Sean Patrick Fannon was born in Tennessee (January 4th, 1966) and raised in Georgia. He has lived and worked in Binghamton, NY; San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA; Raleigh, NC; Jacksonville, FL; Chattanooga, TN; Columbus, OH; and most recently he’s moved into the home of his Lady Love, Carinn, in Eva, AL. He is 6'1", of large frame and build, with black hair, green eyes, and a penchant for really cool hats.
Sean has been professionally involved in RPGs and interactive entertainment for the last 20+ years of his life. Starting in 1988, Sean began writing freelance articles and game reviews for small roleplaying game magazines and fan `zines. He then started writing books for the world-famous Champions RPG (including High Tech Enemies, The Mutant File and Champions Universe). He then went on to become the Continuity Director of the Champions Universe property. During this time, Sean also wrote for such properties as the Shatterzone RPG and the Star Wars RPG, as well as Shadis Magazine, Adventurer's Club Magazine and Dragon Magazine for TSR.
Sean then parlayed his RPG experience into the computer game field, starting as a designer for Interplay Productions (where he was the lead designer on one of the Star Trek adventure games). He was then recruited away to Vortex Media Arts, where he worked on multiple properties (including a licensed TONKA activity game).
Taking some time out of the electronic industry, Sean was offered the chance to write the premiere book about the entire roleplaying game hobby and industry. Entitled The Fantasy Roleplaying Gamer's Bible, this book was published by Prima Entertainment in 1995, and it sold over 10,000 copies in a few short months.
Sean returned to the industry as a lead designer for Infogrames Multimedia (where he did some major design work on one of their early Nintendo title bids). When the Santa Monica studio was moved north to San Jose, Sean accepted a position with newcomers 8th Wonder Games in Raleigh, NC, where he worked as the Lead Designer for the Drachen Zor title (to be published by SouthPeak Interactive). When SouthPeak chose to shelve the project, Sean then took on the role of Lead Designer and Producer for Telepathy Entertainment's Out There project (an online RPG project with educational and drug-intervention principles involved).
When his contract ran out with Telepathy, Sean was heavily recruited by Jared Nielsen to help start Obsidian Studios, where he worked from early 1999 until late 2000. During that time, Sean wrote the The Fantasy Roleplaying Gamer's Bible (2nd Edition), a completely updated and revised version of his `95 book. He also wrote and developed the Fuzion version of Shards of the Stone: Core. Then Cybergames.com purchased Obsidian and moved Sean back West for a time.
Sadly, that all fell apart. After a brief sojourn back in LA, doing some consulting work with Hollywood firms, Sean returned home to the South. He started working on his own projects while driving an armored car. He transferred from Atlanta to Chattanooga, TN, to be closer to his family. This is where he met some of the folks (to include Mark Swafford, Coley Brookshire, and Alex Smith) who would have dramatic impact on Shaintar: Immortal Legends, his most important creation to date.
Sean continued his work on Shaintar and other projects, consulting with many good and dear friends in various ways, looking for the right opportunity to dive back into the business full time. Then GAMA (the Game Manufacturer’s Association) came calling, looking for an Events Coordinator for the Origins Game Expo. Moving to Columbus, OH, Sean had the honor of working with some of the finest people in the industry, helping to run two truly great shows (Origins and GTS).
Then his old friends, Aaron Acevedo, Jason Engle, and Martin Klimes’ came calling, letting him know they were more or less “getting the band back together” (www.talisman-studios.com) and that they wanted to help him publish Shaintar: Immortal Legends. Thanks to his dear friend, Shane Hensley, it became the premiere Epic High Fantasy setting for the award-winning Savage Worlds system.
After a brief stint with a casual computer game company (FreshGames, LLC), life events drew Sean home to the South. He’s now working for the largest e-publishing game store network in the world (OneBookShelf.com, featuring DriveThruRPG and RPGNow) as the RPG Marketing, Communications, and PR Coordinator, and he's also heavily involved in business development for the firm.
Near the end of 2008, Sean launched a now-famous Quest for the Gamer Girl of His Dreams, and discovered Carinn Seabolt, who became the true love of his life. On December 12th, 2009, they became bonded a the souls and at the dice.
Here in his 40s, Sean’s life has come together in ways even he never imagined. Living in beautiful Toney, AL with the “Wild Muttling,” Riah; his extraordinary partner-family (Joey & Betty Morgan, and their two furry ones, Balto and Ozymandias); his amazing new daughter Samantha; and the woman he truly always dreamed of, Carinn...
... and supported by the largest network of wonderful and geeky friends in the world, Sean keeps writing and rolling the dice. He's working on the next version of Shaintar, "Legends Unleashed," and has signed on with the rapidly-growing Reality Blurs. He's also the Creative Director for a new publishing and development operation, SilverMeet Studios (which will be unleashing the multi-media entertainment vehicle, "The OmniVerse," in the very near future).
Yes, Gaming IS his life, and he loves it. Buy him a beer (Guinness, if you please) and he'll happily tell you more than you might ever want to know.
