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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 1,110 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

Nov 7, 2011 by 26

Fair or Foul?: Spaghetti Mysteries

I have an affinity for mystery/investigation adventures. I love setting up a crime scene and having the PCs uncover clues and follow leads until they reach the final confrontation with the perpetrator. Mystery adventures require careful planning. All of the clues need to fit (or be dismissed as red herrings) and the players need to be able to weave them together effectively. A mystery that is too convoluted can ...
Dec 21, 2010 by 16

Johnny’s Five – Five Ways To Overcome Combat Haus Characters In Combat

  Sometimes being a Game master feels like being in a five on one bar fight, with every other person in the fight having had time to workout and prepare for it for the last 3 months. Games are often weighted towards the players, providing many more options and possibilities for the players than there are for Game Masters. Most splatbooks and setting books provide new powers and ...
Nov 23, 2009 by 10

Rulebooks For Reading

I am guessing that most of you are like me and are voracious readers. I am always reading some book, and most often I have second one I am reading casually on the side. There is nothing that gives me more anxiety than when I get to the end of a book, and don’t know what I am going to read next. My favorite type of reading material ...
Nov 13, 2009 by 12

The Proper Care and Feeding of Your Creativity

As a GM the most important tool you have is your creativity. Your creativity is what allows you to create amazing adventures, thrilling NPC’s, witty dialog, enthralling descriptions, and the ability to shape your game in response to your players. Your creativity needs to be taken care of and cultivated. When treated well the power of your creativity is at your disposal, but when it becomes fatigued it ...

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Metagaming, Noooo

It's why you always kill the grand vizier.