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
After seeing a preview of Outbreak: Undead (warning: has sound) online, and then again at GenCon, I knew I wanted to review this game for the Stew. I love zombies, horror, survival horror, and all the intersections thereof, and Outbreak: Undead (OU) is a zombie survival horror RPG -- right up my alley.
It's also an "avatar game," an RPG in which you play a character based on yourself ...
Filling the Empty Chair is a PDF resource designed to help gamers find people to play with. Written by Johnn Four, the the editor of Roleplaying Tips, it combines player-finding advice with freely-available information. It's a 30-page PDF available for download from RoleplayingTips.com for $7.
This is a review of Version 1.03. As the back of the book indicates, this is a "living document" and may be updated as ...
NewbieDm, of the blog of the same name recently contacted the stew and asked us to take a look at his PDF product rpgKids v1.5. RpgKids is intended as an introductory RPG for children ages 4-7 and my daughter is 10, but I jumped at the chance to review it because I’m desperate. I’ve tried several different systems to introduce my daughter to RPGs and nothing has ...
The Stew forges on, dragging you kicking and screaming into the digital age, this time with a review of the iPhone/iPad app, Battle Map. Educate yourself on this tool available for GMs willing to take their map-making skills to the “next level” (see what I did there?) and whether this application is for you.
Well, that is, if you own an iOS device, that is.
First, might I suggest you ...
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 ...
On Thursday I read about a new book by called Hamlet’s Hit Points coming out through Gameplaywright Press. Their book Things We think About Games is a carry everywhere book for me. It sits in my very-manly-not-a-purse courier bag alongside a few other books, work things, and the odd death ray or two. Hamlet’s Hit Points is written by Robin D. Laws, and when I saw the announcement ...
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, ...
Way back when, at Gencon 2009, I was comped a copy of Runepunk. I’ve been meaning to sit down and write a review, but I never feel right about doing a review unless I’ve gotten deep enough into the product to really understand it. I finally found enough time to really get into Runepunk and see what it is all about. So, a little under a ...
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 ...
So the Gnomish festival of Lupercalia (a very long feast of drinking, dancing, and slaughtering halflings), which was turned into something having to do with hearts, flowers, and naked flying babies called Valentine's day, occurred about 2 months ago. Just prior to this, our very good Gnome Matthew Neagley started trading messages back and forth with E, from Geek's Dream Girl. The result of their tweetfest was ...
Previously we've spent time discussing the potential for the use of the iPad as a GM's tool, the applications, accessories, and potential workflow. Now, bringing it all together, we're happy to demonstrate the iPad in action and give you a glimpse of what's possible.
It's important to also keep in mind that as of this writing, the iPad has only been out for six days. Not to provide excuses ...
In this second installment of the features and utility of the iPad in tabletop gaming, we’ll spend some time on accessories, the true “killer app” for the device, and what your typical in-game workflow could look like. Read on!
In case you hadn’t heard, Apple released another life-changing device this weekend, the near-mythical iPad. There exist any number of reviews that can answer your general questions as to whether the iPad has a place in your life, but fortunately for you our crack team of gnome engineers have been putting the device through its paces and show how the iPad might change the way you run your ...
Every now and then I check out our advertisers, to see who we’re associating with. (Or to put it more accurately: ‘who is being associated with us’.)
And every now and then, my curiosity is truly rewarded.
I love gaming maps; they are one of the things that drew me into the hobby. But I do not enjoy the time spent creating them, and the steep learning curve of most ...
I know that I'm a little out of the loop on a lot of things. When did we as roleplayers sign on to loving indexes? I don't hate indexes, let me put that out there right away. (Put down those pitchforks!) I love them, particularly in cookbooks. But I rarely use an index, and don't often miss it when it's absent.
On the other hand, I know a ...
