It’s update time! I used to do this every month on my creator page at Patreon. Just check in. Announce s$&%, share news, lay out my content release plans for the month. Whatever.

It’s been a hectic year. No s$&%, right? Remember last year when we were so happy 2020 was coming to a close? When we were convinced everything settle down again in 2021? F$&%ing life. Am I right?

That said, it’s been a really strong year here at Angry Games. At least, it’s had its strong moments. And I’ve gradually found a new groove for planning and publishing and distributing bonus content that’s really working for me. So, it’s time to start doing the update thing again. Let y’all know what to expect each month and set down some solid deadlines. Accountability and transparency. You know how it be.

But I don’t want to hide the updates between the support wall at Patreon anymore. Because some of this s$&%’s of interest even those who aren’t able to support my work financially. So, starting today, I’m going to publish an update at the start of every month. Between the 1st and 5th of the month. And I’m going to post it both at TheAngryGM.com and at my page on Patreon. Because I want to include all of my readers…

Thing is, I make it a point to thank my Patreon supporters whenever I post an update or do a Live Chat or whenever I’m feeling particularly grateful. Considering the support I get, I’m a really lucky f$&%er. And I never want to forget that. But I don’t often express my gratitude for the folks who aren’t able to financially support my work but still show up every week to read my articles and comment on them and send me feedback and share my work on social media. Without those folks, all this s$&% would be pointless. I’d just be screaming into the void. There’s a crap-ton of gaming content out there. And people’s time is valuable. And I don’t write short.

So, however you support me — be it financially through Patreon or with an occasionally tip or be it by reading and commenting or be it by sharing my work or be it by just using my advice to run better games — thank you. I am truly grateful. And I look forward to providing you more great gaming content in the coming year.

Enough of that crap, though. On to the news. Which, by the way? There’s a lot of it right now. Most of my updates won’t be this long. I promise. But there’s some big stuff to talk about that pertains to readers, supporters, and potential supporters. So let’s get to it!

Give the Gift of Gaming Angry

Just a reminder that print and electronic copies of my book, Game Angry: How to RPG the Angry Way are on sale for 20% off now through December 24. You can buy both versions at the Angry Games Shop or buy the electronic version at DriveThru RPG.

If you a buy a physical copy right now, you’ll find a little extra something fun scrawled inside the front cover.

International Shipping Issues

First, due to changes in international customs and tax laws, I can no longer export physical products to the United Kingdom or to European Union member nations. I’m sorry. It’s out of my control. Future crowdfunding projects will be made available internationally though.

If you live outside the US, the UK, and the EU and want to buy a physical copy of Game Angry, please visit Angry Games and use the contact form to send me the order details. You must include:

• Full Name
• Shipping Address
• Telephone Number with Country Code
• Whether you will pay via PayPal or secure credit/debit card transaction

For reasons that can only be described as f$&%ing stupid, I can get more favorable shipping rates to most countries if I calculate this s$&% myself than if I trust the automatic shipping calculator in my online store. At least internationally.

Note that internationally shipping generally costs between 18 USD and 35 USD.

Please note that Angry Games, Inc. cannot be responsible for collecting local taxes, fees, and customs duties.

When and How I Release Content

As I said above, I’ve settled into a good groove. Here’s how my current content release schedule shakes out.

I release four Feature Articles a month. I release each one first on my Patreon feed to give supporters early access and then a week later at TheAngryGM.com. Articles are posted on both sites on Wednesday mornings.

When I release a new article on Patreon, I also release this audio recording thing called a Proofreadaloud. See, as the final step in my proofing process, I read my articles out loud to make sure they sound right. And I’ve been recording that. I know it sounds boring, but people really seem to dig them. And, as The Tiny GM, my downstairs neighbor, and strangers who pass by my open window when the weather’s nice can all attest, I really get into that s$&%. Plus, I crack jokes to myself and get distracted and insert asides.

Here. I’ll let y’all check one out. Call it a Christmas present for my non-supporters.

Download Plotting Murder and Other Crimes Proofreadaloud

What to Expect in December

December’s an awesome month. Not just because Santa Claus brings me presents, but also because there’s five Wednesdays in it. That means I get one Wednesday off from releasing content. And I’m wasting it releasing this crap.

Here’s the article I’ve got planned. Though the actual titles and article topics might change. Some of you might know they already have at least once.

Title	Patreon Release	TheAngryGM.com Release
How I Handle Treasure at My Table	December 8, 2021	December 15, 2021
Specific Beats General: Advanced Action Adjudication	December 15, 2021	December 22, 2021
How You Should Handle Treasure at Your Table	December 22, 2021	December 29, 2021
Ask Angry Mailbag	December 29, 2021	January 5, 2022

Why two articles about treasure? It’s like this…

After I wrote that QDD thing, I got a lot of feedback about how I handled treasure and how I’m stupid and wrong. No, seriously. So I decided to write an article about how maybe I’m not the stupid one; you’re the stupid one. Assuming you’re one of the people who called me stupid and wrong.

More generally, I got a lot of questions about how to handle non-cash, non-magical treasure. How to place it, value it, how to handle appraisal and sale of it, that kind of s$&%. So I figured I’d explain how I handle that stuff in my game and why I handle it that way. But, as I started writing the article, I realized lots of you would be uphappy with the fact that the actual nuts-and-bolts mechanical stuff is so vague and handwavey. Because, after years and years of handling treasure properly, I just sort of make it up.

I realized, though, that I could easily build some mechanical tools and maybe even some better random treasure tables — not magical item stuff, just art and gems and s$&% — and maybe even build some better treasure tables. So, one article became two. Theory and handwavey bulls$&% in the first. Actual, useful practical s&%$ in the second.

But when I sat down to outline the second article, I realized there’s big honking action adjudication issue I never explicitly talked about. And it definitely factors in to how I handle treasure and also how I handle things like players ransacking rooms and investigating scenes and social interaction. All sorts of crap. I decided that needs a topic of its own.

Have an Army on Angry

How about another Christmas present from your pal Angry? Assuming you don’t already have it.

This year, I started handing out collections of bonus game content to my most loyal Patreon supporters. And by most loyal, I mean highest tier. I call them Theme Packs. Each contains 10 to 20 pages of game content — rules hacks, equipment, monster states, Angryverse worldlore, maps, adventure hooks — all themed around a theme. Hence Theme Pack.

To thank you all for your support and your readership, here’s one of those Theme Packs so all of you can enjoy some bonus content this holiday season

Download Angry Theme Pack #2: Imperial Legion

Big Change Coming for Supporters and Potential Supporters

I ain’t going to bury the lede here. On January 1, 2022, my Patreon support tiers are changing. The threshold of support for each tier will be increasing by $0.24 per article per month. Before you panic, let me explain how this probably won’t affect you.

If you currently support The Angry GM on Patreon, nothing’s changing. You won’t be charged any more. You won’t lose access to any rewards. And if I add any new rewards to your tier, you’ll get it. As long as you don’t change anything, nothing will change. The new prices will only affect people who pledge their support after January 1, 2022 or change their support details after January 1, 2022.

Why the change? Why $0.24? Well, the change is because everything’s gotten a bit pricier. The state of the world being what it is, stuff’s more expensive. I have to up my prices a little. Especially because I’m delivering more high-value bonus content like audio recordings and theme packs and some of those carry extra costs on my end.

The $0.24 thing? Well, that’s a long story. It has to do with this s$&% Patreon tried to pull a few years ago. They wanted to change their fee structure and pass the increased cost to supporters instead of to content creators. I said, “no way” and, to cover the fees myself rather than see my supporters paying more, I cut all my support tier levels by a quarter. That’s why my upper tier levels are $2.75 and $3.75 per article per month instead of nice round numbers. Thing is, Patreon eventually backed off from that bulls$&%, but I didn’t want to keep changing stuff for the folks who support me so I just left everything the way it was at that point.

Frankly, none of you should have to deal with a bunch of crazy fee and price shenanigans just to support my work. Which is why, by the way, I’m not asking any of you to change your support levels. Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. Whatever level of support your at on December 31, 2021? Whatever you’re getting for it? As long as you don’t change anything, neither will I.

But…

If you were planning to make a change — jump to a higher or lower tier, start supporting for the first time, resume lapsed or canceled support — doing so now will let you get in before the tiers change and lock that s$&% in. That’s why I’m giving you a month of warning. It’s my innate sense of fair play.

If you’ve got any questions or issues regarding this s$&%, e-mail patron.support@angry.games.

Big and Small Patreon Changes Coming

While we’re talking Patreon, you should know I’m in the process of redesigning my Patreon page. I’m not really changing anything big. I’m just cleaning up and clarifying and updating the reward tiers to accurately reflect the benefits supporters receive. That update should hit in a few days. A week at the most.

Of course, there will be another page update on January 1, 2022 when the support tiers change as explained above. But that’ll just be some numbers changing.

The Return of the Live Chat! December 14 at 8:00 PM EDT

I’m doing a Live Chat on Tuesday, December 14 at 8:00 PM EDT. If you’re a Patreon supporter with Discord access, you can listen live, hang out in the text chat channel, and even submit questions and topics. If you can’t be there or if you’re a supporter without Discord access, the recorded chat will be available a few days later.

Loyal supporter @Nitsua donated a neat little toy that I’m going to give away to one lucky participant as a Christmas present. Or late Channukah present. Or just a present. Whatever.

If you can’t attend but want to submit a topic or question, I announced the Live Chat separately at Patreon. Post a comment there.

A Theme-Filled Year

I mentioned the Theme Packs above. Frienemy-tier supports can expect one more Theme Pack this year. Hopefully. I’m trying to get it out before the end of December. If I can’t, I’ll get it to you very early in January. The theme is Home and Hearth. Mostly, it’s a village that’ll work as a home base for your adventures. But you’ll find some rules for managing the heroes’ reputations and some stats for local NPCs the PCs might get into scraps with.

Regarding the Theme Pack poll I ran last month — or whenever the f$%& it actually was — thanks for all the positive words and all the feedback. I’ve settled on a release schedule for Theme Packs for 2022. I’m keeping the Theme Packs the same in terms of length and content and quality and I’ll be releasing a new one every other month. There will be a total of six packs in 2022. The first will arrive in mid-to-late February. Unfortunately, my initial plan to do a Sex in D&D Theme Pack based on Valentines Day and Lupercalia won’t work. Turns out Phil and Dixie are pretty litigious.