S. John Ross

He was nominated for an Origins Award for a short stint as editor of Pyramid magazine, and was named to the Order of the Pineapple along with author Adam Gorightly in 2013. Risus 1.5 was named Best Free RPG at RPGnet in 2001 and he contributed to Pulp Hero which received a Silver ENnie for Best Writing in 2006.

Ross' Uresia: Grave of Heaven (2003) was an original setting published for the Big Eyes, Small Mouth role-playing game; it was reminiscent of Swords & Sorcery anime. Ross created Risus: The Anything RPG and Sparks paper miniatures. He also created the retro-science fiction-fantasy role-playing game Encounter Critical, and maintains the All-Systems Library.

Ross has been a named guest at several conventions including Technicon in 1995, 1997, and 1998; A-Kon in 2004 and 2009; and Starland Gamefest in 2013. Ross was a special guest at GameFest held in May 2014.

Ross began writing professionally in 1990 writing role-playing material for Avalon Hill, Flying Buffalo, Guardians of Order, Last Unicorn Games, Steve Jackson Games, TSR, West End Games, White Wolf, and Wizards of the Coast in addition to his own company, Cumberland Games & Diversions.

Samuel John Ross Jr. (born July 15, 1971), known as S. John Ross, is a game designer and owner of Cumberland Games & Diversions. He wrote the early Indie role-playing game Risus.

S. John Ross was born as Samuel John Ross Jr., in Cumberland, Maryland on July 15, 1971. He is the son of Sam and Donna Ross. While he lived in various parts of the United States and in Japan, as of early 2014 he lived in Denver, Colorado, with his wife Sandra Ross.