Gnome Stew

How do we craft a good experience for our players when they’re just voices in our ears and videos on our screens? After all, experience is more than the points that gets handed out at the of the session. I want to talk about the charisma-based skill challenges we face when our campaigns are digital—the soft skills, the social stuff.

Adventure Design: Detailing Back to Front

by J.T. Evans | May 15, 2024 | Game Making, Game Mastering, GMing Advice

This time around, I’m going to talk about the order in which you design your adventures. There are many takes on this, and loads of approaches to use. However, I’m going to focus in on what works for me. If it works for you, great! If you give it a try, and it doesn’t quite jive...

For the Queen 2024 Edition Review

by Jared Rascher | May 13, 2024 | Reviews

A new version of the roleplaying card game For the Queen is upon us, and as I prepared to write this review I thought, “I just wrote a review for this game.” Then I realized that it’s been almost four years since I wrote this review, and the enormity of the progress of time, how long I’ve been...

Gnomecast 188 – Imposter Syndrome and RPGs

by Poddy Gnomington | May 8, 2024 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Gnomecast-188.mp3 Ang, Jared and Senda chat about how Imposter Syndrome has affected their relationship with running and playing RPGs along with some ideas on how to navigate through those feelings. Links: Trans Rights Readathon Stewpot: Tales from...

Shadow of the Weird Wizard First Impression

by Jared Rascher | Apr 29, 2024 | Reviews

Back in 2015, a shadow began to creep across the RPG industry. Shadow of the Demon Lord was a game designed by one of the designers that worked on multiple editions of D&D, Robert J. Schwalb. This was a fantasy RPG that was designed for people whose gaming habits had moved toward shorter game...

Give Them a War Room: Player Facing Threat Maps

by Josh Storey | Apr 26, 2024 | Game Mastering, Tools for GMs

I love foisting eldritch artifacts or ancient magics onto their shoulders. I take glee in giving them influence within an important organization and seeing what they’ll do. It allows me to ask tough questions about how and when they use their great power responsibly (thanks, Uncle Ben). Plus, it gives my players the power to enact real change in the game – something all of us can sometimes feel powerless to do in our real lives. (My group’s go-to power fantasy is making the world a better place.)

Gnomecast 187 – Learning About the OSR

by Poddy Gnomington | Apr 24, 2024 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Gnomecast187-LearningAboutOSR.mp3 Ang gets JT and Walt on the mics to learn more about what the OSR (Old School… Renaissance? Revival? Retro? The R varies) actually is. Join us and learn more about this style of roleplaying game. Links:...

The Genre Mash

by Chris Sniezak | Apr 22, 2024 | Game Mastering, GMing Advice, Player Advice, Tools for GMs

One of my gaming groups plays a mashed up game with three genres: Highschool, Swashbuckling, and Urban Fantasy. We call it Children of the Shroud. In the game we play high school kids in a hidden magic world. As part of our magical learning we are part of the Junior Guardians club. It’s a club for...

Adventure Design: Mood, Tone, and Theme

by J.T. Evans | Apr 17, 2024 | Game Making, Game Mastering, GMing Advice

When starting to design an adventure for your home group, the first things I always consider are the mood, tone, and theme of the adventure. This will dictate all design decisions, descriptions, monsters included, sometimes the treasure gained, and the general aesthetics of everything I create for...

Dune: Fall of the Imperium Review

by Jared Rascher | Apr 15, 2024 | Reviews

Licensed games usually take the approach of presenting material that can happen far away from the canon events of the setting. This works especially well in settings like Star Trek or Star Wars, where there is a literal galaxy of locations available for storytelling. Player characters may hear...

Gnomecast 186 – Mixing Genres

by Poddy Gnomington | Apr 10, 2024 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Gnomecast186.mp3 Ang, Chris and Josh chat about mixing up genres in our RPGs and as a result touch on what genre is, and why we can and should mash it all up together! Links: D&D Lego! The Nebula Awards Daggerheart...

The Carousel: Why I Believe Roleplayers Should Swing

by Michael Esperum | Apr 8, 2024 | General

We are all familiar with the trope of a regular gaming group. You know, the one who meets on regular days in the regular gaming location. And while the particularities of the imagined group differ, the factors of time and space stay constant, but so too does the cast. Although we all know how...

The Crusty Old Gnome: Tips for New Game Masters

by Walt Ciechanowski | Apr 3, 2024 | Game Mastering, General, GMing Advice, Intro to Game Mastering

Face to face, out in the heat, hanging tough, staying hungry… — Survivor, “Eye of the Tiger” In a proud GM Dad moment, my eldest daughter just ran her...

Reviews Review

by Jared Rascher | Apr 1, 2024 | General

I’ve reviewed so many other things, and I feel like I’ve been missing a fundamental item in all of this. It’s key to understanding all of my other reviews. Today, I’m going to review the process of reviewing. I’ve literally been reviewing things from the time I was born. I remember my siblings...

Planning By Mad Libs

by Phil Vecchione | Mar 29, 2024 | Game Mastering, GMing Advice

Planning in RPGs has always been a problem. On one hand, it’s often necessary for a group of players to plan out something their characters are trying to accomplish. On the other, most groups are not adept at planning, and even if they were, the activity is never that exciting at the table –...

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