James Wyatt is a game designer and a former United Methodist minister. He works for Wizards of the Coast, where he has designed several award-winning supplements and adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.
Wyatt received Origins Awards in 2003 for City of the Spider Queen (2002) and in 2005 for the Eberron Campaign Setting (2004), which he co-authored with Bill Slavicsek and Keith Baker. His other notable third edition works include Oriental Adventures (3e) (2001) (for which he won an ENnie Award in 2002), Draconomicon (3e) (2003), and Magic of Incarnum (2005).
He was a lead designer on Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition and one of several writers on the Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition core rulebooks.
Life and career[]
Early life[]
Wyatt grew up in Ithaca, New York. He first got into Dungeons & Dragons with the Basic Set (Holmes) (1977).[1]
He graduated from Oberlin College in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion, and received a M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary in 1993. He served as the pastor of two small churches in southeastern Ohio from 1994 to 1996.
Early D&D work[]
During his work in the ministry, he began writing for Dragon and Dungeon magazines. His earliest article was Mystics, Miracles, & Meditations, Dragon #236 (Dec 1996), p.26. He would go on to write an enormous number of articles for both magazines, including articles and adventure modules for AD&D 2nd edition, Alternity, and later D&D 3rd and 4th edition.
After leaving ministry, he lived in Wisconsin and California. Prior to working as a game designer, he worked as a childcare worker, an ordained minister, a technical writer, and a web designer.[2]
Wyatt moved to Wisconsin hoping to get a job at TSR, but TSR's closure in 1997 prevented this. He took freelance work on West End's "Hercules and Xena" roleplaying game.[1]
Wizards of the Coast[]
In January 2000, Wyatt took a job at Wizards of the Coast.[2] His first job was writing two thirds of Monsters of Faerûn (2001).[1]
During the D&D 3rd edition era (2000-2007), he wrote 17 articles for Dragon Magazine and six for Dungeon Magazine. He also wrote or contributed additional design to several sourcebooks. He most notably worked on several works of a religious topic, such as Defenders of the Faith (2001) and Deities and Demigods (3e) (2002).
From May-September 2006, Wyatt was part of Scramjet, one of the teams developing Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition. He would go on to appear as one of three names credited on the cover of the Player's Handbook (4e) (2008) and Monster Manual (4e) (2008), and sole cover credit on the Dungeon Master's Guide (4e) (2008). He worked on numerous 4th edition sourcebooks and several articles for Dungeon Magazine.
Wyatt subsequently worked on D&D 5th edition (2014). Following a downsizing of the D&D team, he left the D&D group circa 2015 to work on the Magic: The Gathering trading card game. He returned to the D&D team in 2020, working on the D&D 5th edition 2024 revision.[3]
Bibliography[]
D&D books[]
D&D 3rd edition[]
Wyatt is credited as a designer, author, or developer on the D&D 3.0 sourcebooks Monsters of Faerûn (2001), Defenders of the Faith (2001), Oriental Adventures (3e) (2001), The Speaker in Dreams (2001), City of the Spider Queen (2002), Deities and Demigods (3e) (2002), Arms and Equipment Guide (3e) (2003); and the D&D 3.5 books Five Nations (2005), Heroes of Horror (2005), Magic of Incarnum (2005), Races of Eberron (2005), Player's Guide to Eberron (2006).
He is credited with additional design or development on the Player's Handbook (3.0) (2000), Dungeon Master's Guide (3.0) (2000), Monster Manual (3.0) (2000), Into the Dragon's Lair (2000), Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (3e) (2001), Magic of Faerûn (2001), Sword and Fist (2001), Epic Level Handbook (2002), Manual of the Planes (3e) (2001), Races of the Wild (2005), and Lost Empires of Faerûn (2005).
D&D 4th edition[]
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D&D 4th edition[]
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D&D articles[]
AD&D 2nd edition[]
- Mystics, Miracles, & Meditations, Dragon #236 (Dec 1996), p.26
- Mysterious Cities, Dragon #240 (Oct 1997), p.28
- Bazaar of the Bizarre: Miracles of Flight, Dragon #244 (Feb 1998), p.76
- Seeds of Evil, Dragon #249 (Jul 1998), p.26
- Heroes of the Sea, Dragon #250 (Aug 1998), p.26
- With a Twist, Dragon #253 (Nov 1998), p.54
- Arcane Lore: Haunting Melodies, Dragon #256 (Feb 1999), p.84
- Half-Pint Heroes, Dragon #262 (Aug 1999), p.28
- Heaven's Trump, Dragon #263 (Sep 1999), p.54
- Van Richten's Legacy: The Cult of Simon Audaire, Dragon #264 (Oct 1999), p.52
- Feathered Friends and Foes, Dragon #266 (Dec 1999), p.34
- Alternate Underdarks, Dragon #267 (Jan 2000), p.20
- Animal Henchmen, Dragon #269 (Mar 2000), p.26
- When Worlds Collide, Dragon #270 (Apr 2000), p.46
- The Hidden Faces of Evil, Dragon #270 (Apr 2000), p.50
- Dragon's Bestiary: Diminutive Dragons, Dragon #272 (Jun 2000), p.78
- Falls Run, Dungeon #67 (Mar/Apr 1998)
- The Sunken Shadow, Dungeon #66 (Jan/Feb 1998)
- The Door to Darkness, Dungeon #81 (Jul/Aug 2000)
- The Maze of Morkoth, Dungeon #70 (Sep/Oct 1998)
- Dragon Annual 2, Arcane Lore: Fantastic Phantasms (1997), p.10
- Dragon Annual 2, Villains of Gothic Earth (1997), p.112
Alternity[]
- From Dungeons To Drivespace, Dragon #262 (Aug 1999), p.92
- No One Can Hear You Scream, Dragon #258 (Apr 1999), p.78
- Top Secret, Dragon #271 (May 2000), p.94
- Deepstrike, Dungeon #78 (Jan/Feb 2000)
D&D 3rd edition[]
- Unusual Suspects, Dragon #275 (Sep 2000), p.32
- Vs. Zombies, Dragon #276 (Oct 2000), p.82
- Unusual Suspects, Dragon #277 (Nov 2000), p.62
- Class Combos 2: Dwarves, Dragon #278 (Dec 2000), p.72
- Unusual Suspects 3: Monks & Druids, Dragon #279 (Jan 2001), p.62
- Vs. Fiends, Dragon #279 (Jan 2001), p.78
- Vs. Sorcerers, Dragon #280 (Feb 2001), p.82
- Champions of Virtue, Dragon #283 (May 2001), p.40
- Playing the Priestly Part, Dragon #283 (May 2001), p.48
- Class Combos: Oriental Adventures Class Combinations, Dragon #289 (Nov 2001), p.80
- Hellish Fangs on Abyssal Wings, Dragon #300 (Oct 2002), p.28
- Monstrous Magic, Dragon #304 (Feb 2003), p.30
- Incursion: A World Under Siege, Dragon #309 (Jul 2003), p.70
- Ancestor Feats and Martial Arts Styles, Dragon #315 (Jan 2004), p.60
- The Light In the Darkness, Dragon #315 (Jan 2004), p.100
- Update: Oriental Adventures: Eastern Flavor, Dragon #318 (Apr 2004), p.32
- Designing Eberron, Dragon #325 (Nov 2004), p.106
- The Storm Lord's Keep, Dungeon #93 (Jul/Aug 2002)
- Knights of the Lich-Queen, Dungeon #100 (Jul 2003)
- The Queen with Burning Eyes, Dungeon #113 (Aug 2004)
- Crypt of Crimson Stars, Dungeon #123 (Jun 2005)
- Temple of The Scorpion God, Dungeon #124 (Jul 2005)
- Pit of the Fire Lord, Dungeon #125 (Aug 2005)
- It's Never Too Early, Dungeon #151 (Oct 2007)
- The Dungeons of Greenbrier Chasm / The Campaign Arc, Dungeon #153 (Jan/Feb 2008)
- Dragon Annual 2000, Class Combos (2000), p.90
D&D 4th edition[]
- Get This Party Started, Dungeon #155 (Jun 2008)
- Information Management, Part 1, Dungeon #156 (Jul 2008)
- Information Management, Part 2, Dungeon #157 (Aug 2008)
- The Idea File, Dungeon #158 (Sep 2008)
- Story and Prophecy, Dungeon #159 (Oct 2008)
- The Villains of Greenbrier, Dungeon #160 (Nov 2008)
- Creative Pillaging, Dungeon #161 (Dec 2008)
- Contact with the Enemy, Dungeon #162 (Jan 2009)
- To the Library!, Dungeon #163 (Feb 2009)
- Updating the Campaign, Dungeon #164 (Mar 2009)
- Backgrounds, Dungeon #165 (Apr 2009)
- Choosing Monsters, Dungeon #166 (May 2009)
- Super Adventure! (Part 1), Dungeon #167 (Jun 2009)
- Super Adventure! (Part 2), Dungeon #168 (Jul 2009)
- Building-Block Adventure Design, Dungeon #169 (Aug 2009)
- The Blasphemer, Dungeon #169 (Aug 2009)
- Tiers of Play, Dungeon #170 (Sep 2009)
- The D&D World, Dungeon #171 (Oct 2009)
- Guardians of the Labyrinth, Dungeon #172 (Nov 2009)
- Quests, Dungeon #172 (Nov 2009)
- Dungeon Dressing, Dungeon #173 (Dec 2009)
- Looking Back, Dungeon #174 (Jan 2010)
- In With the Old, Dungeon #175 (Feb 2010)
- Let's Call the Whole Thing Off, Dungeon #176 (Mar 2010)
- Starting Fresh, Dungeon #177 (Apr 2010)
- Building the Sandbox, Dungeon #178 (May 2010)
- Quest Log, Dungeon #179 (Jun 2010)
- Published Adventures, Dungeon #180 (Jul 2010)
- Theme, Plot, and World, Dungeon #181 (Aug 2010)
- What More Can I Say?, Dungeon #182 (Sep 2010)
- Maze of Shattered Souls, Dungeon #177 (Apr 2010)
Novels[]
He wrote the short story Call of the Silver Flame in The Tales of the Last War.
Other works[]
Wyatt authored Tribe 8 product Horrors of the Z'bri, is credited in design for the d20 Modern sourcebook d20 Past, and additional contributions on the Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide.
Reception and influence[]
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External links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Profiles: James Wyatt, Dragon #281 (Mar 2001), p.12-14.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Defenders of the Faith, Web enhancement (2001).
- ↑ Why Mearls Left D&D Ep- 39. Reading D&D Aloud, YouTube. 2025-02-02.