Eclipse Phase Contributor Bio
Real Name: John Snead
Firewall Codename: Heron61
Eclipse Phase Background Equivalency: Autonomist/Voluntary Mercurial
Previous Experience: I've been writing RPGs professionally for more than a decade and have worked on almost a dozen SF RPGs, including Traveller, Star Trek, Star Wars, GURPS Transhuman Space, and Trinity
About Me: I'm a freelance RPG author living in the lovely city of Portland Oregon. I'm a generalist, with degrees in everything from history to mathematics as well as an avid SF fan and a gourmet cook. Socially and politically, I'm a fairly extreme liberal (at least by US standards). My favorite authors are Alastair Reynolds and P.C. Hodgell.
Transhumanist Interests: I'm an avid transhumanist for both personal and sociopolitical reasons. In addition to being personally eager to make use of the upcoming advances in longevity and intelligence enhancement, I also see the various transhuman technologies as our best way to reduce poverty and increase both human potential and overall freedom while also managing this planet so that it remains a good home for all of its lifeforms.
Eclipse Phase Contributions: I wrote half of the gear chapter as well as the detailed setting section.
Favorite Thing About Eclipse Phase: I read a great deal of modern SF by authors like Alastair Reynolds, Linda Nagata, and Ken MacLeod, and I'm very pleased to see a SF RPG that is based on modern SF and that involves both transhumanism and interstellar travel.