A professional actor, acting coach, and game designer, Mike Yow has been gaming since 1979. His recently published sword-and-sorcery RPG, Savage Kingdoms (a gritty immersive-style indie offering), has a small, but extremely loyal, following, and he regularly runs SK campaigns on Roll20, at local and regional conventions, and the occasional live game when his time is not taken up in rehearsals, stage performances, and real life in general. He is most inspired by Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, George Martin, Bernard Cornwell, historical fantasy, and mythology (particularly Celtic, Norse, Greek, and Egyptian).