I just got back from our trip to Walt Disney World. For the second time we decided to drive rather than fly and stopped in North Carolina along the way. Even before we started, our mini-van was filled with accents. I have a South Jersey accent (no, I don't sound like Rocky or Tony Soprano, although I do pronounce that wet stuff as "wooder"). My in-laws are from ...

I love gaming goodies, tsotchkes, and widgets in all forms -- special dice for each campaign, mascots, a wide range of miniatures, Tact-Tiles, piles of books...the more the better! But when I'm GMing, I keep my side of the screen pretty lean. Here are the highlights -- tools I consider essential to my GMing arsenal, and which I highly recommend for any GM (brand spanking new or grizzled veteran). A ...

Aside from a lack of fear, one of the biggest problems in having player characters act realistically in a combat situation is the use of hit points (or a similar mechanic). The player knows how much damage her PC can soak before falling and can make tactical decisions based on the amount of damage that a creature/armed villain/martial artist/trap doles out. Ultimately, this is a matter of security. Players ...

In the December edition of Atomic Array, game designer James Maliszewski of Rogue Games explained why he included random encounters in his latest adventure, “The Cursed Chateau,” which is billed as an old-school  funhouse-styled scenario along the lines of the classic module “Castle Amber.” Interestingly, he said he did it for the GM’s enjoyment. Maliszewski said he loves to include random encounters because it allows the course of a ...

Herein you’ll find a handful of campaign seeds that are currently wasting away on the back burners of us gnomes, most likely never to be run.  I like to think of this article series as a sort of holiday tradition. Not only is it in the spirit of giving, but since the holiday season puts most games on hiatus and gaming lulls are potentially fatal, having a handful ...

Seasons greetings and happy holidays to all this fine Christmas Day! To show our appreciation to you, our dear readers, we Gnomes are giving you a gift for being such dedicated devourers of the stew! Here is our gift to you. Enjoy! What did I get? What did I get? Your gift is a zip file with the files needed for you to create your own tokens (or pogs) to use ...

Character Visions and DesignsThere are many approaches to developing characters. Some authors talk about characters who leap into their mind, fully formed and in the middle of an iconic scene, while others talk about characters who "take on a life of their own" as they write. Visual players may imagine their character in a pose and start by sketching their badass hero. System often suggests characters-- a Holy ...

If you've been carefully combing over our website every hour or so like a loyal gnome, and for shame if you haven't, you noticed that yesterday we had a new download available. Gnome Stew is proud to present our Print and Fold Gnome Miniatures! We received an e-mail late September from one of our servicemen. One of the things we discussed with him was good sources for inexpensive minis. Never ...

You know that excited feeling on Christmas morning, when you wake up to see what Santa's elves gnomes helpers have made for you this year? GMs are lucky-- they get to experience that joy several times per session! Just the glimmer in their eyes when a PC finally hefts the shiny new +2 Keen Icy Burst Axe... I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it. Of ...

As many of you know, Google has released in a limited beta its new communication platform, Wave. This will not be a review of the Wave software; that you can find all over the net:  TechCrunch, Wikipedia, LifeHacker. What this article will be is a look at how Wave can be incorporated into your game. Without getting all technical, Wave is a communication platform that can best be described, ...

One of the things that brings characters to life is a realistic culture that they're embedded in. There are many ways to create vibrant cultures; if you are playing in a pre-existing setting, many of the cultures will be defined in the rulebook or supplements. Unfortunately, players often don't know that much about the cultures of the world- some don't own the book or have the specific references, ...

One of the most fun things for me to do at GenCon is to wander the Dealers Room and check out the new stuff. GenCon is a natural place for RPG Publishers to launch new books and this year was no exception. One of the books that caught my eye was Fantasy Craft by Crafty Games. After the con, I received a free copy of Fantasy Craft for this ...

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 ...

There is a very easy way to return from a casino with a small fortune: go there with a large one. -- Jack Yelton Gambling works for just about every game world. In our world, gambling was so popular in the renaissance that kings and popes banned playing cards. There's something iconic about Han and Lando playing sabbac for the Millenium Falcon, Croaker's admonishing the Black Company watchmen ...

Evernote has changed my life. No, seriously -- I’m not exaggerating. Capturing Ideas I have a spotty memory for some things, particularly random thoughts and ideas that pop into my head -- they tend to disappear quickly if I don’t write them down as soon as possible. And I get a lot of ideas. My mental back burners are running 24-7 -- and I hate losing ideas. I learned a long time ago ...