Is GMing like riding bike? How important is replayability in video games? Why do I hate gnomes? These aren’t exactly the questions people have asked, but these are the ones I ended up answering.

It’s time to clear out more of the massive backlog of Ask Angry questions. Today, I tell people how to pull off some interesting campaign ideas about aberrations and amnesiacs. And also we talk a lot about what makes horror horrible and why I hate Lovecraft.

Better late than never! It’s time for the third Ask Angry Megablitz! I answer questions about group size, mismatched player levels, and letting the players pick their adventures.

I know you should never give an opinion about an ex- in a public forum, but it’s been six years now since I broke up with 4th Edition and it’s time to talk about why our relationship had to end.

In the first ever Ask Angry Superblitz, we’ll answer a bunch of questions that have been piling up in the ole inbox! Enjoy!

Is darkvision overpowered? Underpowered? How are races even balanced? And what the hell is Al actually TRYING to ask me?

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Given the choice, I’ll take a binary dice mechanic over a narrative dice mechanic any day. Why? Because I actually give a s$&% about the story. That’s right. You heard me.

Crit systems – you know, critical hits and fumbles – are ubiquitous. You can’t get an action RPG without them anymore. But they are actually kind of stupid and out of place in most games. Why do they persist? Do you have to have one? And what’s the best way to handle it?

I don’t shy away from had questions. So, if you ask me “how do I get more creative,” I’ll give you an answer. It’ll be a bulls$&% answer filled with stupid analogies about weight lifting and nutrition, but it’ll be an answer. A CREATIVE answer.

A published module seems like it should take no prep at all, right? Well, if you’ve ever run one, you know that’s a lie. Published modules can take a LOT of prep work. Even worse, it’s not always clear HOW to prepare. Unless you’re a genius like me. Or you read this article.

How do you build atmosphere at the table? I’ll tell you how you don’t. You don’t use a motherf$&%ing soundtrack. Sorry Battlebards. Seriously. Building a consistent, engrossing ambiance is not as hard as it seems. It’s just another one of those things no one ever thinks about.

It may shock you to learn that I don’t hate 13th Age. And that’ve I’ve played and run 13th Age. And that I can give you good advice about, hypothetically, how to use Icon Relationship Rolls in your game better. Because, as I’ve previously mentioned, I’m awesome.

I don’t HATE sandboxes. It’s just that people suck at doing sandboxes. And people don’t even know what sandboxes are. And sandbox is a stupid word. ARGH!

There’s this complex, math-laden analysis out there ‘proving’ resting in 5E forces a particular adventure structure. And it doesn’t matter a bit. The Angry GM explains.

How do you run a good mystery game rather than a good game about a mystery? And what’s the difference? Read to find out and then post your s$%&y, wrong, alternate advice in the comments.

Why are thieves so antisocial? And what do you do when they steal from the party?

Psionics sucks. Let me explain.

Never point your GMing gun at something if you’re not willing to pull the trigger. In this edition of Ask Angry, I help a desperate GM plan for failure.

Charisma sucks! Intelligence sucks! What to do about it? NOTHING! … Unless you’re willing to write your own RPG from the ground up.

How do you make the wilderness actually matter? You have to f$&%ing work at it. Just like everything in RPGs. Shocking, I know.