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
1,183 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.
"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
I've been a wandering these plains, searching high and low for fine posts to bring to market. Check out the teeth on these fellers.
Tools:
Want to whip up a monster style NPC for 4e in a minute? Check out the flash based NPChimera (beta). It uses PB1 races and classes so far.
Hate the math of encumbrance, but don't want characters to carry 20,000 copper in their pockets? Take a ...
Gnome Rodeos are the Stew's periodic link roundups -- articles packed with pointers to excellent GMing material we think you'll enjoy.
We usually feature a few regulars plus our favorite discoveries from around the web, all with an eye to making your time behind the screen easier and more fun.
If you wrote or read something you'd like to see featured here, drop us a line. There's some awesome stuff ...
Gnome Rodeos are the Stew's periodic link roundups -- articles packed with pointers to excellent GMing material we think you'll enjoy.
We usually feature a few regulars plus our favorite discoveries from around the web, all with an eye to making your time behind the screen easier and more fun.
If you wrote or read something you'd like to see featured here, drop us a line. There's some awesome stuff ...
Gnome Rodeos are the Stew's periodic link roundups -- articles packed with pointers to excellent GMing material we think you'll enjoy.
We usually feature a few regulars plus our favorite discoveries from around the web, all with an eye to making your time behind the screen easier and more fun.
If you wrote or read something you'd like to see featured here, drop us a line. There's some awesome stuff ...
Today's surprise weekend article is brought to you by the word "open."
DMing Tools: Get a Free Copy of Open Game Table
For May 31 and June 1 only, if you sign up for (or upgrade to) a premium account on the DMing Tools website offered by Dungeon Mastering, you get a free copy of Open Game Table: The Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs, Volume 1 (which retails for $22.95).
Open ...
Usually when I post contest results, I just post the results -- but this time around, there are two nifty GMing resources I'd also like to tell you about.
Well, three, actually, because in case you missed it we took part in a big first this past Friday: Wizards of the Coast gave pre-release copies of the Player's Handbook 2 to 12 RPG sites -- one of them being ...
Seven days until our article on the PHB 2 drops -- can you tell I'm excited about it? Want to read about something specific? I'll be writing about the book from a GMing perspective, and topic suggestions are most welcome.
Gnome Rodeos are our regular link roundups. Provided everyone doesn't simultaneously stop talking about GMing for a week, you should see one most Fridays.
GMing Regulars
→ Dungeon Mastering: Yax is ...
Consider, if you will, Peter Muse of Meredith, N.H. As related in a Feb. 25 story from The Associated Press, this ice fishing enthusiast — who already has a $2,500 bobhouse with fireplace, bathroom and four-burner stove — decided to set up a hot tub on the ice.
Thirty-year-old Krisy Short, who was enjoying the tub in her red, white and blue bikini, gave her verdict: “What’s more American ...
In the past few days, five people have sent us email asking the gnomes to check out something nifty of theirs. Since my time to do link roundups (which I miss!) has been limited lately, I thought I'd peek at them here instead of in private, and share them with you.
GOLD
GOLD is like King of Kong, but with professional D&D (sorry, "Goblins & Gold") players -- and ...
A new year calls for a new campaign. And a new campaign means devising a new villain.
It’s the perfect time for a GM to shine. Is there a better test than coming up with an NPC who stands in complete opposition to what your players stand for?
For inspiration I checked out my collection of Dragon back issues. The last issue published under Paizo, No. 359 from September 2007, ...
You know how a bicycle that sits out in the rain can get all funky and red, maybe a little stiff to pedal, but it will still get you where you need to go? Some of these links have been sitting out in the rain for a while... but they still go great places. Hop on and let's explore.
Holiday Gaming
Phil's post on the Holiday Gaming Hiatus is great ...
When Black Friday comes
I'll stand down by the door
And catch the grey men when they
Dive from the fourteenth floor -Steely Dan, "Black Friday"
So the tryptophan finally wore off, but it's too late;you've already missed all the cool tech deals at the local geek-o-rama.
But that's all right, because Uncle Telas is posting a few links for your shopping dollar (assuming you still have one). These are not necessarily "Black ...
What’s the Crock Pot? Just a simmering bowl of lentils and herbs, with a dash of DMing observations. Don’t be afraid to dip in your ladle and stir, or throw in something from your own spice rack.
One of my earliest exposures to fantasy literature was the comic book "Arak: Son of Thunder" by Roy and Dann Thomas. The 50-issue series published by DC Comics told the hero's journey ...
Building a world
Mo spread Simon C's way to use a deck of cards to generate characters who relate to their cultures-- kowtowing to social pressures, rebelling against their peers, and more.
Paul Tevis pointed out Superstruct, a game/future forecasting of the world in 2019, after one of several drastic changes. It's a big collaborative project that started October 6th and runs through November 17th.
Speaking of ways for the world ...
Does anyone actually read this section, or do you just skip to the links? I had a friend in grade school who suspected a teacher wasn't reading any of his papers, so he inserted large sections of just butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter butter to ...
