John Wick is an American

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...

game designer best known for his creative contributions to 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 ...

s ''

Legend of the Five Rings Legend of the Five Rings (often abbreviated ''L5R'') is a fictional setting created by John Zinser, Dave Seay, Ryan Dancey, Dave Williams, DJ Trindle, Matt Wilson and John Wick and first published by a joint venture between Alderac Entertai ...

'' and '' 7th Sea''. He self-published ''

Orkworld Orkworld is a fantasy role-playing game featuring orks. It was designed by John Wick, illustrated by Thomas Denmark and released by Wicked Press. Game setting and mechanics According to Wick, ''Orkworld'' breaks from the mold of treating orks a ...

'' under the Wicked Press banner, and later co-founded the Wicked Dead Brewing Company with

Jared Sorensen Jared A. Sorensen is an indie role-playing game designer whose works include ''InSpectres'', '' octaNe'', and ''Lacuna Part I.'' Career Jared Sorensen was a member of the website The Forge, and later became an indie publisher. Sorensen designed ...

. His games under that company include ''

Cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

'', ''Schauermärchen'', ''Enemy Gods'', and ''Thirty''. He has won the

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...

for Best Role-Playing Game and Best Collectible Card Game twice (for both the ''

'' and '' 7th Sea''

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

and

collectible card games A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in 1993. Genera ...

). He has also written for

White Wolf, Inc. White Wolf Publishing was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant

Pinnacle Entertainment Group Pinnacle Entertainment Group is a publisher of role-playing games and wargames. History When Shane Lacy Hensley decided to create a 19th-century miniatures game he contacted Charles Ryan's company Chameleon Eclectic about publishing it. The resul ...

, and worked for various video game companies, providing storyline and dialogue. He has written two regular online columns: The Game Designer's Journal (for ''

The Gaming Outpost ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'') and Play Dirty (for ''

Pyramid Magazine ''Pyramid'' was a gaming magazine, publishing articles primarily on role-playing games, but including board games, card games, and other sorts of games. It began life in 1993 as a print publication of Steve Jackson Games for its first 30 issu ...

'').

Legend of the Five Rings

In 1995, Wick was a freelance writer living in Southern California. He had submitted articles to ''

Shadis Magazine ''Shadis'' is an independent Game, gaming magazine that was published in 1990–1998 by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG). It initially focused on role-playing games. Publication history Shadis was conceived and started by Jolly Blackburn as an i ...

'',

Alderac Entertainment Group Alderac Entertainment Group, or AEG, is a publisher of role-playing game, board game, and collectible card game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993 and is based in the city of Ontario, California. Prior to getting into their cu ...

'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 after joining AEG, he got involved with the production and design of the ''

Legend of the Five Rings Collectible Card Game ''Legend of the Five Rings'' (''L5R'') is an out-of-print collectible card game created by a joint venture featuring Alderac Entertainment Group and ISOMEDIA in 1995 and published until 2015, when it was announced that the game would be discont ...

'', along with the rest of the company. He worked with

Matthew D. Wilson Matthew D. "Matt" Wilson is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. He is one of the founders, the owner, and the CEO of Privateer Press. Career Matt Wilson started as an artist with Alderac Entertainment Group around 1995, an ...

, the game's art director and David 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. Wick 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. Wick also led the design team that created the ''

Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game The ''Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game'' is a role-playing game originally written by John Wick and published by Alderac Entertainment Group, under license from Five Rings Publishing Group, in 1997. The game uses the Legend of the Five ...

'' (1997). Wick left the L5R design team shortly thereafter to work on AEG's forthcoming '' 7th Sea'' project.

7th Sea

'' 7th Sea'' (1998), the second RPG published by AEG, was designed by John and Jennifer Wick, and Kevin Wilson. ''7th Sea'' is AEG's swashbuckling setting. Initially proposed by Wick 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 of Théah, a fantasy amalgam of Restoration Age Europe, ''7th Sea'' included pirates, musketeers, explorers and magic. Wick wrote and developed much of the project, including the ''7th Sea Players Guide'', ''Game Masters Guide'', ''

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...

Sourcebook'',

GM screen A gamemaster's screen, also called a GM's screen, is a gaming accessory, usually made out of either cardboard or card stock, and is used by the gamemaster to hide all the relevant data related to a tabletop role-playing game session from the playe ...

, and ''

Knights of the Rose and Cross A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

'' sourcebook. He left AEG after his work on the ''Avalon Sourcebook'' was finished. On November 3, 2015, AEG announced that it had sold the rights to the ''7th Sea'' property back to Wick, and entered a partnership with him to publish certain licensed games using the property. On April 2, 2019,

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include '' Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', RuneQuest Glorantha'', ''Pendragon ...

announced on their official blog their acquisition of the rights to the ''7th Sea'' product line from John Wick.

''Orkworld''

After leaving AEG, he acquired a position at

Totally Games Totally Games was a video game developer located in Marin County, California. Their titles included the ''X-wing'' series of games based on the Star Wars universe, a series of PC-based World War II flight combat simulations (''Battlehawks 1942'', ...

, helping develop an

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

launch title. He also wrote, designed, and developed ''

'', a reverse-fantasy game where orks are the heroes and the "monsters" are humans, dwarves, and elves. The game was released the same year as ''

Dungeons and 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 Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

'' 3rd Edition and garnered an Origins Award nomination for Best Game Fiction. The game was illustrated by

Thomas Denmark Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Neopets

After spending time in San Francisco, he returned to Los Angeles and began working at

Neopets ''Neopets'' is a virtual pet website. Users can own virtual pets ("Neopets") and buy virtual items for them using one of two virtual currencies. One currency, called Neopoints, can be earned within the site, and the other, Neocash, can eithe ...

, writing stories for the

Neopedia ''Neopets'' is a virtual pet website. Users can own virtual pets ("Neopets") and buy virtual items for them using one of two virtual currencies. One currency, called Neopoints, can be earned within the site, and the other, Neocash, can eithe ...

. He also helped develop the Neopets CCG.

Upper Deck

Wick 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 Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK), founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards. Its headquarters are in Carlsbad, California, United Stat ...

The Wicked Dead Brewing Company

Wick began a new publishing venture with his friend Jared Sorensen. Calling their joint venture the Wicked Dead Brewing Company (based on Wick's previous publishing venture

Wicked Press Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...

and Sorenson's

Memento Mori Theatricks Memento Mori Theatricks is an American game company that produces role-playing games and game supplements. History Jared Sorensen first expanded his ideas for a LARP into his first public rule set, the ''Memento Mori Theatricks'' (1996) LARP for ...

), they began in 2004 and have published over a dozen roleplaying games, board games, and books. He self-published a novel titled ''

No Loyal Knight No (and variant writings) may refer to one of these articles: English language * Yes and no, ''Yes'' and ''no'' (responses) * A English determiners, determiner in noun phrases Alphanumeric symbols * No (kana), a letter/syllable in Japanese s ...

'' through the Wicked Dead Brewing Company. Wick published a number of fantasy

indie role-playing game An indie role-playing game is a role-playing game published outside traditional, "mainstream" means. Varying definitions require that commercial, design, or conceptual elements of the game stay under the control of the creator, or that the gam ...

s using dice-pool mechanics, including ''Enemy Gods'' (2004) and ''

'' (2006).

John Wick Presents

Wick started a new company—

John Wick Presents John Wick is an American role-playing game designer best known for his creative contributions to the tabletop role playing games ''Legend of the Five Rings'' and '' 7th Sea''. He self-published ''Orkworld'' under the Wicked Press banner, and later ...

—in 2009 when he kicked off his partnership with

Cubicle 7 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd is an Irish games company that creates and publishes tabletop games. Best known for its ''Doctor Who'' and ''Lord of the Rings'' games, Cubicle 7 offers titles covering a range of licensed and self-developed properties ...

by reissuing his 2008 RPG '' Houses of the Blooded''. He also released ''Curse of the Yellow Sign'' and ''Blood & Honor through'' this company.

''Houses of the Blooded''

In 2007, Wick announced a return to "big game design" in his LiveJournal. The game, called '' Houses of the Blooded'', was released at the 2008

Origins Game Fair Origins Game Fair is an annual gaming convention that was first held in 1975. Since 1996, it has been held in Columbus, Ohio at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Origins is run by The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA). Origins was c ...

. The game 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 the

Indie Press Revolution Indie Press Revolution (also referred to as "IPR") is a sales network that acts as a fulfillment house for publishers of indie role-playing games. It was founded in 2004 by Ed Cha of Open World Press and Brennan Taylor of Galileo Games. IPR repre ...

website on May 5, 2008 and they were all gone by May 12. Wick was apparently surprised by this turn of events. Wick released a soundtrack with the new game, focusing on "ven blood opera," an in-game element. Songs from the opera can be heard on the Houses of the Blooded website. Wick is keeping an open log of his design of this game in his LiveJournal. He has stated his intention to release several stand alone supplements that will detail various aspects of the world of Shanri. Each book would allow players to play a different role in Shanri and, as he stated in his livejournal, "almost feel as if they're playing a different game." The books mentioned so far are a 'Slumming' book where players play ven nobles from cities (as opposed to 'country' ven detailed in the main book), a Wilderness book where vassals of the ven nobles fight off ork, explore dungeons, and possibly kill dragons, as well as a Suaven book where details regarding the Ancestor worship religion of the ven will be revealed. Wick teamed up with British games publisher

Entertainment for a mass market release of the game in September 2009.

Freemasonry

In November 2005, Wick became a Freemason, joining Liberal Arts Lodge of Los Angeles, California. He is a Master Mason.

The Awful Lot

Wick 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) 2017 Ennies 7th Sea: Best Game (Silver), Best Rules (Gold), Best Free Product Free Rules (Gold), Best Supplement Pirate Nations (Silver), Product of the Year (Silver)

References

External links

Personal sites

The Tao of Zen Nihilism
(LiveJournal blog)
John Wick's YouTube Channel
(vlog)

Commercial and professional sites

John Wick Presents
(Official Website and Webstore)
Houses of the Blooded website and forums

The Awful Lot
(MySpace)
The Wicked Dead Brewing Company

Pen & Paper listing for John Wick

Interviews

Interview with Sons of Kryos and Game Design Seminar

Interview with Paul Tevis

Interview on Endgameradio

Interview with Mark Kinney for GenCon (Almost) Live

Interview on Pulp Gamer

Interview at Theory from the Closet

The Game's the Thing RandomCon 2009

The Game's the Thing RinCon 2008 Wrap Up

Articles

Hit 'em Where It Hurts

Five Favorite Roleplaying Games
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wick, John Indie role-playing game designers Role-playing game designers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people