Introduction
Michael Mearls is a writer and designer of fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) and related fiction.
Education
Mearls is an alumnus of Dartmouth College. While at Dartmouth he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity, and became known for a satiric letter to the campus paper.
Career
Mearls wrote the adventure To Stand on Hallowed Ground/Swords Against Deception (2001) for Fiery Dragon Productions:226 and the last product from Hogshead Publishing, a Warhammer adventure titled Fear the Worst (2002) that Hogshead released for free on the internet.:307 He also designed the game Iron Heroes (2005) for Malhavoc Press.:226
In June 2005, Mearls was hired as a designer by Wizards of the Coast; he came to Wizards through the community of third-party d20 designers.:301 At Wizards, he served as a lead developer for Dungeons & Dragons R&D working on the new 4th Edition. Between the "Orcus I" and "Orcus II" design phases for fourth edition, Mearls spliced 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.:298
Along with Andy Collins, David Noonan, and Jesse Decker, Mearls was part of Rob Heinsoo's "Flywheel" design team for the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, and did the final concept work from May 2006 to September 2006, before the first books for the edition were written and playtested.:297 After Heinsoo was laid off in 2009, Mearls stepped up to become the new D&D Lead Designer.:301 He co-designed the Castle Ravenloft Board Game (2010) with Bill Slavicsek.:302
Personal
On July 23, 2014, Mearls announced on Twitter that he and his wife are expecting their first child.
Writing credits
- Iron Heroes role playing game.
- "The Siege of Durgham's Folly," from Necromancer Games
- Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Player's Handbook II
- Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Monster Manual
- Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Keep on the Shadowfell, Adventure Book
- Playtest: New Hybrid and Multiclass Options, Dragon magazine #400
- Dragon magazine #360
- Crawford, Jeremy; Mearls, Mike; Wyatt, James. "Contents". Player's Handbook 2. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
- Mearls, Mike. "Playtest: New Hybrid and Multiclass Options". Dragon magazine #400. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- Mearls, Mike (2007-09-21). "Encounter Design in 4th Edition". Dragon magazine #360. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 2012-08-23.