I’m back, babies!
… is how I want to start this. But, truth is, I can’t start with an excited, triumphant return announcement. Because I’m limping back.
At the end of August, I announced an emergency hiatus due to physical health concerns and a serious personal matter that threatened my living situation. I intended to return after a week off to heal and deal, but that didn’t happen. It’s been two-and-a-bit weeks since y’all have heard from me.
I’m not going to lie: this year has been one of the most challenging I’ve faced in the last decade. In fact, I haven’t felt this bad since I was hospitalized back in 2014. My living situation has stabilized, but some serious issues need to be dealt with. And my personal health is going to take a lot of work to recover. And while I’m normally pretty transparent about what’s going on, there are certain matters I can’t discuss right now and really don’t want to share with the entire Internet. Sorry.
So, I’m going to drop the personal crap and get down to the brass tacks. What the hell is happening now at Angry Games HQ?
Never Give Up, Never Surrender
I’ll tell you what’s not happening. I ain’t giving up. This year has been a shit show and no mistake. And in a lot of ways, I’m way worse off than I was on January the first. But I refuse to give up the year as a loss and I’ve got one quarter to turn that shit around.
Last month, I spelled out some goals for the remainder of the year. And I was serious about them. My highest priority — content-wise; we ain’t talking personal or even long-term project-wise — is to get back to delivering high-quality gaming content every week. Every Tuesday. With a Proofreadaloud for followers.
The next priority is to move the True Game Mastery series on to Campaign Management and finish that chapter by year’s end. I want to start 2024 with True Scenario Designery — or whatever I call that shit — and focus on homebrewing game content the way I focused this year on running games.
Next is to get the Angry Hack series on track so that it’s established and running smoothly and I can deliver Hacks on a regular, reliable basis with the same quality I’ve achieved with True Game Mastery.
Content for September
Obviously, the ship’s sailed on “getting back on a regular schedule” this month. I’ve already missed two Tuesdays and, owing to some of the aforementioned personal matters, I will be out of town for a little while next week. But what I can do is stop the bleeding.
I’m going to put out four articles in the next two-and-a-bit weeks. I don’t know when they’ll hit, but they’ll hit. Then, starting on Tuesday, October 10, I will be releasing new content on schedule every Tuesday through the year’s end.
Three of the four September features will be True Game Mastery related and they will wrap up the social encounter crap I started last month and provide one other general skill for encounter resolution. Yes, I know I’m calling things Encounters. I don’t care. Don’t correct me.
After that, I’m moving on to Campaign Management. I’ll probably circle back in future months once or twice to cover one or two other game-running topics — like infiltration and investigation — but that’s a “when-I-can” kind of thing at this point. Because I can’t keep thinking of new ways to say the same thing and that’s all I’m doing with these “encounter running” articles.
Beyond the articles and their Proofreadalouds, I am not going to try to schedule anything else for September. I do want to return to monthly Live Chats in October, but the Live Proofreadalouds — with Q&As — are just not manageable with my workflow right now. Perhaps they will return in the future.
Gamehole Con
I can definitely confirm now that I will be at Gamehole Con in Madison, WI on Friday, October 20, and Saturday, October 21. I have no plans to run any events, official or otherwise, but I will be wandering around and might even sit and play a pick-up board game or two.
If you’re going to the Con — especially if you’re a member of the Angry Discord and especially if you’re a Frienemy — let me know.
Games for Sale
I mentioned last month that I’m interested in selling some board games and some of you contacted me to let me know you were interested in certain games. I still have them, I have not sold them, and I am still interested in selling them. I just haven’t had the time to do anything about it. I will though. If you contacted me about one of the games, I will reach out to you by the end of the month to see if you’re still interested and talk about how to make it happen.
Slapdash
If you’re a member of Club Slapdash, pay close attention to the site. In the next 24 hours, you’ll be hearing from me about the timeline and future plans for that project.
Excelsior
I cannot overstate how challenging this year has been. But I’m also kind of sick of stating that. The worst part of the last five weeks — where things have bottomed out — is they’ve left me feeling like I was defeated. Like I was done. That’s not my nature. And I’m ashamed to admit I hit that point.
Through it all, though, you — my readers, supporters, and friends — have reached out with messages of support. And more importantly, you’ve reached out to let me know how grateful you are for what I’ve done. And in many cases, that’s gone far beyond helping you pretend to elf better. Some of you give me too much credit — after all, it was always you who had to do the hard work — but hearing that I’ve impacted so many of your lives has really helped me weather this storm.
Thank you.
And know that, while I am as flawed a human as anyone on this planet and while I’ve made many mistakes, I remain committed to bettering myself. Partly so I remain worthy of your support, praise, and friendship and partly because that’s the only way to live. At least, that’s the only way I want to live.
You’re mad for even considering this year something like a loss. The True Game Mastery Series is amazing. When something comes out, I read it and I love it. What more can one ask? If nothing comes out for a bit and I’m hungry for TGM content, guess who doesn’t remember all of the gold in the earlier articles? Everyone without a perfect memory (so, everyone). Going back over stuff so I can actually get it – rather than pretending to get it as I read it the first time – is super valuable.
Besides, what are people going to do, find another elf help site that makes sense like this one?
I’m glad you’re enjoying the TGM series. I am very proud of it. And if it was the only thing I had to measure my year by, you’d be right. But you are right. When people are feeling down, it’s easy for them to discount the positive which only makes one feel worse. So thanks.
To echo others, True Game Master series is great. I have a bunch of different pages bookmarked.
Honestly, all I needed was steps on running games and the oft-repeated steps for adjudicating actions. Everything else is just a bunch of examples of different cases that helps me build confidence on foundations you’ve set up. You’ve even given me the ability to look at other game systems like Blades in the Dark and feel confident in understanding and running them.
Thank you.
You’re welcome. And thank you for your kind words. I’m glad I’ve helped you think more critically about games.
Sorry to hear it’s been such a challenging year. But how you’re handling it is an inspiration. Keep up the great work and we’re rooting for you.
Thank you.
I‘ll always look at this year from the following perspective: If this is what I get from Angry through countless struggles and hardships, I can‘t fathom what I‘d get if he fires on all cylinders. And I believe you‘ll get there again. Thank you for the immense work and effort.
Given those expectations, I’m terrified to have a good year. That’s a lot of pressure. Ha.
I kid. Thank you. I mean you’re welcome. I mean… whatever follows what you said.
Never Give Up, Never Surrender! is one of my family motto’s. Being a stormwalker is hard work.
Hopefully I never have to add “by Grabthar’s hammer, you shall be avenged!” to the ever-growing list of personal motto’s.
You have greatly impacted my personal games and thoughts on game design. Your honest about crap going on. And the humor on this site is magnificent. You are in my prayers – especially that you will have some peace, and get an uplifting resolution to the things going on, and that we will still get to read articles you put out for a long time.
Thank you. I appreciate the kind thoughts and prayers. I’m gratified to know you’ve gotten something out of my work.
Please take care, and get better soon.
And please note that in what you call a crappy year, you have already put out more brilliant content than others manage in a decade (or ever).
Thanks to you, game mastering is more fun than ever.
Thank you for those kind words I’m glad you’re having fun. That’s all I want for anyone.
Cuídate mucho, espero que te mejores pronto. Me encanta tu contenido y me gustaría que supieses que has sido todo un referente para mi evolución como DM.
Un abrazo enorme desde España.
Se lo agradezco. Muy amable.
I believe in you, Angry. Wooo!
Thank you.
Are you a ghost? What’s with the “wooo”? Or are you trying to “wooo” me?
You talk about mental health with such sincerity, and you have for as long as I’ve been reading which is a long time. I appreciate your voice.
I think you’re an artist, a gaming genius, and a good person. Please don’t take any of those statements lightly. I’m not joking. I believe you are all three. That means you also live life deeply, which makes the highs and lows that much stronger.
If you haven’t read Jack Kornfield’s No Time Like the Present, I think you should. It’s helped me find a lot of peace in some very low times.
Keep going. And thank you.
Hey Angry,
Just wanted to say thank you, sincerely
I’ve red you on and off for five years.you’ve always been an amazing professor in teaching all of this, but this year had been really incredible. Your TGM series and especially the battle example where everything is put in practice had really shown me that you’re not just an amazing GM, game designer and teacher, you’re really a genius at it. I hope you’ll do more of those full size example, because with the rest of the series it was really incredible.
So
1) thank you, truly
2) get better, your health is more important then anything else
3) you can be proud of this year’s content already, it’s truly without peers in the GM teaching space
Praying for you and your people, Angry. Is 26:3
Thank you, Angry, for consistently putting my instincts into words. I always thought I was the weird one when it came to the philosophy of GMing and I’d always back down to players who thought they knew what they wanted. The Game Mastery series is absolutely some of the best gaming content on the internet and I will be here for every word, no matter how long it takes.
I only recently found this site and the wonderful advice so angrily dispensed. Your content and style are enlightening and entertaining. Not only have I been plumbing the archives, but rarely do I find a site that prompts me to check daily for updates. Your absence has been noted; your presence sorely missed. Here’s $50, I hope it helps.
I think this is my first comment in all the years I’m reading your content.
I love your work. imo, the most authentic and not “clickbait” content that swarms the web nowadays, specially related to TTRPGs. I decided this year to become a Patreon, and I will continue supporting you even if you have a bad batch.
Also, your True Game Mastery series are one of your best works.
Thank you for your work.
Wish you the speediest recovery and once again thank you for all the marvellous work you’ve done and are doing. Take as much time to recover as you need – the series’ are not getting finished at all if you burn the candle at both ends trying to keep to the schedule while sick.