Minimum Necessary Boredom
Playing RPGs is exciting. Being creative is exciting. You know what isn’t exciting? Absorbing information someone else created. That sucks.
Setting Your Campaign Up to Succeed
It’s time to finally talk about world building and setting creation. Which means it’s time for the obligatory, overly long semantically discussion about the definition of the thing I’m talking about. Enjoy.
Conflicted Beliefs: Fluffy Story Bulls$&%
You asked for it. You wanted the fluffy, story bulls$&% to go along with the useful, systematic mythology-building thing I already posted. Here it is.
Angry Maguire’s Angry Manifesto
The Angry GM: The Website: The Book: The Kickstarter was a rousing success. And so, before I’ve even finished printing and mailing out the book, people are already asking me about The Angry RPG? Well, I’m not ready to design that thing yet. But I am ready to talk about why you need The Angry RPG in your life. Mainly by claiming to be smarter than everyone else in the industry.
Conflicted Beliefs: Building a Perfect Five God Mythology for D&D
A well-build mythology can drive stories and create a fantastic world. Unfortunately, D&D doesn’t provide such a mythology. But you can make your own if you understand thematic conflict.
An Angry Guide to Practical Cartography
People keep asking me how to draw good maps. Well, I can’t teach you how to draw pretty maps, but I can teach you how to draw useful maps. The trick is to stop trying to draw maps and start presenting information instead.
The Angry GM on Table Top Babble
James Introcaso of Don’t Split the Podcast Network invited me to talk with him on his show, Table Top Babble. You should listen to the podcast. And then check out James’ other stuff too.
Ideological Wars: Themes, Conflict, and RPG Settings
You can get a lot of mileage out of themes. Especially when you set up some thematic conflicts. You just have to know what themes are and how to set up their conflicts. And why “good versus evil” doesn’t count as a conflict.
Narrative Structure for Advanced Morons
Having developed a nice list of story turning points in previous articles, it’s time to turn our attention to Joseph Campbell’s monomyth and see what additional turning points he’s got to offer. And to see if there’s anything MORE IMPORTANT people overlook when talking about Campbell. Hint: there is.
The Big, June, Pre-Kickstarter Update: What to Expect at TheAngryGM.com This Month
There’s just one week until the Angry Book goes live on Kickstarter. Here’s what to expect in terms of my normal content release before, during, and immediately after the Kickstarter.
Fanservice BS: Dungeoneering in the Great Outdoors
This month’s Fanservice BS is all about how to build a wilderness dungeon. And the answer is as disappointing as the topic.
Narrative Structure for REAL Morons
This article EVENTUALLY builds a basic narrative structure for gamers. But first, it has to spend a time on some remedial lessons. Apparently, some things didn’t sink in the first time I discussed narrative structure.
The Angry GM: The Website: The Book is Coming
The Angry GM: The Website: The Book is coming! And you can stay abreast on all of the latest developments. Here’s how…
Narrative Structure for Morons
The only thing worse than a GM with no sense of narrative structure is one who just learned some new form of narrative structure in school. This is an open letter to GMs obsessed with the three-act structure, the five-room dungeon, and Joseph Motherf$%&ing Campbell to PLEASE STOP E-MAILING ME.
Parfaits Ain’t Easy: Peeling the Onion Campaigns
Mysteries are like pancakes: solving one is satisfying, but solving a whole stack is even better. But when it comes to stacking mysteries into a delicious mystery campaign, it’s easy to f$&% it up.
Ask Angry: Splitting Parties and Seeking Feedback
RladalFatih asks about how to handle split parties. And Linus and the site’s own editor Hasse the Heretic both ask about feedback.
Game Masterhood
Does becoming a GM change you? That simple question consumed my weekend, filled it with Twitter drama, and saved me from listening to someone tell me about their game in a coffee shop. Unfortunately, it also kept me from thinking of anything better to write an article about. Sorry.
Ask Angry: Please, Write a Book Already! (OK, I Will)
There’s one question I hear more than any other: when are you going to write a book, Angry? Well, the answer is: June, now shut up and let me write!
Fanservice BS: Low Magic, No Problem. Oh, Wait, Problem
This month’s Fanservice BS is about how it’s possible to run a low magic campaign in D&D. What what that even means. And why you would want to do it. And why you probably can’t.
Ask Angry: Charging XP for Rests and Magic Item that Level
NanbanJim asks if charging XP for long rests would fix the 15-minute workday and Giiuy asks about magic magic items that gain levels.
Ask Angry: A Twofer For David
David asks for examples of bad habits that need to be broken and then asks about two different criteria for deciding what gets die rolls.
Don’t Bring Me Solutions, Bring Me Problems
There’s a difference between a puzzle and a problem. And most GMs don’t understand the difference. That’s a shame because most GMs who think they want puzzles in their game actually want problems. And problems work better.
Ask Angry: The Xenosis
How do you create a cat-and-mouse horror experience in a table-top RPG with a too-powerful antagonist? You Ask Angry. That’s how.
All Aboard the Plot Train
If you can believe it, someone actually had the nerve to demand a birthday article. About railroading. What is railroading and when should a GM worry about it? Well, it isn’t anything and a GM shouldn’t. And here’s 4,000 words spelling that out. Happy birthday, 25-Year-Old GM
Puzzles Suck
I’m sick of dealing with questions about how to implement puzzles properly from GMs who insist that puzzles just suck. So, it’s time for me to act. By writing 5,000 words about it and then walking away.
Ask Angry: Advantage Stacking and First-Time Campaign Building
Justin asks why advantage doesn’t stack in D&D 5E and what would happen if it did? And Tristan wants to know when a new GM is ready to run their first homebrew campaign.
Fanservice BS: Dwarven Bear Cavalry… Yes, Really
In this month’s installment of Fanservice BS, I’m going to address the stupid idea of dwarven bear cavalry. And hopefully my Patrons will learn an important lesson about the topics they propose for this column.
Fanservice BS: How to be Wrong as a GM (And as a Patron)
In this month’s Fanservice BS, I address how to be wrong as a GM. And how to handle being wrong. It’s basically two articles in one. Because my Patrons SUCK at picking topics.
These Are the Voyages: Adventure of the Week Campaigns
Sometimes, you just get tired of taking notes and you just want to show up and have a fun adventure. And then another. And another. Enter: The Adventure of the Week Campaign. Which has nothing to do with meatballs. Except when it does.
Fix Yourself, Break the Game: Character Arcs in D&D
Character arcs are really awesome things that movies just don’t believe in anymore. But I sure as hell do. And you should to. And you should want them in your D&D game. Let me tell you how to get them.