James Haeck Joins Wizards of the Coast as Senior D&D Designer

James Haeck, one of the co-writers of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, has joined Wizards of the Coast as a senior D&D designer. Haeck announced the news on Eldritch Lorecast, a podcast hosted by Ghostfire Gaming. Haeck is a prolific D&D designer, having worked as a freelancer on multiple Wizards of the Coast titles. They were involved with several Critical Role projects, including acting as the lead designer of Call of the Netherdeep and co-writer for Explorer's Guide to Wildemount. Haeck also worked as the lead writer for D&D Beyond for several years, working on various editorial projects that appeared on the front page before the site was purchased by Wizards of the Coast.

Haeck joins a roster of recent promotions and hires at Wizards of the Coast, which includes Justice Ramin Arman who is now game design director for the D&D studio. Other notable names at Wizards include F. Wesley Schneider, Makenzie De Armas, James Wyatt, and Amanda Hamon.

 

[Lalato]

You can add:

• Leon Barillaro, game deaigner
• Patrick Renie, Senior Game Designer
• Carl Sibley, Game Designer
• Jason Tondro, Senior Game Designer
• Josh Herman, Head of Worldbuilding (was Art Director for new Core books, looks to have been promoted to Chris Perkins role)

Added them to the list.

 

[kronovan]

While I'm not a fan of the previous WotC 5e publications Haeck co-authored, I own everything he did for Kobold Press and am impressed with all of it. I included a number of his Eldritch Lairs adventures in a campaign I ran years ago, and those players still talk about his Carrion Shrine of Qorgeth and Crypt of Green Shadows. I've even started to adapt a few of his Eldritch Lairs to 13th Age. The Creature Codex he had a hand in creating is IMO one of the best 5e bestiaries.

I've moved on from 5e with KP's Tales of the Valiant, so this announcement is a bit of a disappointment as Haeck no doubt won't be writing for KP's ToV.

 

[bedir than]

I've moved on from 5e with KP's Tales of the Valiant, so this announcement is a bit of a disappointment as Haeck no doubt won't be writing for KP's ToV.

The good news is 2024 and ToV interact simply. You can use what you like

 

[Morrus]

I've moved on from 5e with KP's Tales of the Valiant,

You have not moved on from 5E. You have moved on from D&D, WotC's version of 5E.

so this announcement is a bit of a disappointment as Haeck no doubt won't be writing for KP's ToV.

If he's writing for any version of 5E he's writing for all of them. Don't worry, you will still be able to use his content no matter whether you're playing D&D, Level Up, or ToV. It's all the same core game!