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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

Sep 10, 2010 by 7

Let Them Fire The Gun – Resolve Tangential Plots Quickly

A little while ago a buddy of mine decided to run an impromptu game. It was his second attempt and he did pretty well. There were only a few newbie GM mistakes and the game went over pretty well for the limited time we had to play. The biggest thing that I saw, and that sparked a thought in my head, was that the game was overpacked with ...
Sep 24, 2009 by 13

Think About Your Game As If It Were A Movie Or TV Show

Do you ever step back from being the Game Master for a second, look at what is going on in the game, and imagine the action at the table as if it were a TV show or a movie. Even the most boring combat I recently ran has been brought up by the players in their stories because of the cinematic qualities it had. Role-playing games, movies, and ...
Sep 16, 2009 by 24

“My Players” and “Your Players,” Not “The Players”

There is a vast gulf between the phrase "my players" (or "your players") and the phrase "the players" when used to refer to your gaming group, or to another GM's group. It's not just semantics -- it really makes a difference in how you think about GMing, how you approach the games you run, and how you treat your group. It can be hard to break the habit of saying ...
Jun 22, 2009 by 14

Game Mastering is Not an Exclusive Club

The AD&D 2nd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide opens with this line: You are one of a very special group of people: AD&D game Dungeon Masters. AD&D 2e was the first game I ever GMed, and the one I've run the longest (though it's been quite a while at this point). I first read those words back in 1989; I was 13. And I thought that was the greatest thing ever. A ...

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Metagaming, Noooo

It's why you always kill the grand vizier.