- John Wick
John Wick is a 20th and 21st century
role-playing game designer best known for his creative contributions to theAlderac Entertainment Group propertiesLegend of the Five Rings and7th Sea . He self-publishedOrkworld under the Wicked Press banner, and later co-founded theWicked Dead Brewing Company withJared Sorensen . His games under that company include Cat, Schauermärchen, Enemy Gods, and Thirty. He has won theOrigins Award for Best Role-Playing Game and Best Collectible Card Game twice (for both theLegend of the Five Rings and7th Sea role-playing games andcollectible card games ).He has also written for
White Wolf, Inc. ,Pinnacle Entertainment Group , and worked for various video game companies, providing storyline and dialogue. He has written two regular on-line columns: The Game Designer's Journal [http://gamingoutpost.com/author/john-wick/] (forThe Gaming Outpost ) and Play Dirty (forPyramid Magazine ).Legend of the Five Rings
In 1995, John was a freelance writer living in Southern California. He had submitted articles to
Shadis Magazine ,Alderac Entertainment Group 's independent game magazine, attracting the attention of the magazine's assistant editor, D.J. Trindle. He was brought on as a staff writer at D.J.'s request. Soon thereafter, he got involved with the production and design of theLegend of the Five Rings Collectible Card Game . He worked withMatthew D. Wilson , the game's art director andDavid Williams , the game's lead designer. He served as "Continuity Editor", which meant that he was responsible for the game's characters and plot details.John served as L5R's Continuity Editor for the Emerald Edition, Obsidian Edition, and Jade Edition sets, including the Shadowlands, Forbidden Knowledge, Anvil of Despair, Crimson & Jade, and Time of the Void expansions. He was also the primary source for storyline, flavor text and character for The Scorpion Coup set.
John left the L5R design team shortly thereafter to work on AEG's forthcoming
7th Sea project.7th Sea
7th Sea is the name ofAlderac Entertainment Group 's swashbuckling setting. Initially proposed by John and his wife Jennifer, the game was intended to be self-contained, but quickly evolved into a much larger project. Telling the story of the world ofTheah , a fantasy amalgam ofRestoration Age Europe,7th Sea included pirates, musketeers, explorers and magic.John wrote and developed much of the project, including the
7th Sea Players Guide, Game Masters Guide,Avalon Sourcebook, GM Screen, andKnights of the Rose and Cross sourcebook. He leftAEG after his work on theAvalon Sourcebook was finished.Orkworld
After leaving
AEG , John acquired a position atTotally Games , helping develop anXbox launch title. He also wrote, designed and developedOrkworld , a reverse-fantasy game where orks are the heroes and the "monsters" are humans, dwarves, and elves. The game was released the same year asDungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition and garnered an Origins Award nomination for Best Game Fiction.The game was illustrated by
Thomas Denmark .Neopets
After spending time in San Francisco, John returned to Los Angeles and began working at
Neopets , writing stories for theNeopedia . He also helped develop the Neopets CCG.Upper Deck
John was also a major contributor to the award winning Vs. System CCG (Marvel TCG and DC Comics TCG) published by The Upper Deck Company.
The Wicked Dead Brewing Company
In 2004, John began a new publishing venture with his long-time (and long-distance) friend Jared Sorensen. Calling their joint venture the
Wicked Dead Brewing Company (based on John's previous publishing ventureWicked Press and Jared'sMemento Mori Theatricks ), they have published over a dozen roleplaying games, board games, and books. Most recently, John has self-published a novel titledNo Loyal Knight through theWicked Dead Brewing Company .Houses of the Blooded
In 2007, John announced a return to "big game design" in his LiveJournal. The game, called
Houses of the Blooded , has been announced for release at the 2008Origins Game Fair . The game apparently focuses on "the ven" (a race of magically created humanoids) and the world of Shanri (both of which have showed up in a previous game, "Enemy Gods").The pre-order for the limited edition version of
Houses of the Blooded sold out in exactly one week. There were 100 copies available on theIndie Press Revolution website on May 5th, 2008 and they were all gone by May 12th. John was apparently surprised by this turn of events. [http://wickedthought.livejournal.com/tag/houses+of+the+blooded]John also intends to release a soundtrack with the new game, focusing on "ven blood opera," an in-game element. Songs from the opera can be heard on his website.
John is keeping an open log of his design of this game in his LiveJournal. [http://wickedthought.livejournal.com/tag/houses+of+the+blooded] .
Freemasonry
In November 2005, John became a Freemason, joining Liberal Arts Lodge of Culver City, California.
The Awful Lot
John was a founding member and the drummer for the band
The Awful Lot .Awards
Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game (Author and Lead Designer)
1997 Origins Award Best Roleplaying Game
1997 RPGA Gamer's Choice Award Best Roleplaying Game
Legend of the Five Rings Collectible Card Game (Design Team and Story Editor)
1996 Origins Award Best Collectible Card Game (Battle at Beiden Pass)
1997 Origins Award Best Collectible Card Game Expansion (Time of the Void)
7th Sea Roleplaying Game (Creator, Co-Author, Lead Designer)
1999 Origins Award Best Roleplaying Game
7th Sea Collectible Card Game (Co-Creator, Design Team, Story Editor)
1999 Origins Award Best Collectible Card Game
Orkworld (Author and Designer)
2000 Best Game Fiction (How Bashthraka Lost His Spear) (nominated)
"John Wick Dead at 33" Hoax
In 2002, a person claiming to be John Wick's (then) wife claimed that he was killed in a car accident. This news was posted on RPG.NET and quickly spread through internet gaming circles. A few hours later, John Wick himself announced he was not dead. Upon the announcement of the hoax, Wick's website was hacked and sabotaged.
External links
* [http://www.john-wick.com John Wick Website]
* [http://www.wicked-dead.com The Wicked Dead Brewing Company]
* [http://wickedthought.livejournal.com/ John Wick LiveJournal]
* [http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=1860 Pen & Paper listing for John Wick]
* [http://www.myspace.com/theawfullot The Awful Lot MySpace]Interviews
* [http://www.rpg.net/sf/interviews/wick99.html Interview with James Maliszewski]
* [http://www.sonsofkryos.com/ Interview with Sons of Kryos and Game Design Seminar]
* [http://havegameswilltravel.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=35958 Interview with Paul Tevis]
* [http://www.7thsea.info/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=154 Interview with 7thSea.info]
* [http://endgameradio.com/media/radio/prime/show_116.mp3 Interview on Endgameradio]
* [http://genconlive.dragonslanding.com/?p=38 Interview with Mark Kinney for GenCon (Almost) Live]Articles
* [http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns/wickoct99.html Blowing Out the Nostalgia Candle]
* [http://www.gamingoutpost.com/articles/john_wick/246/hit_em_where_it_hurts/ Hit 'em Where It Hurts]
* [http://www.fandomlife.net/fln/article.cfm?ID=23 Five Favorite Roleplaying Games]
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