Tip: 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 ArticleThe 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.
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