Sean Patrick Fannon is an Americanrole-playing game designer and writer. He has been working in the gaming industry since 1988, and is best known for his work with theSavage Worlds game system, including his epic fantasy setting,Shaintar, and his conversion of the classic gameRifts. He has also worked as a designer in the video game industry and a consultant in the film industry.[citation needed]
Fannon was born on January 4, 1966, in Tennessee. He began playing role-playing games in 1977.[1][2][3] Before becoming a successful game designer, he worked as a deputy sheriff, airline agent, and armored car driver[citation needed]. He attendedWest Point from 1984 to 1986[citation needed]. He currently lives inLittleton, Colorado.
In 1995, Fannon wroteThe Fantasy Roleplaying Gamer's Bible, an introduction to the role-playing hobby, for Prima Entertainment. A second edition of the book was published by Obsidian Studios in 1999.[9] This book has been cited as a good introductory guide to roleplaying games for people that are not roleplayers.[10][11]
Multimedia company IEI's games division 8th Wonder Games hired Fannon in 1996 to target the role-playing games niche.[12]
Fannon was one of the staff to join new companyFASA as it was being put together in 2012, with his role in marketing and promotion.[13]: 379
From October 2008 until 2012 Fannon worked as a Marketing and Communications Manager for DriveThruRPG where he managed communications, promotions, marketing, and business development for RPG sites. This included helping to advertise projects like their "Gamers Help Haiti" program,[14] which raised money to donate toDoctors Without Borders during their effort to provide medical support to the people of Haiti following the2010 Haiti earthquake. This effort raised over $175,000.[15] He also helped DriveThruRPG begin more active support of other charities, leading to them establishing permanent accounts withHero Initiative,Feeding America,Red Cross, andDoctors Without Borders.[16]
In 2005,Shaintar: Immortal Legends the first book set in Fannon's epic fantasy setting forPinnacle Entertainment Group'sSavage Worlds RPG,[17] was published by Talisman Studios. In 2013,Savage Mojo began publishing theShaintar line, starting with a successfulKickstarter campaign forShaintar: Legends Unleashed. TwoShaintar books,Shaintar: Legends Arise andShaintar: Legends Unleashed, were nominated forEnnie awards in 2014.[18]
In 2012, Fannon started his own game company, Evil Beagle Games, with Carinn Seabolt, inHuntsville, Alabama.[3] From 2014 to 2017,Ross Watson joined the company as Managing Director.[19] In 2017, Evil Beagle Games became an LLC, with Sean, Bill Keyes, Leonard Pimental, and Michael Surbrook forming the company. In 2020 Evil Beagle LLC was restructured and expanded,[20] and Jennifer Shinefeld was appointed CEO.[21]
Fannon was the Game Designer Guest of Honor atMomoCon 2013,[28] Gaming Guest of Honor forConGlomeration in 2014,[29] a featured guest atCleveland ConCoction,[30] the Gaming Guest of Honor for Con on the Cob in 2016,[31] and 2017,[32] a Celebrity Guest for Tacticon in 2017, a guest at Magic City Con,[33] and a special guest at GenghisCon 2018,[34] and at ChupacabraCon 2017.[35]
Fannon was also part of an academic panel discussion at the 2018Denver Comic Con with Professor James Fielder, Ph.D. of United States Air Force Academy aboutSocial Sciences in Worlds that Never Were: Using Fantasy and Science Fiction Literature in the Classroom.[36]
^Lancaster, Kurt (October 1999).Warlocks and Warpdrive: Contemporary Fantasy Entertainments With Interactive and Virtual Environments. McFarland Publishing. pp. 35, 48.ISBN978-0786406340.
^van Vuuren, Gerhardus (2005).Planning a Let's Pretend Game, Games of make-believe: role playing games as devising theatre. Pietermaritzburg.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Tillett, L Scott. "Firm toying with new video games division",Triangle Business Journal; Raleigh Vol. 12, Iss. 5, (Oct 04, 1996): 4.
