We've been floored by the level of response Gnome Stew has gotten since we went live in the wee small hours of the morning on Monday, May 12th, and we have a host of folks to thank. Dungeon Mastering, Musings of the Chatty DM and Tactical Studies Rules got things started by writing about the Stew before we'd even launched. With our sneaky "You've found Gnome Stew" teaser site in ...

As a thirtysomething gamer, my groups tend to be made up of people with careers and families. As such, we don't have a lot of time to game. In some cases, we're lucky to set aside three hours a week (or every two weeks) to game. And as those of you that have GMed for any significant period of time know, setting aside three hours does not equal ...

“Son, you got a panty on your head,” the old hayseed tells Nicolas Cage’s convenience-store robbin’ character H.I. in “Raising Arizona.” And sure e’nuff, somewhere beneath all that nylon is the Nicolas Cage we know and love — even though it’s pretty hard to recognize him just by looking. Experienced D&D/3.5 players know their monsters backwards and forwards, just from hearing the description or showing them a picture. ...

I won't deny it, I'm a big fan of Google. My place of employment recently switched to Google Apps, and I've had an opportunity to dive head first into the Google world. But of course being a gamer, I can't help but see some uses for Google at the gaming table, especially since everyone in one of my groups has a laptop. I'm not thinking of the obvious things ...

There are probably as many ways to define "roleplaying-intensive" as there are gamers, but for talking purposes here's the definition I use: A game in which mechanics take a backseat to character interaction, where all (or nearly all) in-game decisions are purely character-driven and where most (or all) in-game conversation happens in-character. I've been running a Mage: The Awakening chronicle since October of 2007, and from the outset I ...

In the world of RPG's there are several classic RPG arguments that float around on various RPG blogs, message boards, and even raise their head in seminars at gaming conventions. I like to call these arguments, "spam arguments" because they are as original as the Nigerian 419 email message, and are just about as pointless. In hopes to have some kind of exorcism or cleansing ritual for ...

As I've started to run more and more published settings and adventures, I find myself doing something new to my GMing style. I've been turning the adventure/setting/rule book to my players and just pointing to art that is built into the product. Using pictures to backup description isn't a new practice to me, but I usually try to first use a verbal description to hook the players into the ...

One of the most important and least-discussed elements in a successful game is a shared set of assumptions about how and why the game is played. But many gaming groups want to jump straight to "the fun stuff" without making sure that everyone shares the same definition of "fun" (or even the same definition of "stuff"). A few minutes or even hours spent ensuring that ...

There are awesome moments in the game: A critical that drops the rampaging dragon, dodging the sorcerer's lightning bolt, or seducing the noble woman so your companions can make their escape unnoticed. There are moments in the game when the character fails in a way that isn't fun, or even breaks the table's suspension of belief-- like the ranger who can't shoot anything with his bow tonight, the ...

Let's face it. Our memories aren't what they used to be. It's true for all of us, though the old guys like me do feel the pinch a bit more acutely. Add to that that game systems are constantly changing, we're always trying new games, genres, and systems, and that we've got our own games to plan and it's plain that quite a bit is going get ...

I love it when a new GM steps up to the plate! Good GMs are what keep our hobby going and expanding our ranks is a real benefit to tabletop RPGs across the board. Yet I've noticed that there are some common mistakes made amongst new GMs that veteran GMs tend to avoid due to their years of acquired wisdom and experience (i.e. - we have already made ...

Today is launch day on Gnome Stew, and we couldn't be happier to have you here -- welcome to the Stew! Gnome Stew is a brand new blog written by GMs, for GMs. We think about GMing in every waking moment (okay, GMing and hot, hot gnome sex meals), so we figured we'd put our obsession to good use. Here on Gnome Stew, it's all game mastering, all the ...