Social contracts. The concept isn't new to gaming, nor is it a foreign entity to the great gnome stew readers. While most of us are familiar with the concept, it is one that benefits from being brought up and discussed regularly. I'm hoping that this post will outline social contracts and point people to other sources that delve much more deeply into the subject. An outline and paraphrasing ...

V.Hobbs asks about gaming on a budget in the suggestion pot. Because I have little money to spend on all of the gaming materials that I wish that I could, and so I always end up looking at my friends’ impressive collections and wondering how they do it. How do you accumulate a large collection? There are several ways to do it-- I'll list a few below. ...

With the holidays approaching and schedules becoming more and more hectic many Game Masters are likely to suffer from cases of GM burnout. GMs aren't the only ones susceptible to burning out on gaming though. Players can burnout on gaming and not bring their usual gusto to the table or even decide not to show up at all. Here are some reasons for gamer burnout and some ...

“The Digital GM leverages technology to synergistically empower him or herself while proactively providing a world-class suite of solutions to today and tomorrow’s complex challenges.” OK, so maybe you don’t quite yet need a mission statement, but you are considering life as a digital gamer. You’re thinking about joining the ranks of the double-barrel geeks (computers AND gaming). You’re looking to enter the virtual virtual world. In other words, ...

When I write GMing advice here on the Stew -- and previously on Treasure Tables, as well as for freelance projects -- one of my goals is to only give advice that a) I have taken myself, b) is based on observing other GMs or games or c) I would take if the opportunity arose. Almost exactly two years ago, I wrote a series of articles outlining six ways ...

When Dungeons & Dragons hit the shelves in 1974, the world's first roleplaying game (although it didn't bill itself as such) was incomplete; they assumed that you owned copies of Chainmail and Outdoor Survival. Referees that didn't own those books were forced to improvise; thus the first house rules were born. Since then, house ruling has become a time-honored tradition amongst GMs. Whether pulling unofficial rules from game magazines, ...

It’s a given that  your October- or Halloween-themed 4E-dungeon’s going to have a hovering ghost (page 116, Monster Manual) haunting the undisturbed crypt, at least one gruesome hag (page150) stirring a kettle with a noxious brew and a blood-thirsty vampire (page 258) waiting in the wings — so to speak — to strike. But here are some other monsters from that glorious tome you could use to slip ...

“Save vs. Blue Screen” It’s the 21st Century, and we still don’t have flying cars, or meal tablets, or robo-maids. (Shut up, Roomba.) But we do have laptops at the gaming table. Ten years ago, only the very rich or slightly crazy (or both) would have a laptop at the table. Today, I’d bet that at least half of the tables out there have a laptop present. In this article, ...

Gathering the party, even a party of veteran characters, is a standard literary trope. One or two protagonists learn of a threat and seek out old friends. Often they are shocked and surprised to discover what their friends have been up to in the meantime. The clever thief may now be a legitimate business man with a family, the paladin may now be an alcoholic mercenary, and the ...

If you've gamed long enough, you've probably been subjected to the "bait and switch" at least once. The GM has given you the campaign pitch, you roll up characters according to that pitch, and then you find out that the actual game is very different than the one you've been playing. Sometimes this is obvious at the start ("this campaign is more about noble court intrigue than combat" ...

Some friends drop in looking for an impromptu game. Or maybe they decide to turn left and explore the shaft that leads to a blank spot on your graph paper. Or perhaps the game moved to another location and your prep work was left behind. A disaster in the making? No, an opportunity. A good five-encounter dungeon can easily serve as an evening’s entertainment. So even if your ...

I attended a funeral this last week, which sparked thoughts about funerals in gaming. One of the most ambitious roleplaying funerals I encountered was the Throne War scenario in the Amber Diceless RPG book. Less an adventure than a vigorous kick start, Throne War used a dying family member as an excuse to gather the family together and turn the PCs loose on each other in a ...

Phil "The Chatty DM" writes one of the best blogs for GMs out there, Musings of the Chatty DM, and he's recently kicked off something I wanted to share with Gnome Stew Readers: Project Kobold Love So what is it? Here's the quick summary in Phil's own words: I’m sick and tired of the Editions Wars. So much so that I want to show that a game system is just an ...

Gnomenclature is an evolving document. As time goes on, old definitions go out of style (remember the "Caller?"), new definitions emerge (take a Tardis back to the 1980s and ask someone what a "pdf" is), and some definitions change over time. As the GNOMEnclature STEWard (okay, that made me giggle and groan at the same time :)), I'll be periodically updating the glossary. If you're a glossary junkie like ...

Okay, that's not entirely true -- what good would a diminutive glossary for a subject as broad as roleplaying be, anyway? This puppy is anything but diminutive -- in fact, we believe it's the largest RPG glossary on the web. It's insanely comprehensive. Just click a letter and scroll down until you find the term you want to look up, or use your browser's "Find" function. Entries are cross-linked, so ...