The Return of the Son of Ask Angry: Three Questions About Stuff
It's time for a quick run through the ole Ask Angry e-mail pile. Oh, hey, look, I have dozens and dozens of questions. Let me answer a couple. Heck, I'll answer a few! Because I'm just that great a guy.
View ArticleFanservice BS: Making Race and Culture Matter in RPGs
In this month's Fanservice BS, I look at how to make race and culture actually matter. Whatever the hell that means.
View ArticleRunning Your Most Horrible D&D Adventure Ever
Running a horror adventure in D&D is a terrible idea. But if you absolutely MUST and I can't stop you, at least I can keep you from f$&%ing it up too badly.
View ArticleAngry Information Management (Part 2): Facts, Implications, and Distractions
Information in your game can take many forms. Any by many, I mean three. It can three forms. And this article is all about them. And a whole bunch of other stuff.
View ArticleAngry Information Management (Part 1): The Role of Information
As a GM, apart from not killing idiot players who deserve it, your primary job is to communicate information. And that means you have to be able to manage information.
View ArticleThrough a Glass Darkly: IC, OOC, and the Myth of Player/Character Seperation
Let's talk about the mythical distinction between players and characters. Players are characters. Characters are players. And once you accept that, it's a lot easier to run a fun game. Warning: this...
View ArticleThe Big Picture: Everything You Ever Need to Know About Game Mastering
This is it, this is my everything. This is why I'm such a great teacher. This is everything I know about RPGs and GMs and the secret order and structure that underlies them.
View ArticleAntagonizing Your PCs
While not every NPC is a monster, every monster is an NPC. And that's what this is all about. NPC antagonists. The violent and the non-violent. We're talking enemies today.
View ArticleIn With the New: 10 Gaming Resolutions to Improve Your Game Mastering in 2017
Are you looking to run better games in the New Year? Do you need ten New Years Resolutions to fail at in 2017? Then look no further. I have ten resolutions I guarantee are unlike any others you've seen...
View ArticleThe Angry GM’s Marvelous Mechanical Miscellany for Ad Hoc Adjudication and...
The hardest thing any GM has to do is come up with stuff on the fly. Especially when that stuff needs mechanical rules behind it. Fortunately, you have this Marvelous Mechanical Miscellany for Ad Hoc...
View ArticleAsk Angry: Stealing Agency
This week, I ponder the question of when it's okay to take control of a character away from a player thanks to a question from a reader with a really dumb name.
View ArticleThe Unexpected NPC
What do you do when your players force you to turn a nameless, faceless nobody into an actual NPC? What do you do when they don't even start with a nameless, faceless nobody? How do you make NPCs out...
View ArticleTip: Interact with NPCs to Receive Quests
Everyone knows that the easiest way to start an adventure is to just have some damned NPC show up and tell the PCs what to do and how to do it. After all, that's what MMORPGS do and it works for them....
View ArticleAsk Angry: Oh No, More Answers
It's time for yet another Ask Angry blitz! And the first two questions I answer are a little bit of site news. And then I answer real questions. Yay!
View ArticleHere Comes Tagalong: Henchmen, Allies, and DMPCs
Tagalongs: NPCs that join the party. They are often derided, frequently misunderstood, and rarely used well. Because people are dumba$&es. Which is sad because Tagalongs are a GREAT Tool for your...
View ArticleWhat Even is an NPC (And How to Do Them Right)
Building compelling NPCs is a tricky, tricky business. And it's made even trickier by the fact that people don't even REALLY understand what NPCs are. That's a shame, because good NPCs are literally...
View ArticlePreviously, On The Angry GM: The Art of the Recap
GMs suck at giving recaps. They give too much information or too little information or the wrong information or they make it boring or they let the dumba&$ players do it or they do it by e-mail....
View ArticleWhen Episodes Ain’t Episodes: How to Structure a Session
Tabletop RPG sessions are a lot like TV shows. The problem is the one very important way in which they are not at all like TV shows. If you always want to leave your players hungry for more, you have...
View ArticleI’m Making This Up As I Go: Pulling Story Out of Your A$%
The problem with players is that they always want to run around and do things in your game. Things you weren't ready for. Or ask questions you don't have answers for. And sometimes, even your own brain...
View ArticleI’m Making This Up As I Go: When Rules Fail
What do you do when the rules fail? Well, you're the GM, so you'd better do something! The game is waiting! You need to make a call! Hurry up and make something up.
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