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
This wasn’t the article I had been planning on doing for today, but it is in the vein of articles I’ve been thinking about for a while. The comments and feedback on Martin’s State of The Stew article are pretty thought provoking to us here at the Stew. Reading the multiple opinions that proclaim meat over meta, I’ve been looking at my writing style. It would be an ...
Over at the Suggestion Pot, Gnome Stew reader and high-level Cleric BishopOfBattle cast Divination (or maybe it was Find the Path; I’ve taken too many negative levels in d20 to be an expert). Anyway, he asked: How do the Gnomes go about getting better player feedback? Often articles mention "Ask your players" but I often have difficulty getting useful (or sometimes any) feedback from ...
When I get the chance to be a player I am generally pleased to play along with the story going on. Whatever published adventure or lovingly crafted personal story framework the Game Master has worked out is generally great by me. When I’m a Game Master however, I tend to get player input before I ever build up the scenarios of the actual game and I react ...
Phil's article made me think about my own GM evaluations over the years. While I've always been pretty good at self-criticism, it took me quite a while to realize that, when canvassing players, I was usually looking for affirmation, not criticism.
Let's face it; as a GM you put in a lot more time and effort than the average player. You're responsible for bringing an adventure to the table ...
In addition to my hats as Game Master and Gnomish scribe, I am also an RPG freelancer. One of the companies I'm contracted with is Cubicle 7, which produces the second edition of the Victoriana game. When I decided to use Victoriana as my monthly game, I asked Cubicle 7 if they had any interest in using my group as playtesters for upcoming products. I was excited when they agreed, ...
