I'm a writer, game designer, editor, graphic artist, font-doodler and electronic publisher, known for my work for Guardians of Order, Avalon Hill, Last Unicorn, Hero Games, Steve Jackson Games and other houses publishing adventure roleplaying games (RPGs). Many also know me as the author of comic/satiric games (Risus, Pokethulhu, Encounter Critical), or for standalone gaming articles like the Big List of RPG Plots, or as the creator of Sparks paper miniatures.

I've written books for several games and systems, including the Star Trek family of RPGs, GURPS, Derek Pearcy's In Nomine and Guardians of Order's Big Eyes, Small Mouth. I've also written for White Wolf, West End Games, Flying Buffalo, Wizards of the Coast and others. I've done work for several magazines, including: Autoduel Quarterly, White Wolf, Roleplayer, Shadis, Dragon and Star Wars Gamer. I served a brief stint as Editor of Pyramid magazine, for which I received an Origins nomination.*

I used to be part of the Tales From the Floating Vagabond team (before the game vanished, the editor was fired and the department shut down), and I'm a contributor to the CityBook series from Flying Buffalo (as of CityBook VII: King's River Bridge). I served as Associate Editor in charge of Wargame and Flight Sim Reviews at a CD-ROM magazine called Interactive Entertainment (where I also wrote for IE's sister magazine, Strategy Plus). During my run as an SJ Games staffer, I was responsible for projects like the Silicon Valley Tarot and the second edition of Murphy's Rules. My graphics and production work includes logos for Pyramid, floorplan designs for In Nomine, and maps and graphic embellishment for a BESM worldbook I wrote.

These days I focus my energies on projects for Cumberland Games & Diversions, where things like Fly From Evil, Risus, the Fontworks,** and the All-Systems Library keep me busier than I've ever been. I still keep a toe in the gaming industry doing short projects and graphics, but Cumberland affords me so much creative freedom it takes a very special project or person to drag me back to the confines of industry-style design.

I was born on July 15th, 1971, son of Sam & Donna Ross (that's where I get the "S" in "S. John"). Growing up the son of a U.S. Marine meant living all over the States, and in Japan (I currently reside in Denver, Colorado with Sandra Ross, my wife and best-pal and snuggle-partner of many years). I'm a cook, iconoclast, and general layabout. I love my friends dearly, and Sandra even more dearly, and I suppose I'm defined mostly by that, and my chow.

I enjoy hearing from my fans, and from game-writing newcomers seeking my advice. If you have any questions or comments regarding The Blue Room or anything else I do, click here for contact info. There's also a FAQ page covering a few of the most common queries I get.

** I make TrueType fonts as a diverting sideline, and they (through no fault of my own) appear worldwide on billboards, posters, TV screens, t-shirts and packaging. Cumberland font-users include Anheuser-Busch, Penguin/Puffin, Chicago Review Press, Dorling-Kindserly, the Beatles Revolution Bar in Las Vegas, the Forum in London, the Texas Lottery Comission (and the Idaho Lottery), Wendy's, Comedy Central, Wizard magazine, 2000 A.D., Twix commercials, Axe fragrance ads, the Minnesota Vikings, banks, musicians, toy companies, restaurants, schools, filmmakers, churches, t-shirt makers, clothing boutiques, at least one knife-maker, at least one roller-derby team, and more. Some of the users are even licensed to be so ... (some of them just pirate)!