Under the pen name "Christopher Zarathustra", Perkins got his career start in 1988 writing the adventure "Wards of Witching Ways" for Dungeon magazine #11.[4] He later officially started working for Wizards of the Coast in 1997, beginning as the editor for Dungeon.[5][6][7] A few years later, he was promoted to editor-in-chief of Wizards periodicals.[8]
Perkins later became the senior producer for Dungeons & Dragons, leading the team of designers, developers, and editors who make products for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.[5][7] Perkins was the story manager for Dungeons & Dragons in 2007 before the release of the game's fourth edition.[9] Perkins was working on the Star Wars Saga Edition while Dungeons & Dragons fourth edition was being developed, and ideas were exchanged freely between Perkins and the fourth edition team.[10] He was also on the SCRAMJET team, led by Richard Baker, and including James Wyatt, Matthew Sernett, Ed Stark, Michele Carter, and Stacy Longstreet; this team updated the setting and cosmology of Dungeons & Dragons as the fourth edition was being developed.[10]
Perkins wrote a blog, "The Dungeon Master Experience", on the Wizards of the Coast website for over two years, where he shared tricks and advice about the challenge of "dungeon mastering" a campaign through the lens of his homebrew world, Iomandra.[11] However, in the penultimate posting of March 2013, he announced the following posting would be the last "at least for a while", whereupon the blog became inactive.[12]
Perkins was the Lead Story Designer for the adventure module Curse of Strahd, released in 2016, which added Ravenloft to the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons.[13][14] In 2018, Perkins was the senior story designer for Dungeons & Dragons.[15] In a 2024 interview, he highlighted that as the Game Architect for the Dungeons & Dragons brand his "primary responsibility is to manage the team of designers and editors" who make the tabletop game products along with supporting "other D&D teams as well as business partners".[16] In October 2024, Perkins stated that "although I made substantial contributions to the Monster Manual (2025) and the next D&D starter set, the Dungeon Master's Guide (2024) is the last official D&D book in which I'm credited as a product lead".[17] He later clarified that his position at Wizards of the Coast has shifted from Game Design Architect to Creative Director.[3]
Perkins was the longtime Dungeon Master for the Acquisitions Incorporated Dungeons & Dragons games at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), until PAX Unplugged 2018.[18][19][20] The games began in 2008 with the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons before switching to the 5th edition following the release of the new edition.[21]
^"Article Archive". Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
^Perkins, Chris (2013-03-14). "Until the Next Encounter". Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-22.