Mike Mearls Explained

Occupation:Writer, game designer
Children:1
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Dartmouth College
Genre:Role-playing games

Michael Mearls is an American writer and designer of fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) and related fiction.

Mearls worked for Wizards of the Coast from 2005 to 2023, holding various positions. He was the senior manager for the Dungeons & Dragons research and design team and then later became the franchise's Creative Director. 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. In 2024, he became the Executive Producer of role-playing games at Chaosium.

Education

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]

Career

Mearls wrote the adventure To Stand on Hallowed Ground/Swords Against Deception (2001) for Fiery Dragon Productions,[3] and the last product from Hogshead Publishing, a Warhammer adventure titled Fear the Worst (2002) that Hogshead released for free on the internet.[3] He also designed the game Iron Heroes (2005) for Malhavoc Press.[3]

In June 2005, Mearls was hired as a designer by Wizards of the Coast based on his work on third-party d20 products.[3] 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. 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] Heinsoo was laid off in 2009, so Mearls was made the new lead designer of Dungeons & Dragons.[4] Following Collins departure from Wizards in May 2010, Mearls was promoted to Group Manager of the Dungeons & Dragons R&D team. Mearls oversaw the launch of 4th Edition's Essentials line;[5] Shannon Appelcline, author of Designers & Dragons, commented that the new line was "primarily the brain child of Mike Mearls".[6] Mearls also co-designed the Castle Ravenloft Board Game (2010) with Bill Slavicsek.

In 2014, Mearls was a senior manager for Dungeons & Dragons research and development.[7] [8] Mearls was, together with Jeremy Crawford, Co-Lead Designer for the Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons.[9] [10] [11] By 2018, Mearls had become the franchise's Creative Director.[12] [13] 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.[14] [15] [16] Mearls went on to join the Exploratory and Vision design teams for .[17] [18] 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".[19] Mearls confirmed on Bluesky that he was laid off in December 2023.[20] [21]

In May 2024, Chaosium announced that Mearls was their new Executive Producer of role-playing games.[22]

Writing credits

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: TheDartmouth.com | Graduation List as of June 5, 1997. April 10, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20130709002027/http://thedartmouth.com/1997/06/08/news/graduation. July 9, 2013. dead.
  2. Web site: College Should Look Into Robot Workers, Cloning and Zombies. 2021-09-14. 2021-09-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20210914104158/https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/1997/05/college-should-look-into-robot-workers-cloning-and-zombies. live.
  3. Book: Shannon Appelcline. Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. 2011. 978-1-907702-58-7.
  4. News: Macris . Alexander . September 14, 2010 . Red Box Renaissance . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100917115843/https://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_271/8109-Red-Box-Renaissance . September 17, 2010 . May 24, 2024 . . 1.
  5. Web site: Macris . Alexander . September 16, 2010 . Complete Mike Mearls D&D 4th Edition Essentials Interview . https://web.archive.org/web/20210921082301/https://www.escapistmagazine.com/complete-mike-mearls-dd-4th-edition-essentials-interview/ . September 21, 2021 . May 24, 2024 . . en-US.
  6. Web site: Appelcline . Shannon . Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set (4e) Product History . January 8, 2021 . Dungeon Masters Guild . en.
  7. Web site: Digital-age 'Dungeons & Dragons' more than rolling dice. Frum. Larry. CNN. 19 August 2014. 2020-05-06. 2020-10-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20201007061657/https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/19/tech/gaming-gadgets/dungeons-dragons-digital/index.html. live.
  8. Web site: Mike Mearls; Dungeons & Dragons . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160424124009/https://dnd.wizards.com/taxonomy/term/396 . April 24, 2016 . 2020-03-09 . dnd.wizards.com . Mike Mearls is the senior manager for the D&D research and design team. He led the design for 5th Edition D&D. His other credits include the Castle Ravenloft board game, Monster Manual 3 for 4th Edition, and Player’s Handbook 2 for 3rd Edition..
  9. Book: Wizards RPG Team. Players Handbook. Wizards of the Coast. 2014. 978-0786965601.
  10. Web site: Inside the Launch of the New Dungeons & Dragons With Designer Mike Mearls. Bolding. Jonathan. June 2, 2014. The Escapist. en. 2020-05-06. 2020-10-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20201007054459/https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/tabletop/11554-Inside-the-Launch-of-the-New-Dungeons-Dragons-With-Designer-Mike. dead.
  11. Web site: An Interview With Jeremy Crawford, Co-Designer and Editor of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Bolding. Jonathan. April 2, 2015. The Escapist. en. 2020-05-06. 2020-07-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20200720195554/https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/tabletop/13729-An-Interview-With-Jeremy-Crawford-Co-Designer-and-Editor-of-Dung. dead.
  12. Web site: Behind the scenes of the making of Dungeons & Dragons. Brodeur. Nicole. 2018-05-04. The Seattle Times. en-US. 2020-05-06. 2018-05-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20180513132519/https://www.seattletimes.com/life/lifestyle/behind-the-scenes-of-the-making-of-dungeons-dragons/. live.
  13. Web site: Exclusive: 'Dungeons & Dragons' to Announce New Settings for Fifth Edition Later This Year. Hoffer. Christian. June 7, 2018. ComicBook.com. en. 2020-05-06. 2020-11-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20201109041107/https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/dungeons-and-dragons-fifth-edition-campaign-settings/. live.
  14. Web site: Dungeons & Dragons' Design Team Has a New Head, Mike Mearls Exited Last Year. Thomas. Jeremy. April 29, 2020. 411MANIA. en-US. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200502030608/https://411mania.com/games/dungeons-dragons-design-team-has-a-new-head-mike-mearls-exited-last-year/. 2020-05-02. 2020-05-06.
  15. Web site: Hoffer . Christian . February 9, 2024 . Joe Manganiello Compares Baldur's Gate 3 to Early Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition . February 9, 2024 . . en . Mearls was pushed out of his position as creative director of Dungeons & Dragons in 2019 . February 10, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240210022017/https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/joe-manganiello-compares-baldurs-gate-3-to-early-dungeons-dragons-fifth-edition/ . live .
  16. Web site: He no longer works on the tabletop RPG team and hasn't since sometime last year.. Crawford. Jeremy. 2020-04-28. Twitter. Jeremy Crawford. en. 2020-05-06. 2020-05-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20200505155730/https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/1255304531329548290. live.
  17. Web site: Rosewater . Mark . March 29, 2023 . March of the Machine Learning, Part 1 . May 24, 2024 . Magic: The Gathering . en-US . Mike Mearls (exploratory and vision): Mike came to Magic from Dungeons & Dragons. This was the first premier set he worked on. . May 18, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240518011925/https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/march-of-the-machine-learning-part-1 . live .
  18. Web site: Rosewater . Mark . May 8, 2023 . March of the Machine Vision Design Handoff Document, Part 1 . May 24, 2024 . Magic: The Gathering . en-US . May 18, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240518011656/https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/march-of-the-machine-vision-design-handoff-document-part-1 . live .
  19. Web site: Walker . Ian . 2023-12-15 . 'Almost nobody left' of D&D team that helped get Baldur's Gate 3 off the ground, says Larian CEO . 2023-12-15 . Polygon . en-US . 2023-12-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231215194711/https://www.polygon.com/24003046/hasbro-layoffs-bg3-baldurs-gate-3-wotc-dnd . live .
  20. Web site: Carter . Chase . 2023-12-13 . D&D and MTG designers, artists and producers lose jobs among over 1,000 Hasbro layoffs, former devs confirm . 2023-12-13 . Dicebreaker . en . 2023-12-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231213182141/https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/hasbro/news/hasbro-layoffs-hit-dungeons-and-dragons-magic-the-gathering-designers-artist-producers . live .
  21. News: Randall . Harvey . 2023-12-13 . Hasbro's 1,100 layoffs have hit D&D and Magic: The Gathering hard, as a growing list of staff announce their departures . en . PC Gamer . 2023-12-13 . 2023-12-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231213164804/https://www.pcgamer.com/hasbros-1100-layoffs-have-hit-dandd-and-magic-the-gathering-hard-as-a-growing-list-of-staff-announce-their-departures/ . live .
  22. Web site: O'Brien . Michael . May 24, 2024 . We welcome six new members to the team! . May 24, 2024 . . en . . May 24, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240524164258/https://www.chaosium.com/blogwe-welcome-six-new-members-to-the-team/ . live .
  23. Web site: Contents. https://web.archive.org/web/20080630052117/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/9780786950164. dead. June 30, 2008. Player's Handbook 2. Wizards of the Coast. 2011-10-05. Crawford. Jeremy. Jeremy Crawford. Mearls. Mike. Wyatt. James. James Wyatt.
  24. Web site: Mearls. Mike. Playtest: New Hybrid and Multiclass Options. https://web.archive.org/web/20110604155145/http://www.wizards.com/DnD/TOC.aspx?x=dnd/4new/drtoc/400. dead. June 4, 2011. Dragon magazine #400. Wizards of the Coast. 5 October 2011.
  25. Web site: Mearls . Mike . Encounter Design in 4th Edition . https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20100107162125/http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x%3Ddnd/drdd/20070921 . dead . 2010-01-07 . Dragon magazine #360 . Wizards of the Coast . 2007-09-21 . 2012-08-23 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mike Mearls".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.