John Wick

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 the Legend of the Five Rings Collectible Card Game. He worked with Matthew D. Wilson, 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.

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.

Wick wrote the main book for the Legend of the Five Rings RPG. The game system was co-designed with David Williams.

After L5R
John left the L5R design team shortly thereafter to work on AEG's forthcoming 7th Sea project.

He self-published Orkworld under the Wicked Press banner, and later co-founded the Wicked Dead Brewing Company with Jared Sorensen. His games under that company include Cat, Schauermärchen, Enemy Gods, and Thirty. He has won the Origins Award for Best Role-Playing Game and Best Collectible Card Game twice (for both the Legend of the Five Rings and 7th Sea role-playing games and collectible 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 (for The Gaming Outpost) and Play Dirty (for Pyramid Magazine).