Paizo Inc. (originally Paizo Publishing.) is an American

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

publishing company Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

based in

Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 census, up from 54,144 in 2010. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. With an an ...

, best known for the

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...

Pathfinder Pathfinder may refer to: Businesses * Pathfinder Energy Services, a division of Smith International * Pathfinder Press, a publisher of socialist literature Computing and information science * Path Finder, a Macintosh file browser * Pathfinder (w ...

''. The company's name is derived from the Greek word ''paizō'', which means 'I play' or 'to play'. Paizo also runs an online retail store selling

s, gaming aids,

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

and other products, and has an

Internet forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

community.

History

Paizo was formed by

Lisa Stevens Lisa Stevens is an American editor, Chief executive officer, CEO and founder of Paizo Publishing, and chief operating officer, COO of Goblinworks. She began her career in games in the 1980s, working with Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein•Hagen to h ...

, Vic Wertz, and Johnny Wilson in 2002 to take over publication of the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

'' magazines ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' and ''

Dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from ...

'', formerly published in-house by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...

. Paizo publisher

Erik Mona Erik Mona (born April 1974) is an American game designer who lives in Seattle, Washington. Career Mona was the Managing Editor of issues 1 and 2 of the '' Oerth Journal'', an online publication devoted to the ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setti ...

is the former editor-in-chief of ''Dragon'', while former editor-in-chief of ''Dungeon'' James Jacobs oversees the ''Pathfinder'' periodicals. The company started producing a bimonthly magazine called ''Undefeated'' in 2003, and in 2004, resurrected the venerable

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

title ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...

''. The two publications were placed on hiatus in 2005, and finally canceled in 2006. In early 2007, Wizards of the Coast announced it would not renew Paizo's license to publish ''Dragon'' and ''Dungeon'', leaving a five year run from September 2002 to September 2007. Paizo's subsequently began the periodical ''

Adventure Path An Adventure Path is a series of interlinked adventures (campaign) for tabletop role-playing games which can be played in succession and lead characters to advance from lower to higher levels, through a particular path of events. While campaign ...

'', which continues the concept featured in ''Dungeon'' of monthly installments of adventures that tell a self-contained story. These Adventure Paths are set in the world of Golarion, the official ''Pathfinder''

campaign setting A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A ''campaign'' is a series of individual adventures, and a ''campaign setting'' is the world in which such adventures and ca ...

. Paizo announced on March 18, 2008, that they would be launching the ''

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game The ''Pathfinder Roleplaying Game'' is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) that was published in 2009 by Paizo Publishing. The first edition extends and modifies the System Reference Document (SRD) based on the revised 3rd edition ''Dungeons & ...

''. Through the new product line, Paizo would modify, update, maintain, and publish the 3.5

System Reference Document In the open gaming movement, a System Reference Document (SRD) is a reference for a role-playing game's mechanics licensed under the Open Game License (OGL) to allow other publishers to make material compatible with that game. History The first ...

(under

Open Gaming License The Open Game License (OGL) is a public copyright license by Wizards of the Coast that may be used by tabletop role-playing game developers to grant permission to modify, copy, and redistribute some of the content designed for their games, nota ...

). The ''Pathfinder Roleplaying Game'' would also support Paizo's ''Pathfinder'' campaign setting. In March 2008, Paizo also announced that it was introducing an organized play program called "Pathfinder Society Organized Play". The program was loosely modeled on the

RPGA The RPGA (also called the Role Playing Game Association and the RPGA Network at various times), was initially part of the organized play arm of TSR, Inc and later of Wizards of the Coast. From 1980 to 2014, it organized and sanctioned role-playing ...

s "Living" campaigns. Additional products in the ''Pathfinder'' line include ''Pathfinder'' modules and ''Pathfinder Tales'' novels. In May 2016, Paizo announced a new space fantasy role-playing game, ''

Starfinder Roleplaying Game The ''Starfinder Roleplaying Game'' is a science-fiction/science fantasy role-playing game published by Paizo Publishing. It is built on Paizo's previous game, the ''Pathfinder Roleplaying Game'', both in its game mechanics and universe, but ad ...

'', released in August 2017. It is set in a possible future of the ''Pathfinder'' setting where Golarion has disappeared. In May 2018, Paizo announced it was working on a second edition of ''Pathfinder'' to refine elements of the rule set to reflect feedback and clarification on the original system over the prior years. The preliminary ruleset was published in August 2018 as ''Pathfinder Playtest'' so that players could test out and provide feedback. The final rule set was released on August 1, 2019. On June 15, 2020, Paizo announced CEO Lisa Stevens was going to step down from daily operations in preparation for her retirement. Other Paizo products include the ''Titanic Games'' line of board games such as ''

Kill Doctor Lucky ''Kill Doctor Lucky'' is a humorous board game designed by James Ernest and released in 1996 by Cheapass Games. In 1998, ''Kill Doctor Lucky'' won the Origins Award for ''Best Abstract Board Game of 1997''. ''Kill Doctor Lucky'' is, in conce ...

'', and the ''Planet Stories'' line of classic fantasy, science fiction and science fantasy novels. President Joe Biden meets with grassroots worker organizers (01)

President Joe Biden meets with grassroots worker organizers (01)

On October 14, 2021, an organization representing over 30 Paizo employees announced the formation of the United Paizo Workers, a

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

allied with the

Communications Workers of America The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors (also in Canada and Puerto Rico). The union has 27 loc ...

. Paizo employees announced plans to unionize as United Paizo Workers under the

Communication Workers of America The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors (also in Canada and Puerto Rico). The union has 27 loc ...

in October 2021, becoming the first such tabletop game company to have such a union. The employees stated that recent issues related to "managerial impropriety" was a driver for the unionization effort. Paizo voluntarily agreed to recognize the union, allowing collective bargaining negotiations between the company and union to commence.

Reception

Paizo Publishing won the 2005 Silver

Ennie Award The ENNIE Awards (previously stylized as ENnie Awards) are awards for role-playing game (RPG) products (including game-related accessories, publications, and art) and their creators. The awards were created in 2001 by Russ Morrissey of EN World ...

for "Best Publisher", and the 2012 Gold

for "Fan’s Favorite Publisher", and again in 2013, and the Silver in 2015, and Gold again in 2016.

References

External links

Paizo Publishing

A brief history of game #2: Paizo Publishing: 2002-present
by Shannon Appelcline {{Authority control 2002 establishments in Washington (state) Companies based in Redmond, Washington Dungeons & Dragons ENnies winners Magazine publishing companies of the United States Online retailers of the United States Pathfinder Publishing companies established in 2002 Role-playing game publishing companies