Why Am I Here? And Why Are You?

Thanks to a courageous remark by a Frienemy in my Discord server, I finally have my New Year’s Post. And to show my respect and gratitude, I shall now proceed to piss all over that remark.

How is an Orc Different from a Devil

Thanks to Frienemy-for-Life Mendel, I get to cancel myself by talking about what “always evil” means, how it’s different for orcs and devils, and why both are good for the game. Whee!

G N S… P?

All I wanted to do was clarify myself. I didn’t mean to end up rambling about what playstyles mean and where they come from and whether it’s time to add another letter to our favorite playstyle acronym.

Shallow Kombat!

“Angry,” everyone keeps asking me, “how can I fix D&D’s shallow-seeming, boring combat?” Well, here’s your answer: “You can’t! But maybe you shouldn’t!”

Illusions are Bullshit… But Actually They’re Not

Sometimes, all it takes is one remark to set me off. And this time, I saw one remark about how to handle illusions. I didn’t read the actual remark or the hours of discussion around it, but I have opinions nonetheless.

Professor Angry’s Office Hours: How Players Play

Put your books and syllabusi away, kids. We need to settle some things before we go any further. It’s time you either believe me or you get out. Because you can’t run an NPC if you don’t believe everything I’ve said so far. And you can run social and stealth scenes without NPCs.

… and Scene

Now that I’ve explained Macrochallenges — whether you understood them or not — I can finally defend a choice I made years ago that many of you still haven’t forgiving: why I stopped calling Non-Encounters Scenes.

Ask Angry June 2023 Mailbag

It’s time once again to dig into the well of stupid that never runs dry. Yes, it’s mailbag time again.

Stop Hacking… Mic Drop

In today’s ranty bullshit screed, I declare myself the winner of three different arguments about Hacking.

Oh, No! More Macrochallenge Bullshit

I really effed up that Attrition Macrochallenge thing, didn’t I? Don’t think so? Well, all the questions and comments I’m dealing with certainly say I did. So let me try that shit again.

Maybe You Just Don’t GET Attrition

It’s Random Bullshit time. Today, I’m bullshitting about challenge, difficulty, stupid game masters, and why attrition is the most brilliant mechanic ever invented.

Definitely Not the Last Word on Dice Swing

Ever since I dropped a side remark about how the swinginess of the d20 was a bullshit nonissue, I’ve heard from literally severals of people asking me to expand. So I expanded. Holy crap did I ever expand.

What Does Detect Magic Detect?

Just a little digression about magic: detecting it, identifying it, and why D&D’s answers to what can be detected are stupid as hell.

The Joy of Secrets

You know what players love? Discovering secrets. You know what GMs and game designers hate? Players discovering secrets. That’s kind of messed up; don’t you think?

The Best and Worst of D&D 3.5

I ain’t a reviewer or a critic. I don’t trash things for easy laughs. I don’t do tier rankings. And I don’t do clickbait lists. In that spirit, he’s my list of the Five Best and Five Worth Things About D&D 3.5.

Fumble Beats Crit

Hot take: fumble mechanics are more valuable than crit mechanics. In fact, crits are only valuable if the monsters are rolling them. But I’m only proving one of those things today.

What Examples Can’t Show and Designers Don’t Know

When it comes to explaining roleplaying games, there’s a giant, glaring question no one seems to be able to sufficiently and properly answer. And that is: just what the hell does it mean to be a Game Master. And really, that’s the first question anyone must answer before they can teach anyone else how to run games.

We Don’t Need Failure States After All

There’s this discussion that happens anytime anyone brings up death, failure, and loss in RPGs online. About how RPG systems should be better at handling failure because it’s so vital in RPGs. And that discussion… is wrong.

Presentation Matters

Let’s complain about a how a twelve-year-old game’s brilliant ideas were marred by the language used to communicate them. Because that’s a GOOD use of my time.

What Training Looks Like and Why It Matters

One of the most important Townbuilding tools, believe it or not, has to do with Training. And that’s why it’s such a problem that no one knows what PC Training looks like.

Supplemental Bulls$%&: The Time Between Adventures

I designed this thing I’m calling Town Mode so the stuff the players do in Town actually matters. And so that there’s a game to play in Town. But if you don’t know how to handle the time between adventures, it won’t work for you.

Tarot for GMing Dummies

Once upon a time, I said that not only did I once learn to read the Tarot as a hobby, but that it made me a better GM. And for that reason, I said you should learn to read the Tarot. Well, you demanded I explain myself. So here I am.

The Game Designer and the Clown

This is a load of bulls$&% about two issues, two games, and two GMs. And why I’m the greatest GM at my table, no matter who is at my table. And why you should be too.