Award-Winning GMing Advice
Gnome Stew won a silver
ENnie Award for Best Blog in 2010 -- thank you for your support! Since 2008, we've published
744 articles packed with GMing tips and advice. Our
top 30 articles make a great starting point for new readers.
"I check Gnome Stew every day." -- Monte Cook
"fantastic blog for game masters, dungeon masters, and rpg fans" -- Wil Wheaton
"If you aren’t reading Gnome Stew, you’re missing out." -- Wolfgang Baur
You are done. You have run your campaign, and through scheduling follies, player-player conflicts, and the occasional near-TPK, you have guided your players through the climax of your storyline, and are now ready to pack it up and move on to a new campaign. Before you lay this campaign to rest, take an evening to sit with your players and review the ...
Before GenCon, one of the requests that I got, was to review the new Vincent Baker game Apocalypse World. We at the Stew love to please our readers, so I took some time at GenCon, and got a chance to play a small demo of Apocalypse World (AW) with it’s creator, Vincent Baker, as well as picking up a copy of the book.
My intention was to do ...
Dislcaimer--This is not some Legend of Zelda fanfic. If you want that stuff, go to the experts.
While we Gnomes work tirelessly at making our stew and serving up great GMing advice, when we are not tending the giant cauldron, we are like you: out on the Internet surfing for drow p0rn RPG blogs and podcasts. We wanted to share some of our current favorite ...
Today is the unofficial last day to post a Gen Con review, and I did not want 2010 to go by without saying a few things about my experiences at Gen Con. As always, it was an exciting time filled with new games, new ideas, and great friends. I will do my best to give you a high level overview of all the things that went on this ...
This time last year, I made a deal with those of you who were unable to attend Gen Con. You picked something for me to pick up on the Exhibitor’s floor, and I reviewed it for you. That resulted in my two part review of Hackmaster Basic (Part1, Part2), and John’s review of Realms of Cthulhu.
Well it’s that time a year again, ...
One question that comes up over and over when I talk to different GMs is about how to take notes for their session. It is a topic that I take personally, as I have gone through a number of different note taking styles and used all sorts of different tools, over the years. Thanks to Stew reader Tabulazero for suggesting this article topic.
Rather than this being an article ...
[caption id="attachment_7171" align="alignright" width="300" caption="No Red Bull For Kurt in 2010"][/caption]
It's possible that by now you may have heard that we Gnomes wrote a book: Eureka: 501 Adventure Plots to Inspire Game Masters. You may also know that we Gnome love a good convention, and that we are big fans of GenCon. And if you have been a reader for any time, you ...
For many of us older gamers, we have gamed with various groups during our gaming careers, and have moved from one location to another. We would love to game again with some of our friends who are now hundreds of miles away. With the birth of the Internet, we have clamored for a solution that would allow us to connect with those friends. Many different solutions have come ...
Recently, I have found myself gravitating towards games that include a task resolution mechanic that includes a way to measure the margin of success on a check. It started over a year ago, with my short-lived Witchcraft campaign, and then flowed into my year-long Corporation game, and recently it became a requirement for picking the system for my latest campaign, In Nomine. Of all the mechanical elements of ...
Recently my game group celebrated the one year anniversary of my Corporation game. After some discussion we decided that we would take a break from Corporation and try out a "new" game. For me, as a GM, this is a very exciting moment, because a new game means that exciting time of learning a new system, coming up with details for the setting, and writing that first story ...
You have spent weeks crafting an incredible web of intrigue. It is a like an onion, with layer after layer of clues and red herrings. You have guided your players into this web and watched them pickup clues, trying to put the pieces together to discover what amazing twist lies in the center of the web. Then at the moment where they are on the verge of the ...
We Gnomes have been following the work of DEM games, as they have been working on the GSL version of Amethyst: Foundations (which we are going to shorten to Amethyst for the rest of the article). Amethyst has gone off to the printer, and Goodman Games is taking pre-orders now. DEM games has sent to the Stew, a sneak peek at the first four chapters. So let’s dig ...
This Sunday, April 11th, will be a day that for many gamers will be punctuated with outbursts of both anger and joy. For those of you attending GenCon this year, April 11th is Event Registration. GenCon registration is always frustrating, but with our tips, hopefully you will navigate through RUBI with ease, and possibly wind up with a few events that you were hoping for.
The most important thing ...
A few weeks ago, I reviewed Fiasco (here and here), by Bully Pulpit Games; a game about ordinary people, attempting ambitious plans, and flailing miserably. During and after my review, I had a chance to exchange emails with Fiasco's creator Jason Morningstar, and got to ask Jason about his GMing philosophy, about his company Bully Pulpit Games, and of course about Fiasco.
Jason, let us start by having you tell ...
Not too long ago, I had my performance review at work. Most people dread this event, but I always look forward to it. For me the performance review is a chance to get the recognition for my accomplishments for the year, but more importantly, it’s a chance to get a list of things that I can improve upon for the upcoming year. I am always interested in improving ...
