Shawn Merwin Joins D&D Team as Contract Designer

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The past few weeks have seen one of the biggest transformations of the Dungeons & Dragons design team in recent memory, with Wizards of the Coast hiring a slew of creators that includes Erin Roberts, Leon Barillaro, James Haeck and Taylor Navarro. Now, the D&D team has brought on one additional hire in the form of veteran TTRPG designer Shawn Merwin, who will be working in a contract capacity.

Merwin is easily the most experienced out of all the recent hires, having been in the TTRPG industry for almost 20 years. He’s also worked extensively with Wizards of the Coast in the past, including co-authoring the 2019 Acquisitions Incorporated D&D 5e supplement and designing the Peril in Pinebrook adventure.

So just what will Merwin be bringing to the table? Below, we take a closer at all the details.

Who is Shawn Merwin?

Shawn Merwin is a veteran tabletop RPG designer, writer and editor best. He has contributed to multiple editions of D&D, including the 3rd, 4th and 5th Editions, and has been involved in both adventure design and broader game development. Merwin also played a significant role in organized play programs such as Living Greyhawk, Living Forgotten Realms and the D&D Adventurers League.

Beyond Wizards of the Coast, Merwin has worked with a range of RPG publishers and has held senior creative roles, including leadership and editorial positions at Ghostfire Gaming. He is also known within the RPG community as a host on both the Eldritch Lorecast and Mastering Dungeons podcasts (the latter of which is co-hosted by Teos Abadía, whom Merwin also collaborated with on Acquisitions Inocorporated).

Merwin also has an MFA in Creative Writing and is an Adjunct Lecturer a the State University of New York at Fredonia where he teaches courses on writing and game design.

What D&D products will Merwin be working On?

Merwin revealed the news of his new position on a recent episode of the Ghostfire Gaming’s Eldritch Lorecast noting: “I was not hired by Wizards of the Coast. I was contracted to be a game designer, so I am doing work for them and it’s very exciting. I’m more and more like a Warlock of the Coast, because I only have two spell slots and I have made a deal with some strange and wonderful entity. But yeah ,very excited to be working on a lot of different projects going forward.””

He later elaborated on a recent episode of the Mastering Dungeons podcast noting that “It’s a year long position, not a full time position, which means I can continue to do podcasts. I can continue to do freelancing elsewhere if I can make sure I fulfill all my commitments for Wizards.” He also mentioned that while he will still be working with Ghostfire Gaming, he will be stepping down as a full-time Managing Editor with them in order to focus on his new role with D&D.

Notably, Wizards of the Coast has not announced any upcoming D&D books for 2026, although there are rumors of a new Dark Sun book and Ravenloft supplement, both of which would likely benefit from Merwin’s extensive background and expertise.

Final Thoughts

The hiring of Shawn Merwin seems like an incredibly smart move on Wizards of the Coast’s part, especially as the company struggles to fill a creative vacuum left by the departure of senior designers Chris Perkins & Jeremy Crawford.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on this story in the days ahead and will update this page with new information as it’s made available.