D&D’s former co-lead admits the game is still broken for high-level play

Mike Mearls is the controversial former co-lead for D&D 5e and former Creative Director for D&D. He left Wizards of the Coast in 2023.

In a conversation on X/Twitter, Mearls admitted that high-level play still does not work.

The game designer, who is working on his own edit of D&D, got involved in a strange conversation about whether the TTRPG was ever tested to see if it suited a group exclusively composed of high-level and armoured spellcasters.

It hadn’t been, which may or may not surprise you.

What’s more surprising is that Mike Mearls said that D&D still doesn’t work for high-level play. High-level play might vary from group to group, but the core rules run from level 1 to level 20, and for many, a high level is anything above the midway point.

Creative Commons image credit: Verunoska The Archmage by Somat.