Conjuring Phrases: Meet the Secrets of Magic Authors part 2!

If you missed our earlier blog with the first group of authors, you can find it here! Without further ado, let’s jump into part 2 of our Secrets of Magic author spotlight. So as to not miss out on the creators’ fantastic words, don’t forget to preorder the book here on paizo.com or reserve a copy from your local game store!

Illustration by Lucas Villalva Machado

Clark Valentine (he/him)

I’ve been a part-time freelance designer and writer of tabletop RPGs for over 15 years, and I love fantasy adventure games like Pathfinder. I’m a big believer in setting design and worldbuilding through small details; what services people sell, what specialized gear a toolkit contains, and what capabilities people put into a magic item tells you a lot about how people live in the world. I’m really excited to be contributing to Pathfinder’s worldbuilding through this sort of design work. In addition to Secrets of Magic, you can also find my work in the Advanced Player’s Guide and Bestiary 3 for Pathfinder Second Edition and in lots of games from numerous publishers across the tabletop RPG scene such as Fate Accelerated Edition, Tachyon Squadron, and Sentinel Comics RPG. Making games is a family activity for me; my wife and daughter are both award-winning RPG writers and editors. My son is an award-winning robot builder which, while not games, is pretty awesome. Our cats have not yet won any awards, to the whole family’s bewilderment. You can find me on Twitter under my name, @clarkvalentine.

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

Hello, Paizo fans and supporters! I’m Sen H.H.S., a TTRPG freelance writer based on the other side of the Pacific, who often specializes in Chinese-inspired TTRPG content. You might have seen my work in Bestiary 3, as well as the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix’s second volume, “Ready? Fight!”. In addition to Secrets of Magic, you’ll find more of my work in upcoming publications such as Lost Omens Grand Bazaar, and Guns & Gears. You can follow me on Twitter @SenHHS, where you’ll get the latest news on what I’m up do, be it projects for other systems or my self-publications. In addition, starting on the 28th of August, I’ll be joining a biweekly stream of a Fists of the Ruby Phoenix liveplay as a player. Be sure to follow @TrailMixTales on Twitter to be notified when we’re on!

Ron Lundeen (he/him) – Paizo Development Manager

I’m Ron Lundeen, development manager of Pathfinder here at Paizo. I wrote up several spells for this book, including a few involving gravity—for which I used quite a bit of "what do I like that my Starfinder characters can do that I want to do in Pathfinder?" thinking! You can check out my RPG advice, including an entire free Pathfinder Second Edition Adventure Path I wrote, on my blog at RunAmokGames.com. I’m available for freelance for any number of game systems at rules.lawyer.ron@gmail.com.

Mari Tokuda (she/her)

Mari Tokuda is both a writer and a big, old nerd. You can find her work in the Dishonored and Dune RPGs alongside Secrets of Magic... with many more projects in the works! She has also written short fiction for the most recent version of the tabletop skirmish game Malifaux.

She has a retired racing greyhound who is totally spoiled and totally deserves to be. She believes Seattle is the best city in the world, that the Civilization games are the best videogames ever, and that anthropomorphized food is super creepy.

You can find her on Twitter at @maritokuda and on her website at maritokuda.com. You can also hear her chat about all things Asian American on her podcast, the Yellow Ranger Fanclub.

Finally, she finds writing about herself in the third person really weird and uncomfortable.

Logan Bonner (he/him) – Pathfinder Lead Designer

Hi, there! I'm Logan Bonner, the Pathfinder Lead Designer and also the design lead on Secrets of Magic. As you might guess from that, this book is a big one for me and a chance to show off the vision we have for how further rulebooks look now that the core tools for GMs and players are out there. The plan was to make a book that's fun to read—not just useful for its mechanics—that you'll want to have on your shelf for years and years. I put a lot of time into this book and worked with all these other amazing authors (it's a big author pool compared to most books!) to get their fun ideas in there. Thanks to all these cool people for their contributions! For my part, I wrote the magus, magical tattoos, and spellhearts, and created things to fill blanks during development. I've been at Paizo for 9 years, first arriving to edit on Ultimate Equipment, and have been in RPGs since 2006, working on Dungeons & Dragons, the Spectaculars superhero RPG, the Mistborn Adventure Game, Dragon Age, and lots more. I've kept myself busy during the pandemic with weekly RPG nights (including a long-running Star Trek Adventures game), an online comic book club with some friends, and way too much sitting around watching YouTube. I can be found on Twitter, where I'm @loganbonner.

Ilustration by Loïc Canavaggia

Simone D. Sallé (she/they)

Secrets of Magic might be my favorite author project to date! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to contribute to several sections that meant a lot to me. I'm always happiest in nature, so it was a joy to draw on that reverence for the primal treatise. And while space is always limited, I had a lot of background ideas that went into the witch's journey and I hope you enjoy the peek into her story!

My writing has also appeared in Bestiary 3 (arboreals and kokogiak), Galaxy Exploration Manual (arctic biome), the upcoming Lost Omens Grand Bazaar (REDACTED), and more, but you'll see my name with far more regularity (sometimes credited as Simone Dietzler) alongside Paizo's incredible crew of editors. When I'm not editing or writing, I'm—you guessed it—reading, gaming, or soaking up that primal magic on walks in the woods. You can find me on Instagram @wildwoodedits and Twitter @virsamajor.

David N. Ross (he/him)

It was my pleasure to devise some new cantrips and other magic for Secrets of Magic, my twelfth contribution to Pathfinder Second Edition. I drew a fair bit of inspiration from superhero cartoons and games I loved when I was a little gay kid, which I hope will bring the same joy to players. When I'm not writing for Paizo, I'm a prolific freelance writer, designer, and developer of third-party products compatible with Pathfinder (first and second editions), Starfinder, and D&D. My recent releases include the second volume of Fists of the Ruby Phoenix, a small part of the unapologetic original cyberpunk game Hard Wired Island from Weird Age Games, and Legendary Sorcerers from Legendary Games (compatible with Pathfinder First Edition). You can find me on Twitter @DavidRossWorlds.

Tonya Woldridge (she/her) – Paizo Organized Play Manager

While writing papers in college, I never envisioned earning author bylines for my words. While my focus at Paizo is more coordination than book creation, I’ve enjoyed the opportunities I’ve had to “cross over” and try something new. My biggest assignment so far was Pathfinder Lost Omens Pathfinder Society Guide, which included the history of the Pathfinder Society, several lodges, a faction, and designing the lodge heraldry. For Secrets of Magic, my contribution included non-magical backgrounds. I’ve got no other upcoming projects releasing, as I’ve taken a hiatus from writing during the pandemic. But keep an eye out for me writing for future publications.

In my off time, I like spending time in the kitchen, most often baking. I love reading cookbooks and have several shelves of a bookcase dedicated to volumes from medieval times to present. Right now, I’m enjoying making Korean cuisine for dinners and refining my cream clotting & scone baking techniques so I can enjoy a proper English cream tea. You can find me on Facebook (PaizoOrgPlay), Twitter (@PaizoOPM) and Discord (TonyaOPM#6396). We’ve got PaizoCon Online Europe coming up this weekend – consider dropping by the Paizo Events server and say hi or join us for a game!

Tan Shao Han (he/him)

I'm an indie RPG designer and co-founder of the Curious Chimeras, an indie RPG design house in Singapore. I'm also part of #RPGSEA (https://across-rpgsea.com) a movement and allyship of RPG creators who feel and work with an affinity with diverse Southeast Asian RPG communities. My work for Paizo includes freelancing for several Pathfinder Second Edition projects; I enjoy designing spells, equipment, and otherworldly beings which can enrich players' experiences through hinting at the existence of larger, richer worlds behind the scenes. For example, I've had the opportunity to work on two different undead beings recently for Pathfinder: the new jiang-shi in Pathfinder Adventure Path #167: Ready? Fight!, and the abandoned zealot in Bestiary 3. These creatures are both supporting characters for players to interact with, as well as characters in their own right, with identities, desires, and anxieties rooted in their places in Golarion's milieu; I hope players and GMs will enjoy weaving these beings into their own campaigns and emergent stories.

You can find my design work for the Curious Chimeras at https://curiouschimeras.itch.io, and check us out at https://www.instagram.com/curiouschimeras and https://twitter.com/curiouschimeras.

Illustration by Lucas Villalva Machado

Vanessa Hoskins

Hello! I'm the author behind the Cathartic Magic and Thassilonian Rune Magic sections of the book, bringing you all the emotional powered goodness. As a long-time lover of all things Thassilonian, and someone who almost got herself a real Sihedron tattoo, I hope you get as much enjoyment playing those dedications as much as I had writing them. While you're contemplating your next emotionally fueled spellcaster, consider rolling one up for Abomination Vaults! I had the honor to write “Hands of the Devil,” book 2 of 3 in that Adventure path. Find me on Twitter: @NinjaCatVanessa.

John Compton (he/him) – Paizo Senior Developer

I’m John Compton, Starfinder senior developer and longtime Pathfinder author. On my first day at Paizo, colleagues encouraged me to pick a custom avatar for use on our website, and thanks to the physical resemblance, Djavin Vhrest, Curator of Apocrypha at the Forae Logos library became my visual signature. Especially as I worked on Concordance of Rivals I quickly connected with the character’s voice, mannerisms, and subtle barbs as we explored fictitious occultism. When the bard became the archetypical occult spellcaster in Pathfinder’s second edition, I found myself struggling to understand that new association forged between eclectic, storytelling musicians and the spooky, weird magic. Through the lens of Djavin Vhrest, I found an answer, and it’s my delight to have explored the nature of occult spellcasting in Secrets of Magic.

If you’d like to hear more from me, I frequent Twitter (@archaeotagh), as well as the Pathfinder RPG and Starfinder RPG servers on Discord. Definitely check out my more recent works like Starfinder Tech Revolution (nanocyte, mechs, drones, demolitions, and more), Starfinder Society Scenario #3-04: Falling Into Deliverance, and recent fiction featuring the iconic nanocyte. I love writing about our setting, its history, its cosmology, and its cultures, and it’s my pleasure to have contributed to those through works like Lost Omens The Mwangi Expanse, as well as upcoming books like Lost Omens Absalom, City of Lost Omens and Lost Omens Monsters of Myth!

What a fantastic collection of authors. Thank you to them for sharing a bit about themselves. As we all love to hear how our community enjoys our work, be sure to drop a line on their contact pages or in the comments to let them know how much you enjoy their writing!