How to Homebrew: Clickbait Worldbuilding

The biggest obstacle to starting a homebrew campaign is having to build a world. And the biggest obstacle to running a good game is actually building the world. You’re better off just not worldbuilding.

The Great Magic Item Analysis: How to Price an Item

It’s time for the AngryCraft Great Magic Item Analysis. Well, it’s time for the first part. The boring one with all the math. But, when it’s done, we’ll know exactly how to set a magic item’s price.

The Whatever Stat

Systems and rules are nice, but tools are better. So here’s a simple tool that you can use to do whatever you need to do. Really.

Designing with a Strong D (And Also the Return of Crafting)

Most amateur and professional game designs try to jump from the feeling they want something to evoke right into mechanical game design. And that’s a mistake. Because, to design a good system, you need a big, strong D. As the Angry GM demonstrates by talking about the return of his magic item crafting system!

How to Run a Biblical Campaign

A campaign bible is a powerful tool any GM can use to run a better campaign. As long as they don’t f$%& it up by trying to do it right.

The Rest of the World of D&D According to Rosewater… According to Angry

Remember last year when I decided to apply Mark Rosewater’s definition of what makes a game a game to D&D? And I got halfway through and then collapsed into a full-bore rant about D&D’s design? Well, I’m back to provide the other half and then collapse into another full-bore rant. Wheeee!

The Lore of the Angryverse: Undead

Whenever I even hint at the idea that there’s some specific pile of setting lore that governs everything I do in my home games, I get lots of people demanding I share it all. And publish a campaign setting book about it immediately. Well, that ain’t going to happen. But if I ever did, this is what the part about Undead would look like.

How to F$%& CR: A Practical Example of Monster Building the Angry Way

Weeks ago, I told you to f$&% CR and build monsters and encounters the better way. And I confused a lot of people and even made a few people angry. So, here’s a quick and dirty example of how to build a simple monster – two different ways – that should dispel the confusion. But it won’t make the angry people less angry. Not that I care. F$&% ’em.

Out With the Old? In With the New?

I wish people would stop asking me how “the Angry RPG” is going to handle ability scores or feats or initiative or whatever. Not because I don’t want to tell people about “the Angry RPG,” but because those words don’t mean anything.

Angry’s Amazing Adventure Templates

How much stuff should an adventure have? How many encounters? How many goals? How long should an adventure take to play? Is there a simple template you can build an adventure around? Yes. Yes there is. Because I wrote one.

Fighting With Your Voice (Part 1… Maybe?)

I hate when people misuse my teachings to ruin things. Like maps. It’s okay to have nice maps. Even if you’re a mapaholic. But you should know how not to use a map. Especially in combat. You need to learn how to run a battle without a grid.

The Angry GM’s GameholeCon Seminars

A couple of weeks ago, I delivered a pair of seminars at GameholeCon VII in Madison, Wisconsin. And I recorded the things so I could eventually get them posted over on YouTube on a brand new Angry Games YouTube channel. Which I have now more or less done. Actually less. There were some issues.

Lost Player Skills: Calling

Maybe this is just me being an angry, 40-something, gen x grognard, but gamers today have lost touch with some essential skills. Skills that those fancy core books USED TO teach you. Like mapping. And calling. Which is what this one is about: calling.

Lost Player Skills: Mapping

Maybe this is just me being an angry, 40-something, gen x grognard, but gamers today have lost touch with some essential skills. Skills that those fancy core books USED TO teach you. Like mapping. And calling. But this one’s about mapping.

Maps: What’s On Your Table?

A lot of people have been asking me how to use maps at their realspace, physical gaming table. Especially if they aren’t independently wealthy DIY gadget heads. The problem is, modern modules and virtual tabletops have confused everyone about the use about maps in games. Fortunately, I’m too old to know about that crap, so I’ll show you how maps are really done.

Appendix: Break Your Mapaholism

Bonus content! After I spent over 5,000 words telling you how to use maps at your game table in a practical, useful way, I’m going to spend 2,800 words telling you how NOT to use maps at your table. And why NOT.

Ask Angry: A Strange Labyrinth Full of Things

In this installment of the increasingly sporadic Ask Angry series, someone asks me how to build a transforming dungeon based on a five minute cold open to a TV show that’s been turned into a half-assed licensed product by everyone’s favor half-assers: Wizards of the Coast. And, as usual, I finished assing it for them. It is fully assed.

The Angry GM on Investigation Check

I did an interview for the Investigation Check podcast! Check it out. And look for upcoming livestream content and new articles next week after I’ve recovered from Gamehole Con.

Talk is Cheap; So is Thought

I have a rule against ranting about my players on my site. But that doesn’t mean I can’t use them as an example when they do the same thing that literally everyone else in the world does and I want to rant about everyone. At least I hope that’s how it works. At least, I hope my players don’t read this.

F$&% CR, There’s a Better Way (Part 2)

You know what? I’m sick of dealing with all the overly complicated, overly precise mathematics of encounter and custom monster design in D&D 5E. So I’m going to design an easier way to handle all of this. Unfortunately, I have to rewrite the whole Monster Manual to do it.

F$&% CR, There’s a Better Way (Part 1)

You know what? I’m sick of dealing with all the overly complicated, overly precise mathematics of encounter and custom monster design in D&D 5E. So I’m going to design an easier way to handle all of this. I just hope I don’t have to rewrite the whole Monster Manual to do it.

What Makes Exploration Exploration?

Everyone wants exploration in their game and everyone tries to put it there, but almost no one gets it to feel right. Probably because no one can even define exploration. Until now.