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

[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  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.

[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.

[17][18][19] 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".