James Wyatt | |
|---|---|
 Wyatt atGen Con on August 18, 2007 | |
| Born | c. 1968 |
| Occupation | Game designer, United Methodist minister, Episcopal Priest |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Oberlin College Master of Divinity |
| Genre | Role-playing games |
James Wyatt (bornc. 1968[1]) is agame designer and formerUnited Methodistminister. He works forWizards of the Coast, where he has designed supplements and adventures for theDungeons & Dragons (D&D)roleplaying game. He is the author of sci-fi and fantasy novels, includingForgotten Realms books, and the4th editionDungeon Master's Guide.
Wyatt grew up inIthaca, New York where he attendedIthaca High School, graduating in 1986.[1] He had been playingrole-playing games since the late 1970s, beginning with the firstBasic D&D set: "I remember pretending to be a wizard in my backyard before I picked up the basic set... I used the monster statistics in the D&D books to give us wizards something to fight in our primitive backyard live-action roleplaying game."[2] After high-school he attendedOberlin in Ohio as a religion major and graduated in 1990.[1][2] He went on to receive aMaster of Divinity fromUnion Theological Seminary in New York City, in 1993.[1][2] He was married soon after.[1] In 1994, Wyatt began his working career as the minister of two small United Methodist churches in southeasternOhio.[1][2]
While working as a minister Wyatt began writing in his spare time forDragon magazine, starting with material forTSR'sMasque of the Red Death setting. By 1996, Wyatt decided to change his career path: "While I was in the ministry, I started submitting adventures toDungeon magazine... I found that my D&D work was a source of freedom and energy when ministry was more life-draining for me. When I started getting adventures and articles accepted, it was so exciting that it became clear that D&D would never again be just a hobby for me."[2] The same year he moved toWisconsin in hopes of getting a full-time job at TSR, which did not immediately work out, but he kept writing material as a freelance author.[2] Wyatt produced work for roleplaying games such asWest End'sHercules & Xena Roleplaying Game, although he felt that "D&D has always been my one true love in the gaming world... despite junior high flings with other game systems."[2] He continued to have material published inDragon andDungeon.
In 1998 he moved to Berkeley, California, and in 2000 to the Seattle/Tacoma area of Washington state.[1]Wizards of the Coast ultimately hired him in January 2000 to work on theD&D game full-time; his first assignment wasMonstrous Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn, of which he wrote two-thirds.[2] His other early works for Wizards of the Coast includedThe Speaker in Dreams (a core adventure on the originalAdventure Path, followingThe Sunless Citadel andThe Forge of Fury),Defenders of the Faith, the monsters chapter in theForgotten Realms Campaign Setting, and numerous articles inDragon andDungeon.[2] Wyatt wroteOriental Adventures (2001), a setting book that had been in the works with Wizards for more than a year, and which presented new rules for Oriental lands, including specific rules for theRokugan setting.[3]: 265 He wroteCity of the Spider Queen and co-authored numerous roleplaying game products, includingMagic of Incarnum,Sharn: City of Towers,Draconomicon, The Book of Dragons, andBook of Exalted Deeds.[4]Eberron was introduced with theEberron Campaign Setting (2004), which was designed byKeith Baker with Wyatt andBill Slavicsek.[3]: 294 Early in 2005, Slavicsek put together a team to start some early designs for a fourth edition ofD&D, which was headed byRob Heinsoo withCollins and Wyatt as the core fourth-edition team.[3]: 297 Wyatt was on the SCRAMJET team, led byRichard Baker, along withMatt Sernett,Ed Stark,Michele Carter,Stacy Longstreet, andChris Perkins; this team updated the setting and cosmology ofD&D as the fourth edition was being developed.[3]: 298
He wrote theD&D novelsIn the Claws of the Tiger (2006),Storm Dragon (2007),Dragon Forge (2008),Dragon War (2009), andOath of Vigilance (2011).
In 2014, Wyatt leftDungeons & Dragons to work on the writing and creative aspects ofMagic: The Gathering. Wyatt wrote the text for the series ofArt of Magic: The Gathering coffee table books, which reprint illustrations from the cards with details for each plane's lore. He then wrote a series of free PDF releases calledPlane Shift which adaptsMagic: The Gathering forDungeons & Dragons; thePlane Shift releases were created to allow players to use those coffee table books as campaign setting guides by providing the necessary rule adaptations.[5] Between 2016 and 2018, six "Plane Shift" articles were released:Amonkhet,Dominaria,Innistrad,Ixalan,Kaladesh, andZendikar, along with an Ixalan-set adventure.[5][6][7] However, these articles are not considered official material for organized play.[8] In 2017,Mike Mearls wrote: "It's basically a thing James does for fun, and we don't want to burden it with needing all the work required to make it official".[9]
The positive response to the "Plane Shift" articles lead to the 2018 publication ofGuildmasters' Guide to Ravnica, a full hardcover setting guide to theMagic setting ofRavnica forDungeons & Dragons.[10][11] Wyatt was the lead designer onGuildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica (2018)[12] and he stated "this book is, essentially, Plane Shift: Ravnica".[13] Wyatt andF. Wesley Schneider were then co-leads on the design on the next crossover bookMythic Odysseys of Theros (2020) which adapts theMagic setting ofTheros.[14] He is also one of the authors of the sourcebookVan Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (2021).[15]
Wyatt is also aPriest in theEpiscopal Church as of June 14, 2025 and serves as Vicar of Faith Episcopal Poulsbo.[16]
Wyatt receivedOrigins Awards in 2003 forCity of the Spider Queen and in 2005 for theEberron Campaign Setting, which he co-authored withBill Slavicsek andKeith Baker. His other notable works includeOriental Adventures (for which he won an ENnie Award in 2002),Draconomicon, theDraconic Prophecies series, andMagic of Incarnum.
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