's one I've avoided for too many years. Today I'm proud to publicly identify as asexual.

And yet, I can't help but feel like I'm still avoiding the prompt. So I've got to admit what I'm most proud of this surreal year has been my career. I've passed so many milestones it's hard to believe any of this is real. Most surreal of all was having aced the Paizo design test last fall. Proving myself in that capacity and then getting my first hardcover book assignment has been a validating experience unlike any other. So many friends have helped me on this journey, and this year I hope I've made them proud. Thank you, my dear friends. And thank you, Paizo.

Last year we posted Paizo Wishes Everyone a Happy Pride Month! in which we asked our staff and contributors to “share some of their experiences being nerdy and queer.” This year we have a fresh update!

Jim Butler, VP of Marketing and Licensing

Growing up in Wyoming in the 70s and 80s, Pride was a distant thing to me; something I’d see on the news a few times a year. When I joined TSR in 1994, I finally had the opportunity to attend Pride events in Milwaukee and Chicago and slowly start to understand more about who I was. Boystown in Chicago and Club 94 near Lake Geneva were glorious and electrifying, and I was like a wide-eyed kid marveling at every sight and sound.

I came out to friends and co-workers by chance after getting beaten up by my first boyfriend. I arrived at work shaking and angry, not realizing I had blood all over my face and arms. Lorraine Williams (TSR’s owner) and Carol Hubbard (head of HR) grabbed a first aid kit and gently patched me up as I explained how my roommate beat me up. My friends instantly knew something else. Sean Reynolds, David Eckelberry, and Dori Hein helped me through a pretty terrifying time and made coming out to the world easier through their acceptance and encouragement.

Weeks later TSR would be purchased by Wizards of the Coast and Peter Adkison, Lisa Stevens, and others ushered in a wild new work environment. Peter gathered the TSR crew together and explained the new working environment of WotC, with LGBTQIA+, Goth, Satanists, and more all working in harmony. “What if my religion doesn’t allow me to work with those people?” a TSR staffer asked. Without missing a beat, Peter said “Then you should definitely not accept the job offer to relocate to Seattle.” You could hear a pin drop…

Lisa Stevens has continued that positive work environment through Paizo, and as Pride shines forth again I look back on all that has happened in my life and see the steady march of progress. Happy Pride!

Carlos Cabrera

"Hi everyone! My name is Carlos Cabrera. I have freelanced for several third party publishers for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, as well as with Paizo themselves. I am 37 years old, and I have been out as bisexual since my senior year of high school. Even before I achieved my goal of becoming a game designer, I had the honor of others in the gaming community not only welcome me, but follow in the footsteps of my coming out experience with experiences of their very own.

I have the Cape and Islands Gay Straight Youth Alliance (or CIGSYA House) to thank for providing me with a safe space when I didn't know I needed it. What I also didn't realize—until I was much older—was how large of an overlap these two communities really had. They are very much my people, and in more ways than one. I couldn't ask to be in a better crowd."

Sasha Laranoa Harving, Venture-Lieutenant and Contributor
she/her/hers/herself or nov/nov/novs/novself

“I think it's safe to say that RPGs have cracked my shell several times over. I've never played a male character, even before I really let myself know I wasn't a man. Starfinder's solarians gave me the grounds to explore my personal brand of nonbinary, and developing relationships bound beyond romance and rooted in a shared narrative showed me how, while I still experience it, it's not all there is.

I love my work and my community. I'm proud to throw my voice to the sky when I need to be heard. And for anyone questioning if you might want to explore who you could be through RPGs... I believe in you.”

Vanessa Hoskins

“The first Pride was a riot. It was a screaming and violent stand against the forces of oppression that sought to impose conformity and silence. Those forces of oppression continue to fight us, continue to silence us, and continue working to enforce their will on us. But we will not be silent. We will not hide in the shadows. We are out. We are proud. We are celebrating who we are. The very act of public celebration is defiance against our oppressors. The very act of love we share builds up our communities. Every example of self expression shows the world that we will not fade away.

Pride is taking a stand for who we are, who we love, and making no apologies for it. Through celebration we win. Through self expression we win. Through love we win. The oppressed stand together against our oppressors, expressing our differences and embracing each other for it. The more we love ourselves, the more we support each other, and the more we remain true to who we are, the harder it is for the forces of oppression to succeed.

They lash out in violence against our peace. They scream slurs against our celebrations. They react with hate against our love. But that just means they will lose, for love conquers hate. But love doesn't mean we are meak. Love doesn't mean we are helpless. We too, can be violent. It's not what we want, but it's what we will do to survive. We will fight back. We will take a stand. We will maintain our way of life. Pride comes from love: from loving ourselves, from loving each other, from loving our communities. That does not mean we won't fight to defend that love. The first Pride was a riot.”

James Jacobs

“I’m James Jacobs, Creative Director of Pathfinder, and last year I wrote about how playing RPGs over the years helped me realize I was bisexual. I also wrote, “Our world is scary, and that makes RPGs so important to me.” Here we are a year later, and the world has changed so much that it feels naive to have written those words only a dozen months ago. But that doesn’t change the fact that RPGs can remain an important way for us all to get together and game, share our experiences, and support each other, even if… ESPECIALLY if… we’re doing so virtually instead of in-person. Pride in ourselves and who we are is more important than ever—which is, I suppose, a way of saying it’s more important with each passing day. So give your friends hugs, do what you can to safely support your communities and to be secure, love and be loved, and hold your heads high!”

Samantha Phelan

“As an undergraduate cultural anthropology student, I conducted the majority of my class research on issues of gender in gaming subcultures. During a project that aimed to ethnographically explore the experience of self-identified “girl gamers,” I was conducting an interview with a research participant in which we discussed her origins in gaming. She explained that she first started playing online pet-sites, in which she got so intensely competitive that she was setting alarms to wake up in the middle of the night to perform tasks in the game just for an extra edge. Part way though her explanation she asked, “Wait, does this count?”

Perplexed, I asked her, “Why wouldn’t that count?”

Her answer left a profound impact on me as an anthropologist and gamer: “Because mostly girls play those.”

I analyzed that statement a million ways, but I think it bothered me so much because I realized that a lot of the identity questions I was exploring in gender and gaming came down to that question: do we count? Getting to be a part of the gaming industry myself now, I constantly think of my own identity and all those individuals who talked to me about their experience in gaming subcultures. I hope to always be a part of projects that constantly reinforce that yes, you do count.”

Kendra Leigh Speedling

“Hi, everyone! I'm a freelance writer who's worked on Paizo projects for Pathfinder 1E, 2E, and Starfinder, including SFS #2-08: The Stumbling Society, Part 2: Sangoro's Gifts and a bunch of things that are still upcoming. I'm also bisexual and demisexual, and feel like I had an unorthodox journey to realizing both of those things. I didn't actually realize I was bi until well after I was in a happily committed monogamous relationship, and for awhile after that, I wasn't sure if I "counted" as part of the LGBTQ+ community as a cis bi woman partnered with a cis man.

Part of what helped was hearing from other bi people with similar experiences, which just goes to show why greater representation and visibility is so important. It's a scary time for so many people right now, and it can help to escape for a little while to another world less encumbered by the prejudices of ours. Seeing characters of numerous orientations and gender identities included in gaming products means a lot to me. It's a signal to the wider audience, especially those who might be queer or questioning themselves, that we exist, and we have stories too.”

Alex Speidel, Organized Play Associate

“I came to roleplaying games largely after I’d figured out my bisexuality, so for me gaming isn’t so much a story of discovery as it is one of getting to live out my fantasies of a world where I can truly be my best self. Literally no character I have ever created is both heterosexual and cisgender. I consider part of my responsibility at Paizo, with whatever platform this position gives me, to make sure our products aren’t just inclusive, but progressive.

I’m very lucky that I have a family who has always accepted me for who I am. I know many others don’t have that, and that we find our own families through these spaces. It’s important that we as a community continue to use our positions to affirm truths: that queer people are people, and they’re here, and they’re not obligated to hide; that trans lives matter and trans rights are human rights; and that coming out is neither the start nor end of someone’s journey.”

This year we have also Pride merch to support Tabletop Gaymers, a nonprofit organization whose mission is championing the visibility and inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community through tabletop gaming. Five dollars from each Paizo Pride Golem pin and apparel item sold will go directly to Tabletop Gaymers.

Pride Pin — Paizo Golem
Show your pride, Paizo Golem style! This enamel pin made by Campaign Coins features a 40mm tall Paizo Golem in the Pride flag colors.

Paizo Golem Pride Apparel from OffWorld Designs
Show your Pride with bags, polos, hats, and more from our friends at OffWorld Designs.

Thank you for your patronage and for being a part of our incredible community.

Adventures Ahead,

Aaron Shanks,
Paizo Marketing and Media Manager