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.
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.
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.
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 Angry GM is answering more reader-submitted questions this week. And he ain’t holding back.
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 Angry GM is answering your questions today. And he’s answering a lot of them.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Time for clickbait part 2! Here’s the best and worst things 5E has to offer. According to Angry.
Hot take: fumble mechanics are more valuable than crit mechanics. In fact, crits are only valuable if the monsters are rolling them. But I’m only proving one of those things today.
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.
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.
Let’s complain about a how a twelve-year-old game’s brilliant ideas were marred by the language used to communicate them. Because that’s a GOOD use of my time.
Once again, Angry opens the mailbag and answers some reader questions.
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.
It’s time for a Table Tale with a twist. This one’s about robot skeletons and skeleton skeletons and how I learned to stop worrying and start hating milestone advancement very slightly less.
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.
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.
One of the most important Townbuilding tools, believe it or not, has to do with Training. And that’s why it’s such a problem that no one knows what PC Training looks like.
I designed this thing I’m calling Town Mode so the stuff the players do in Town actually matters. And so that there’s a game to play in Town. But if you don’t know how to handle the time between adventures, it won’t work for you.
In this rambling pile of bulls$&%, I complain about a forgotten piece of 4E mechanics and how it never should have been brought into 5E. Which it wasn’t.
It’s time to explore Town Mode once again. But before you waste too much time on this s$&%, you might want to know why it’s actually worth it.
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.
It’s time for another tale of grand, epic adventure from the Angryverse. But first… If I’m going to keep sharing these Angry Table Tales, there’s something we’ve got to iron out. Especially if you’re one of my players. Current or former. Thing is, I reuse a lot of s$&%. I mean, obviously, I reuse the…
Once upon a time, I promised I’d show you a cool way to build an adventure by casting a Tarot Spread. And here I am to do just that.
Story time… Once upon a time, a bunch of heroes stumbled into a randomly generated dungeon because some halflings were being too loud.
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.
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.