Mike Mearls

The man himself. Note: does not actually have a light fixture sticking out of the back of his head.

A designer for Wizards of the Coast who became lead developer for Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition in 2009 and co-designer of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, before Monte Cook quit due to "personal differences" stating "I want to take this time to stress that my differences were not with my fellow designers, Rob Schwalb and Bruce Cordell. I enjoyed every moment of working with them over the past year. I have faith that they'll create a fun game. I'm rooting for them." The community noticed the omission of Mike Meals in this statement and assumed this was due to the rumored friction that resulted in Cook's departure. Fans disagree on whom was at fault in the apparent disagreements between the two, but Mearls' recent move from lead developer on 4th Edition to co-designer in 5th Edition suggests senior members like Chris Perkins saw decisions made by Mearls during 4th edition as a detriment to the game. Recent comments by Mearls suggesting the removal of mechanics like bonus actions and the resulting negative reactions by fans would seem to suggest this was the right decision, as the general consensus that removing such a key component of the game would break many of the classes who rely on it. This has nevertheless not stopped Wizards of the Coast from granting Mearls leadership on projects such as the recent "Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica", no doubt to keep him busy while members like Perkins do the real work to take D&D to new heights.

Politics aside most would say he is batting .500 as 4e is rightly regarded as a mistake and 5e appears to have achieved tentative acceptance by fans. He made a deal with Tzeentch to create the "Essentials" line. He was also the lead designer of "Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica" which, in what appears to be a theme for his work, produced a roughly 50/50 split of acceptance among fans since he appeared to be making a second attempt at associating D&D with a card game, the first time being 4th edition.

What he claims is his design philosophy is inspired by the first few editions of the game, which found expression through 5e's many "throwback" game mechanics, and the "Essentials" line's pared-down design. He's also been writing the Unearthed Arcana articles on the official website, offering new game mechanics and ideas from various sources to be play-tested, plus discussions regarding the results of the official monthly surveys, framing him as the friendly face of 5e, despite the rumored drama with other members like Monte Cook behind the scenes. Mearls also seems to have a firm grip on the operation of the Dungeons and Dragons Adventurers' league. Recent changes to the rules had a mixed reception since many of the changes seemed to double down on what typical players already disliked about organized play. The changes in general seemed aimed at players and DM's who would abuse the league's honor system as well as dropping in on specific modules only to take story-critical items with them and leave the group. While the changes had honorable intentions, when league players and Dm's offered input, Mearls refused to budge of the strictness and tediousness of the new rules.