Oh, No! More Macrochallenge Bullshit
I really effed up that Attrition Macrochallenge thing, didn’t I? Don’t think so? Well, all the questions and comments I’m dealing with certainly say I did. So let me try that shit again.
Maybe You Just Don’t GET Attrition
It’s Random Bullshit time. Today, I’m bullshitting about challenge, difficulty, stupid game masters, and why attrition is the most brilliant mechanic ever invented.
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.
The Angry Update: April 2023
Angry’s here with his April content update. And it’s a long-ass update for an important-ass month. Fortunately, it’s also mostly skippable.
Ask Angry March 2023 Mailbag
The Angry GM is answering more reader-submitted questions this week. And he ain’t holding back.
The Joy of Secrets
You know what players love? Discovering secrets. You know what GMs and game designers hate? Players discovering secrets. That’s kind of messed up; don’t you think?
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.
Ask Angry February 2023 Mailbag
The Angry GM is answering your questions today. And he’s answering a lot of them.
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.
Have an Angry New Year: Angry’s 2023 Content Update
It’s 2023. And here at TheAngryGM.com, I plan to grab this year by the lips and yank as hard as I can. Here’s what that means for you, dear reader.
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.
We Don’t Need Failure States After All
There’s this discussion that happens anytime anyone brings up death, failure, and loss in RPGs online. About how RPG systems should be better at handling failure because it’s so vital in RPGs. And that discussion… is wrong.
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.
Ask Angry October 2022 Mailbag
Once again, Angry opens the mailbag and answers some reader questions.
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.
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…
July 2022 Supplemental Update
In the immortal words of Ian Malcolm, “life gets in the way.” Or something like that. Anyway, I’ve got to revise and update the content calendar. Here’s a new schedule and an explanation.
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$&%, you might want to know why it’s actually worth it.
July 2022 Angry Update
New month, new monthly update. You know how it be.
Town Mode Lesson 1: Town with a Capital T
On the heels of Let’s Start a Simple Homebrew Campaign, it’s time for a new masterclass. This one about building, running, and playing in town. Or rather Town.
S$&% I Don’t Hate: Arora: Age of Desolation and Carrion
I’ve discovered two things I don’t hate this week. One’s a D&D 5E Kickstarter project with intriguing exploration mechanics — or so it claims — and the second’s an exploration-based platformer where you’re the xenomorph and not the hapless space marine.
Tarot for GMing Dummies
Once upon a time, I said that not only did I once learn to read the Tarot as a hobby, but that it made me a better GM. And for that reason, I said you should learn to read the Tarot. Well, you demanded I explain myself. So here I am.
The Dancing Halfling Dungeon
Story time… Once upon a time, a bunch of heroes stumbled into a randomly generated dungeon because some halflings were being too loud.
Supplement Bulls$&%: The Second Best Way To Make Characters
It turns out that Curated Character Creation isn’t just the easiest and best way to get characters out of your players for a Simple Homebrew Campaign. It’s the best way to make characters. Period. Well, second best.
April 2022 Angry Update
Another month, another update. Content will happen. Here’s what and when.
Ask Angry: End-of-Class Questions
It’s time to open up the Ask Angry mailbag yet again. This time, Angry answers some questions about his recent articles.
Magic is Bulls$&% (in D&D)
Who wants to read another long, pointless rant complaining about how something in D&D sucks? I sure hope the answer is “you,” because that’s what I wrote for you.