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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 1,109 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 1, 2010 by 29

Troublemaker Player? Just Give Them The Rope & Show Them The Gallows

So I told you about my Dread game at the local game shop that I ran for Halloween this year, but I did not tell you about my trouble maker player.  One of the players decided to do ludicrous and foolish things in character throughout the game.  Now I am not talking about funny things, because a funny moment that is appropriate to the character is often great ...
Oct 31, 2010 by 5

Special Halloween Edition: Turn That Dial To 11!

Today is Halloween here in the United States, and of all of the holidays Halloween is my favorite for gaming!  Even non-gamers get into the act of imaginative play and storytelling around Halloween.  Halloween is a holiday that makes it easy for adults to let down their guard and indulge their childish and mischievous natures without fear of embarrassment.  This makes it easy for people who consider RPGs ...
Oct 28, 2009 by 12

D&D Burgoo: A Dragon on the Doorstep

Making players — and by implication, their characters — feel as if they are in over their heads is the hallmark of a savvy GM. Especially for your horror-themed game session. It also takes players who are willing to buy into the moment — the payoff comes when the sick feeling in the pit of the stomach starts churning. Creating that moment of dread requires more than dropping a dragon ...
Oct 23, 2009 by 36

Dread – Play It This Halloween (Trust Us)

Recently fellow gnome John Arcadian and I attended “Con on the Cob” where we hung out with the crew from Windmill Game Co. They are the creative power behind the new Dread: Tales of Terror series which are supplements that provide wonderful scenarios and questionnaires for the fabulous game Dread. Now every year I run a very simple RPG for non-gamers around Halloween time. In the past I have ...

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Metagaming, Noooo

It's why you always kill the grand vizier.