Mike Mearls | |
---|---|
Occupation | Writer, game designer |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Dartmouth College |
Genre | Role-playing games |
Children | 1 |
Michael Mearls is an American writer and designer of fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) and related fiction. He was the senior manager for the Dungeons & Dragons research and design team. He co-led design for the 5th edition of the game. He also worked on the Castle Ravenloft board game, and various compendium books for 3rd, 4th, and 5th editions Dungeons & Dragons.
Mearls is an alumnus of Dartmouth College. [1] While at Dartmouth he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity, and became known for a satiric letter to the campus paper. [2]
Mearls wrote the adventure To Stand on Hallowed Ground/Swords Against Deception (2001) for Fiery Dragon Productions, [3] : 226 and the last product from Hogshead Publishing, a Warhammer adventure titled Fear the Worst (2002) that Hogshead released for free on the internet. [3] : 307 He also designed the game Iron Heroes (2005) for Malhavoc Press. [3] : 226
In June 2005, Mearls was hired as a designer by Wizards of the Coast based on his work on third-party d20 products. [3] : 301 At Wizards, he served as a lead developer for Dungeons & Dragons R&D working on the new 4th Edition. [4] Between the fourth edition design phases titled "Orcus I" and "Orcus II", Mearls added the encounter-power mechanics of fourth edition into Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords (2006), which was in process during development of the new edition. [3] : 298
Along with Andy Collins, David Noonan, and Jesse Decker, Mearls was part of the fourth edition Dungeons & Dragons "Flywheel" design team led by Rob Heinsoo, and this team was responsible for the final concept work from May 2006 to September 2006, before the first books for the edition were written and playtested. [3] : 297 Heinsoo was laid off in 2009, so Mearls was made the new lead designer of Dungeons & Dragons. [3] : 301 Mearls co-designed the Castle Ravenloft Board Game (2010) with Bill Slavicsek. [3] : 302
In 2014, Mearls was a senior manager for Dungeons & Dragons research and development. [5] [6] Mearls was, together with Jeremy Crawford, Co-Lead Designer for the Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. [7] [8] [9] By 2018, Mearls had become the franchise's Creative Director. [10] [11] He left the Wizards of the Coast tabletop RPG team in 2019 and was replaced by Ray Winninger as the Executive Producer in charge of the Dungeons & Dragons studio in 2020. [12] [13] [14] Mearls went on to join the design team for Magic: The Gathering . [15] He received "special thanks" in the credits for Baldur's Gate 3 (2023); in a 2019 interview, Mearls described his role as "story and system support". [16] Mearls confirmed on Bluesky that he was laid off in December 2023. [16] [17] [18]
The Player's Handbook is the name given to one of the core rulebooks in every edition of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). It does not contain the complete set of rules for the game, and only includes rules for use by players of the game. Additional rules, for use by Dungeon Masters (DMs), who referee the game, can be found in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Many optional rules, such as those governing extremely high-level players, and some of the more obscure spells, are found in other sources.
The Dungeon Master's Guide is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. The Dungeon Master's Guide contains rules concerning the arbitration and administration of a game, and is intended for use by the game's Dungeon Master.
The magic in Dungeons & Dragons consists of the spells and magic systems used in the settings of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). D&D defined the genre of fantasy role-playing games, and remains the most popular table-top version. Many of the original concepts have become widely used in the role-playing community across many different fictional worlds, as well as across all manner of popular media including books, board games, video games, and films.
A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before releasing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise, and are very common with board games, collectible card games, puzzle hunts, role-playing games, and video games, for which they have become an established part of the quality control process. An individual involved in testing a game is referred to as a playtester.
Keith Baker is an American game designer and fantasy novel author. In addition to working with Wizards of the Coast on the creation of Eberron, he has also contributed material for Goodman Games, Paizo Publishing and Green Ronin Publishing. In 2014, Baker and Jennifer Ellis co-founded the indie tabletop game company Twogether Studios.
James Wyatt is a game designer and a former United Methodist minister. He works for Wizards of the Coast, where he has designed supplements and adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) roleplaying game. He is the author of sci-fi and fantasy novels, including Forgotten Realms books, and the 4th edition Dungeon Master's Guide.
Unearthed Arcana is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Both were designed as supplements to the core rulebooks, containing material that expanded upon other rules.
The Ranger is one of the standard playable character classes in most editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Rangers are skilled bushcraftsmen/woodcraftsmen, and often lived reclusive lives as hermits.
A character class is a fundamental part of the identity and nature of characters in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A character's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses are largely defined by their class; choosing a class is one of the first steps a player takes to create a Dungeons & Dragons player character. A character's class affects a character's available skills and abilities. A well-rounded party of characters requires a variety of abilities offered by the classes found within the game.
Rob Heinsoo is an American tabletop game designer. He has been designing and contributing to professional role-playing games, card games, and board games since 1994. Heinsoo was the lead designer on the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons (2008), and is co-designer of the 13th Age roleplaying game along with Jonathan Tweet. He has also designed and contributed to role playing, miniatures and card games, and a computer game.
Bill Slavicsek is an American game designer and writer who served as the Director of Roleplaying Design and Development at Wizards of the Coast. He previously worked for West End Games and TSR, Inc., and designed products for Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, Alternity, Torg, Paranoia and Ghostbusters.
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a magic item is any object that is imbued with magic powers. These items may act on their own or be the tools of the character possessing them. Magic items have been prevalent in the game in every edition and setting, from the original edition in 1974 until the modern fifth edition. In addition to jewels and gold coins, they form part of the treasure that the players often seek in a dungeon. Magic items are generally found in treasure hoards, or recovered from fallen opponents; sometimes, a powerful or important magic item is the object of a quest.
Andy Collins is a game designer whose writing credits include numerous books for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Player's Handbook 2 is a supplement to the 4th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.
Ray Winninger is a game designer who has worked on a number of roleplaying games, including the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. He is the former Executive Producer for the Wizards of the Coast Dungeons & Dragons studio.
Jesse Decker is an author, designer, and editor of roleplaying game material.
Christopher Perkins is a Canadian American game designer and editor who is known for his work on Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, currently as the senior story designer.
Keep on the Shadowfell is the first official product from the 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons ("D&D") line. It is part one of a three-part series of adventures. It introduces a series of 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons settings called the Points of Light, a loosely connected and open-ended series of settings designed to allow other modules and fan-created content to be integrated seamlessly into the settings' largely unmapped fantasy world or the Dungeon Master's own custom-made setting. The adventure, written by Mike Mearls and Bruce R. Cordell, was published in 2008 by Wizards of the Coast. It is followed by the sequels Thunderspire Labyrinth and Pyramid of Shadows. The adventure is designed for characters from levels 1 to 3. Its module code, "H", stands for Heroic Tier. This module is set in a region of the world called the Nentir Vale, which is described in greater detail in the 4th edition Dungeon Master's Guide.
Jeremy Crawford is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. He is most widely known for being the Lead Rules Designer for Wizards of the Coast.
F. Wesley Schneider is an American game designer and author known for his work on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). He was the co-lead designer on the D&D 5th Edition adventure anthology Journeys through the Radiant Citadel (2022) which was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Game Writing.
Mearls was pushed out of his position as creative director of Dungeons & Dragons in 2019