A chronological listing of every post The Angry GM has ever… posted.
Improvisation is the single most important thing that can utterly ruin your game if you f$&% it up. It’s also widely considered to be unteachable by f$&%ing sissies who are afraid of working at things. Not me. Let’s embark on a series to teach you how to improvise, why it’s important, and why you shouldn’t.
Have you ever wondered why players let their characters die? And why every fight must be a fight to the death? Its because hit points are stupid and people don’t die at 0 HP anymore. But don’t worry. I fixed it.
Pacing: it’s one of those words that everyone thinks they know. And they don’t. Let’s talk about Pacing, Flow, and how to build a good pace into your adventure.
Is darkvision overpowered? Underpowered? How are races even balanced? And what the hell is Al actually TRYING to ask me?
Lots of things piss me off. But one thing pisses me off more than any other for the purposes of this article: when people ask me how to punish PC death. Isn’t death punishment enough? Why do GMs have such a hard time dealing with death?
Tabula rasa is the philosophical belief that every player enters your game stupid. And if you don’t want them to stay that way, you’d better learn how to use your scene-building knowledge to manage information.
Mazes suck in D&D. They just do. But you can’t say a thing like that and NOT have some f$&%er demand you explain how to make them not suck. Fine. Let’s take the suck out of “mazes suck.”
What do you do when you make a mistake? How do you fix it? Should you fix it? How responsible are you, really, for protecting the PCs from the world?
Let’s travel back to a bygone era when the modems were measured in bauds and the online role-playing games didn’t have any graphics and discover how old The Angry GM actually is and how much of a massive nerd he is. Oh, we’ll also learn the basics of designing RPG scenes.
Every creator eventually has some dips$&% ask them “where do you get your ideas?” It’s a stupid question. And it’s the reason more people aren’t creators. Do you want to know where I get my ideas? I make them! From my brain!
In this Ask Angry, I explain what it means to be a critical gamer, how I can recommend a system I don’t like, and why I am so damned critical of Fate.
Every adventure needs a beginning. Yeah, I know, it’s exactly that kind of brilliant insight you can’t get anywhere else. So, let’s talk about opening scenes.
We’re doing a double feature today. Yes, that’s right, I’m solving TWO dilemmas. It’s An Angry GM Double Problem Episode. An Angry DP. How do you learn a new system and who owns the rules?
“Angry,” they say, “why don’t you show us your game notes! Angry, teach us how to prep. Show us the way.” I CAN’T DO THAT! STOP ASKING!
Have you ever had a player declare an action only to have another player try to stop them by force? GMs HATE the phrase “no, wait, I stop him from doing that.” How do you handle it? Let me tell you.
A long, long time ago, I promised to teach you a cool, simple system for designing and running social interaction encounters. Well, today’s the day. And it’s only a few years late!
Leo G. asks a question about what information to hand your players at the start of a new campaign. And he asks it in an absolutely perfect f$&%ing way. I seriously could not ignore this question.
Branching adventures are the most common types of adventures. And that’s good, because they are often the BEST adventures. Let me teach you how to do them right. As a bonus, I’ll empower you with bottlenecks and ballooning pyramids. Just don’t think about trees.
How do you create shops in D&D? How do you handle the buying and selling of magic items? Thanks to a question from a Care Bear, you can find out.
Traps suck in D&D. They just do. Which is a shame, because everyone feels like they have to use them. So, if you must have traps, here’s how to make them suck less. BONUS: As a result of a poop, you also get a proposed experimental way to change the rules.
Open adventures are woefully misunderstood. Many GMs think they are a panacea for all of your gaming ills. But they aren’t a balm for everything, they require careful implementation, and they aren’t an excuse to skip having a structure.
Do you have a little voice in the back of your head saying “okay, playing these RPG things is fun and all, but I really want the screen. I want to run games. How do I run games?” Well, this article is for you. This is how to give yourself the best chance to succeed at running your first session of D&D or Pathfinder or Star Wars or whatever.
Linear adventures are woefully misunderstood. They seem simple to design, but they aren’t. And they seem like they should suck, but they don’t. Stop calling them simple. Stop calling them railroady. Maybe YOU’RE simple and railroady!
Why is a short rest one hour long? Can you change that? Can you change the resting rules to change the structure of the game? What other stupid questions can I can answer about resting mechanics in D&D.
Bonus content: an extra Ask Angry! I consider what books and video games can teach GMs, whether Death Spiral mechanics are any fun, and why you should worry about game balance, but not too much.
Alignment doesn’t exist in 5E. It’s vestigial. Practically non-existent. And yet, it’s still there. Why? Because the designers couldn’t take a firm stand on anything. But YOU can. If you hate alignment, get rid of it. It’s easy. But if you LOVE alignment, you can actually make it useful.
In this week’s Ask Angry, I blitz through three different questions in a desperate attempt to work through the backlog. Is it okay to change plot twists if your players figure things out too early? Can you use the Dungeon World die rolling mechanic in D&D? Is reskinning really that bad?
Want to run a fast-paced, exciting combat? It comes down to two things. First, learn how to track initiative. Second, learn about dolphins. Yeah, you heard me.
No one will ever let me actually throw away a “throwaway” remark, will they. Fine, I’ll explain why I once said that damage rolls are weirdly out of place in D&D.
Did you know adventures come in different shapes? It’s true! And, if you’re going to make your own adventures, you’ve got to get them in shape!