Award-Winning GMing Advice
Gnome Stew won the silver ENnie Award for Best Blog in
2011 and
2010 -- thank you for your support! Online since 2008, we've published
1,109 articles packed with GMing tips and advice, as well as
two books for GMs. Our
top 30 articles make a great starting point for new readers.
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"If you aren’t reading Gnome Stew, you’re missing out." -- Wolfgang Baur
An aspect of the hobby I find rewarding is the craft side, namely painting miniatures and constructing terrain from plaster mold pieces.
Here is a "how to" on constructing a modular dungeon set with a single mold, using the kinds of crafting materials that are available at craft stores and big box retailers.
1. Selecting the mold
I purchase molds from HirstArts. For this exercise I chose one of the least ...
Being stuck inside on a winter's afternoon, it seemed an opportune time to run an impromptu game of D&D for two of my children.
(Carolyn's always in the mood for something fresh, so after weeks of train games and card games like Poo, Uno and Hike, she was willing to dive back into an rpg, while Jonathan was eager to use the new plaster dungeon terrain set he helped ...
Wizards of the Coast announces Monday it is working on a new edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
But what's this mean for you as a GM?
Other than speculation about what kind of game will be developed, what considerations should you be making now, before Wizards makes its first limited unveiling at the D&D Experience in February?
Some might be content to wait until 2013 (or later) for the game to ...
Urban fantasy's often a tough genre to nail down.
Fairy tale creatures and consumer electronics aren't always fast friends — just ask Jim Butcher's own Chicago-based sorcerer-detective Harry Dresden about the last time he tried to boot up a laptop.
But adventures set in the modern world with mythological creatures and magic can be very rewarding.
The question: Where do you go for inspiration for your adventures?
Recommendation: If you don't mind ...
For the novice gamemaster, designing a level of a dungeon can be a daunting, yet rewarding, task.
Keep in mind, a good dungeon crawl should contain a variety of elements.
There should be something to challenge each party member’s specialty ability or skill set, as well as something to amaze, to amuse, to frighten and perhaps something it would be best to evade or avoid.
Above all, though, is the big ...
Bullet points.
Short bursts of information.
Direct. Succinct. Descriptive. Engaging.
It's been nearly a year since I first read Charles M. Ryan's blog post "Putting a Bullet in Descriptive Text." In it, he describes how bullet-point Powerpoint presentations brought him around to incorporating the approach in his rpg adventure writing. Since then, I've used the method in my own game, and have been largely pleased.
Mr. Ryan knows of what he speaks. ...
As I continue preparations for the gaming group's upcoming foray into a Steampunk Eberron game, I've been reading some of the genre's fictional offerings for ideas.
One vision of a steam-driven nineteenth century London I've been quite taken with is that created by author Mark Hodder for "The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack." It's a Victoriana landscape littered with coal-fired penny-farthings, mesmerism, eugenicist wonders and a cut of ...
Last year I discussed the merits of a steampunk-styled rpg for the gaming group's next campaign. At that stage, it was just an idea, and really, required educating some of my gaming compatriots on the tropes of genre.
Teddy Roosevelt
Also, I was torn between advancing the timeline of my current homebrew city of Steffenhold or applying the convention of brass goggles and steam power to the two-fisted pulpy foundation ...
The personal computer made preparing game handouts easy. Type something up, download and apply a nifty typeface, print it out and present it at the appropriate moment. All good.
But there's something ineffable about doing a handout by hand. The homemade quality — the craftiness — can put a stamp on your on game.
Adding a touch of calligraphy is one way to do this. Here's the materials I have ...
My friend Ken has started running a post-apocalypse game based in our immediate area. One of his favorite touches when devising a scenario is to take something familiar -- in this case geography -- and shade it differently. What will our world look like in a 100 years or so after our government collapses?
The campus of Bradley University certainly gives off a creepier vibe when post-apocalyptic bad guys ...
This summer it's been my good fortune to visit a lot of parks and zoos with the family. Seeing a little wildlife, exploring a little greenery — even in carefully controlled park conditions — has invigorated my planning for wilderness encounters.
I mean, if going more extreme fits you, be my guest. One member of our gaming group took a safari to Africa last year before running the Serpent's ...
I recently made what was probably my last purchase from my local bookseller, the soon-to-be defunct Waldenbooks, which was the "Mutants and Masterminds Third Edition Hero's Handbook."
I figured now was as good a time as any to look under the hood at M&M.
(Yes, you are allowed to pause and wonder why I've never picked up M&M before. We're talking about its third edition here, after all. What can ...
Who said “Damn the torpedoes. ... Full speed ahead”?” Well, Navy tradition points to Rear Adm. David Farragut issuing the order Aug. 5, 1864, during the Battle of Mobile Bay.
Sometimes as a GM, especially in a game as devoted to tactics as D&D, I feel like issuing that order.
[caption id="attachment_10221" align="alignleft" width="202" caption="Adm. Farragut"][/caption]
That’s especially true during those interminable moments when the game stops to consult a rulebook ...
Question: What’s more daunting than being sucked into a Bizzaro world vortex with Bat-Mite and Mister Mxyzptlk calling the shots?
Answer: How about the New 52?
[caption id="attachment_10001" align="alignleft" width="230" caption="Babs is back as Batgirl!"][/caption]
For those who aren’t readers of DC comics, the company’s entire line of 52 titles is getting relaunched starting Aug. 31. For their signature heroes — Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (and my personal favorite, ...
I admit it. I’ve resisted using a mounted whiteboard for my game for a long time.
It’s not that I have anything against dry-erase markers. On the contrary, a dry-erase initiative tracker and a basic Flip-Mat brand 5-foot base map are both fine GMing tools that have a place at my table.
(And yes, I realize, they are just smaller versions of the same thing.)
My resistance to the mounted whiteboard ...
