How to Run Encounters… NOT!
This is the start of a series of True Game Mastery lessons about running different kinds of Encounters. Except it’s not. Because Encounters aren’t what you think they are.
Professor Angry’s Office Hours: Dealing with Problematic Actions
As I made a mess of that last True Game Mastery lesson on Problematic Actions — given the feedback anyway — I’m holding a special study session to answer your questions and clarify my points.
Dealing with Problematic Actions
Action adjudication is pretty straightforward. Except when it’s not. And when a tricky action comes along, Mere Game Executors are stuck executing the game’s pre-programmed code like robots while True Game Masters follow the Three Laws of Game Mastering NonRobotics.
The Tao of the Dice
It’s tough to know when to call for a die roll and when not to. And no matter what anyone’s told you — including me — there’s no substitute for good, mature, adult judgment. So throw away your checklists and simple rules and trust your gut.
The Declare-Determine-Describe Cycle
True Game Masters know that nothing breaks a roleplaying game’s flow quite as much as the game’s rules do. So they take a methodical approach to keeping the rules in their place.
Inviting the Principal PC to Act
A True Game Master paces the game with smooth narration, flowing seamlessly from scene to scene and moment to moment. Unfortunately, a TTRPG is a dialogue, not a monologue, and eventually the players get to kill the pace by talking.
Better Narration Through Visualization: A Lifestyle Guide
Narration: the art of telling your players what’s what and who’s where. If you find yourself muddling to provide good Scene-Setting Narration, maybe it’s not your skills that are the problem, maybe it’s your lifestyle. Seriously.
Game Mastering Makes No Sense
True Game Masters take Ownership and Build investment. And those concepts are so vital to Game Mastering that I’m never going to mention them again. And what I do mention won’t make sense. Because GMing is nonsense.
What it Means to Master a Game
I can’t teach you to be a True Game Master — yes, that’s my plan; I love doing the impossible — I can’t teach you to be a True Game Master without telling you what it means to master Game Mastering.
How Chrono Trigger Saves the World (Repost)
Save the World campaigns are pretty divisive. Mostly because GMs always screw them up. Want an example of a great Save the World TTRPG campaign? Look no further than Chrono Trigger, a Super Nintendo game from the 90s.
Why Run Games Anyway: An Angry New Year Story
The New Year is a good time for reflection. Searching the past for the clues that’ll help you find a better future. So, this New Year, Angry invites you to think about why you even do this whole game mastering thing.
How Chrono Trigger Saves the World
Save the World campaigns are pretty divisive. Mostly because GMs always screw them up. Want an example of a great Save the World TTRPG campaign? Look no further than Chrono Trigger, a Super Nintendo game from the 90s.
My World Has a Sky… And Yours Should Too
Weather, lunar phases, dates, and seasons? Why keep track of that crap in your game? Well, there’s several reasons, but only one that matters.
Gaming on the Clock: Running a Game in a Time Slot
Sometimes, a GM has to fit an entire gaming experience in a single, limited time slot. And a GM has to do some ugly, ugly things to make that happen.
Introducing: Your Character
It turns out that it’s actually important for players to periodically describe their characters to the group. Unfortunately, players suck at everything. Especially describing characters. Fortunately, I wrote a script you can force them to follow.
Well Begun is Half Done
How you start your game determines how it goes. And that doesn’t just affect you, it affects your players. Fortunately, Angry’s got a startup script you can install in your GM brain.
What if Your Players Don’t Want To?
I’ve been pushing GMs to turn all the bookkeeping and character maintenance crap in D&D into a game of its own. Or rather, into a part of the game at the table. But many GMs have raised a question: what if their players don’t want to do that crap.
How to Corrupt a Warlock (Or Anyone Else)
So, how does one go about turning a warlock — or any PC — to the Dark Side? In what will likely prove to be the most divisive and controversial post I’ve ever written, I’ll tell you…
Strategy, Tactics, and Teamwork for Dummies Teaching Dummies (Part I)
Do you want your players to think strategically, act tactically, and play as a team? Well, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is I can help. The bad news is you’ve got some hard work to do.
Tutorializing the Hard Way
If there’s one thing people ask me a lot, it’s how to get their players to. So, I’m going to teach you a great trick for getting your players to. You’re just not going to like it.
Town Mode: What Happens in Town Mode
It’s time to explore Town Mode once again. But before you waste too much time on this s$&%, you might want to know why it’s actually worth it.
Town Mode Lesson 1: Town with a Capital T
On the heels of Let’s Start a Simple Homebrew Campaign, it’s time for a new masterclass. This one about building, running, and playing in town. Or rather Town.
Why Are There So Many People in the Angryverse?
After posting several Angry Table Tales — well, two — I’ve been asked by numerous people — well, two — why there are so many NPCs in the Angryverse. Here’s my answer.
Let’s Start a Simple Homebrew Campaign: Keeping it Going
It’s time to finish this Simple Homebrew Campaign thing. At least, it’s time for me to finish it. Your work has only just begun.
Let’s Start a Simple Homebrew Campaign: Building a Next Adventure
And now, it’s time to build your player’s next adventure. And then, it’ll be time to build their next next adventure. And so on. Forever.
Let’s Start a Simple Homebrew Campaign: Mapping a Region
You’ve built an adventure and a town. Now all you’ve got to do is map the world around it. Simple, right? Actually, it is.
Let’s Start a Simple Homebrew Campaign: Building Town
Now that you’ve started your Simple Homebrew Campaign and you’ve got your players distracted with an adventure, it’s time to start building the world around them. First step: make a town. Or rather, make Town.
Let Start a Simple Homebrew Campaign: Your Cast of Characters
Time for the fourth article containing the third which explains the second step in the Simple Homebrew Campaign startup process: how to sit your players down and squeeze them until playable characters come out. And how to stop them from ruining the simplicity of your Simple Homebrew Campaign.
How You Handle Your Dice Bag
I don’t have a Long, Rambling Introduction™ today. Sorry. I considered several rants that might fit here. I thought about pissing and moaning about modern dice designs and dice accessories like dice towers and dice trays and how the people who use that s$&% need to die in a fire. I also thought about whining,…
Let Start a Simple Homebrew Campaign: Your First Adventure
Sit down and shut up. Class is back in session. Time for the second real lesson in this whole simple, homebrew campaign thing. Or maybe the third. Or the fourth. I’ve lost track. I probably shouldn’t count the bulls$&% introduction wherein it took me 5000 words just to define the word campaign — and I…