Explorers and Scientists: Meet the Howl of the Wild Authors!

Hello, explorers!
Pathfinder Howl of the Wild is now officially out! I hope everyone’s been having fun making new characters, whether they’re minotaur druids, centaur wild mimics, or awakened koi witches with the Ripple in the Deep patron who navigate on land in enchanted supramarine chairs that double as their cauldrons! I hope, too, that you’re enjoying some new animals to throw at your PCs, or just having fun reading the tale of Baranthet and the Zoetrope’s crew as they fly about Golarion!

Of course, this book had its own crew in the form of wonderful writers and designers who each brought a taste of the wild to the project and were sure to keep the writers’ room well supplied with animal gifs and links to nature documentaries. Get to know some of them below and feel free to shout out any bits you enjoy!

Light writer plate of crew upon returning from their journey, from official Zoetrope expedition logs. (Art by Ivan Koritarev)

Rigby Bendele (they/them)

When James pitched Howl of the Wild, I was immediately hooked! I want to bring a sense of embodiment to TTRPGs so that players and GMs have tools to understand what it might be like to live in a world so fantastic, so I was looking forward to focusing an Attenborourgh-style lens on Golarion’s natural world. While working on my sections—the athamaru ancestry, holdfast, some of the big game siege weapons, and the Warden of Caverns and Burrows—I hoped to make the world seem fantastical from its skies to its lowest depths. This book is going to be a great tool as I continue to run my own games and design adventures, and I can't wait to see how everyone uses it in their games.

Chris Bissette (he/they)

Hello! I'm Chris Bissette, a game designer from the UK. Writing for Pathfinder has been a dream of mine for over a decade at this point, and I'm delighted to have finally had the opportunity on Howl of the Wild. Monsters were my first love in RPGs and getting to put together the dischorans for this book was some of the most fun I've had writing games.

When I'm not writing for Pathfinder, I can usually be found working on my free and very imaginatively titled dungeon crawler A Dungeon Game. On socials, you can find me on Bluesky @loottheroom.bsky.social.

Jeremy Blum (he/him)

I wrote the ostilli host archetype for Howl of the Wild, the anti-behemoth weaponry (anybody catch the Godzilla reference in there?), and the decapod dinghy, which is basically Catbus as a giant crab. Contributing to this wonderful celebration of nature's finest offerings was a nice shift, as it immediately followed the work I did to redesign Linvarre for the Lost Omens Tian Xia World Guide, which should now be in everyone’s hands. I've also penned some rad stuff for the Tian Xia Character Guide and have several unannounced Pathfinder contributions in the pipelines.

Outside of the Paizo sphere, my biggest project is Mappa Mundi: An Exploration + Ecology RPG for Three Sails Studios, a small three-man company based in the UK. It's a TTRPG about mapping the wilderness, studying monsters like a biologist instead of fighting them, and returning the art of storytelling to a voiceless world. Our recently released playtest could be used in conjunction with Howl of the Wild to run a gorgeous, monster-observing campaign that spans Golarion and beyond, since the themes are quite similar! Mappa Mundi's full release will crowdfund in 2025, so if you're interested, please follow me on Twitter and Bluesky for the latest news.

The ethereal rift chameleon (art by Adam Shafi) and the lithivorous stony bat (art by Maichol Quinto)

Brite Cheney (he/they)

Hey folks! I’m Brite (pronounced Bright), a TTRPG freelancer and prop maker. You might have seen my recent Pathfinder Quest, The Winter Queen’s Dollhouse, among other works. I had a blast writing a narrative section for Howl of the Wild and trying to capture Baranthet’s unique voice. He is so inquisitive and adventurous, yet simultaneously levelheaded. I hope you all enjoy meeting the crew of the Zoetrope and all the other wonders hidden in this book. I also hope your players “enjoy” the marp and its adorable gold-eating habits.

When not writing for or playing games, I make and sell hand-crafted props and accessories for TTRPG, cosplay, and LARP. You can find links to all my work, including where to contact me for custom commissions, at https://linktr.ee/mrgwillickers. I can also be found on Blue Sky, Mastodon, Instagram, Twitter, and all other socials @MrGWillickers.

Rue Dickey (they/he/xe)

Hello, hello! I've been around the Paizo blog quite a bit this past year since joining the marketing team, but I'm super excited to be dropping myself into this blog—because Howl of the Wild is the first Pathfinder project I’ve ever written for! A thousand thanks to James Case for scooping me out of the river for this project and giving me an opportunity to work on Pathfinder. It's opened a number of doors for me, and I love getting to be a part of the game I love (and market, haha). For Howl, I worked on the hexmoth and the zoophonia muse, and I look forward to seeing what everyone does with the cool stuff in this book! Please feel free to @ me on socials about your Howl stuff. I want to see it!

Twitter: @ilananight13
Bsky: ilananight.bsky.app
Website: https://ilananight.space

Matthew Fu (he/him)

Hi everyone! I first wanted to say that it was a fantastic experience to be able to work on this project alongside so many other talented writers. Getting to see so much positive feedback on the creatures that I wrote (apothecary bee and hardhead mole) has already done numbers to lift my spirits, and seeing someone refer to my beastmaster feats as "swanky AF" really made my day. I wanted to give a quick shoutout to James Case and the rest of the Paizo team for having me on this project and allowing me to pour my heart and soul into this project. I can't wait to see what kind of characters my friends and the community at large come up with given the sheer quantity of high-quality work that can be found in this book.

Also, be sure to check out some of the other Pathfinder 2E material that I've written alongside other fantastic authors at Eldritch Osiris Games!

A centaur bard (art by Wilmar Ballespí Escarp) and a surki warrior (art by Ivan Koritarev)

Steve Hammond

Hello everyone! I'm Steve Hammond, and I wrote a few beast items, the tardigrades, and had the distinct pleasure of writing the surki ancestry! They are the first ancestry I've written, and my time working on them was really special. The response to them so far has been great, and I can't wait to see more of the characters you create with them!

I'm not really on social media these days, but I pop up in a few books here and there. Most recently, I worked on War of Immortals. Thank you all for your lovely words and praise for the book. Everyone on this team did incredible work, and I cannot wait to work with them again.

Dustin Knight (he/him)

Greetings, Pathfinders! I'm Dustin Knight, Starfinder developer and proud freelancer for the incredible tome of beasts and critters that lies before you! Working on the swarmkeeper archetype was a blast and fulfilled one of my long-time bucket-list entries of designing an insect-themed archetype. While I've yet to incorporate my own swarm of creepy-crawlies, I'm a big fan of bugs, especially bees! If you'd like to help your local pollinators, you can find resources such as Lawns to Legumes that can help turn your yard into a pollinator's paradise.

I also wrote some of the spells in Howl of the Wild, including antlion trap, summon stampede, and summon warden of the wild. You can catch me on dozens of different Paizo-adjacent Discord servers, including my own for Pathfinder Infinite creators and fans under the username KitsuneWarlock. You can also catch me at PaizoCon on the Paizo Events Discord where I'll be answering questions, posting memes, and participating in some panels! I'd love to answer as many of your questions as I can and hear about the insects you'll be using with your future swarmkeepers!

Christiana Lewis (she/her)

Greetings and salutations! This was my first ever TTRPG writing experience, and I’m so grateful to James Case and the whole team for their support. I had the unique privilege of writing up the Zoetrope’s design and seeing it be brought to life by the artists was an incredible experience I’ll never forget. Working with Paizo really set the standard for what I expect as a freelance writer. I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on this special book.

I’m currently working on some other TTRPG projects, all of which will be announced in time on Twitter. You can find me at @carpechristi on all socials. In the meantime, I love streaming TTRPG Actual Plays with my friends (which, let’s be real, are just paid opportunities to flirt with each other), collecting special edition novels, and crocheting absurdly long scarves.

The spell-eating hexmoth and the spell-singing virtuosic lyrebird (art both by Vira Linevych)

Jonathan "Ryomasa" Mendoza (any)

Howdy! I'm Jonathan, and I wrote the rumindrol and the beast guns for Howl of the Wild! This book was my first experience writing for Pathfinder and Paizo in general, and I'm happy to say I thoroughly enjoyed the creative spirit and collaborative nature of working on this book alongside so many talented people! I hope you use the rumindrol to remind players who think nothing of stepping into the dark, forbidden places of the world that there is a reason we fear the unknown, and I hope that the beast guns help you attain the gunslingin', yeehawin', fantasy-anime-nonsense vibes so many of us enjoy. You can find me nerding out and/or yeehawing over on Twitter (I will never call it anything else) or reach out through my website.

Dave Nelson (he/they)

Dave Nelson is a queer and neurodivergent freelance writer and editor with multiple credits for Pathfinder. This time, he put his degree in Classics to work to bring you the minotaur ancestry and the bestiary section on hydras. They also spent hours throwing cat toys while writing the clawdancer archetype, and they watched nature videos of birds for the winged warrior archetype. He also managed to write a few new spells, like divine beasts and albatross’ curse.

You can find him lurking on Bluesky at @davicthegrey.bsky.social and an updated list of their credits at https://davicthegrey.carrd.co/.

Mikhail Rekun (he/him)

Здравствуйте, уважаемые читатели! My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and I’m a Russian-speaking Ukrainian-American historian, educator, and author. I’m also a Pathfinder author of long standing—if you’ve suffered at the hands of a kholo, been lost in the Dark Archive, or had to dodge a laser-bear, that is my fault. I regret nothing.

In this particular venture, I was responsible for writing the merfolk ancestry, the sky fisher, and the character of my beloved buggy protégé, Ten. The merfolk ancestry was a particularly interesting challenge—usually, the trick with ancestries is filling them out, but here, we had a veritable buffet of myth, legend, and pop culture to choose from. If you want to weep tears of pearl, lure sailors to their doom with your voice, or merely stroll down the harbor walk with your new pair of legs, Howl of the Wild has you covered.

And if you like the sky fisher, well, would you like to know where you can find even more horrific beasties? It just so happens that I am also the creative director for the Luminant Age Campaign Setting, and we have a small bestiary of vampire dogs and teleporting rats over at https://luminant-age.itch.io/. Check it out!

A merfolk fighter (art by Ivan Koritarev) and an awakened turtle kineticist (art by Damien Mammoliti)

Kai Revius (he/they)

Hello everyone! I’m Kai, and contributing to the Howl of the Wild team as a freelancer was my first foray into professional writing. I had a blast and hope to do it again in the future!

It was my joy and privilege to help bring Dr. Gulnara Pom to life, as well as provide some new animal companions, beast armor, and beast armaments. As a child, I was heavily influenced by Brian Jacques’ Redwall series and jumped at the opportunity to create my very own badger. As a Forever DM/GM, my approach for the items and animal companions was to provide players with interesting or surprising things that I would love to see at my own table. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing art of a giraffe in full barding or anything flying squirrel related! As far as items go, my favorite was a particularly stinky maul. I love when I can utilize a piece of equipment for roleplaying! The best place to find me is @KeenKoala on Twitter/X.

Simone D. Sallé (she/they)

Hi, fellow nature enthusiasts! I'm so excited for you all to tag along with Baranthet and the crew of the Zoetrope on their quest for the wardens of the wild. This has been my favorite book to work on so far, both as a writer and an edit lead, and I can't wait for everyone else to dive in (or burrow, if that's more your Speed). In addition to co-creating Baranthet with James, I got to write Baranthet's narrative introduction, conclusion, and the climactic chapter of the crew's adventure! I also upheld my contractual obligation to seed mushrooms into everything I do by way of the primal witch patrons. There are such fun new creatures, lore, and player options in this book, and I know I'm not the only one ready to build at least six new PCs.

I'm difficult to track down on social media these days, but you can always send notes to Almas University, c/o Baranthet Zamendi—he'll know where to find me.

Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her)

Hello! I’m Kendra, frequent freelancer for Paizo (credits at klspeedling.com). For Howl of the Wild, I did the bio for Charikleia, the Techniques and Tricks story, the sharks (my favorite ocean creatures!), and the Warden of Peaks and Skies.

When writing, I had to decide the type of contest to choose the new warden. A sky race made sense for flying creatures, but I didn’t want it to be that straightforward. I thought about what qualities the wardens might value, and one that jumped out to me was the interconnection of the natural world; while nature can be harsh and unforgiving, nothing within it exists in isolation, and I felt the wardens would be mindful of that. Maybe the true test would be the candidates’ willingness to aid others and accept help in turn. I wondered if it was too trite, too saccharine. But I decided that if I often need the reminder that assistance isn’t cheating or failure, just a part of existence, well… maybe someone else might need that, too.

The storm’s rough out there. Help others fly if you can, and don’t begrudge yourself the need to shelter under someone else’s wing for a while.

The powerful ascendant griffon (art by Damien Mammoliti) and the shocking magnetic gecko (art by Maichol Quinto)

Kyle Tam

Hello everyone! I'm Kyle, a writer from the Philippines, and this is my first time writing for Paizo! For this book, I had the pleasure of introducing everyone to your favorite navigator, Lythea, and writing the thunder snake! I've written my own tabletop RPGs as well as writing for other people’s games, and I've also published my fair share of short stories, all of which you can find at https://whatkylewrites.carrd.co/.

I LOVE mermaids, so it is with absolute joy that I took on the task of bringing Lythea to life! She's basically the kind of character I'd love to play in a campaign of exploration, at one with the land, sea, and sky thanks to adaptive technologies giving her the best of all worlds. The thunder snake concept came to me by looking at electrical cords and adjustable lamps, watching the way coils and wires moved—so you can imagine it like a giant electrical plug!

Thank you so much for supporting Howl of the Wild!!!

Ruvaid Virk

Good day, friends! Ruvaid Virk, sometimes Paizo contributor, here. It's so wild that they keep letting me on these books, but I'm super grateful for it. First, I'd like to say how proud I am to have contributed to this cool book alongside other fantastic authors. Field biology was one of my favorite undergrad classes, and seeing this book come together has brought me an untold amount of joy. Only one thing could make this better for me, and that's if all of you would share your favorite parts of the book. Now, maybe you're wondering, "That's cool, Ruvaid, but what did you work on?"

Surprise, dear reader, for I have seeded a trail to answer that very question—one that can be found by tracing steps back through these sentences of mine.

That's right, it was the griffon section! Well, that, and some of the beast armaments and alchemical items.

I hope you guys enjoy this awesome book. There's a ton of cool things in here that I can't wait to play with for myself.

Should you want to know more about me or my works, you can follow me on the bird site at @Darth_Ruvaider or the sky site @darthruvaider.bsky.social. I've got plenty of exciting announcements to make this year, so stay tuned!

Andrew White (he/him)

Hello! I’m Andrew, Paizo’s digital products lead and contributor to such projects as Book of the Dead, Rage of Elements, and the first volume of an Adventure Path that just so happens to go great with all of the new character options you’ll find in Howl of the Wild! For this book, I had the amazing opportunity to write a bunch of weird new alchemical items, the ethereal wildlife section, six new dinosaurs, and the werecreature archetype. I absolutely loved working on this project, and I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to the designers who not only gave me all these awesome assignments but who also let me put a devil T-Rex that shoots unholy fire beams out of its eyes into their nature book.

You can find me on Twitter and slightly-less-awful-Twitter at @plaguecontrol and @plaguecontrol.bsky.social respectively, and my freelancer portfolio at https://andrewwhite.carrd.co.

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Lastly, to celebrate Baranthet’s long journey to find the wardens of the wild, we leave you with a glimpse of their majesty, just beyond the spoiler text below:

[To gaze upon the wardens of the wild, click here]

The Warden of Caverns and Burrows & the Warden of Forests and Meadows (art by Mirco Paganessi)

The Warden of Oceans and Rivers & the Warden of Peaks and Skies (art by Mirco Paganessi)

That is all, dear readers!

Until another day,

James Case
Senior Designer