In my previous article, we touched a bit on how hit points in RPGs work and how they can affect the way we play as players. Different games manage them differently, varying on the style of play they attempt to recreate. Today, we’ll go a bit deeper and explore some other things, such as how...
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I got an email the other day (by way of our Suggestion Pot) from Gnome Stew reader BishopOfBattle asking a great question: How do the Gnomes approach and deal with the (planned) “no-win” scenario? Recently my players were faced with such a scenario during the BBEG reveal, they were...
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Today’s guest article is by Gnome Stew reader Kyle Van Pelt, and it looks at alternatives to PC death for campaigns where narrative concerns need to be balanced against preserving a sense of danger. Thanks, Kyle! We’re all familiar with unexpected PC death. You would have had enough HP...
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I hate to kill characters. I am not opposed to it in the right dramatic circumstances, but for the most part I do not like killing characters. That flies in the face of my old school upbringing, and likely came about by the arbitrary deaths of some of my favorite D&D characters in my youth....
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Have you ever killed a PC through fiat? A while back I was running a street-level superheroes game. Realism (in as much as any game is “realistic”) was emphasized, to the point that no one wore spandex and vigilante activity would get you arrested if caught. We also started with none...
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While I rarely do this anymore I’ve found that it’s quite common in some games, especially those where each member of the team is absolutely vital to its success, for PCs to be run while their players aren’t at the session. Sometimes the absentee PC is given to another player;...
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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...
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Hey you. Yeah, you. Do you know about Gnomecast 21? Why isn’t it in the archives? What are they hiding? If you value your safety… don’t go searching for Gnomecast 21…
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