The Angry Update: February 2023

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February 2, 2023

Crap! Time for another update already?

January was simultaneously the longest and shortest month ever here at Angry Games HQ. Thanks to WotC’s OGL Shitshow and my semi-unplanned — and definitely under-planned — trip to visit my folks in New York, I crammed four weeks of content into a week-and-a-half of work. And without a day to breathe, I’m staring down the barrel of a new month.

So, what should you expect from February? Let me tell you.

The OGL Wars are Over… For Now

Wizards of the Coast started the year by declaring war on the Open Gaming License, all D&D content creators ever, and most of the publishers in the RPG space; kind of a dumbass move. And that war was all we talked about for a month. But, on January 27, General D.D. Beyond surrendered on behalf of his liege-lords of the Coast. Apparently unconditionally.

You can read the official statement at D&D Beyond. And that’s the best place to get further updates too. What you cannot do is discuss it here in my comment section. I’m sick of this crap and this update ain’t about the assholes at WotC; it’s about this asshole right here.

The New New Plan; Same as the Old New Play (Mostly)

In December of 2022, I came up with a brilliant, exciting, year-long content plan to revitalize this here site, to get back to my roots, and to give you all more of what you want. Then the OGL wars broke out and 35 percent of that plan was one hundred percent FUBAR. And my existing content was seriously at risk. So, I made some back-end changes, gave away some paid content for free, and built a new plan. While also writing 20,000 words of the best content I’ve ever written.

Now that WotC has surrendered unconditionally and everyone’s bestest friends again, I can go back to the old plan, right?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No.

WotC has not surrendered anything they care about it. And Content Creators like me are still long-term screwed. We’ve got a stay of execution. That’s all. DBox One is going to be a walled garden and I’m willing to bet money no edition of D&D will ever fall under anything like an OGL ever again. In less than two years, everything 5E will be irrelevant and D&D 5E’s value to Content Creators will be all used up.

Every smart Content Creator should be using this time to pivot the hell away from D&D. Either that or save enough money in the next two years to retire.

So, what are my plans for the year given all of that?

The True Game Mastery Series

I just launched this advanced, basic GMing course that is either called Mastering Game Mastering or True Game Mastery depending on the week. And everyone loves it. Really everyone; not just two of you. And so, it ain’t going anywhere. It also ain’t going anywhere near Dungeons & Dragons. Fortunately, though it’s rooted in the fantasy adventure genre, there’s nothing especially D&D about it. So it’s easy for me to keep D&D out of it.

Angry Hacks

I promised I’d regularly publish new — and finished and polished — rules, systems, and mechanics regularly this year. Most of the hacks I’d planned were centered around building a solid Town Mode into D&D 5E. Obviously, the OGL crap scuttled that idea.

Well, I’m unscuttling it. Mostly.

Starting in February, I’ll release a new mechanical hack. Many of them will be D&D 5E specific. Especially the Town Mode stuff. But a few hacks — the best hacks — are gonna be system agnostic. And the centerpiece is the newly revised, finished, and polished Tension Pool™ system which comes later this month.

Why start by republishing something old? First, because it’s central to most of the other hacks I plan to share. And second, because later this year, Angry Games is launching the long-delayed Tension Dice™ Kickstarter. So, you know, look forward to that.

The Slapdash Engine

This one’s going to need some explainin’.

But not today.

To keep the long story nice and short for now, I’m working on a fantasy adventure RPG system. This ain’t the big one; it ain’t The Angry RPG. This is just a crunchy little side-project that’ll top out at 150 pages. I ain’t planning to print it or Kickstart it or anything. I’m just making it.

Frienemy Tier Site Supporters will get early access to Slapdash — and all its future updates — for free starting in April of this year. Tentatively. The rest of y’all will be able to get Slapdash in the Angry Games Store this fall. Tentatively.

I’ll talk more about this in due course. Especially with my Frienemies.

The February Content Calendar

But enough talk about big plans in broad strokes. Let’s get down to brass tacks. What’s coming this month?

Angry February 2023 Content Calendar

Production CodeTentative TitleEarly AccessGeneral Release
F0201Ask Angry MailbagFebruary 7, 2023February 14, 2023
F0202True Game Mastery:
The Declare, Determine, Describe Cycle
February 21, 2023February 28, 2023
F0203True Game Mastery:
Using Dice Right
February 23, 2008March 2, 2023
F0204Angry Hacks:
The Tension Pool
February 28, 2023March 7, 2023

Angry February 2023 Event Calender

Production CodeEventDateTime (EDT)
LC0223Angry's Mostly Monthly Live Chat: February 2023February 16, 20239:00 PM

Side Note: Comments

Last year, I consolidated all my work — all my articles, updates, and even the super-secret podcasts only Site Supporters know about — to this site, TheAngryGM.com. That moved improved my workflow, streamlined publication, and it got my work out from under the thumb of my third-party funding platforms. The only things I share on Patreon and SubscribeStar are links to my work here.

Some of y’all still insist on commenting on those platforms instead of leaving comments here. And all you’re doing is splitting discussion between multiple sites and making more work for me. If you want to comment on a post, please comment on the actual post hosted at TheAngryGM.com. Thank you.

Side Note: Site Rejiggering

This year’s basically The Angry New 52. I ain’t deleting any old content, but I’m making a new start. One that’s easy for new folks to get into. Pursuant to that, expect a couple of slight front-page redesigns to emphasize current content. Most of you won’t notice anything at all. But some of you will.

I know my archive is a mess. I know it’s hard to find old content. I know some old content has disappeared and some old podcasts never made their way to the new feeds. Unfortunately, I don’t have any plans to do anything about any of that. I’ve been writing content for twelve years. And for most of those years, I had no idea where all this was gonna go. Hell, I only got into the crowdfunding thing six years ago.

The problem is, reorganizing the old content and redesigning the archive would be a massive undertaking. One that would suck up a lot of time and energy. And that time and energy is much better spent on new content and new projects.


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11 thoughts on “The Angry Update: February 2023

  1. I like very much that Slapdash thing. I see it as a SMAFARGE warmup or training. I wonder if that “Fall of Silverpine Watch” would be easy to adapt to Slapdash system.

    I quite disliked 5e (learnt it to run FoSW, twice), I didn’t expected such a bad feeling about GMing the famous D&D system. But I’m just an old grognard.

    • I started using tension dice running g the actual tomb in Tomb of Annihilation. It was great. My players actually planned things based on how long it would take, and were genuinely scared of me rolling the dice. Good times.

  2. Brad Walker thought up a cunning plan to get around WotC and continue publishing old edition material, but it will be irrelevant if a good chunk of current TTRPG people switch over to whatever app-based nonsense is coming.

    As for me, I’m just gonna keep making stuff and selling it.

  3. Love what you’ve got planned for this year, Mastering Game Mastering (the objectively better title) is off to a rocking start, and very excited to see what you do with Slapdash!

    “the best hacks — are gonna be system agnostic” is music to my ears and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

  4. How do your comments about 5e specific hacks, and the upcoming end of 5e in general, connect to the Angry Crafting System? Do you still intend to publish it in due course, or is it now considered dead, at least in its 5e incarnation? (This isn’t meant as a question about when it will be published, just whether it’s still in the pipeline!)

  5. We got a lot of good content this month, thankyou.

    You made it clear it’s not worth the time/benefit to sort the archives. Maybe one small change might be worth it – upload dates/post dates added next to the title in both archives and search?

    Being a newer reader I’m still digging through the old stuff, it’s great.

  6. I know it’s a little late, but I was curious about what you are going to incorporate into your RPG. A couple of things I would like to see:
    – A new character creation design/progression. In your Best and Worst of 5e you mentioned disliking how PCs are like ‘glass cannons’ so to speak. I’ve always thought there was something a little off with that.
    – A armor progression system like your ‘Drowning in Armor systems.’ Additionally, I was curious about your opinion for expanding your weapons table to allow for more special weapons. Additionally, I believe +1/2/3 weapons/armor shouldn’t be magic items, but rather an upgraded version of said item, or whatever the equivalent of that is.
    – Your crafting system polished up. Perhaps you can incorporate upgrading weapons into this?
    – I also liked your herbalism concept, perhaps making that a thing?
    – Inspiration recasted, without advantage, but maybe with your ‘Let’s Fix Inspiration AGAIN! …But Not Really’. I think we should have inspiration, but in a way that is more balanced and makes more sense than advantage.
    – That brings me to advantage. Of course you’ll fix this, but of course you’ll figure out how to balance that mechanic.
    – Additionally, please fix the monsters, encounter building, and homebrew resources.
    – Your Modes of control rules or their counterparts, like wilderness rules. Obviously this doesn’t apply for everything.
    – I would be interested in reviving ZoC

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