Owen K.C. Stephens
Starfinder Design Lead (2017–2019)
Freelance Contributor
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Owen Kirker Clifford Stephens was a game designer at Paizo Inc., Lead Genius of Rogue Genius Games, and Pathfinder Developer for Green Ronin Publishing. He previously worked for Wizards of the Coast, Super Genius Games, White Wolf, and Steve Jackson Games.1
Owen was born in 1970 in Norman, Oklahoma. He was introduced to gaming by his uncle in 1979 (though his uncle now claims no memory of the event) and was instantly hooked. While attending the local high school and the University of Oklahoma, Owen became interested in creating novels and short stories and took every English and writing course he could. He later enrolled in creative writing courses taught by Forgotten Realms novel author Mel Odom.
During the early years of his freelance career, every piece of fiction Owen wrote was rejected, and every gaming article accepted. Taking the path of least resistance, he continued to write articles, many of which were accepted by magazines that went bust before his work could be published. In 1997, he attended a TSR Writer's Workshop, and his first professional work to see the light of day (an article on elven names in issue 250 of Dragon) was published shortly afterwards.
Owen moved with his wife and three cats to the Seattle area in 2000 after accepting a job as a Game Designer at Wizards of the Coast. While there, he worked on numerous Star Wars Roleplaying Game projects and the Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game. Fourteen months later, he returned to Oklahoma and picked up his freelance career. He has written freelance for numerous companies, including Green Ronin, White Wolf and Steve Jackson Games. His major credits include the Advanced Gamemaster's Guide, The Black Company Campaign Setting, numerous EverQuest RPG books, d20 Apocalypse, and d20 Cyberscape.2
In April 2014, Paizo Inc. announced that the company had hired Stephens as a staff developer to helm the quarterly line of 64-page Pathfinder Modules.3 He also hosted the RPG Superstar contest in 2015. In 2017, Stephens transitioned from the Pathfinder team to the Starfinder team, taking the role of Design Lead in July of that year. In 2019, Stephens left the company.
Starfinder credits
Adventure Credits
| Title | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| "Relics of Golarion" | August 2017 | Incident at Absalom Station, 50. |
| "The Cult of the Devourer" | October 2017 | Temple of the Twelve (adventure), 46. |
| "Eox" | December 2017 | Splintered Worlds, 36. |
| "Alien Archives" #3 | December 2017 | Splintered Worlds, 52. |
| "Alien Archives" #4 | February 2018 | The Ruined Clouds, 36. |
| Empire of Bones | June 2018 | Dead Suns #6. Also wrote "Starship: Blackwind Annihilator," "Ships of the Line," and contributed to the Alien Archives for the volume. |
| "Alien Archives" #7 | August 2018 | The Reach of Empire, 54. |
| "Alien Archives" #8 | September 2018 | Escape from the Prison Moon, 54. |
| "Alien Archives" #9 | October 2018 | The Rune Drive Gambit, 54. |
| "Codex of Worlds: Kax" | November 2018 | The Diaspora Strain, 62. |
| "Codex of Worlds: Malfane" | December 2018 | The Penumbra Protocol, 62. |
| "Codex of Worlds: Nodethe" | January 2019 | Heart of Night, 62. |
| "Alien Archives" #13 | February 2019 | Fire Starters, 54. |
| "Alien Archives" #14 | August 2018 | Soldiers of Brass, 54. |
| "Alien Archives" #15 | April 2019 | Sun Divers, 54. |
| "Alien Archives" #17 | Juny 2019 | Solar Strike, 54. |
| "Alien Archives" #18 | July 2019 | Assault on the Crucible, 54. |
| "Alien Archives" #20 | August 2019 | The Last Refuge, 54. |
| Flight of the Sleepers | March 2020 | The Threefold Conspiracy #2. Also wrote "Starship: Steward Banshee FA Frigate" and contributed to the Alien Archives for the volume. |
| "Side Jobs" | December 2020 | Merchants of the Void, 54. |
- See also: Category:Works by Owen K.C. Stephens
Sourcebook Credits
| Title | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Core Rulebook | August 2017 | |
| Alien Archive | Octber 2017 | |
| Pact Worlds | March 2018 | |
| Alien Archive 2 | October 2018 | |
| Beginner Box | April 2019 | |
| Alien Archive 3 | August 2019 | |
| Character Operations Manual | November 2019 | |
| Alien Archive 4 | December 2020 | |
| Interstellar Species | November 2022 |
- See also: Category:Works by Owen K.C. Stephens
Fiction Credits
| Title | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| "Altronus" | July 2017 | Meet the Iconics. Link |
| "Something's Rotten" | March 2020 | Iconic Encounters. Link |
| "Harbinger Awakens" | September 2020 | Tales from the Drift. Link |
- See also: Category:Works by Owen K.C. Stephens