James Jacobs
Encyclopedia
- For the legal scholar and author at New York University School of Law, see James B. JacobsJames B. JacobsJames Barrett Jacobs is the Warren E. Burger Professor of Constitutional Law and the Courts at New York University School of Law, where he has been a faculty member since 1982. He is a specialist in criminal law, criminal procedure and criminal justice....
James Jacobs is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
designer and author of role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s and texts in the fantasy, horror and the occult genres.
Career
Jacobs has been involved in the roleplaying industry since the age of fourteen, when his adventure "Scepter of the Underworld" was published in DungeonDungeon (magazine)
Dungeon Adventures, or simply Dungeon, was a magazine targeting consumers of role-playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons. It was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1986 as a bimonthly periodical. It went monthly in May 2003 and ceased print publication altogether in September 2007 with Issue 150...
in 1988. This adventure was his fist published RPG work, and appeared in Dungeon #12. Jacobs grew up in Point Arena, California
Point Arena, California
Point Arena is a small coastal city in Mendocino County, California, United States. Point Arena is located west of Hopland, at an elevation of 118 feet . The population was 449 at the 2010 census, down from 474 at the 2000 census, making it one of the smallest incorporated cities in the state...
, and went to college at the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
.
He moved to Seattle after graduating from college and worked his way into Wizards of the Coast's sales department. Jacobs has been the developer, lead designer, and sometimes cartographer on projects for Bastion Press, Green Ronin Publishing
Green Ronin Publishing
Green Ronin Publishing is an American company based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Chris Pramas, they have published several role-playing game–related products...
, Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
, and Paizo. Jacobs has authored and co-authored several other products for the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
roleplaying game, including Dungeon Master's Guide II
Dungeon Master's Guide II
The Dungeon Master's Guide II is a book of rules for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons seminal fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:...
, Lords of Madness
Lords of Madness
Lords of Madness is an official supplement for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy roleplaying game.-Contents:It includes new content for aberrations including new aberration monsters and monsters related to them, and information on how to hunt aberrations.-What Is an...
, Frostburn
Frostburn
Frostburn is a supplemental book to the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:Frostburn provides rules for adventuring in a cold environment as well as an environment known as frostfell, which is a sort of arctic environment with extreme cold.The book contains...
, and Red Hand of Doom
Red Hand of Doom
Red Hand of Doom is a 128-page adventure module for the 3.5 edition of Dungeons & Dragons . It is designed to be used as a generic D&D adventure, which can be dropped into any campaign world, including a personal one...
. He also wrote Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss
Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss
Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss is an optional supplemental source book for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.-Chapter 1: Demonic Lore:...
with fellow Paizo editor Erik Mona
Erik Mona
-Career:Erik Mona served as the editor-in-chief of Dragon magazine since 2004 and Dungeon magazine from 2004 to 2006; at the time, both magazines were published by Paizo Publishing, until the license through Wizards of the Coast expired in September 2007...
.
Jacobs has worked as the associate editor, and later the managing editor of Dungeon magazine. In the 2000s, Jacobs served as the editor-in-chief of Dungeon magazine, published by Paizo Publishing
Paizo Publishing
Paizo Publishing is an American publishing company in Redmond, Washington that specializes in game aids and adventures for "the world's oldest fantasy roleplaying game" and its flagship spin-off game and setting, Pathfinder...
. Jacobs described himself as "one of the chief architects" of the Dungeon Adventure Path
Adventure Path
Adventure Paths are serial adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. Though originally applied to the series of Third Edition modules beginning with The Sunless Citadel, the phrase has more recently come to apply nearly exclusively to several lengthy series, each consisting of...
s, in addition to working on all the other adventures published in the magazine. Jacobs became the Editor in Chief for Dungeon magazine in June 2006. Jacobs is the Creative Director for the Pathfinder
Pathfinder (periodical)
Pathfinder products are published by Paizo Publishing and are designed to be supplements to Dungeons & Dragons and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game...
Adventure Path
Adventure Path
Adventure Paths are serial adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. Though originally applied to the series of Third Edition modules beginning with The Sunless Citadel, the phrase has more recently come to apply nearly exclusively to several lengthy series, each consisting of...
s-focused monthly publication from Paizo. He also wrote "Burnt Offerings", the adventure featured in Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords #1.
Among Jacobs' other writings is the "Demonomicon of Iggwilv
Iggwilv
Iggwilv is a fictional wizard from the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. She was created by Gary Gygax and was named one of the greatest villains in D&D history in the final issue of Dragon....
" feature in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
magazine, and he has contributed a number of adventure stories for Dungeon. Jacobs has also created many notable Dungeons & Dragons creatures, with the ulitharid, draknor, and the kaorti
Kaorti
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the kaorti is a type of fictional monster for player characters to encounter.-Publication history:...
among the most prominent.