What the Hell is Scenario Design Anyway?
The Scenario Design cat is out of the bag and clawing up the furniture. Which means it’s time for a real True Scenario Designery introduction. And this is it.
An Ask Angry Very Special Episode: Rules For Thee But Not For Me
“If the players can do it, so can the monsters.” Is that really true? Is it good Game Mastering? Good Game Design? Spoiler: No.
Just Design a Good Game
I’ve made a terrible decision. But I can’t tell you what it is until I defend my stance on worlds that level with the characters and get you to sing the game design anthem with me.
Is Game Balance Worth a Damn?
Someone once asked me, “Is game balance worth a damn?” I don’t remember who or why or when, but I remember the question. And now I’m gonna rant an answer.
True Meeting Hostery
True Campaign Managery lesson time! Again. In this lesson, I’m going to teach all y’all how to host a meeting. Any meeting at all. Including game sessions. Which are meetings.
Professor Angry’s Office Hours: On Being True
In the second of two office-hours discussions, I rant about what it means to actually exercise good judgment and how it’s got nothing to do with building checklists or worrying about hypotheticals.
Professor Angry’s Office Hours: I Actually Do Respect People’s Boundaries
We need to have a frank, open, and difficult discussions about why I keep calling Game Consent Surveys horseshit. Or rather, I need to explain and you need to shut up and listen.
To Session Zero or Not to Session Zero
In this True Campaign Managery lesson, I explore the idea of a Session Zero and whether it’s worth hosting one? Spoiler alert: usually no.
Ask Angry April 2024 Mailbag
To celebrate my emerging from the disaster that resulting from letting my supporters pick the topic, I’m going to answer a bunch of questions sent in by readers. There’s no way that can go wrong.
Character Arcs for Reals
To bring the Character Arc-Pocalypse to a close, today I’m writing about Character Arcs. For real this time.
The Personal Character Quest Plus One Campaign
Let’s keep the Not-Character-Arc Momentum going. Here’s my super secret recipe for executing an absolutely terrible Personal Character Quest Campaign in the least terrible way possible.
You Meant to Ask About Personal Character Quests
This isn’t a Feature about incorporating Character Arcs into tabletop roleplaying games. That would be interesting. This is a boring-ass Feature about players picking their own stupid character quests. Which is a terrible idea.
Envisioning a Campaign
Now that you’ve decided to start a campaign and ignore your players’ input — you master of selfishness you — it’s time to start having visions.
But I Digress… Structure
Time for a little digression on the three kinds of Structure. Just don’t expect a useful lesson.
Game First or Group First
You can’t run a campaign without starting a campaign. And you can’t start a campaign without making ten thousand choices. And of all those choices, it’s the second one that’ll get you.
Actually… Players Don’t Suck at Tracking Inventory
In the first in an official series of supporter-requested Features, I’ll tell you why your players don’t suck at tracking inventory and how to fix that.
A Campaign Manager’s Guide to Selfishness
You can’t manage a social gaming club that provides your friends with hours of fun unless you’re willing to be a selfish prick. Trust me; if there’s one thing I know, it’s being a selfish prick.
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!
Ask Angry January 2024 Mailbag
I warned you that I’d be putting this column on hold, but you all didn’t listen. You kept e-mailing me. Fortunately, I lied. So it’s Mailbag time.
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.
Ask Angry December 2023 Mailbag
I took a break from my holiday travels to answer some reader-submitted questions. Merry Christmas.
Why You Can’t Interrupt Your Players
In another article I absolutely don’t want to write, I explain why not being able to boss your players around isn’t a lack of Game Mastering skill, it’s a personality defect. That should go over big.
Tactical Infiltration Action
It’s time for the long, lost, missing Encounter resolution lesson: how to resolve stealth actions and infiltration scenes. And after you read it, you’ll totally understand why I tried to cut it from the roster. Dumbasses.
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!”
Ask Angry November 2023 Mailbag
Another month is over. And as I look to the fresh hell of yet another new page on the calendar, I consign myself to the stale hell of responding to reader-submitted questions.
Note Taking for Gaming Fun and Profit
After many long years of refusing, I’m finally revealing the truth: just how do you take good game session notes. The answer isn’t what you think and you’re not going to like it. Which is pretty much standard for me.
How to Teach An Old GM a New System
Experienced Game Master suck at learning new TTRPG systems. But then, game publishers suck at teaching new TTRPG systems. It’s a match made in hell. Fortunately, Angry is here to help.
True Campaign Managery Course Introduction and Outline
With this new, ongoing series of lessons, I — the Angry GM — intend to teach you everything you need to know to keep a Campaign alive until you grant it the sweet mercy of death.
Ask Angry October 2023 Mailbag
Another month, another monthly Ask Angry mailbag, and another batch of people who can’t just ask a simple, straightforward question without treating me like a moron.