Jeremy Crawford

Jeremy Crawford is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. He worked for Wizards of the Coast from 2007 to 2025 on the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. He was the Lead Rules Designer for the game's 4th edition, and one of the Lead Designers of the game's 5th Edition. In 2025, he became the Game Director of Darrington Press.

Career

Green Ronin Publishing (2005–2007) Jeremy Crawford co-designed and edited the Blue Rose (2005) role-playing game along with Steve Kenson for Green Ronin Publishing. Blue Rose won the 2005 ENnie Awards for "Best Rules" and "Best d20 Game". Crawford is credited on the updated edition of Blue Rose (2017) as it carried forward parts of the setting design from the original edition. He also worked on the second edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Mutants & Masterminds.

Wizards of the Coast (2007–2025) He was hired by Wizards of the Coast in 2007 as a game designer for their flagship Dungeons & Dragons product. His Dungeons & Dragons design credits include Player's Handbook 2 (2009), Dungeon Master's Kit (2010), and Heroes of the Fallen Lands (2010).

He was the rules manager for the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Development on a new edition started in 2011 and Crawford became the Co-Lead Designer, along with Mike Mearls, of the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Crawford also became the lead rules developer and managing editor of the edition. Under Crawford and Mearls, there became a concerted effort to boost inclusiveness both in the game and in the development of the game. The 5th Edition version of the game credits women as contributors to its design more than any previous one: about 26 percent are female, as opposed to 20 percent in 4th Edition and 12 percent in 3rd Edition. The Mary Sue reported that under this new direction, 40% of Dungeons & Dragons players in 2018 are women which is an increase "from 2012, when women made up 20–25% of players". He is credited as one of the authors of the Player's Handbook for the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, along with several other books in the edition. He also wrote the monthly "Sage Advice" newsletter.

In December 2018, Crawford took over as the Dungeon Master for Dungeons & Dragons actual play series Acquisitions Incorporated, which was previously helmed by colleague Chris Perkins.

In 2024, he became the Game Director of Dungeons & Dragons. He was the lead designer on the Player's Handbook (2024) which was part of the 2024 revision to the 5th Edition ruleset. Crawford won the Gayming Icon Award for his Dungeons & Dragons game design in 2024.

Darrington Press (2025–present) In June 2025, it was announced that both Crawford and Chris Perkins would be joining Critical Role Productions tabletop game imprint Darrington Press. Crawford became the company's Game Director while Perkins became the Creative Director which matches their former roles at Wizards of the Coast. Crawford explained that "Chris and I talked about his retirement plan for years, so his approaching departure was long on my mind" along with the release of the 2024 revised Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks led him to feel "it was time to explore a new chapter for myself". In July 2025, Darrington Press announced that Crawford will be creating a setting exploring a new genre for their tabletop role-playing game Daggerheart.

In November 2025 at PAX Unplugged, actual play series Acquisitions Incorporated rebooted using the Daggerheart system, with Crawford continuing as its gamemaster.

Personal life Crawford is gay, and married his husband Phillip Lienau in 2014.

Works