Meet the Tian Xia Authors… Again!

Hi, everyone!
It’s hard to believe that the Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide releases tomorrow! This book brings Asian-inspired fantasy and folklore—from the ancient to the modern—to your table in a torrent of character options. The book contains six new playable ancestries, tons of new heritages, pages of archetypes and feats, and more to build whatever kind of Tian character captures your imagination, whether that’s a peachchild leshy that fights with a magical lightning familiar, a tanuki in high-tech armor wielding a frost fair glaive, or a yaksha cultivator who follows the heretical path of the bitter scholar.

When we started the Tian Xia project back in 2022, we knew we couldn’t do it alone—only by pooling the passion, knowledge, and shared experiences of our stellar cast of writers and designers could we bring the (now gold ENNIE award winning!) Tian Xia World Guide to vibrant life or dream up the spooks and frights of the Season of Ghosts Adventure Path. You might have heard from some of our authors back in April with the release of the World Guide, but we wanted to give everyone a chance to talk about their inspirations in the Character Guide as well. Hear from some of them below!

From all of us, thank you for supporting Tian Xia! This vast continent is yours to explore, and we can’t wait to hear what sort of stories you tell!

James Case
Lead Developer, Rules and Lore

Eleanor Ferron
Senior Developer

Ianara Natividad
Senior Editor

Eren Ahn (they/them, primarily)

안녕하세요! It's Eren again. I'm absolutely thrilled to have written the new dokkaebi goblin heritage! It's been a complete joy to turn the goblin creatures of my childhood into something I hope you will delight in. If you ever come across a pot randomly at the side of the road, make sure to leave a little treat for the dokkaebi napping inside!

As always, you can find me chatting about my writing on Bluesky and everything else on Twitter. Hope to see y'all around!

Jeremy Blum (he/him)

I worked on both the Tian Xia World and Character Guides, and it was a joy to contribute to both. For the World Guide, I took Amanandar into a new era and turned it into Linvarre, and I also wrote bios for the Avistani gods worshipped in Tian Xia, as well as new info on our favorite estranged tengu lovers, Hei Feng and Lady Jingxi. For the Character Guide, I wrote Tian innovation feats for the inventor class. Can you spot all the references I stuffed in there? There's Double Dragon, Dragonball, G Gundam, Street Fighter, the '70s Japanese Spider-Man TV show (EMISSARY FROM HELL!), Megaman, and Voltron!

When I'm not working on Paizo books, I'm a co-designer on Mappa Mundi: An Exploration + Ecology RPG for Three Sails Studios. It's a TTRPG about exploring the wild and observing the behaviors of monsters like a naturalist, and it takes place in a fantastical world vaguely inspired by Eurasia. If you like Tian Xia, please check us out, since I've just finished writing up the lore for our Chinese-inspired region of Zoumung! For more news on my current projects, check me out on Twitter and Bluesky!

A yaksha in their howling aspect (art by Alexander Nanitchkov) and a tanuki getting carried away (art by Sammy Khalid).

Alyx Bui (they/them)

I am so ecstatic to have worked on the Samsaran ancestry with Kienna Shaw! We both wanted to create a world that thrived on cooperation, even in the frigid lands of their homeland Zi Ha. It's a brilliant ancestry that incorporates some fundamental aspects of Buddhism—samsara, reincarnation, impermanence, karma, and enlightenment—and while adapted to a fantasy setting, we tried to ensure that we drew authentically from this way of life. Their power comes from the beginningless cycle of rebirth and attainment of knowledge as a result. It is truly humbling to have been able to incorporate a way of life and teachings that has so greatly influenced my own.

Rick Chia (any!)

Hey, that’s me! I had the pleasure of writing the handful of critters and blorbos in the companions and familiars section. I myself am taught in the soul-sucking ways of media production, in many mediums, forms, and (hopefully more) projects.

If you want me to write little critters and blorbos for your project :D, you can find me here.

A tropical kijimuna gnome (art by Guilherme Nery) and the imperial dragon’s aide, a heavenscribe kobold (art by Guilherme Nery).

Hiromi Cota (they/them)

Haitai! Wannee Hiromi yaibiin! I’m Hiromi, and my main contribution to the Tian Xia Character Guide was the tsukumogami poppet heritage. For those unfamiliar, tsukumogami are tools and other household objects that have gained a spirit through use and/or age. They’re one of my favorite creatures in Japanese folklore. As a playable heritage, tsukumogami have characteristics that reflect their original utility, as well as feats to customize their abilities. As living objects, they're cute and a little spooky.

My favorite part of the section is a feat called Minuscule Mentee, which allows your tsukumogami character to have their own poppet familiar, which they will presumably mentor and look after. It’s a lovely way to expand the tsukumogami community and gain a little buddy to help your character in their travels. I look forward to seeing players try this out and potentially create all-tsukumogami parties!

I had loads of fun working on Tian Xia, and I still have more fun Pathfinder things coming! Once I can talk about them, you’ll see details on my Bluesky account @hiromicota or my website.

Sen H.H.S.

Hi all, it's Sen H.H.S. A belated thank-you to those who voted for the Tian Xia World Guide for the ENNIE awards this year. I hope you enjoy the Character Guide.

Daniel Kwan

Hello! My name's Daniel! I'm the co-host of the Asians Represent Podcast and a freelance game designer and cultural consultant with over 40 game credits! The Tian Xia World Guide was my second Paizo contribution and certainly the one I'm most excited about. I had a blast bringing my love of Asian weaponry into the Character Guide. It is such an honor to be part of such a diverse team of Asian creatives who have worked so hard to bring life to Tian Xia! Fun fact, some of my fellow freelancers and I started a home game to test out many of our contributions during the development period!

Twitter: @danielhkwan Website: https://danielhkwan.carrd.co/

Jessie "Aki" Lo (she/her)

I'm a freelance writer, artist, GM, producer, editor, and TTRPG performer who just can't say no. I had the absolute pleasure of writing the backgrounds in the Character Guide and the nue in the World Guide. Tian Xia holds such a special place in my heart and I'm so glad to finally share that. A fun little fact, two of the backgrounds are based on my late grandmothers!

If you want to see more of my work in Pathfinder Second Edition, you should check out my Actual Play podcasts. Goblets and Gaysis an all-Queer, Second Edition remastered homebrew adventure, and An Unwavering Force is a Pathfinder Second Edition Star Wars actual play. You can also find me on Twitter/X doing various, questionable things.

A half-moon sarangay (art by Arthur Oliveira) and a fan dancer (art by Vira Linevych).

Adam Ma

I can't believe this is finally coming to life! Tian Xia has been a wonderful opportunity for me to engage in everything I love about fantasy. I'm thrilled to play a small role in bringing this setting to life.

If you enjoy my work on ysoki and Wanshou, you'll probably enjoy all the other TTRPG content I work on. Fans of adventure, horror, comics, and Gundam can find me on Bsky (here) and Twitter (here) as 34thGingerbread or you can visit my website: https://www.adam34th.com/

Collette Quach

Hi! I'm Collette Quach and I'm a Chinese-Cambodian designer and writer. The Tian Xia Character Guide is my first Paizo publication but you might have seen my writing in Tian Xia Days: Study Hall where I explored the Indraracha Institute of Tang Mai. I wrote and designed the hungerseed ancestry and the text about the jorogumo. I had a blast researching the mythology of our world and incorporating it into Tian Xia. I wanted to showcase the things that make us love them but also add a level of complexity that makes interacting with them much more engaging at your tables. I hope you all enjoy my little spider friends and shooting beams of energy out of your third eye!

My Twitter is @collettequach and my website is collettequach.wixsite.com/home.

A makari lizardfolk (art by Guilherme Nery) and an inventor riding her puppet (art by Mylene Bertrand).

Shahreena Shahrani (she/her)

Marhaba, hello, everyone! I’m Shahreena, a Malaysian-American gamer, freelance writer, cultural consultant, and educator. I have previously worked on a number of Pathfinder (and Starfinder) books such as Rage of Elements, Lost Omens Gods & Magic, and Absalom, City of Lost Omens. For the Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide, I had fun contributing lore inspired by the folktales I had grown up with.

In my non-gaming related life, I am an educator actively promoting diverse voices and experiences. I deliver lectures/presentations on regional and cultural studies of the Middle East and North Africa. I also bring together artists, writers, scholars, and experts to present on topics relating to Kurdish Studies in an online Speaker Series (https://www.youtube.com/@ZahraInstitute).

If you’re looking for a Middle East and North Africa specialist for your next project, you can reach me via email (shahreena_s [at] yahoo [dot] com). You can also find my retelling of world folk tales on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@storytimewithauntienina5783).

Kienna Shaw (she/they)

Hi there! I’m Kienna, and I had the pleasure of reimagining the samsaran ancestry alongside Alyx Bui. As a worldbuilding nerd, it was an exciting creative challenge to expand the lore of this beloved ancestry, ground it within the new version of Tian Xia, and bring it up to date with the play philosophy of Pathfinder Second Edition. I wanted to delve into what “enlightenment” means for the samsarans, making it a concrete goal that can be achieved through many different paths. Whether your samsaran aims to fully understand the world through studying a niche subject, mastering a skill, or exploring the wondrous dangers of the continent, I hope you’ll find the ancestry’s story and roleplay opportunities as rich and rewarding as I did.

Writing the samsarans for the Tian Xia Character Guide along with the gods Yaezhing and Jin Li in the Tian Xia World Guide was a fantastic experience from start to finish. You can find me and my other TTRPG work on Twitter as @KiennaS, Bluesky as kiennas.bsky.social, or on my website https://kiennas.com/.

Tan Shao Han

I'm happy the Tian Xia Character Guide will reach you soon! Working on Tian Xia for Pathfinder Second Edition has been the highlight of my freelance career so far!

My Character Guide contributions include designing the yaksha ancestry, lore and consulting for the wayang ancestry, and hybrid studies and an archetype inspired by wuxia and xianxia.

As a SEAsian Buddhist, yaksha stories have interested me since youth, alongside tales of nagas (whose lore I also got to consult for in Pathfinder Monster Core). These yakshas I've created are inspired by different stories, filtered through my own perspective as a devotee. While you won't find the yakshas in Tian Xia as analogous of any one yaksha tradition, my hope is that our work will be true to the ethos and themes of these spirits.

I am also happy to create new lore for the wayangs. I tried to recenter SEAsian perspectives by integrating integrated elements of Javanese mysticism (kejawèn) as well as themes of SEA's history of anti-colonial struggle. One day, we shall all be free! Well, in closing, it is my hope to inspire you to find out more about SEA's history and culture through our games. Thank you!

A yaoguai born from a wild animal (art by Sammy Khalid) and the transforming magical starlit sentinel (art by Vira Linevych).

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Dive into the history and culture of Tian Xia with the gold ENNIE award winning Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia World Guide! Then, get ready to build Tian characters when Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide drops tomorrow! Looking for adventure in Tian Xia? Investigate the horrors plaguing Willowshore in Season of Ghosts or compete for glory in the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix!